Completing the Trilogy that begun with Genius 2.
Frankie is doing some shows at the Leicester Square Theatre and Museum of Comedy to try out some brand new jokes.
Frankie is doing some shows at the Leicester Square Theatre and Museum of Comedy to try out some brand new jokes.
Frankie is doing some shows at the Leicester Square Theatre and Museum of Comedy to try out some brand new jokes.
In 2018, Simon’s father performed a play about his imminent death to cancer and, to Simon’s horror, it was quite good.
Following a sold-out, award-winning run at the Fringe last year, the People’s Princess is back! Do you know the story of Diana? Probably.
A rollercoaster ride through modern and post-modern musicals, rock opera, epics, jukebox theatre and the latest hit shows.
A journey through the golden age of musical theatre.
For one night only, the Taskmaster NZ star and Lorde’s favourite Kiwi musician (‘That was really nice of her’ – Paul) plays the hits at this year’s Fringe.
16 year-old Sean Parker has never known his Dad and wants to change that.
A Stallion’s misadventures: a playboy’s politically incorrect romp –ah, the tale of a young playboy whose antics were as wild as a nearly untamed stallion! This dashing fellow’s …
Ave Maria: Centuries of Prayer and Praise.
After three consecutive sold-out runs, Paul Black returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a brand-new hour.
Simon Leach will perform the First Partita and English Suite, composed by J S Bach, for solo harpsichord. Simon will perform on a 1973 Michael Johnson harpsichord.
The true story of Isabella MacDuff and Mary Bruce, condemned to hang in cages for all to see and abuse, a warning to any who would defy Longshanks.
Moscow 2001.
Star of Taskmaster, Ghosts, and Stath Lets Flats, Kiell Smith-Bynoe brings his unmissable improvised comedy show back to the Fringe for one week only! Featuring the very best impro…
Paul makes fun of the French and they love it.
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
TS Eliot’s poem Ash Wednesday is widely regarded as a work of great spiritual depth.
Each summer, young Jamie comes to the same spot on the same beach and speaks with a mysterious figure – the king of a magical realm far, far away.
Presented by Rockology Productions Australia, this is a rockumentary showcasing Janice Smithers fronting a world-class band performing the hits of superstar Janis Joplin whilst gui…
Returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Czech fusion guitarist and composer Honza Kourimsky blends the music of Eric Clapton with high-energy jazz, funk and soul.
The story revolves around A-êng, a young boy who lives in Hêng-Chhun and strongly desires to eat a chicken leg.
From its earliest known existence pre-1700s through to the golden age of 18th-century masters Niel Gow and William Marshall, onto the 19th century and beyond, the fiddle in Scotlan…
Fresh from their residency at London’s iconic Comedy Store, Fringe favourites Paul Merton and Suki Webster, two of the UK’s leading improvisers, bring their highly anticipated bran…
Soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper delve into the emotive landscapes of the late Romantic era.
The Spatz Trio return with part two of their award-winning tribute. Hit songs, and the wonderful stories behind them. Musically polished, fascinating, nostalgic.
Hot Chocolate in Old Saint Paul’s: an evening of classical music by candlelight, accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate.
Martin Atkins is the definition of entrepreneurial activity in cultural arts endeavours.
Performance poet/musician Attila the Stockbroker has been writing and performing since 1980: 4,000 or so gigs in 25 countries so far.
A coincidence or an act of a god? Are the children who created a god as a game truly responsible for the unexplained events unfolding around them? Ten years after their last plea, …
Start each morning with this curated variety showcase, featuring the very best solo shows at the Fringe! Rotating daily line-ups include storytelling, theatre, clown, cabaret, spok…
His crowdwork videos have consistently gone viral all over social media (@PhilipsComedy) so join this award-winning MC and comedian for a hilarious mix of brand-new jokes and witty…
Two robo-clones, born of a mad professor and separated by family and class, must find a way to love where all odds are against them.
The incredible story of middle-aged homeless alcoholic, Myra, living rough on the streets of Dublin.
Journey through these two remarkable intertwined careers.
Hannah Richards returns to Edinburgh with the award-winning Night Owl Band to tell the story of one of music’s most iconic artists.
It’s like confession without the guilt.
A Bee Story is a uniquely Australian physical theatre show for children and families incorporating a kaleidoscope of circus, acrobatics, dance and live music.
A high-octane trip through the music of one of the architects of the Punk/New Wave movement.
Making its UK debut, a celebration of the 100 million record-selling giants of music.
Journey through the life and music of the 150 million record-selling Piano Man in this uplifting show.
Alfred North Whitehead characterised the European philosophical tradition as ‘a series of footnotes to Plato’.
After two consecutive sold-out runs, the celebration of the 120 million album-selling supergroup returns to Fringe.
Boiler Room Six tells the impossible true survival story of Titanic stoker Frederick Barrett.
The awe-inspiring journey of one of the all-time musical greats delivered by one of the UK’s finest Angus Munro and Night Owl Shows.
Thor Stenhaug is a Norwegian comedian based in the UK.
Simon shares his new stand-up hour.
‘It was my nemesis, I hated Croydon with a real vengeance.
Ring-a-ding-ding, you’ve got the King! Master of the crowd and slave to the laugh, Kyle Legacy is back with more riffs and less hair.
A tale of comedy, Covid, cancer and some complete and utter c*nts! Four years ago Simon went through a break up and decided to try comedy.
The tales of the dragons are special for many reasons.
We all know the fairy tales and their immortal final line: happily ever after… But that isn’t real life.
Hey, this is Paul’s show.
Emmy-nominated actress, Naomi Grossman made a name for herself as Pepper on American Horror Story, the fan-favourite and first crossover character.
Humans have started developing a genetically modified onion that doesn’t make you cry when you cut it.
The star of Taskmaster New Zealand returns to the Edinburgh Fringe for the third time after sell-out shows in Melbourne, New Zealand and London.
Abby awoke in hospital after a late miscarriage and, high on anaesthesia, decided to become a comedian.
Indo-Kiwo-Ausso comedian Runi Talwar (writer for Hypothetical) presents the incredible story of a guy who once heard someone say ‘get your name out there’ and took it too seriously…
TEET makes a welcome return after its 2021 debut (during the weird quiet post-Covid Fringe).
When his mother was diagnosed with cancer, Ricky was faced with a question: Is now the right time to come out? After rave reviews at Edinburgh Fringe 2023, Ricky Sim returns with t…
Improv legends Racing Minds return to Edinburgh for their 11th year of unscripted escapades! A doddery grandfather can’t quite remember his ripping yarn, but with your help, a myst…
The Guardian’s Top 50 shows to see! Jillian is back at the Fringe with her yoga mat and blender after a hit premiere at last year’s Fringe and subsequent sell-out runs in New York …
Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of The Lion King with this Film in Concert spectacular.
Hourglass tells the story of Lady Caroline Braithwaite who enters the suffrage movement blind to the pitfalls that lie ahead, with Cordelia, her daughter, following in her footstep…
One King. One Kingdom. And literally no time to rule. Based on historical events, House of the Onion debuts the untold story of the world’s shortest reigning monarch.
Better get your tickets quick because this is going to be one big hit once word gets around.
King John - Terrible King, Even Worse Play? Well, that’s not the view of Rendered Retina theatre company who, in their own words, have cut two hours, added plenty of songs, and t…
On 26 May 2024, Rob Madge should have been performing on Broadway.
BBC Popcorn Award Nominee Abigail Paul, a “transformative talent” who “lights up the stage” (★★★★★, Theatre Weekly), dives into her sophomore solo show Miss Communication…
Seeing the word ‘immersive’ before ‘theatre’ will make as many people run for the hills as to the box office.
Naughty Ever After has been ruining childhood memories at festivals around the world since 2017 .
Comedic powerhouse Stephen Catling (Finalist for Stand-up Nights 2019 and semi-finalist in South-coast New Comedian, Chortle Student Comedian, and Get Up Stand-up 2022) brings you …
Following 7 different sell out shows over the past 10 years the puppets are back for one last year at The Brunswick, to celebrate their unique brand of silliness, songs, mess, magi…
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Two robo-clones are born of a mad professor and split up at birth.
Out of the swirling maelstrom he steps, his sword of jokes, his shield of whimsy and his armour made of a third amusing thing.
Out of the swirling maelstrom he steps, his sword of jokes, his shield of whimsy and his armour made of a third amusing thing.
Multi-award-winning writer/performer Paul Richards returns with a radical percussion-led comedy about the perils of turning middle age and suddenly doubting absolutely everything.
Do you ever experience the feeling of missing out? Brighton Fringe makes you confused – where to go, what to choose with so many options? Other people might be having more fun? S…
Paul and Laura are nice, kind and funny people who make work about tiny details, joy and finding light in the smallest of places.
Figment Arts will be sharing the folklore, heritage and history of Sussex this May in association with Artist Open Houses.
You don’t get many second chances in life.
Before Tom Cruise, Cary Grant or Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks was the King Of Hollywood! Now virtually forgotten, Doug was a remarkable actor and gifted visionary.
Standing ovations, once reserved to acknowledge only the highest calibre of performance, are now part of the theatre routine.
In the same way that, for many, Destiny’s Child is Beyonce, the Brontë Sisters is (are?) Charlotte (Jane Eyre).
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The Longest Running and most listened to Glasgow Rangers podcast presents a live recording with ex Rangers Legend Paul Gascoigne in his first London Glasgow Rangers show…
The Longest Running and most listened to Glasgow Rangers podcast presents a live recording with ex Rangers Legend Paul Gascoigne in his first London Glasgow Rangers show…
‘One of the all time great British stand-ups’ (Stewart Lee) performs a truly unique stand-up show.
‘One of the all time great British stand-ups’ (Stewart Lee) performs a truly unique stand-up show.
The longest running Tottenham Hotspur Podcast presents a live recording with Spurs and England Legend Paul Gascoigne in his first West End show in many years.
The longest running Tottenham Hotspur Podcast presents a live recording with Spurs and England Legend Paul Gascoigne in his first West End show in many years.
Simon Munnery performs a truly unique stand-up show.
Simon Munnery performs a truly unique stand-up show.
As a title, there’s something intriguing about Dear Octopus, now playing the National Theatre’s Lyttelton stage.
It’s taken a hell of a time to get here, but finally, Hell has arrived in London’s West End.
It’s rare to see an original musical open in the West End.
Danny Sapani (Misfits, Killing Eve, Black Panther, the National Theatre’s Medea) is King Lear in this intricate, striking production directed by Yaël Farber.
Before digital TV made it a thing, “watching on catch-up” used to mean spending your Sunday afternoon in front of the EastEnders omnibus.
Has the National Theatre put the Lyttelton on Airbnb? In October, we had the city-break-length two-week run of Alexander Zeldin’s The Confessions (quite long enough, in my opinio…
Helen George, best known as Trixie in the hit BBC One series Call The Midwife, will star as Anna Leonowens.
