Fringe 2023

Last Stand at Honey HillFour StarsLIZ Cotton’s Last Stand on Honey Hill really grew on us. When she started, we thought this was going to be an hour of songs in the style of Pam Ayres meets Jake Thackery.But as it progressed, her style,...

PHYSICAL Theatre is easier said than done. Sophie Kean produces an outstanding performance inhabiting the stage and the story and immersing the audience in a story of survival.TheatreGoose's debut show, Her Green Hell, follows the incredible double survival story of Juliane Koepcke.After surviving a...

When I was a student, many years ago, I saw an amateur dramatisation of Susie Orbach’s groundbreaking book Fat is a Feminist Issue.I felt so seen that I still remember it now. Back then, eating disorders were seen as a woman’s problem, one...

Alan Turing: A Musical Biography***** StarsWith well over three thousand performances on at the Edinburgh Fringe it is quite a feat for a show like Alan Turing being performed at before midday to sell out.It may well be simply because it is was such...

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...

Ever wanted to know how to cook Bangkok Thai street food or pad Thai and Thai dumplings? Or, what about red curry or panang or a green curry?Well, these are some of the dishes that you can learn with an Edinburgh-based masterchef during the...

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...

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...

A one-man show about Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was one of the first mountaineers to successfully conquer Everest on his seventh attempt.‘Tomorrow is a big day. Our first attempt to reach the summit. That was our plan, but mountains have...

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...

It's time to get out the bunting as the multi award winning poet celebrates 25 years on the literary frontline.In this year of coronations and joy what better time to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Luke Wright’s service to verse?However, thwarted in his attempts...

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 -...

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician, computer scientist and cryptanalyst.His work at Bletchley Park during World War Two is credited with having shortened the war by at least two years and saved the lives of 14 million people.In 1954, at the age of...

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...

As I write my copy for August, I’m coming out the other side having contracted Covid-19 for the third time, which has rather put a dampener on my social excursions but here’s what’s on my radar for new openings and happenings this month.Foodies Festival,...

In composer-librettist Scott Eyerly’s new comedy opera My Life Online we meet Kay (Sarah Minns), an American woman who’s not left her apartment for a year. As she announces in her very first song, she’s‘Living my life online.’For why should she do her exercise...

Tom Robinson shot to fame in the late 1970s when the (‘modestly named’) Tom Robinson Band had hits with 2-4-6-8 Motorway and Glad to Be Gay.Over 40 years later he’s still going strong, still performing and now also broadcasting on BBC Radio 6. Three...

Tech misadventures, train strikes and thinking that an asparagus is an island off the coast of Greece, a Yorkshire stand-up shines in this Athens of the North performanceStand-up tag team Beth Fox and pub-running Oli Burkill invite punters to sit back and laugh at...

A charming, funny and moving multimedia story of intergenerational shame, family secrets and history is set for a full run at Summerhall on this year's Edinburgh Fringe.At 19, whilst studying film, Victor found his long-lost great aunt Marcelle in Rome. She had moved from...

Geraldine Hickey is a popular comedian in Australia, where she won the best show award at the 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Not yet a household name but a talented comic who has put in the work over many years and whose star is...

There are more guns in America than people. A fascinating but sobering fact brought out in this play about gun violence in America.Lives change in the blink of an eye, but the fallout can continue long after shots are fired. 17 Minutes follows a community left...

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...

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...

Arts collective KlangHaus are set to return to the Fringe with a new show deconstructing the conventions of live music – this time in a in a unique domestic settingA few years back the original KlangHaus created a sensation in Summerhall’s Small Animal Hospital,...

A clown show that has delighted adults and children from Mexico to China begins its international farewell tour at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.Brotipo, by Quebec-based multiple international award-winners Les Foutoukours, is a laughter-filled celebration of life, friendship and the joy of being together.It’s also...

The play Arthur Miller would write after getting kicked in the head by a horseDeath of a Salesman. Our Town. A Streetcar Named Desire. And now, Bad Play. American sketch comedy group Big Tobacco has set out to write the next great American drama,...

The internationally acclaimed Indian dance company Lok Chhanda returns to the Fringe this year presenting "Sufiana, - The World Spiritual Love" performing from 16-20 August at 3pm at C-Venue Aurora. The Indian dance group from Delhi who sold out their 2018 presentation, are back this...

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....

The Royal Mile becomes a gathering point for street performers and performers trying to increase their audiences by handing out flyers and offering a snapshot of their shows. It is always busy and can be a lot of fun.All photos Alan Simpson Photography10/08/2023...

Poetry is an important part of Scottish heritage and the Grand Slam Final promises to be a festival highlight.It will combine fist-thumping music with rib-tickling and also reflective poetry.I Am Loud Productions are officially partnering with Edinburgh International Book Festival for the Loud...