Fringe 2026 - Parkies - The Edinburgh Reporter

Who are the real beasts in America’s National Parks? What lies ahead for the Parkies as they gather for another summer season welcoming visitors to the great outdoors? A colourful pack of casual workers find their rebellious spirit when they make a grim discovery. It brings them head on with the corporate beasts who run the park which is so loved by its visitors. Who who will survive? Can the misfit medley of workers follow the trail and unmask the beasts or will politics get in the way? Parkies, running from 7 to 29 August at TheSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is a comedy drama that throws up as many questions about the workplace and big business as it does about human relationships. Each year, seasonal workers roll up to run the facilities at the lodges, campsites, shops and restaurants where visitors eat and sleep as they get close to nature in the wild unspoilt landscape. In Parkies, we meet a porn star wannabe, an accountant who has taken a vow of silence, a Croatian gap year student, a gambling evangelist and a drag queen-in-training as they sign up as “Parkies” for another summer welcoming the guests. This misfit medley brings humour, mischief and intrigue as greedy corporate America, striving for maximum profits from the park amenities, collides with the National Park Service which aims to preserve the landscape and wildlife for future generations. When the Parkies find the charred remains of a deer, the focus sharpens on the unsavoury practices of big business. What else will they discover? And who will survive? Making his Edinburgh Fringe debut, writer and actor Ross Allen found inspiration for his first play in his work as a seasonal worker – a Parkie – at an American National Park in Utah. He draws on his sharp observations of those around him for this insightful comedy. Ross, who is a long-time theatre fan and a retired accountant, is looking forward to bringing his work to the Fringe. “We have been busy rehearsing in Utah and I’m thrilled by the support of my fellow Parkies,” says Ross. “They love the idea of a story inspired by what they do in the National Park in American going to the world’s biggest performing arts festival.” He explains: “I’m delighted that Parkies will premiere in Edinburgh. I’m a bit of a theatre nerd and I’ve always wanted to do something like this.” Jude Claybourne and Michael McClory, beside the Chris Rutterford mural on Slaters Steps featuring David I and the stag.PHOTO Colin Hattersley Photography Jude Claybourne and Michael McClory, beside the Chris Rutterford mural on Slaters Steps featuring David I and the stag.PHOTO Colin Hattersley Photography Cast members Michael McClory and Jude Claybourne are in the photo making their grisly ‘discovery’ of the dead deer. PHOTO Colin Hattersley Photography Ccast members Jude Claybourne, Ross Allen (centre) and Michael McClory, are photographed beside the Chris Rutterford mural on Slaters Steps featuring David I and the stag.PHOTO Colin Hattersley Photography