Looking out at you from the poster for the National Theatre’s latest version of Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, Harriet Walter cuts an imperious figure.
The human brain doesn’t allow us to remember pain.
GOLDA is the remarkable true story of Jewish Ukrainian musician, Golda Amirova, who fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The Edinburgh Fringe sensation transfers to the Bush for its first London run.
The America’s Got Talent winner is back with a brand-new comedy show for 2023.
The America’s Got Talent winner is back with a brand-new comedy show for 2023.
The Offie-nominated Five Star hit show is finally coming to Ireland after sold out shows across the UK!Do you know the story of Diana? Probably.
A fatal car crash, generational genocide, and child mortality.
Written and directed by “l’auteur du naturalisme”, Alexander Zeldin, The Confessions feels like a too-small show on a too-big stage.
The play’s excessively long title has a folktale ring to it and with only limited knowledge of Balkan history sounds like a work of comic fantasy.
Set on the streets of Dublin and described by many as a devastating yet heartfelt piece of theatre, Myra’s Story follows Myra, a homeless woman who awakes in a hostel in Dubl…
The ever-flexible performance space at the Playground Theatre is once more transformed with great imagination, this time to accommodate the double bill of Rena Brannan’s Artefact…
Paul Smith is back with a brand new tour! ‘Joker’ is his biggest and funniest tour show to date in which the scouse funny man mixes his trade mark audience i…
In October 2022, theatre impresario Nica Burns opened @sohoplace, the first new theatre to be built in London's West End for 50 years.
Charismatic Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel takes to the podium for an odyssey through his country’s folk roots, followed by Mahler’s spectacular First Symphony.
An exclusive event for members and supporters of Edinburgh International Festival.
Niki King is an award-winning singer, songwriter and producer.
In Something To Take Off The Edge, Errol McGlashan delivers a gripping one-man show taking audiences on a visceral journey into the world of a high-security prison.
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony brings together intense drama and captivating lyricism in its joyful musical celebration of friendship and solidarity.
Set in Paris, during the Olympic Games of 1924, we see the struggles Eric Liddell faces in staying true to his principles.
Acclaimed Canadian comedian J Murphy has been on some very strange dates.
Listen to iconic recorded pieces from the orchestra’s journey through Venezuela’s social action music programme, El Sistema.
Exceptional young musicians from the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela come together for a chamber concert in the relaxed setting of The Hub.
Star of Taskmaster, Ghosts and Stath Lets Flats, Kiell Smith-Bynoe hosts a late-night improv show featuring the best improvisers at the Fringe.
Duruflé Requiem: Life and Death in Music with Poetry.
Xu Xin, Ma Long, Ray Badran, Jan-Ove Waldner, Mark Silcox, Fan Zhendong.
After a huge UK tour, Sara brings her Success Story to the Fringe for one night only.
Michael Dillon, Mary Read, Bayard Rustin, Vesta Tilley, Hatshepsut.
Michael Dillon, Mary Read, Bayard Rustin, Vesta Tilley, Hatshepsut.
World-class entertainer Brown returns from his five-star musical A Man, A Magic, A Music presenting a dazzling journey through Sam Cooke’s life: The King of Soul Music.
The music of Simon Bradley is infused by his Donegal roots, the vibrant music scene of 1990s Edinburgh and a career playing fiddle with Asturian stalwarts Llan De Cubel.
King Herod, famed for his Massacre of the Innocents, now leads a self-development pyramid scheme.
In the Steps of the Master: Jesus and Landscape.
Let’s face it, you need a very big man to follow Elvis Presley, and Paul Francis certainly is! Standing at an impressive 6’ 5”, ladies would describe him as a ‘hunk of burning love…
Rising to the Life Immortal: Organ Music for Easter and Ascension.
The critically acclaimed Fringe 2022 smash hit returns to Edinburgh for two final shows.
From his years as the visionary in Simon and Garfunkel through to his many solo hits, journey through one of the greatest back catalogues of all time.
Do you ever experience the feeling of missing out? The Fringe confuses you – where to go, what to choose? Worry not! After a sold out BlundaGarden show A Divination in 2022, Dr K…
Finally, a Family Meeting in the UK.
THE STORY OF IRELAND LIVE is an abridged narrated history of the Emerald Isle through music, poetry and song with a talented cast of live actor musicians.
THE STORY OF IRELAND LIVE is an abridged narrated history of the Emerald Isle through music, poetry and song with a talented cast of live actor musicians.
Social media star Paul Black returns to the Fringe this year with his new stand-up show, Nostalgia, a look back into his childhood as a gay wee boy growing up in Glasgow as the son…
Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote some of the finest songs for a golden age of musical theatre.
Andy Williams was one of the world’s greatest light music entertainers and, in celebration of his legacy, Paul performs many of Andy’s biggest hits.
In a thrilling, last-minute addition, Simon Amstell will return to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in six years to perform a late-night show of new stand-up material for a …
Paul Merton’s infamous Impro Chums return to the Fringe after a four year hiatus and is warmly welcomed by the Pleasance Grand’s 750 seat capacity bursting at the seams.
Celebrating two musical icons, paying homage to their hits, both in melody and lyrics. Musically polished, relaxing, informative. Pure nostalgia.
Ace in the Whole is a hilarious show by comedian Paul Connell.
How did a Jewish immigrant to London’s East End end up as a General in the Chinese army and become “Two Gun” Cohen? This incredible true story is recounted by Cohen from his cell i…
Story of two friends who find themselves facing extreme climate events.
Immrama were ancient voyage tales, allegories of our journey through life.
A tale about life, loss and love after the well-known happily-ever-after.
Join Alex, the astounding magician on his quest for magic and the existential meaning, again.
Rise up against your neurotypical overlords! ‘One of my favourite comics’ (Frankie Boyle).
A fun cabaret, stories and songs intertwined about the romance, or not, of travel.
For casual Blondie fans, it might be easy to forget how many hits the genre defying band have had over the decades.
Cleopatra Higgins gives a fierce performance in The Whitney Houston Story, along with her band, Higgins sings Whitney Houston’s most recognisable hits while exploring Whitney Hou…
The amazing, strange-but-true story behind the weird stuff advertised in vintage American comics.
How to build a story – for everyone! Want to be the best storyteller you know? Come and join the Story Builders! You’ll learn the secrets of every great story and together we’ll …
In their final year, a group of friends at a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands are all waiting to be told off for their various antics.
The Aretha Franklin Story is back at Edinburgh Fringe by popular demand, with Cleopatra Higgins of 90s girl group sensation Cleopatra, returning with the Night Owl band to take you…
A nostalgic celebration of the 120 million album-selling supergroup.
By the end of 1928, all three Fail sisters will be dead: expiring in reverse order, youngest to oldest, from blunt object to the head, disappearance, and finally consumption.
Brand-new, non-verbal immersive comedy show, created by award-winning Belfast comedian and clownarchist, Paul Currie.
Hannah Richards returns to Edinburgh with the award-winning Night Owl band to tell the story of one of music’s most iconic artists.
Childhood tales of flying boats inspired Brian to travel the world.
A Bee Story is a uniquely Australian physical theatre show for children and families incorporating a kaleidoscope of circus, acrobatics, dance and live music.
Night Owl Shows delivers a worthy and memorable spectacle with The Billy Joel Story that sees the talented troupe of Angus Munro on piano and vocals, Daniel Watts on drums, Alex Be…
As comedian Stephen Catling ambles onto stage, clad in a novelty dog head, it's apparent that we're sitting in an absurdist comedy show.
The Northern Irish comic is back with a brand new show.
Wonderfully absurd stand-up from a fool’s thinking man.
There is secret connection among all of us.
All jokes.
Olivier and triple Fringe First-winning Fishamble’s KING, by Herald Archangel winner Pat Kinevane, tells the story of Luther, a man from Cork named in honour of his Granny Bee Ba…
The whole family knew he was a good dad.
Scotland’s greatest bands/artists can often disappear under the title of UK artists.
If you still chuckle at those Twilight memes making fun of Kristen Stewart’s awkward portrayal of Bella Stark, or harbour some nostalgia for the immortal (and problematic) YA ser…
This nostalgic journey through the lives and careers of music legends Carole King and James Taylor is a masterpiece.
A lot has happened to Ross since last year’s Fringe.
The ‘storytelling genius’ ***** (Scotsman) returns with a greatest hits compilation featuring the best and funniest stories and routines from her best Fringe shows.
Acclaimed Canadian comedian J Murphy has been on some very strange dates.
In Greek mythology, the Muses were the daughters of Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, by her nephew, Zeus.
Life is a stress: full of rushed breakfasts, angry people, internal conflict, and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Two comedians.
24 different award-winning or nominated comedians perform their full shows, recorded for Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube. See FringeSpecials.com for listings.
Drag Queen Story Hour: the theatrical experience is here! (Oh no they aren’t?) Oh yes they are! What do you get when you cross fabulously inclusive stories and fabulously dressed d…
Using William Blake’s poem (B-side to the English national anthem) and The Fall’s take on it as a springboard, I endeavour to serve up satire, comedy and poetry with one eye on the…
There’s a new king in town, and his name is Angus Coutts.
With such an emotionally heavy title as An Asian Queer Story: Coming Out to Dead People, I was a little worried what to expect from this comedy show.
Join that gorgeous stand-up Simon Jay with a brand-new hour of comedy.
In a desert of hot flushes – refreshing repartee from award-winning, climacteric comedian.
Palermo is clear about his sexual experiences and reminiscences of his teenage years in Rome, where he honed the art of picking up tourists and getting laid.
After a three year hiatus, Tom Skelton, Daniel Roberts, Chris Turner and Dougie Walker return to the Edinburgh Fringe with their critically-acclaimed improv show, Aaaand Now For So…
Following a complete sell-out, extended national tour, star of global hit Live Innit, Taskmaster and the first British-Asian stand-up to sell-out London’s Wembley Arena returns to …
Do you know the story of Diana? Probably.
This is a brilliant show.
Acclaimed comedian, daytime TV star and global TikTok sensation, Paul Sinha is at least two of these.
Bulgaria just told Hitler to f*ck off, saved nearly 50,000 Jewish lives.
Simon Brodkin’s Xavier follows the rule that you should never judge a book by its cover.
Simon David brings Dead Dad Show to the Fringe this year and it is insane, an absolute piss-take, but also very emotional.
Trotting down Memory Lane with feline steps in the wee small hours of the morning with the moon lingering, one of Hong Kong’s most iconic dancers and choreographers and her felin…
Experience the raw reality of prison life in “Something To Take Off The Edge,” a powerful one-man show Tragi-comedy written and performed by Spoken Word Artist & Actor, Errol McGla…
When Rufus Norris recently announced he was stepping down as director of the National Theatre, some struggled to summarise his legacy.
