Just a head’s up that this newsletter is going to be very fringe-centric for the next few weeks, with normal service being resumed in September. You have been warned. Oh and for the two people who asked if there will be a fringe poem this year, there definitely will. It should appear on Exeunt shortly….
‘Tis the season of the list. The weeks leading up to the Edinburgh Fringe are full of them, with everyone sharing their picks and tips and recs, critics digesting and regurgitating the fringe programme for your benefit. These lists tend to favour companies that have a track record or, equally likely, a slick PR operation behind them. If you’re a fringe first timer, it must be galling seeing the same names crop up again and again.
Picking a handful of shows sight-unseen also feels very much antithetical to the spirit of the fringe but, at the same time, the fringe is a beast of a festival, the programme daunting. There are more than 3600 shows at this year’s fringe. If you do a blank search of the fringe website, the total currently sits at 4146 – which is insane. And that’s not including the Edinburgh International Festival, which this year has a much stronger programme. Mario Banushi, Jaha Koo, Dan Daw, Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué, Geoff Sobelle, a massive international coproduction from Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy, plus the inevitable Ivo van Hove, with his mammoth Angels in America. My fringe spreadsheet is starting to scare me.
All of which is preamble to my list of fringe picks. The Stage has already published its big list or recommendations, however below is a far more personal list of the things that have piqued my interest or have otherwise got me excited.
Badgers, Traverse, times vary, 6-30 August
The new piece by playwright Malaika Kegode, creator of the acclaimed Outlier, frames itself as a folk tale. A coproduction between Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Royal Plymouth, the show, about a podcaster who stumbles onto something weird, features music by Jakabol and is one of the more intriguing offerings in this year’s Traverse programme.
Kirsty Mann: Corpse, Summerhall, 6-30 August
Having already scooped a significant award at the Adelaide Fringe, writer and performer Kirsty Mann returns with a show billed as a “real-life ghost story”. Drawing on her double life as a comedian and a doctor, as she did in earlier show Skeletons, a stand-out in 2023, her new piece – according to the Aussie reviews – balances storytelling skill with real scares. As someone fascinated in how you do spooky/scary stuff on stage, this is completely in my wheelhouse.
We Had Fun, Summerhall, 6-30 August
The messy romcom is a favourite genre of mine and its sounds like this one is messier than most. Telling the story of two friends reeling from a drunken sexual encounter, Emmeline Hartley and Jack Mullings’ play explores their conflicting versions of events. Directed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, of Six the Musical fame, it sounds like it’s willing to wade into some morally murky waters.
Gameplay, Pleasance Dome, 5-31 August
The Carmen Collective’s Lessons on Revolution was a favourite of mine from the 2024 fringe, an exploration of the LSE student occupation of the 1960s that elegantly wove together the personal and the political. Their new show sounds similarly documentary-inspired – it tells the story of Vasili Arkhipov, the Soviet naval officer who refused to fire a nuclear weapon during the Cuban Missile Crisis – but with a new aural element supplied by sound artist AJ Turner. They are also appears to trolling Quentin Letts which is something of which I approve.
Prophets, Assembly Roxy, 5-31 August
I don’t know Scottish playwright Jack MacGregor’s work but a mate who does is very excited about this one. Plus, the premise – a Scottish researcher travels to a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific and finds it under the control of a growing religious cult – sounds very Wicker Man-y and therefor completely up my street.
EVITA TOO, Zoo Southside, 7-30 August
Despite being a massive fan of Sh!t Theatre – What’s Left of Us absolutely floored me – I have yet to see their show about Isabel Perón, who became President of Argentina following her husband’s death. I even interviewed them about it back in the Evening Standard way back in 2022, and then still somehow went on to miss every opportunity to see it. Evita Too has enjoyed runs at Soho Theatre in 2022 followed by a stint at the Southbank Centre in 2025. By all accounts a different beast now than when they started performing it, I’m looking forward to finally catching it.
