Fringe 2023

The line-up for Mervyn Stutter’s special charity gala on Monday 21 August has been announced. Mervyn’s gala celebrates three decades of Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe, the legendary showcase that presents a curated mix of Fringe picks, highlighting the Festival’s international acclaim.The choice of shows covers all genres of...

In After Shakespeare, Lexi Wolfe imagines the lives of four of the Bard's characters after their plays have ended.What happened to them? And why?If this all sounds a little Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, it’s not. Wolfe digs deep into each character, and what she...

The show is something of a love letter to the Fringe and Edinburgh as a place of cultural adventure. Edward W. Feery has greatly enjoyed the Fringe  'as a performer' for the last few years, and as 'a punter' for over a decade.In...

Originally conceived working with climate themes in collaboration with the Scottish community of climate experts at The Barn, Aberdeenshire and scientists at University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre, KlangHaus: Darkroom was originally presented at COP26 in Glasgow.The 20-minute show for just one audience...

This was a story written before the pandemic, and performed on the Fringe last year, but the importance of the story remains sadly topical.The performers (and there are only two) are formerly members of much lauded circus troupes such as Circa and Cirque...

Five Stars5 Mistakes That Changed HistoryHey, what’s not to like. Saturday morning in a crate in the grounds of Edinburgh University with Five mistakes that changed history.This really was educational, entertaining and informative.It is all down to the content and all down to Paul’s...

Arriving 15 minutes early, I was faced with a slightly concerning prospect that I might be the only person turning up for this show. I still have vivid memories of reviewing a show in 2019 when I was the only audience member. The performer...

Looking for Giants is a fresh, original and impressively performed play in which we see a young woman taking control of her sexuality and making it work for her.In Cesca Echlin's show Abby McCann excels as a unnamed young woman exploring both her sexual...

“A poignant, Black Mirror esc exploration into trauma, toxic workplaces and the deepest, darkest corners of the internet”On the opening night of 2023’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, among the vast saturation of comedy, theatre, dance, music and all other kinds of artistic performances on offer,...

The Abrupt SonFour starsIT may sound like damning with faint praise but this is a performance that had bags of potential in it.When Cynthia's husband dies during her pregnancy, she's expected to mourn. Instead, she's jubilant. He can never hurt her again. But what...

The Fringe comes to an end today after selling 2.4 million tickets to audiences who come from 170 countries.2,445,609 tickets288 venues67 countries represented17 countries presented showcases500 street performers, buskers and street artists1,400 accredited producers, programmers, bookers, talent agencies and festivals from 49...

Colour. It plays a big part in our lives. But what if your skin colour means you don’t seem to fit in anywhere at all?In Tones, Gerel Falconer’s fast-paced Hip-Hop opera, Jerome (also played by Falconer) grows up in a happy Jamaican family in...

The former First Minister Alex Salmond is back on the Fringe in a new show called The Ayes Have It! The Ayes Have It!Appearing at the Palais de Varieté Salmond will spar with David Davis MP, former Brexit minister on important matters such as...

If you like your stand-up comedy delivered on steroids then Josh Elton is the man for you."Hello, Wembley! Have we got a lot of energy. Is this wicked! We are in for a helluva show," he said, bounding on stage after corralling the early-afternoon...

Breaking Open at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall is a powerful one-woman play that delves into the life of Oskar Saville, once the lead singer of the multi-platinum band, 10,000 Maniacs.Despite the modest audience turnout, including her supportive teenage kids who are wearing T-shirts...

Joe Wells rattles off his artfully constructed ironic jokes and wry observations on life as an autistic person so fast it's hard sometimes to keep up. His mind is fizzing with comic ideas and as each is chucked into the mix and morphs into the...

AloneFour StarsIT takes a remarkable talent in a play when the dialogue and interplay is so natural that you forget they are acting.That is just one of the qualities of the multi award winning New Zealand drama.It starts to the strain of Bowie’s Starman...

The town of Hyde just outside Manchester has an unfortunate reputation for being home to not one but three prolific killers.Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley carried out their final murder there in 1960. Almost 40 years later, Harold Shipman, a local...

Douglas Robertson and Jane-Ann Purdy of Soundhouse took on Rose Theatre as a Fringe venue at the very last minute possible this year - but what a line-up they have on offer until 28 August.With a choice of two spaces big and small...

‘Liberate yourself from the gender binary and celebrate queer joy!’ screams the flyer. And a celebration is exactly what Antonio! provides.This show is such a joy; it’s hilarious, it’s camp, it’s well acted, the script is clever, the music is great, the costumes...

Super at the Pleasance CourtyardTHE secret to the success or otherwise of many fringe shows is pacing and timing. You have an hour in a stuffy dark room. Use it well.Superb was a superb example of using all sixty minutes as it brought us...

Renowned Kiwi/Canadian/Jewish comedienne Deb Filler recounts her hilarious quest to meet ‘The Three Lennys’ in Kravitz, Bernstein, Cohen, and Me.Deb Filler is an internationally acclaimed comic, musician, writer-performer, producer and character actor. Her Jewish identity forms the basis of much of her work, creating...

The winner of an award made by Popcorn Group will be announced on Thursday in a ceremony at Gilded Balloon.This award is made to the best of new writing at the Fringe - championing "fearless new writing" and "distinctive unique voices" and awards a...

Gyles Brandreth is that annoying geezer on in the background of my mother’s telly when I go visit her.And queuing for his Gyles Brandreth Can’t Stop Talking! show (he really can’t) at Assembly George Square it was ladies of a certain age, and a...

Dozens of comedians have joined together in Edinburgh to pay a special tribute to a tragic stand up in a daily show that has become one of the most popular performances on the Fringe.Stars from the world of comedy including Frank Skinner, Dara Ó...

Jack Docherty takes us back to Edinburgh in the 1970s to Carrick Knowe and “love across the divide” with the subject of his unrequited affection Eleanor. In many ways, David Bowie became a passport to another world. Doherty weaves the cataclysmic effect that Ziggy...

What happens when an Action Hero walks into a small sound booth by themselves, alone on a dark stage? That’s what audiences can find out over six performances starting on 22 August when Summerhall hosts a collaboration between the Action Hero partnership and Deborah...

A self-love story that will break your heart and put it back together again...and again...and again.Breakup Addict is an inspirational solo show that follows the deeply personal story of a woman who loses herself in love and enlists the support of a recovery programme...

Three huge tongues – resin sculptures – lie on custom-made steel plinths. The tip of one points up, another points down.Their shiny, red, gelatinous surfaces are like jellyfish. We want to look inside them, to see what lies beneath, but we won’t. The...

The team of writer Joshua King and Jasmin Gleeson, the founders of Moon Rabbit theatre company, return to this year’s Fringe with another well-crafted and mesmerising one-woman show Victorine.Last year’s The Poetical Life of Philomena McGuinness told the poignant diaspora story of...