Experience the raw reality of prison life in “Something To Take Off The Edge,” a powerful one-man show Tragi-comedy written and performed by Spoken Word Artist & Actor, Errol McGla…
‘This Girl’ tells the story of Cynthia Powell, a shy student from Hoylake, who fell in love with a young musician called John when they met at Liverpool Art College in 1957.
Wonderfully offbeat stand-up comedy from one of the UK circuit’s most distinctive and uniquely talented comedians.
‘This Girl’ tells the story of Cynthia Powell, a shy student from Hoylake, who fell in love with a young musician called John when they met at Liverpool Art College in 1957.
Wonderfully absurd stand-up from a fool’s thinking man.
Uair den t-saoghal is beag fios a bha aig mòran dhaoine air beul-aithris na Gàidhlig taobh a-muigh na Gàidhealtachd fhèin.
A musical about the life of Cynthia Lennon, who married the Beatles’ John Lennon.
The whole family knew he was a good dad.
Join the award-winning comedian Alasdair Beckett-King on a ramshackle jaunt through a multiverse of wonders.
From The Lego Movie to Love Island, entertainment isn’t entertainment unless it’s ‘meta’.
Join the award-winning comedian Alasdair Beckett-King on a ramshackle jaunt through a multiverse of wonders.
The one and only King Tafari Love Muzic Sound System bring the Island feels with their authentic sound system.
Fresh from a critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Vault Festival ‘Mohan A Partition Story returns to Brighton as part of its farewell tour.
The one and only King Tafari Love Muzic Sound System bring the Island feels with their authentic sound system.
Fresh from his sold-out, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run and becoming the most viewed British comedian of all time on TikTok, world-famous prankster and Lee Ne…
Fresh from his sold-out, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run and becoming the most viewed British comedian of all time on TikTok, world-famous prankster and Lee Ne…
Fresh from his sold-out, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run and becoming the most-viewed British comedian of all time on TikTok, world-famous prankster and Lee Nelson creato…
Pioneers of Signdance theatre, Signdance Collective (SDC), bring their new street theatre production to Brighton Fringe.
International award-winning signdance pioneers, Signdance Collective, return to Brighton Fringe with their “creatively brilliant, inclusively cool street theatre” (AMI Awards & Int…
Take a nostalgic journey from Dolly’s humble beginnings in the Smoky Mountains to her arrival as ‘Queen of Country’.
Take a nostalgic journey from Dolly’s humble beginnings in the Smoky Mountains to her arrival as ‘Queen of Country’.
Venue B hosts a monthly sell out gig of local young up and coming bands and DJs.
Venue B hosts a monthly sell out gig of local young up and coming bands and DJs.
In a desert of hot flushes – refreshing repartee, rants and banter from award- winning, climacteric comedian.
In a desert of hot flushes – refreshing repartee, rants and banter from award- winning, climacteric comedian.
Award-winning comedian Lara A King brings her unique brand of clever observational comedy, uplifting melodies and lyrical wordsmithery, to her spiritual home of Brighton with this …
In 2018, Simon’s late father performed a one man show about his imminent death to cancer.
Who Let Him In? Paul Merryck re-emerges from the Essex Swamplands with a new show telling a lot of stupid jokes and daft short stories, tenuously held together by the narrative th…
Who Let Him In? Paul Merryck re-emerges from the Essex Swamplands with a new show telling a lot of stupid jokes and daft short stories, tenuously held together by the narrative th…
Fresh from a critically acclaimed and extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ‘Mohan, A Partition Story’ by renowned storyteller Niall Moorjani, returns to London.
In this dynamic and interactive workshop, you will learn the art of massage, and the beauty of bodywork.
In this dynamic and interactive workshop, you will learn the art of massage, and the beauty of bodywork.
‘Ace in the Whole’ is a hilarious show by comedian Paul Connell.
Direct from a sell out worldwide tour and standing ovations at every performance, The Simon & Garfunkel Story arrives at The London Palladium! Using huge projection photos and …
‘Ace in the Whole’ is a hilarious show by comedian Paul Connell.
Comedic powerhouse Stephen Catling (Finalist for Stand-up Nights 2019 and semi-finalist in South-coast New Comedian, Chortle Student Comedian, and Get Up Stand-up 2022) brings you …
A work in progress show from Joe Wells.
A work in progress show from Joe Wells.
World-class acclaimed entertainer Movin’ Melvin Brown is back in Brighton with his smash hit soulful Musical ‘Me and Otis’.
Following a complete sell-out 2021 tour and 2022 extension, star of Taskmaster and global smash hit ‘Live Innit’, Paul Chowdhry brings his hit show ‘Fa…
Award-winning supernatural thriller 2.
The friendship between Carole King and James Taylor played a vital part in both of their incredible careers.
The friendship between James Taylor and Carole King played a vital part in both of their incredible careers.
It’s 1936.
It’s 1936.
In 1964, acting legends Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton both wanted to “give their Hamlet”.
There’s a growing dark cloud above the Rosenberg house.
There’s a growing dark cloud above the Rosenberg house.
The current production of Joe DiPietro’s F**king Men at Waterloo East Theatre is an updated version of his original 2009 script that successfully takes note of developments on th…
The hit play F**king Men returns to London this Spring for a strictly limited engagement.
The National Theatre continues its support of new writing at the Dorfman with Dixon and Daughters: an emotional play dealing with the far-reaching effects of historic child abuse.
Paul Black's brand new show 'Nostalgia' follows on from the Glasgow-born comedian's debut Edinburgh Fringe run, which sold out in minutes.
Dancing at Lughnasa is easily Brian Friel’s most widely known play thanks to the 1998 film version that starred Meryl Streep.
Stag King is a performance lecture / drag show about personhood, productivity and what happens when your role is made redundant.
What’s the only thing proven to change the world? That’s right: issue-led fringe theatre.
Ira Sylvester in his first one-man show takes to the stage to deliver an auto-biographically generated story of his journey where he tries to delve into where one of mixed-heritage…
Paul Smith is back with a brand new tour! ‘Joker’ is his biggest and funniest tour show to date in which the scouse funny man mixes his trade mark audience i…
Paul Smith is back with a brand new tour! ‘Joker’ is his biggest and funniest tour show to date in which the scouse funny man mixes his trade mark audience i…
Tamina was from Pakistan but living in London’s Notting Hill area during the 1950s, in the times before the decriminalisation of homosexuality came in 1967.
Kelly wants change.
Fresh from a critically acclaimed and extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ‘Mohan, A Partition Story’ returns to London.
“I’ve been mugged three times and arrested once.
“I’ve been mugged three times and arrested once.
King Herod, famed for his Massacre of the Innocents, is now the face of a self-development pyramid scheme.
“I’ve been mugged three times and arrested once.
“I’ve been mugged three times and arrested once.
“Blindness isn’t sexy.
You may assume a play with the title Romeo and Julie, that is billed as a “modern love story inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet”, would include elements recognisabl…
The Greatest Story Ever CastThe Devil is in the detail You Who!Knock knock: who's really there? The Greatest Story Ever Cast - Frank Notions Mary is auditionin…
Unless it has the sophistication of a Sondheim, or the renown and heritage of a Rodgers and Hammerstein, it’s rare to see a musical on a National Theatre stage.
Bonjour, bitch! Gorgeous girlie and monolingual comedian Simon David (“A hoot” - The Guardian) hosts a joyful 5 hour, cabaret spectacular featuring the best burlesque, drag, D…
Serena Flynn, as seen on BBC Comedy and at Soho Theatre, and Morag Davies Productions present Lizard King.
You don’t need to know the story of Phaedra to recognise its origins as Greek mythology.
Wonderfully offbeat stand-up comedy from one of the UK circuit’s most distinctive and uniquely talented comedians.
Earth is a story of a little boy Drop who dreams of travelling to space.
The World’s Premier show in celebration of DIANA ROSS and THE SUPREMES.
The World’s Premier show in celebration of DIANA ROSS and THE SUPREMES.
The West End theatre event of the year will return for a fifth season by popular demand.
Heads up all you wannabe drag kings scattered all over the globe - we are kicking off the Year Of the King by bringing back our most popular online workshop, Drag King 101 with Dor…
Many years ago, I employed Fay Ripley to do a voiceover for a TV ad.
When you’re a child, Christmas is all about that one big day.
Do you need to know a play before you see a play?The question came to mind at the opening of what we’re told is a “landmark production” of Othello, now playing at the Nationa…
For the first time in London, Paul Mirabel presents “Zebre” “Terribly funny” Telerama “The new sensation” Le Parisien
The royal affair that is Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, is the most unhinged piece of theatre in existence.
If you have a spare hour, thirty quid, and can travel to London’s West End, I urge you to get a ticket for My Son’s a Queer (but what can you do?).
A note on the back cover of Peter Gill’s latest play, Something in the Air, at Jermyn Street Theatre, claims that the stories of the two old protagonists “flow like mist down t…
Due to huge popular demand, after his first tour-de-force, smash hit, sell out tours with ‘My Life Story’, Suggs is treading the boards again.
A compelling, humorous and emotion-filled solo show, written and performed by Mark Stratford, which charts the life and times of William Charles Macready, one of the greatest actor…
Are dreams supposed to be ambitions we strive to realise? Or simply ideals meant to be unattainable, existing to help us get through our mundane everyday lives?This seems to be the…
It’s rare for a play’s allegory to be as widely known as its actual story.
Join a ritual performance around Bosnian coffee-reading to both slow down time and look to the near future.
As seen on Taskmaster (Channel 4), Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC Two), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Sky) and his critically acclaimed series Hate Thy Neighbor for Vice, Jamali …
10 years of war have ended.
A Kung Fu contemporary circus made in Hong Kong.
Tim performs songs he composed for Frederick McKinnon’s musical about Captain James Cook, and tells the story of the 18th-century explorer.
In Every Corner Sing: The Choir of Old St Paul’s with Director of Music John Kitchen MBE, Edinburgh City Organist.
King Herod, famed for his Massacre of the Innocents, is now the face of a self-development pyramid scheme.
Perrier Award-winning comedy legend Simon Fanshawe is returning to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in decades with the live show based on his book, The Power Of Difference.
Cutting Edge Theatre: Hope Rises.
Paul Brown Sings Andy Williams is a solo acoustic concert showcasing many of Andy Williams’ greatest hits.
A Kung Fu contemporary circus made in Hong Kong.
How to build a story – for everyone! Want to be the best storyteller you know? Come and join the Story Builders! You’ll learn the secrets of every great story and together we’ll …
Take songs that stop conversations, a voice that could stop wars and a fiddle that stops at nothing, and you have the icon Elsa McTaggart.
Does for politics, religion and philosophy what Simon Evans Goes to Market (BBC Radio 4) did for economics – makes it fresh, compelling and funny.
Immrama: Columba’s Journey, Your Story.