Yes Person, Assembly Roxy, 25-31 August
No fringe is complete without a serving of batshit and this offering by Euro clown company Based on Kimberly seems to fit the bill. Described as a show of “killed ideas,” I have absolutely no clue what to expect of it or them but the trailer pressed several of my buttons.
Book of Shadows, Underbelly Cowgate, 5-30 August
My recent chat with Malmö Dockteater about The World is Full of Married Men has made my reconsider my somewhat ambivalent stance on puppets, so I am very curious about the prospect of this occult mystery told via shadow puppetry and performed by the Japanese company behind previous fringe hit Space Hippo.
Welcome to the Dollhouse: Malmö Dockteater’s The World is Full of Married Men
Derek Mitchell: Work in Progress, Summerhall, 6-30 August
I wandered into Derek Mitchell’s solo show Goblin last year despairing at the fact that emo nostalgia was somehow now a thing and ended up being totally wrongfooted in the best way by a deliciously off-kilter piece about an emotionally abusive relationship. (Here’s my review). Mitchell was also the highpoint of queer parenting three-hander Baby in the Mirror. His video sketches about the cross-cultural experience of living in the Netherlands are fucking hilarious so I am excited to see this collection of new characters.
Man or Bear, Summerhall, 6-30 August
Inspired by the viral debate about what a woman would most rather encounter alone in the woods: a man or a bear – and the sidelining of the character of the murdered girl in Netflix hit Adolescence – this compelling new play by Sarah Hehir is about three women living with the ever-present low background hum of male violence. Directed by Ursula Martinez, the production attempts to steer the conversation away from the perpetrators. Cards on the table, Sarah is a good friend, but also an excellent writer. I saw an early sharing of this show at Stanley Arts in Croydon and, even in its unfinished state, its impact was considerable. Really strong, resonant new writing.
The Plot, Summerhall, 6-30 August
Emma Howlett and her company theatregoose return to the fringe following last year’s hit Aether with what looks like being another typically layered piece about gunpowder, treason and, well, you know. Judging from the blurb it will be as much a piece about the act of writing stories as it is about attempted regicide – the power of the pen.
The Subplot: A Hyperfixation on the Titan Submersible, Summerhall, 6-30 August
The story of the Titan sub implosion was a grimly fascinating one. Like many people I ended up spending way too much time reading about how a group of people met their ends deep in the ocean in a fibreglass loo roll piloted by a games console controller. Sophie Smyth’s show, however, sounds like it’s as much about what happened to the Titan as about the neurodivergent brain and our capacity to fixate on certain stories, the allure of the deep dive, basically.
The Last Drop, Zoo Playground, 7-30 August
Housing horror is another sub-sub-genre I’m interested in (and like most people have personally experienced) so this piece by Brazil’s Manás Theatre Lab, part of the São Paulo Showcase, looks worth investigating. Featuring mysterious leaks, spreading stains, and things hidden behind walls, it feels potentially very resonant – and another example of how this year’s Zoo programme is particularly strong.
WE ARE IAN, Pleasance Courtyard, 14-16 August
I think I may have mentioned once or twice that I am a fan of In Bed with My Brother? Philosophy of the World was one of my top shows of last year’s fringe, so I am obviously psyched that they are bringing back their early banger about getting off your face in Manchester – as told by Ian – for three nights only. There’s more info on the show and its background in this interview from last year, which fittingly was conducted in the most chaotic way imaginable, under the Summerhall Tannoy.
Brilliant or shit: In Bed with My Brother’s Philosophy of the World
Andrew Doherty: Reviewers Welcome…TO DIE!, Pleasance Courtyard, 5-30 August
The Guardian compared Andrew Doherty’s 2024 show Gay Witch Sex Cult – which spliced gender reveal parties with the occult – to Garth Marenghi. Which is very high praise indeed. The former comedy partner of Ambika Mod, Doherty’s new comedy horror is set at a fringe festival – not this fringe festival – has a clueless reviewer as its protagonist and a title that’s catnip for all the masochistic reviewers out there (i.e. most of them).
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