Fringe 2023

Edinburgh musician Paul Chamberlain and his duo partner Michael Haywood are looking forward to making their return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a concert on Friday 11 August.Last year, Paul received a life-saving heart transplant at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle which he...

A Scots schoolgirl singer who wowed judges on TV's The Voice Kids UK is performing in TWO shows on the Fringe.Elyssa Tait, 13, reached the finale of the hit ITV show last month after stunning judges Pixie Lott, Will.i.am, Ronan Keating and Danny Jones...

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...

In Alison Skilbeck’s Uncommon Ground we are introduced to seven characters, all of whom frequent an unnamed common every day during the Covid lockdowns. Skilbeck portrays each of the characters – female and male – with the help of just a few props. She’s...

One Night With Marilyn, The Voodoo Rooms, FringeThere’s a lot of audience participation in a cabaret and variety style show that brings Monroe’s bubbly fun to life.When she asks the audience how many husbands Monroe (she) had, one super-fan answers “three” with aplomb....

A Bloody DelightSad-Vents is not a play about making its audience feel comfortable. And maybe that’s exactly why you ought to see this tragicomedy dripping with talent this Fringe. As audiences arrive at the Underbelly’s Jersey space, the actor begins with a disclaimer of the graphic...

YOU just never know where and when you will find a gem. Up on The Lawnmarket on Riddles Court, a audience packed out the space for this show.They were well rewarded with, what it says on the title. From the Wild West to...

Saskia Solomons's highly stylised show about money is very much a performance in need of an audience.Dressed in a golden body-hugging tunic, designed by the Italian tailor Antoinetta Gambino, with a bodice containing a distended belly, and sporting a burgundy-coloured dressing gown and a...

It's a festival within a festival. This Sunday, 6 August, harp player Karen Marshalsay takes part in the celebration of Scottish music organised by Soundhouse at the Rose Theatre in Rose Street.Karen will be giving her three Scottish Harps presentation, which involves the gut-strung...

New York-based puppeteers Andy Manjuck and Dorothy James bring their wordless tragicomedy Bill’s 44th to the Edinburgh Fringe, in association with Underbelly.This introspective puppet show explores physical and emotional seclusion, a concept that carries added weight following the pandemic, in a tender and hilarious party that...

The Iron Lady speaks to us from the past.Eight men charge onto the stage, roaring, shouting, chanting; ‘Coal not dole’, ‘The miners united will never be defeated.’ Their physical presence is powerful and threatening; their fury palpable.‘I will never negotiate with people who use...

In Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra the titular heroes are undone by love. Anthony can’t keep away from Cleopatra, and she is so besotted that when she hears he’s dead, she grabs an asp and kills herself with it.Love is the theme, and never...

Here are some suggestions for you at theSpace UK (which is really Surgeons Hall by another name).This is the tip of the iceberg as there are more than 360 shows at this venue with lots of new writing and new companies.www.thespaceuk.comThere is...

What does it mean to be a man in the 21st century? How does toxic masculinity affect those of us assigned male at birth? Here are some answers in a solo musical written and performed by transgender artist Rebecca McGlynn"What’s so great about sex, and why...

Bricklayer Stuart Alexander has been playing a part in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe after swapping his spirit level for a guitar.The West Lothian brickie who used to perform in local venues in the late ‘80s, turned back the clock to hit the stage as...

Bobbie Viney’s here from Australia to talk about ghosting. Ghosting is what happens when someone with whom you thought you had a relationship suddenly stops communicating. You can text/message them all you like, you won’t get anything back.Or in Bobbie’s own words:‘A pretty f***ing...

In 1563 the Witchcraft Act became law in Scotland. From the 16th to the 18th centuries between 4,000 and 6,000 people were tried on charges of witchcraft. Over three-quarters of these were women.Of the 1,500 found ‘guilty’, the majority were garrotted; their bodies...

If music rocks your socks then you might want to slip on your blue suede shoes and walk ‘n’ roll to Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits Music Walking Tour.Led by The Scotsman’s lead rock and pop reviewer Fiona Shepherd, these 90 minute walking tours take...

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...

A young Scottish actor has landed the starring role in a new play to be presented at te Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Abby McCann will star in Looking for Giants, a funny, perplexing and seductive one-woman show that follows one girl's quest for self-discovery.Following two sold...

The Fringe is often criticised for the dominance of stand-up comedy and a sense that much of it is trivial. In contrast, Marlon Solomon's updated Conspiracy Theory: A Lizard's Tale deals with one of the most serious challenges we face; the rise and mainstreaming...

Mad or just angry – she’s certainly alone. Jazz icon Zelda Fitzgerald is locked up in a mental hospital and has just hours to live. Award-winning actress Catherine D. DuBord and Texan director Lydia Mackay will premiere their new version of The Last Flapper by William Luce...

Simon Thacker and Piah Dance Company present Tandava as part of the Made in Scotland showcase in a World Premiere.The Edinburgh Festival Fringe includes shows from around the world which make the pilgrimage to the world's biggest arts festival. One of these is Tandava,...

The veteran Fringe performer Attila the Stockbroker (John Baine)  has launched a broadside against the contemporary Fringe.The punk poet and multi-instrumentalist musician believes that it's time to 'reclaim the Fringe'.In a piece 'Edinburgh: a Tale of Two Cities' (reproduced below -...

RuPaul stars Baga Chipz and Anita Wigl'it pose at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh as they begin their Fringe shows at Gilded Balloon. Baga Chipz and Anita Wigl'it performed at a one-off Drag Brunch at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh, in the midst of their run at Gilded Balloon...

At the Pleasure Dome, in the heart of Bristo Square sit four suited women.And they’re all very sorry. Taking a collection of real-life conversations and interviews with male-presenting individuals, Spindrift Theatre offer audiences one of the most beautiful pieces of contemporary theatre you...

This engaging show manifested many aspects of the PBH Free Fringe.Taking place every morning (at 9.30am), this show features a panel of Fringe performers discussing politics and is chaired by either Harun Musho'd or Chris O'Neill - two prominent figures in the PBH Free...

In Modern Witches, a woman in the midst of a sapphic relationship crisis finds her ground thanks to the spirits and witches in her life, resulting in a surprise visit from Virginia Woolf’s ghost.Lesbian actor Kate struggles to create a self-tape audition as Virginia...

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...

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...