Mind reader Mason King returns to the Edinburgh Fringe for another journey into the inner depths of your mind! In this brand new mind reading, magic and mentalism show, Mason invit…
Sacred Arts Festival 2022 Opening Service High Mass for the Feast of the Assumption, celebrated in accordance with the Scottish Liturgy of 1970 in the beautiful setting of the hist…
A celebration of the life and songs of one of the most influential performers and humanitarians of the 1970s.
Born in the UK to Bengali doctors, the early 1990s saw Paul qualify as a doctor and take his first steps on the stand-up comedy circuit.
The songwriting genius of Neil and his writing partners will go down in history as one of the most successful of all time.
The West End theatre event of the year will return this summer by popular demand.
Out of the swirling maelstrom he steps, his sword of jokes, his shield of whimsy and his armour made of a third amusing thing.
The America’s Got Talent winner brings his latest smash-hit show to Edinburgh for the first time.
Time to relax and listen to classical music in this beautiful historic church.
On April 3rd 1968, Martin famously gave a speech that was a premonition of his own death.
Billy Parva is the greatest man who ever lived.
Billy Parva is the greatest man who ever lived.
Veteran singer/songwriter/keyboardist Charlie Wood takes you on a live listening tour through the rich musical history of his hometown, performing songs by WC Handy, BB King, Otis …
Making its debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, up-and-coming Czech jazz fusion guitarist Honza Kourimsky blends the music of Eric Clapton with high-energy psychedelic jazz.
Paul Richards literally can’t stop drumming; he’s performed all over the world, from huge gigs in China to grotty working men’s clubs, posh corporate gigs to the whole of the UK to…
‘Elsa is one of these very few people with a distinctive enough voice to do the music and songs of Eva Cassidy justice’ ***** (Tom King, Southside Advertiser).
Mary O’Connell is conflicted: she hates capitalism but she loves to shop.
Gecko’s playful story-songs will take you on a journey via ignored characters in Italian renaissance paintings, pig outlaws and tooth fairy admin.
Paul Savage wanted to do a fun, silly show but shows about trauma win awards.
A simple concept: Peter reading on his usual park bench is approached by Jerry, a bizarre young man full of questions and stories.
Nostalgic journey from Dolly’s humble beginnings to becoming Queen of Country.
‘Five stars are not enough to do it justice!’ ***** (Daily Mail).
Playwright, composer, actor, singer; Noël Coward defined and shaped the 20th century.
Variety died on the 11th of March 2018, the day Ken Dodd died.
Sammy, an artist with a love of music, has a dark secret.
Starring CJ de Mooi (Eggheads), Banana Crabtree Simon is an intimate and emotionally honest journey of one man’s struggle with early onset dementia.
Multi award-winning show taking you through the life and music of the record-breaking superstar, from humble beginnings in Nutbush to her crowning as Queen of Rock’n’Roll.
Multi award-winning show taking you on a journey through the life and music of Aretha Franklin, the most-charted female of the 21st century, with high-energy versions of Think, Nat…
Following standing ovations and raucous singalongs worldwide, The Nashville Story returns, taking you on a tour through time in Music City.
Scotland’s greatest bands/artists can often disappear under the title of UK artists.
Scottish singer-songwriter and leading acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Simon Kempston has toured the world performing his highly original, contemporary acoustic folk/blues songs and…
Pasty-white, loved a round of golf and a bevy, locked in a bitter dispute between Catholics and Protestants, had an adorable wee Skye Terrier dog, married three times, implicated i…
Incredible songwriter and entertainer, Neil Diamond has wooed the world with 38 singles in the top 10, and 10 number one hits! Timeless classics that are as relevant today as they …
Critically acclaimed as one of the greatest tribute shows in the world, Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years has toured extensively in the UK, Europe, Australia and USA for over 10 …
A nostalgic celebration of the 120 million album-selling supergroup.
A nostalgic journey through the lives and careers of two music legends in this international sell-out show.
Father-son stand-up comics Paul and Paul wish life was more like television and they had the power to rewrite and recast the characters in their lives.
Sharlin Jahan (BBC 4’s The Now Show, BBC Essex Radio) is a Bangladeshi, British, Canadian Comedian.
Writer and performer Paul Black brings his theatre show Self-Care Era to the Fringe for the first time.
It’s four years since George Steeves brought his Magic 8 Ball show to Edinburgh, winning the heart and mind of at least this reviewer with such an honest, bold theatrical collage…
Tired of the goose? Swan Power is here.
Paul Sinha is probably best known as one of Bradley Walsh’s TV team of ‘Chasers’: a characterful crew of six champion quizzers whose aim is to stop four plucky hopefuls getti…
The continuing story of PD’s perpetually interrupted life.
All Things Must Pass, they say.
Paul Simon is a name that has cemented itself into the ‘hearts and bones’ of audiences all over the world.
A brand-new show from the grand master of Dada nonsense that will endeavour to kick both the stigma of mental health and the patriarchy right in the non-binaries! Hold onto your re…
Fringe veteran Simon Munnery once more brings his eclectic mix of props, jokes, sketches, songs, poetry, and storytelling to the stage of The Stand with Trials and Tribulations.
Al Lubel talks about his name for fifty-six minutes and about something else for four minutes.
Disney villain.
A hilarious new stand-up show from the star of Live at the Apollo, Russell Howard’s Good News, Impractical Jokers UK and Stand Up Central.
A timely piece of theatre for 2022, which is the 75th anniversary of the Partition in India.
All of Us is an attack on welfare state reform.
Looking like an ethereally pale, and bearded, pre-Raphaelite muse, Alasdair Beckett-King cuts a striking onstage figure.
Join New Zealand’s fastest comedian (5km and 10km) for an enchanting afternoon In the Moonlight.
There’s anarchy in the monarchy as renowned swordsman and dumb hussy Don Rodolfo has risen from humble peasant to the highest seat in the land.
It’s a sticky situation.
There’s significant anger in One of Two; a sense of injustice felt by a young man whose experience of the not-so-subtle cruelties and discrimination endured by disabled people is…
World-famous prankster and Lee Nelson creator Simon Brodkin returns with a blistering new stand-up show ripping into his ADHD diagnosis, I’m A Celebrity rejection, barmitzvah humil…
With a plastic fork in hand (not a preference, all part of the show), the Crains Lecture Hall of Summerhall, a former home of learning for the students of the University of Edinbur…
According to The Stage’s recently departed Scotland editor, Thom Dibden, comedy first overtook theatre as the largest proportion of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s programme du…
‘Enter into a wacky world of sea monsters in high heels and angry mobs with tiny pitchforks’ (InDaily.
It must be a baker’s dozen years since Scottish author, playwright and performer Alan Bissett first introduced us to Moira Bell, his much-loved tribute to the hard-working, hard-…
As the crescendo of complaints and controversy was rising over the comedy circuit I was persuaded to abandon the safe confines of the theatre category and go in at the deep end, so…
Simon David belongs to the most toxic, self-destructive (and annoying!) demographic there is: the white gay.
Playwright/director James Ley first gained some attention as a co-producer and writer of Leith-based The Village Pub Theatre, which provided performing space to a fresh band of act…
Experience the best upcoming talent from the North of England as one cast stage two of Shakespeare’s least known plays… What comes to mind when you thi…
It’s Leigh’s 21st birthday, and they want nothing more than to just have a quiet night in.
It’s Leigh’s 21st birthday, and they want nothing more than to just have a quiet night in.
Simon & Garfunkel: Through the Years is the most authentic sounding concert to the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel.
Eccentric, scandalous, provocative, exuberant, and funny as ever, Jean Paul Gaultier is set to shake up London this summer when his stunning creation, Fashion Freak Show - 50 years…
Provocative, crude and iconic, Fat Rascal Theatre’s production of Unfortunate is nothing short of a showstopper.
Maverick comedian Fool F Taylor returns .
Maverick comedian Fool F Taylor returns .
Liverpool Fringe’s Best Original Play 2021.
Touring productions of West End musicals can often feel like a poor shadow of their original run as they usually require considerable downscaling to easily fit into a multitude of …
Porn is a form of entertainment that has always had mixed reactions, yet brings a lot of pleasure to many individuals.
Liverpool Fringe’s Best Original Play 2021.
What are you willing to do to become a legend? A porn actor performing his last record-breaking movie: a sex marathon with 100 women.
Simon Hall brings his manic energy and style to Brighton Fringe in his new show Simon Hall is Completely Fine.
Pioneers of Signdance theatre, Signdance Collective (SDC), bring their new street theatre production to Brighton Fringe.
This highly acclaimed production continues to captivate audiences across the UK with its spectacular celebration of the classic songbook that made The Carpenters a legen…
“Brilliant”, “amazing”, “fantastic”.
“Brilliant”, “amazing”, “fantastic”.
Simon David belongs to the most toxic, self-destructive (and annoying!) demographic there is: the white gay.
Simon David (“A hoot”, The Guardian) belongs to the most toxic, self-destructive and, frankly, annoying demographic there is: the white gay.
Serena Flynn (as seen on BBC Comedy, Soho Theatre) and Morag Davies Productions present ‘Lizard King’.
Sensational Brighton swingers The Soultastics are returning to Brighton Fringe 2022 with a brand new show celebrating the icon musician Louis Prima and his sidekick Keely Smith.
Rising star, Chloe Petts presents an hour of stand-up, including old bits, new bits and stuff she probably just made up on the spot.
Rising star, Chloe Petts presents an hour of stand-up, including old bits, new bits and stuff she probably just made up on the spot.
A work in progress show from award-winning stand-up comedian Alasdair Beckett-King (‘Mock the Week’).
A work in progress show from award-winning stand-up comedian Alasdair Beckett-King (‘Mock the Week’).
A timely piece of theatre for 2022 - the 75th anniversary of Partition in India.
A timely piece of theatre for 2022 - the 75th anniversary of Partition in India.
Come and enjoy a late night comedy and drinking session at The Caxton Arms with the legendary Essex life-coach, philosopher and comedian, Paul Merryck, and some of his boozier mate…
He’s survived another year and he’s back! For the fourth year running (he even did a show in 2020), it’s the Brighton Fringe gig that is fast becoming a very dodgy institution.
Guava Palava Arts present an award-winning comedy theatre show.
The sweet journey of an unlikely pear of lovers.
The friendship between James Taylor and Carole King played a vital part in both of their incredible careers.
We run comedy nights at this venue all year round but we have something special planned for the Fringe.
An avant-garde performance created from three elements: words, dance, and projection mapping.
An avant-garde performance created from three elements: words, dance, and projection mapping.
In 2017, David Eldridge’s play Beginning dramatised an awkward conversation between two white, financially comfortable, urban-dwelling, adult Gen X-ers, caught in that time of em…
As a title, The Corn is Green proves the old adage about books, covers and the perils of judging thereof.
THE STORY OF GUITAR HEROES“If you like music and guitars you will LOVE this show!”We all love a bit of guitar wielding in a song, it’s iconic, soulful …
Simon David invites YOU to the live recording of his horrible DEBUT ALBUM From tender ballads (Daddy I Wanna Dance & Shitting On A Dick) to crowd favourites (Straggot, Why…
You wait ages for one Hamlet to come along.
