An Invitation...

An Invitation...

Bodies are awkward, difficult things. 

Near Gone

Near Gone

This award-winning devised piece from Two Destination Language clearly deserves its second festival run. 

She Loves Me

She Loves Me

“Good morning, good day!” So begins the best classic musical you’ve never heard of. 

Champagne Tutored Tasting

Champagne Tutored Tasting

If the idea of tasting various French champagnes at an extremely shiny table in a marble Georgian library sounds appealing, well, here you go. 

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

This particular Earnest is a serious comedy by very young people. 

Rumours

Rumours

Neil Simon’s comedies are wonderful, but quite a few of them have aged badly. 

Kava Girls

Kava Girls

You really, really want to like this little musical. 

Dinner is Swerved

Dinner is Swerved

Dinner is Swerved starts at 11:30 pm, so it isn’t really dinner — more like a midnight snack. 

Speech Sucks: The Future Signs

Speech Sucks: The Future Signs

In all the noise and bustle of Edinburgh during August, this was a refreshing and quiet event. 

Hamlet and Ophelia Go Swimming

Hamlet and Ophelia Go Swimming

This show has an attractive title and a premise brimming with potential: a series of scenes between Hamlet and Ophelia in the years prior to the events of Hamlet, combined with dia… 

The Virtuous Burglar

The Virtuous Burglar

Farce is easy to laugh at and difficult to perform. 

Anything Goes

Anything Goes

KD Theatre’s Anything Goes is cheerfully cheesy, well-done Cole Porter in an hour and a half. 

Dim Diolch

Dim Diolch

Words of warning: this production is entirely in Welsh (the title means “No thank you”). 

Conversations with Boring, Ugly People

Conversations with Boring, Ugly People

A decent show is worth the price of a ticket and a bad show isn’t, but in the case of Conversations with Boring, Ugly People, I’d pay good money not to have to watch this exerc… 

Oleanna

Oleanna

This production of David Mamet’s play Oleanna is almost unwatchable, which is to say it’s excellent. 

Eggs Collective Get A Round

Eggs Collective Get A Round

Like many Free Fringe shows, this one is hard to categorize. 

Marijan

Marijan

There are some excellent one-woman shows out there, but this one doesn’t have much to offer. 

Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions

Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions

Charles Dickens’ works adapt beautifully into one-man/-woman shows. 

Chalk About

Chalk About

Performers Christine Devaney and Hendrik Lebon polled a group of children on what they’d like to see in a show. 

Dazzle Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition and Paul Furneaux Japanese Woodcut Prints

Dazzle Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition and Paul Furneaux Japanese Woodcut Prints

The centrally-located art gallery, Dovecot Studios, has provided a lovely break from the madness of fringe with its current offering of exhibitions. 

The Hollywood Ten

The Hollywood Ten

Hats off to 8pB Theatre Company’s extremely young cast. 

I'm Thinking of Leaving Facebook

I'm Thinking of Leaving Facebook

It’s a rare thing when the venue is more intriguing than the performance. 

Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning

This new one-man show from South African theatre company Hello Elephant is by turns heartfelt, amusing, and pleasantly evocative of a morning run through Johannesburg. 

Siddhartha, the Musical

Siddhartha, the Musical

You’ve probably seen the posters featuring a half-naked man covered in oil- exactly what Herman Hesse had in mind when he wrote his classic philosophical novel. 

Liz Lochhead: Somethings Old, Somethings New

Liz Lochhead: Somethings Old, Somethings New

Liz Lochhead’s solo spoken word show at Assembly Rooms opens with songs from Joni Mitchell’s delicately moody album ‘Blue’ on the sound system; appropriate not only for her… 

Back to the Hills!

Back to the Hills!

Danny O’Brien is genial stand-up, although the standard for geniality in comedians is pretty low. 

The Post Show

The Post Show

We’ve all been there—the post-show discussion that goes on for too long or goes nowhere at all. 

The Duchess of Malfi

The Duchess of Malfi

For a minute, I thought I’d walked into a puppet theatre version of The Duchess of Malfi. 

Beijing Cake

Beijing Cake

Some cakes are just disappointing and better left unmade. 

Return to the Forbidden Planet

Return to the Forbidden Planet

People like Star Trek. 

Entertaining Mr Orton

Entertaining Mr Orton

Entertaining Mr. 

The Story of Little Dombey

The Story of Little Dombey

What with the recent Les Miserables fever, everyone has been fussing over Victor Hugo and ignoring that other cheerful scribe of poverty and dying children - our very own Charles J… 

Kafka’s A Report to an Academy

Kafka’s A Report to an Academy

Warning: this show opens with a man middle-aged man clad only briefs. 

A  Funny Valentine

A Funny Valentine

American jazz with a Scottish accent? Well, why not? Go sample this strange but still palatable cultural fusion in the basement of the Valvona and Crolla café. 

The Trilogy

The Trilogy

The Improsarios pride themselves on doing improv that’s not just comedic. 

Masters of Drip

Masters of Drip

Two good things: this show is free and the Masters of Drip, Michael Friederich and Gavin Rankin, don’t seem to have dripped anything on their immaculately clean white shirts. 

Godspell

Godspell

I appreciated Forth Children’s Theatre’s stunning production of this mess of New Testament musical. 

Running With the Firm

Running With the Firm

From the title, I thought this show might be like Glengarry Glenn Ross with more jogging. 

After What Comes Before

After What Comes Before

After What Comes Before is a Dr. 

Bonk!

Bonk!

During a sex scene in the film Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character announces from beneath the sheets, ‘This is the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing. 

The Hat, The Cane, The Moustache

The Hat, The Cane, The Moustache

Don’t worry, this is indeed a show about Charlie Chaplin. 

Next Door

Next Door

Outstanding Danish and Finnish comedy duo Ivan Hansen and Pekka Raikkonen look like two schoolteachers. 

Made for Each Other

Made for Each Other

Fred Astaire singing ‘Night and Day’ is a good way to start anything. 

The Road to Qatar!

The Road to Qatar!

If you’re going to offend, you’d better do it using a massive chorus, a few good tap numbers and a rousing finale. 

The Boy Who Lost Christmas

The Boy Who Lost Christmas

The Boy Who Lost Christmas, by The Young Actors Company/Engineerium, is an absolutely lovely piece of children’s theatre. 

Juliet: A Dialogue About Love

Juliet: A Dialogue About Love

The image of Shakespeare’s Juliet, awakening from her sleeping draught to gaze upon her dead lover, is unforgettable. 

A Body to Die[t] for

A Body to Die[t] for

If musical theatre was a sandwich, plot would be the pickle artfully placed on the side of the plate. 

The Cow Play

The Cow Play

The Cow Play is a trivial comedy about serious things. 

Two Tired for Shakespeare? Try the Handlebards Energetic Cycling Performances

Two Tired for Shakespeare? Try the Handlebards Energetic Cycling Performances

It’s been 400 years since William Shakespeare shuffled off to wherever he is now, and the Fringe guide is filled with his plays—possibly even more productions than usual, which... 

The Richard Alger and Tina Kronis Extended Interview

The Richard Alger and Tina Kronis Extended Interview

Award-winning company Theatre Movement Bazaar, (Anton’s Uncles, Track 3), returns to this year’s Fringe with their new show Hot Cat, an inspired take on Tennessee Williams’ C...