World-famous prankster and creator of the hugely popular Lee Nelson, is back on stage with TROUBLEMAKER, his sensational new stand-up show.
THE DIANA ROSS STORY The World’s Premier show in celebration of DIANA ROSS and THE SUPREMES Theatre audiences prepare to be taken on a spellbinding journey visi…
THE DIANA ROSS STORY The World’s Premier show in celebration of DIANA ROSS and THE SUPREMES Theatre audiences prepare to be taken on a spellbinding journey visi…
The multi-award winning comedian presents his brand new show.
Wuthering Heights.
Bart Lambert and Jack Reitman were joint winners of the OffWestEnd Award 2020 for Best Male Performance in a Musical for their roles in Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story at The…
Mark Gatiss (The Madness of George III, Dracula, The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who) stars in his own retelling of Dickens' classic winter ghost story.
Music from a special guest performer Established in 1989 by poet Theo Dorgan, Poetry Ireland’s Introductions Series offers exciting opportunities for talented, em…
This show was originally scheduled for 21 November 2020 The multi-award winning comedian presents his brand new show.
Simon & Garfunkel: Through the Years is the most authentic sounding concert to the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel.
There are few things worth travelling the length of the Jubilee Line for on a cold and wet rush-hour on a December night.
Ladies, Gaydies, Theydies, straight people who can take a joke Fashionista, and musical comedian, Simon David is back at The Glory trying out some horrible new songs LIVE! Fro…
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sep…
World-famous prankster and creator of the hugely popular Lee Nelson, is back on stage with TROUBLEMAKER, his sensational new stand-up show.
The multi-award winning comedian presents his brand new show.
Anything For Love – The Meat Loaf Story: It’s all about the music! Following his sell out 2019 national tour, the highly acclaimed Steve Steinman brings you …
Performing live on stage - Paul Middleton at 8pmTicket link
SIMPLY THE BREAST - Drag King Fundraiser The m*n, the myth, the legend, Jamie Fuxx, is undergoing some gender affirming surgery this October.
Rat King at The Hope Theatre, Islington, is a new production written and produced by Bram Davidovich for Kryptonite Theatre Company.
A lot has changed for Paul in recent years.
Pay Now Save Now: Save £3.
Capitalism has the city of Dollaropolis in its grasp, and only The Chosen One can extinguish its smog: Karl Kommufist, boy wonder! Can Karl, aided by his best friends Emily and Max…
Capitalism has the city of Dollaropolis in its grasp, and only The Chosen One can extinguish its smog: Karl Kommufist, boy wonder! Can Karl, aided by his best friends Emily and Max…
Capitalism has the city of Dollaropolis in its grasp, and only The Chosen One can extinguish its smog: Karl Kommufist, boy wonder! Can Karl, aided by his best friends Emily and Max…
Capitalism has the city of Dollaropolis in its grasp, and only The Chosen One can extinguish its smog: Karl Kommufist, boy wonder! Can Karl, aided by his best friends Emily and Max…
Something Funny’ comedy show with Scott McPherson.
Something Funny’ comedy show with Scott McPherson.
Something Funny’ comedy show with Scott McPherson.
Something Funny’ comedy show with Scott McPherson.
Simon Says is brought to you from the incredible mind of Simon.
Simon Says is brought to you from the incredible mind of Simon.
Simon Says is brought to you from the incredible mind of Simon.
Simon Says is brought to you from the incredible mind of Simon.
Simon Evans’ last show, Genius 2.
Using evocative imagery, video and narration to enhance the magic, Hello Again… takes you on a musical journey through Neil Diamond’s glittering 50 ye…
Dreamgun present their first film read that is intentionally for young audiences instead of accidentally for young audiences.
Simon David (A hoot - The Guardian) belongs to the most toxic, self-destructive and, frankly, annoying demographic there is: the white gay.
The whole family knew he was a good dad.
In 1982, Simon Callow wrote his first book: it was called Being An Actor, and it was his reckless attempt, after not even ten years of acting, to describe the physical, psychologic…
Find your place on the path to The Clapham Grand for our LION KING MOVIE NIGHT Weve already given you Mamma Mia, but were roaring back to full capacity Movie Nights here at T…
The Johnny Cash Story returns to Edinburgh Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the Man in Black.
With 21 convictions for 76 offenses, beginning at the age of 13, including arrests for stabbings, shootings and murder; losing an eye and being told he would never walk again, Marv…
Critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest tribute shows, Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years makes its return to the Edinburgh Fringe after selling out for six consecutiv…
Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and stand-up, Paul Dennis brings his music and comedy together for the first time.
This 5-star show takes you on a journey through time in Nashville to experience how music influenced the bible belt city and in turn how Music City influenced the world of music.
Directed by Christine Devaney and featuring an ensemble of Edinburgh-based performers, Field is an immersive, uplifting work that has Arthur’s Seat as its backdrop.
Paul Black's Fringe debut had a lot to live up to.
So far, Paul has lived his life content in the understanding that stability and emotional happiness were lovely ideas but not really for him.
Join ‘Selfish’ Creativity Workshop with poet Antonia King to to better understand yourself and events in your life!Workshop overviewSo, this workshop will be all about how to use w…
Nicola Benedetti performs a new multimedia concert, journeying through the musical history of the violin from Bach to the present day.
Simon Evans’ last show, Genius 2.
‘Better than Sex’ is a one-woman tantalising and timeless cabaret reflecting on the infamous 1930’s sex-symbol, Mae West.
‘Better than Sex’ is a one-woman tantalising and timeless cabaret reflecting on the infamous 1930’s sex-symbol, Mae West.
A stand-up comedy one woman theatre piece that casts light on how society, your partner and yourself cause a lot of difficulties in your relationship.
A stand-up comedy one woman theatre piece that casts light on how society, your partner and yourself cause a lot of difficulties in your relationship.
Come immerse yourself in the steamy hot waters of TEET as Paul Currie dissolves, froths and fizzes all around you.
In between lockdowns, two masked up American comics met at a Camden gig, bonding over their expat status and comedy.
In between lockdowns, two masked up American comics met at a Camden gig, bonding over their expat status and comedy.
In between lockdowns, two masked up American comics met at a Camden gig, bonding over their expat status and comedy.
After sell out shows at Fringes worldwide, this show returns to Edinburgh to take you on Dolly’s incredible journey from the Smoky Mountains to her arrival as the Queen of Countr…
The untold side to the story of Aladdin’s Jafar and how he went from a selfless royal advisor to a man desperate to make things right again…
‘Enter into a wacky world of sea monsters in high heels and angry mobs with tiny pitchforks’ (InDaily.
Take a nostalgic journey through the career and music of two award-winning legends in this internationally sold-out show.
Critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest tribute shows, Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years makes its return to the Edinburgh Fringe after selling out for six consecutiv…
Grumms doesn’t see themselves in the Barbies or GI Joes they play with.
King Richard the Lionheart is dead.
Lockdown Love Story is a UK-based comedy created by Alice Fforde and Charlie Dryden, highlighting the ups and downs of online dating during a pandemic.
You will need a group of 2-5 detectives, internet access on your phone, your brain and your legs! We’ll provide the specialist kit.
An avant-garde performance, created from three elements: words, dance, and projection mapping.
Through storytelling, poetry and illustration, this show transports you back to Westeros to narrate a different version of the Game of Thrones story.
A ninety-minute monologue about a homeless person? Embrace it.
An avant-garde performance, created from three elements: words, dance, and projection mapping.
Let’s get fabulous! An interactive and inclusive storytime like no other storytime you will ever be involved with! Are you sitting comfortably? Why? Get on your feet and let’s read…
Immrama were ancient voyage tales, allegories of our journey through life.
Journey through the life and music of this phenomenal record-breaking superstar from Tina’s beginnings in Nutbush, through to the crowning of the stadium-filling Queen Of Rock �…
Journey through the life and music of this phenomenal record-breaking superstar from Tina’s beginnings in Nutbush, through to the crowning of the stadium-filling Queen Of Rock �…
A question taken from the 2020 English Literature GCSE exam that never was.
Come and enjoy a late night comedy and drinking session at The Caxton Arms with the legendary Essex life-coach, philosopher and comedian, Paul Merryck, and some of his boozier mate…
Come and enjoy a late night comedy and drinking session at The Caxton Arms with the legendary Essex life-coach, philosopher and comedian, Paul Merryck, and some of his boozier mate…
Think it’s been a weird year? Meet The Lizard King.
Sara Segovia Rodao and Lachlan Werner are cuties by nature, cancers by astrological sign and clowns by trade.
Think it’s been a weird year? Meet The Lizard King.
“Elsa is one of these very few people with a distinctive enough voice to do the music and songs of Eva Cassidy justice ” ★★★★ (Southside Advertiser) “Blown away from sta…
“Elsa is one of these very few people with a distinctive enough voice to do the music and songs of Eva Cassidy justice ” ★★★★ (Southside Advertiser) “Blown away from start…
A personal performance of a woman’s struggle growing up in a man-made world.
King Henry VIII is ‘brought to life’ in this most dramatic of performances! In all his splendour and magnitude, the King, now in old age, recounts the events of his long life a…
After sell out shows at Brighton, Edinburgh, Perth and Adelaide Fringes, this show returns to Brighton to take you on Dolly’s incredible journey from the Smoky Mountains to her a…
After sell out shows at Brighton, Edinburgh, Perth and Adelaide Fringes, this show returns to Brighton to take you on Dolly’s incredible journey from the Smoky Mountains to her a…
King Henry VIII is ‘brought to life’ in this most dramatic of performances! In all his splendour and magnitude, the King, now in old age, recounts the events of his long life a…
Period music greets loyal subjects as they enter the Friends Meeting House to attend Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: An Audience with King Henry VIII, written and directed by John Wh…
In his debut Brighton Fringe show, Scott will interrogate everyday experiences with a comedy twist, including relationships, family and the current state of the UK.
In his debut Brighton Fringe show, Scott will interrogate everyday experiences with a comedy twist, including relationships, family and the current state of the UK.
In this new show, singer-songwriter Gary Edward Jones not only recites the music of one of his idols but also tells the unique story of Paul Simon combining visuals, stage design a…
In this new show, singer-songwriter Gary Edward Jones not only recites the music of one of his idols but also tells the unique story of Paul Simon combining visuals, stage design a…
Tl;dr: Two female comedians debut their 30 minute solo shows on one bill.
In between lockdowns, two masked up American comics met at a Camden gig, bonding over their expat status and comedy.
Politics, power and war drive much of our history, but what about those who drive world-changing events? How would one of the history’s greatest winners face the moment of his own …
Politics, power and war drive much of our history, but what about those who drive world-changing events? How would one of the history’s greatest winners face the moment of his own …
This compelling one-man show by Mark Stratford charts the life and times of William Charles Macready, one of the greatest actor-managers of the 19th Century.
Unless you have studied the history of theatre it's easy to imagine that performances on stage have always been very much as they are today.
Saturday 5th September, 7.
A trip to Story Corner is the perfect way start to your Fringe day.
Neo-classical electronic composer King Jamsheed brings together a year’s work.
Char Brockes and Jack O'Neill (Ava Cardo) brought the Rialto Theatre to life with their unique styles of drag and slapstick comedy, in order to explore the theme of Romantic Co…
Neo-classical electronic composer King Jamsheed brings together a year’s work in livestream.
Every little girl dreams of being special, but Ellie Rose doesn’t just dream – she knows she’s special.
Ellie is a schoolgirl with a very bright future ahead of her.
A journey into the broken heart of a young boy, who, through creativity, imagination, and determination, teaches us that the rehabilitation of things broken and discarded gets to i…
Simon David (“A hoot”, The Guardian) belongs to the most toxic, self-destructive and, frankly, annoying demographic there is: the white gay.
A journey into the broken heart of a young boy, who, through creativity, imagination, and determination, teaches us that the rehabilitation of things broken and discarded gets to i…
Armed only with a drum, a guitar, a knife and a chair, this irreverent, inventive and highly accessible one-man adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ is presented from the poin…
Armed only with a drum, a guitar, a knife and a chair, this irreverent, inventive and highly accessible one-man adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ is presented from the poin…
Show And Tell present SIMON MUNNERY: ALAN PARKER URBAN WARRIOR FAREWELL TOUR Multi award-winning comedian Simon Munnery reprises his notorious alter ego, the…
It was the feel-good film of the year - the unlikely story of how a Pakistani boy from Luton was inspired to change his life by the music of Bruce Springsteen.
After phenomenal sell out tours, Walk Right Back is.
Show And Tell present SIMON MUNNERY: ALAN PARKER URBAN WARRIOR FAREWELL TOUR Multi award-winning comedian Simon Munnery reprises his notorious alter ego, the…
Thursday 22nd October, 7.
Je m’appelle Paul, je suis Anglais et j’habite en France.
The Simon and Garfunkel Story (50th Anniversary Tour) Direct from a weeklong run in London’s West End at the Vaudeville Theatre, a SOLD OUT Worldwide tour and stan…
Chris, Lucy, Hervey and Mandy are stuck in a waiting room.
Chris, Lucy, Hervey and Mandy are stuck in a waiting room.
This event was rescheduled from Fri 01 May 2020 OFF THE KERB PRODUCTIONS PRESENTSPAUL McCAFFREY: LEMONAs seen on Live At The Apollo.
Simon & Garfunkel: Through the Years is the most authentic sounding concert to the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel.
Simon & Garfunkel: Through the Years is the most authentic sounding concert to the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel.
“There’s nothing quite like the magic of theatre…” A commonly heard, if somewhat meaningless assertion.
The multi-award winning comedian presents his brand new show.
The multi-award winning comedian presents his brand new show.
“Drama King” is a compelling new one-man show, written and performed by Mark Stratford, which tells the story of William Charles Macready, one of the greatest actor-managers of the…
Mama G is out of lockdown and on her way to Brighton with an array of fabulous frocks and stories about being who you are and loving who you want! There’ll be singing, laughter,…
An international sell-out show taking you on a nostalgic journey through the career and music of two legends.
Through storytelling poetry, this show transports you back to Westeros to narrate a different version of the Game of Thrones story.
Get started with writing that story you’ve always dreamed of telling in this interactive one-hour workshop.
The Neil Diamond Story follows the tale of the boy from Brooklyn through to becoming one of the most popular singer-songwriters of all time, selling over a million records worldwid…
This multi-award-winning show takes you on a journey through the incredible life and music of Aretha Franklin, the most charted female of the 21st century.
King Richard the Lionheart is dead.
Following sell-out runs in 2016, 2018 and 2019, mind reader Mason King returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his unique brand of entertainment! Having been a fan of time-th…
Multi-award-winning show taking you through the life and music of the record-breaking superstar, from her humble beginnings in Nutbush through to her crowning of the ‘Queen of Ro…
A celebration of the life and songs of one of the most influential performers and humanitarians of the 1970’s. Performed by ‘one of Scotland’s best singers’ (Tom Paxton).
Learn how archival material can inspire your next creative project in this live virtual event.
Paul Merton and his highly acclaimed Impro Chums are wonders of nature.
‘Simon Amstell has a gift for taking a social norm and gently mocking it until it seems utterly ridiculous’ (New York Times).
Following sell out shows and standing ovations at Edinburgh Fringe, ‘The Dolly Parton Story’ premiers at Brighton Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of …
This multi-award-winning show takes you on a journey through the incredible life and music of Aretha Franklin, the most charted female of the 21st century.
Multi-award-winning show taking you through the life and music of the record-breaking superstar, from her humble beginnings in Nutbush through to her crowning as the Queen of Rock’…
Banana Crabtree Simon.
After previous successful runs at Edinburgh, Adelaide and Brighton Fringe, follow Dolly’s incredible journey from the Smoky Mountains to her arrival as the Queen of Country.
Discover the stories of the musicians who have stayed, played and made music in Scotland’s capital city with these entertaining, guided walking tours.
Mama G is out of lockdown and on her way to Brighton with an array of fabulous frocks and stories about being who you are and loving who you want! There’ll be singing, laughter,…
Following countless sell-out shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2019, this five-star show takes you on a guided tour through Nashville so you can experience how Music City influenced the wo…
A blistering celebration of a legend who, in his short career, sold over 20 million records and redefined his instrument and genre.
UK premiere: from his years as the visionary in one of the most successful duos through to his many solo hits, travel through one of the greatest back catalogues of all time.
An international sell-out show taking you on a nostalgic journey through the career and music of these two legends.
Beowulf sets out to save the Danes, redefine heroism and crack some legendary jokes along the way.
A nostalgic celebration of Fleetwood Mac, who have sold over 120 million records.
Critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest tribute shows, Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years makes its return to the Edinburgh Fringe after selling-out for six consecutiv…
A hilarious new stand-up show from the star of Live at the Apollo, Russell Howard’s Good News, Impractical Jokers UK and Stand Up Central.
Tired of the goose? Swan Power is here.
Last year’s show, Dressing for Dinner, earned Evans some of the most ecstatic reviews of his career including an unbeaten 4.
Disney villain.
Are you sitting comfortably kids? It’s time for Drag Queen Story Hour – an interactive storytime like no other! Join in on the interactive fun with sing songs, stories and lots a…
Out of the swirling maelstrom he steps; his sword of jokes, his shield of whimsy and his armour made of a third amusing thing.
Written by King Joffrey himself (after recently executing his ghost writer Sam Went) Joffrey! The Story of Joffrey: A Pantomime tells the true story of Joffrey’s f…
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Je m’appelle Paul, je suis Anglais et j’habite en France.
A lot has changed for Paul in recent years.
Simon Evans’ last show, Genius 2.
Simon Evans’ last show, Genius 2.
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter,…
It was the feel-good film of the year - the unlikely story of how a Pakistani boy from Luton was inspired to change his life by the music of Bruce Springsteen.
It was the feel-good film of the year - the unlikely story of how a Pakistani boy from Luton was inspired to change his life by the music of Bruce Springsteen.
In 1996, Robert Lepage's initial production of The Seven Streams was far from critic-pleasing.
PAUL MERTON & SUKI WEBSTER’S IMPRO NIGHT Paul Merton and Suki Webster present a night of fast, and fabulously funny improvised games, scenes, stories and laug…
All the King's Men are a world-renowned, award-winning all-male a cappella group based in the heart of London.
All the King's Men are a world-renowned, award-winning all-male a cappella group based in the heart of London.
“It’s about us—together,” explain Jake Jarratt and Cameron Sharp, in their new play in which two drama students – straight “Jake”, gay “Cameron” – end up trying…
Join The Family Jewels for a full frontal night of comedy, song, and a disarmingly sexy exploration of gendered power.
Mrs Puntila and her Man Matti is that relatively rare thing for the Royal Lyceum Theatre—a star vehicle, rather than an ensemble production, that happens to have two audience fav…
Though we aren’t given the choice that may be implied by the inclusion of the subtitle in The Visit or The Old Lady Who Comes to Call, it is a play that uses juxtaposition as it …
Edinburgh’s Traverse has long-championed new drama—indeed, the venue’s self-description is the simple goal of being “Scotland’s new writing theatre”.
Multi award-winning comedian Simon Munnery reprises his notorious alter ego, the bedsit anarchist Alan Parker Urban Warrior.
Being in a gay relationship is not always a dance on roses (yes, that’s a Danish expression), especially if you used to be in straight relationships.
Don’t miss John Kani’s highly acclaimed play Kunene and the King marking the 25th anniversary of the end of apartheid with a strictly limited London run, following its …
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter,…
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter,…
Apprentice Angels are looking for a Shepherd, a Shepherd is searching for a lost Sheep and a disguised King is hunting for a very special baby.
The challenge in attempting to adapt Elena Ferrante's 10 million-selling quadrilogy, The Neapolitan Novels lies not in finding the time to read through the 1,600 pages of sourc…
PAUL MERTON & SUKI WEBSTER’S IMPRO NIGHT Paul Merton and Suki Webster present a night of fast, and fabulously funny improvised games, scenes, stories and laug…
Many Scots first experience of comics is likely to be two series published by Dundee-based D C Thomson in their long-running newspaper, The Sunday Post.
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter,…
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter,…
Steve Steinman brings you his brand-new production featuring Meat Loaf’s greatest hits with special guest star Lorraine Crosby, the female lead vocalist on Meat Lo…
He’s the man with the sunglasses and the black suit who delivered some of the world’s darkest and most emotional ballads, yet Texas-born Roy Orbison remains …
“We do not live in the back of beyond, we live in the very heart of beyond,” argues Roman Stornoway, a struggling musician and the central protagonist in Kevin MacNeil’s thea…
KING OF POP - THE LEGEND CONTINUES showcases the extraordinary talent of an impersonator who has performed for 28 years in over 350 international shows, 62 different cou…
From the producers of the West End hit shows 'Seven Drunken Nights - The Story of The Dubliners' and 'Walk Right Back - The Everly Brothers Story', t…
From the producers of the West End hit shows 'Seven Drunken Nights - The Story of The Dubliners' and 'Walk Right Back - The Everly Brothers Story', t…
I well remember when Jenni Fagan’s explosive debut, The Panopticon, first appeared in 2013.
Having this year reached the notable landmark of their 500th new production, the team behind the award-winning lunchtime theatre phenomenon that is “A Play, A Pie and a Pint” i…
Duration: Approx 2hrs 20mins Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Hank Marvin, Brian May and Slash are just some of the outstanding guitar heroes you will have chance to experien…
If, unlike me, you include politics, the public-school system or pub quizzing in your CV’s ‘Other Interests’ section, you’ll already know that Hansard is the name given to …
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme for Fringe participants.
After three hugely successful BBC series as Lee Nelson, multiple sell-out tours and various court appearances following world-famous stunts on Theresa May, Sepp Blatter, Donald Tru…
The creator of Freaks and Geeks and director of Bridesmaids brings his perspective on the global television and film landscape in this special one-off event.
This contemporary ballet choreographed by Helen and Emily Garner and Bryony Sullivan will take you on an emotional, yet uplifting journey, as these young performers sensitively po…
Cora is at the festival to see her ex-boyfriend perform.
Six strong Norwegian voices offering a cappella arrangements ranging from jazz, pop, Scandinavian folk music to classical pieces.
Vikings, giants and magic await you in this fun-packed historical adventure.
A solo, autobiographical performance by singer-songwriter Chiara Berardelli relating her experience of being childless-not-by-choice and her quest for being OK with that.
Traditional choral evensong and benediction with the renowned choir and organ of this historic Anglican Catholic church directed by Dr John Kitchen.
First-century Jerusalem and the political climate is a hotbed of corruption and civil unrest.
Elliot Wengler lives at home in a village in the middle of nowhere and is fine with that.
Following his first national tour in 2018, which saw him go from circuit act to one of the biggest selling names in UK stand-up in less than a year, Paul Smith returns w…
Misha Rachlevsky and the multi award-winning Russian String Orchestra return for seven special evening concerts, each totally different, showcasing major works from the 18th centur…
Journey across three southern states of the US and revel in the sweet sounds of Southern Soul.
Paul Merton and his highly acclaimed Impro Chums are wonders of nature.
A celebration of the life and songs of one of the most influential performers and humanitarians of the 1970s. Performed by ‘one of Scotland’s best singers’ (Tom Paxton).
Time to relax and listen to classical music in this beautiful historic church just off the Royal Mile.
Interactive story telling, plus an all day Riddling Competition! Mums, dads, teenagers, juniors and little ones over 5.
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church with renowned choir and organ directed by John Kitchen.
This story is based on Chinese traditional myth, Zhong Kui.
Whether it’s because Hollywood has force-fed us with them for decades, or simply because the concerns of teenage life are pretty universal across most of the Western world, we’…
I have absolutely nothing but admiration to the performers of Recirquel Company Budapest, given that some of their number must have spent their entire lives training their lean, mu…
Let's be honest here: I've never particularly liked clowns.
Paul Savage is no stranger to shame.
Paul Currie is bringing his sell out 2014/2015 award-winning masterpiece back to Edinburgh.
How to build a story – for everyone! Want to be the best storyteller you know? Come and join the Story Builders! You’ll learn the secrets of every great story and together we’ll …
Paul Zenon is one of the UK’s most beloved and sought-after magicians – a veteran of TV shows, corporate events, and high end cabaret, as well as becoming a regular guest on th…
Are you an overthinker? Then this is the comedy show for you.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has, for many years, produced and maintained a “Red List” of species which are either already extinct or in danger of bei…
Entertaining and informative guided walking tours that tell the stories of the musicians who have stayed, played and made music in Edinburgh.
Two used actors, recycled utensils, hand-carved Czech puppets, live music and you, the court, bring Shakespeare’s poetic drama of power and abdication to life.
What do you expect when you go to a holiday resort? Seaside memories, hearty dinners, relaxation and.
A portrayal of the life of Eva Cassidy.
Journey through the incredible life and music of the Queen of Soul – the most charted female of the 21st century! Featuring hit artist Cleopatra Higgins, as seen in West End hit …
Journey through the life and music of this phenomenal record-breaking superstar – the world’s only artist to have US top 40 hits in every decade since the 60s! Featuring hit ar…
Who is Analeise? I don’t know.
Take a journey through time in Nashville to experience how music influenced this Bible Belt city and in turn how Music City influenced the whole world.
Following two consecutive years of sell-outs and critical acclaim, the James Taylor and Joni Mitchell stories combine into one exciting show to take you on a journey through the in…
There are two challenges at the heart of Fox-tot!, a new work from composer Lliam Paterson and director Roxana Haines for Scottish Opera.
It’s the ruby anniversary of Madness and Paul Putner celebrates the past 40 years as a lifelong fan.
What are you willing to do to become a legend? A porn actor performing his last record-breaking movie: a sex marathon with 100 women.
Following sell-out runs in 2016 and 2018 Mason King returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with a brand-new show! As a child Mason always dreamt of mastering the art of sleight of hand.
Actor/writer Christopher Tajah of Resistance Theatre Company gives an impassioned performance in Dream Of A King at theSpace Triplex, as he reimagines the hours leading up to the a…
After receiving standing ovations last year, The Dolly Parton Story returns to the Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the Queen of Country who curren…
There’s Something Missing, is a two-person physical (and sometimes funny) contemporary piece of confessional theatre that discusses identity.
Following sell-out shows and standing ovations in 2017/18, The Carole King Story returns to take you on an incredible journey through the career of six-time Grammy Award winner and…
The Johnny Cash Story returns to the Edinburgh Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the 18-time Grammy winner.
Critically acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest tribute shows, Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years returns to the Edinburgh Fringe after five consecutive sell-out years with …
Once the most radical, now the only radical.
As a reviewer, there are several situations that I normally hope to avoid while covering the Fringe: it may surprise you, given that essentially I’m here to force my opinion on you…
There appears, these days, to be an almost apologetic desire among directors and producers to find ways of presenting traditional circus acrobatics and high-wire acts with some add…
James Barr is single.
Award-winning comedian Joe Bor retells the story of the friendship between his grandad (world-renowned town planner Walter Bor) and his grandad’s best friend (world-renowned comedy…
The story of middle-aged homeless alcoholic woman, Myra McLaughlin, living rough on the streets of Dublin.
Delightfully deranged and beautifully berserk, Ukrainian group Misanthrope Theatre re-ignite the flames of rebellion and fervour that saw Alfred Jarry’s play close upon its openi…
Clean your heads, strap yourselves in for the brilliant new show from ‘cryingly funny’ (Bath Chronicle) 2019 Musical Comedy Awards finalist, as seen on BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Par…
In the last couple of years, Paul McCaffrey has performed to over half a million people while supporting his comedy heroes Sean Lock and Kevin Bridges on their UK tours, and has go…
Paul, now a fully-disqualified swan psychologist, delves deeper to discover the origins of the gay sperms and once again unleashes his bag of Disturbances.
Character comedy is a difficult discipline at the best of times and, with a trope as thoroughly picked-over as the oblivious action-hero, it asks at lot from a performer to find so…
Disappear down the rabbit hole of a fool’s mind.
As might be expected, the environment – specifically, the “environmental emergency” we currently face – is one of the more notable themes running through this year’s Frin…
Searching through the Fringe guide for a show worth seeing is a job that could perhaps be likened to archaeology – you spend hours carefully probing, sorting the dross from the d…
A story of a man who decides to be a dancer.
It’s a fact of life that any standup on the Fringe who is neither white nor straight is likely required to spend at least part of their show addressing it.
Genders and non-genders, come plunge your human meat gloves into this zeitgeist pavlova as you gently take each other delicately by the frontal cortex and we all ascend into the sp…
Paul Foxcroft is back with his first second show! A new hour that combines stand-up, sketch, character comedy and almost certainly improvisation.
Childhood memories can sometimes be blurry but you never forget your first school trip, especially when it turns into a permanent stay in Cote d’Ivoire.
I have a slight confession of bias.
Thus far, Paul has lived his life content in the understanding that stability and emotional happiness were lovely ideas but not really for him.
There are lots of words you can use to describe Jon Long, purveyor of clever gags and witty songs.
It may be because of the stage productions and films which I saw growing up, but my innate and core expectation about musical theatre is that it tends to be on the big size, if not…
Biographical performances like LipSync, produced by Cumbernauld Theatre as part of their Invited Guest project, don't always have some obvious, political point to make; they…
"I could be one of the Boys," New Zealander Chris Parker sings ecstatically at the start of Camp Binch, wearing a shirt and leggings echoing Elaine Stritch's iconic o…
Observing the little traditional conventions in life – one pink sock for Michaelmas day, keeping toenail clippings in a separate jar from fingernails, cream first, then jam, then…
Leo Kearse isn't, by his own admission, a 'woke' comedian.
In a festival where comedians eager to share their personal histories, foibles and perspectives on the world can oft seem ten-a-penny, it makes a pleasant change of pace to spend a…
Award-winning silliness and choose-your-own-adventure poems for the whole family as you work to transform your writing skills.
Apparently, Richard Stott got into comedy “for all the wrong reasons”; at least, that’s what the aforementioned Richard Stott says.
Pathetic Fallacy, at heart, has a Unique Selling Point—the show’s creator, Anita Rochon, isn’t actually in Edinburgh.
What makes a home? It’s one of a number of questions that Victor Esses asks of audience members as they come in, taping their responses for use later on in his show.
For All I Care is, first and foremost, the story of two women.
"Poor Fellow.
Have you ever been to a comedy show by someone who can travel through dimensions, from one world to another? No, me neither.
Tales of woe, tales of science, tales of curses, tales of defiance.
Her name is Lila, and she’s a proud Blackfoot woman, she tells us.
Move aside Maleficent, Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch is the new anti-hero tale in town.
From the creator of the international sensation Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl In Hitler’s Germany comes the highly anticipated sequel, detailing life after war.
You’ll learn two things from Aaron Simmonds’ Disabled Coconut.
Bystanders begins with staging reminiscent of a police detective’s office – plain desks, a few chairs, and piles of boxes full of paperwork and evidence.
It takes a certain bravery, or innocence, to name your debut full-hour show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Don’t Bother.
"It looks nice.
Liam Malone, it’s fair to say, is not backwards at coming forwards.
Titania McGrath may just be a young Kensington girl with a modest Trust Fund and a thirst for social justice, but she’s in Edinburgh to make a difference, and inspire us common peo…
Perhaps the end of Romeo & Juliet wasn't quite as tragic as we remembered.
Paul Simon is a name that has cemented itself into the Hearts and Bones of audiences all over the world.
Ryan Calais Cameron’s powerful new work plays with the meanings of its title in many ways: our central, point-of-view character has the “distinctive qualities of a particular t…
All the King’s Men are a world-renowned, award-winning all-male a cappella group based in the heart of London.
Eliot Wengler lives at home in a village in the middle of nowhere and is fine with that.
In this, the 60th Anniversary of one of the world’s most iconic music venues, the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars take to the road to celebrate the ‘Ronnie Sc…
What do you expect when you go to a holiday resort? Seaside memories, hearty dinners, relaxation and…purgatory? This is the story of golden oldies Pete and Maggie…
The award-winning Alasdair Beckett-King returns to this timeline with a dimension-hopping stand-up comedy show.
‘When on Earth did everyone become a detective?’ The voice rings out across the Almeida Young Company ensemble as they huddle beneath Sasha Venmore Rowland’s grief-stricken g…
Paul, now a fully-disqualified swan psychologist, delves deeper to discover the origins of the gay sperms and once again unleashes his bag of Disturbances.
Once the most radical, now the only radical.
Paul returns to the Great Yorkshire Fringe with a preview of his upcoming Edinburgh Festival show.
A mixture of best bits and new material for Paul's next touring show about the life-changing effect a couple of drinks can have.
Elliot Wengler lives at home in a village in the middle of nowhere and is fine with that.
Once the most radical, now the only radical.
There was a time not long ago – when Facebook and Google weren’t even words – where we watched TV and learned from it, absorbing any new knowledge we discovered as fact.
Story is a short (15 minute) one person spoken word drama exploring the means of recovery from mental collapse and heart break - written and performed by @nickhollowayvox - FREE EN…
At first glance, The Ugly One looks somewhat clinical.
First, let’s get the biggest disappointment out of the way first: Them!, a joint production between the National Theatre of Scotland, writer Pamela Carter and director Stewart La…
The subversive, satirical, darkly comic story of the Victorian Music Hall with a twist of Weimar Cabaret! A wickedly fun singalong show, ‘Now Here’s A Funny Story’ reveals Music…
A brief language lesson: According to the “part-banter, part-racist” English idiom, the North, is somewhere it is said to be Grim Up.
Jim Brown's Sea Changes is a play that delightfully and unashamedly embraces the info-dump, to the extent of having most of its characters directly introduce themselves to the …
After a phenomenal sell out tour in 2018, Walk Right Back is.
Led by the world’s number one Michael Jackson tribute artist ‘Navi’, which alone sets this show above the rest.
Curious Shoes is a show that's unashamedly dominated by the perceived needs of its target audience, people living with dementia, and those who care and support them.
50 years on from the release of Rod’s first album, Some Guys Have All The Luck is back in theatres in 2019 with a brand new show, bringing to the stage a…
Can words still pack a punch in the reign of Twitter? Have the carriers of thought, the deliverers of argument, the elements of poetry, the sounds that make us human – lost t…
You may know him as “comedy legend Lee Nelson” (The Sun) or “some unfunny pillock” (The Deputy Prime Minister) who gave Theresa May a P45, but yo…
Arguably a surprise word-of-mouth hit during the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, this physical-theatre exploration of a mass hostage-taking returns to the Scottish capital with - t…
Night Owl Shows have bought another crowd pleaser to Brighton Fringe.
It's appropriate that this particular production within the 2019 Edinburgh International Children's Festival is the only one slotted into the schedule for the Netherbow sta…
I have a confession: I’d never previously heard of Erich Kästner's 1929 novel, Emil and the Detectives; It just wasn't a part of my childhood.
HALFWAY TO PARADISE: THE BILLY FURY STORY Billy comes alive via giant screen, re-united with his own Furys’ Tornados.
From the age of sieges and chivalry comes a show about medieval love, adrenaline junkies and an insane quest for glory.
A new piece of work by a new BAME theatre ensemble The Last Company Theatre, Last Rehearsal is written and directed by Chilean Maria Jose Andrade.
BA Theatre Arts at GBMet.
4 April 1968.
The team behind FAUX, presented by Loose-Locked, is large and impressive.
Leicester Mercury Comedian of The Year 2017, Alasdair Beckett-King returns to this timeline with a dimension-hopping stand-up comedy show.
1980’s Pittsburgh, a city in decay.
There's little doubt that The Duchess of Malfi has become the most popular and successful work written by the English Jacobean playwright John Webster.
Three, as the song goes, is a magic number.
Super Human Heroes from theatre group The Letter J (in association with Paisley Arts Centre) has a simple message: We all need to do our little bit to help make the world a better …
A man wearing a black suit walks on stage.
The Joni Mitchell & James Taylor Story played to a packed out audience at the Komedia.
I had no idea what to expect from John Hinton’s Ensonglopedia of British History.
The brilliant British pianist Simon Ballard returns to play works by Schubert, Ries, Dvorak, Smetana, Ireland, Moszkowski, de Severac and Sydney Smith.
Based on actual historical events, Mary Blandy’s Gallows Tree is a one-woman play that charts the last hour(s) of Mary Blandy as she awaits the gallows in Oxford Prison in 1752, …
Hands up anyone who was bored rigid by studying Shakespeare at school.
Paul Cox has been cutting his teeth on the London and UK comedy circuit since 2015.
Following its sell-out run at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2018, Paul Bunyan will receive its first revival at Alexandra Palace Theatre this May.
A pole-esque tale, telling the story of one woman’s journey through pole, from the seedy underworld of Brighton, to her respectable reinvention as a drag king.
The latest offering in Above The Stag’s main auditorium takes us back in time to a Victorian Working Men’s Club in Bermondsey.
A hilarious cabaret musical about depression that sings and throws glitter about how it’s OK to not be OK.
The first one-man show from one of the most original and outrageous character acts on the UK circuit.
There’s something reassuringly "classy" about this production of Patrick Marber's The Red Lion, now touring Scotland for the first time courtesy of Glasgow-based Ra…
In a world where it is North Islington, only one man stands between Camden and Holloway.
This incredible production stars the world’s leading MJ tribute artist Navi who is joined by Jackson’s original lead guitarist - Jennifer Batten.
Today he’s going to tell you a story – but he has no idea what it is.
This incredible production stars the world’s leading MJ tribute artist Navi who is joined by Jackson’s original lead guitarist - Jennifer Batten.
Have you ever witnessed a couple’s divorce? When these people are your parents, your life turns upside down, especially if you’re 8-years-old.
The debut stand-up hour from the multi award-winning co-writer of ‘The Vicar of Dibley’.
One of The Guardian’s Best Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018.
There is a long history of female performers and theatre-makers who mine their personal experience to create autobiographical monologues exploring their (female) identity.
A trip to Story Corner is the perfect way start to your Fringe day.
We’re in Sussex, somewhere on the Downs, in the 1800s.
Performed by The Liberties, the songs and tunes of Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna, Ciaran Burke and John Sheehan is brought to life using the exact same instrum…
KIDS OFFER: free child ticket with every adult ticket purchased, subsequent child tickets are half price.
From the Producers of That'll be the Day, the show tells the story of the most successful duo of all time - The Everly Brothers.
Come and see the comedy powerhouse Paul Chowdhry - star of Taskmaster, Live at The Apollo and Wembley Arena Sell Out.
Come and see the stand-up comedy powerhouse & star of Taskmaster and Live at The Apollo.
When Noel Coward warned a certain Mrs Worthington against putting her daughter on the stage, it's highly likely that he didn't have Matilda The Musical in mind at the time.
It’s seldom fun to leave a venue thinking: "Well, that's an hour of my life I'm never getting back.
The sketch show can be a difficult beast to tame.
This is a Spoiler.
Plays, and other kinds of performance, may have many functions, but stand-up comedy has only one.
When Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre announced that they were producing a stage musical based on the iconic 1983 Scottish film Local Hero, I must admit to wondering if it was …
Following its sold out smash hit debut tour, Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of The Dubliners returns to theatres in 2019 with an even bigger production.
Following its sold out smash hit debut tour, Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of The Dubliners returns to theatres in 2019 with an even bigger production.
In drama, an audience can either be ahead of what the characters know, or behind them, catching up; each approach has its dramatic advantages and disadvantages, but what is needed …
Paul Carrack, one of the most revered voices in music and a figurehead of soulful pop for decades, will return to the delight his legions of admirers with the new album ‘Thes…
“The music I listened to between the ages of 11 and 21 probably affected by life more than pretty much anything else.
Paul McCaffrey has recently appeared on major UK tours with two of Britain’s foremost stand ups, Sean Lock and Kevin Bridges – playing to more than half…
How Many Tears in a Bottle of Gin?Trust me, this job is the shit Paul Currie - Trufficle MuskSurreal Python comedy with the twisted nonsensical sequiturs of Dadaism &nbs…
Award-winning comedian Joe Bor retells the story of the friendship between his grandad (world-renowned architect Walter Bor) and his grandad's best friend (also wor…
Greetings.
Greetings.
All the King’s Men are a world-renowned, award-winning, all-male a cappella group based in the heart of London.
Duration: Approx 2hrs 20mins More information to follow
I didn’t actually see this performance; not by virtue of being absent, but rather because I had followed the request of actor and spoken word poet, Paul Daly, to blindfold myself…
All the King’s Men are a world-renowned, award-winning, all-male a cappella group based in the heart of London.
Friday 1st February, 7.
It was only towards the very end of last year that it was announced – or rather whispered, hidden away as it was somewhere in the list of actors always included in the National T…
Tuesday 29th January, 7pmTickets: £15 or £11 for school groupsSuitable for: no age suitability has been given yet for this screeningDuration: …
A “highly engrossing”, ‘pocket epic’ staging of Shakespeare’s Richard II.
From the man who pranked Theresa May, Donald Trump, Sepp Blatter, Kanye West and many more of the world’s biggest knobs; acclaimed character comedian Simon Brodkin…
When Jo Clifford ("proud father and grandmother") first performed her play, The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, at Glasgow's Tron Theatre, it attracted bo…
Roy Orbison, the man with the sunglasses, who delivered some of the world’s darkest and most emotional ballads remains one of the most distinctive performers in modern music.
It's said that Edinburgh is a city, the size of a town, that feels like a village; or, in other words, the Scottish capital is sufficiently small and compact that you don't…
From the songwriting team behind the smash-hit Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen and the Academy Award-winning films La La Land and The Greatest Showman, - A Christmas St…
What makes a "traditional" pantomime? It's certainly not just a case of blowing the dust off a 1970s panto script and hoping for the best; here, the Brunton’s now r…
The dashing corsair Simon Boccanegra and Maria, daughter of the nobleman Jacopo Fiesco, have fallen in love and had an illegitimate daughter.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is 200 years old and yet the universality of the novel’s core message keeps her creation in the very centre of popular culture.
Direct from a SELL OUT worldwide tour and standing ovations at every performance.
Bestseller Sam Blake brings you some of the strongest new voices in crime fiction and finds out just how they did it.
With three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, as well as the return of multi-instrumentalist Bill Rieflin on keyboards, guitarist and original founding mem…
Sweet finish this year’s well-curated Brighton HorrorFest with the interesting Father of Lies, written and originally performed by Sasha Roberts and Tom Worsley.
It was with some trepidation that I entered the auditorium to see Unburied, presented by Hermetic Arts – not least because their website states, amongst other things, that 'H…
An audio drama performed live and scored, produced by the team behind the podcast series Whisper Through The Static.
The packed audience at The Old Market leant in expectantly towards an ordinary looking closed shipping container dominating the stage, oblivious to the surprises enclosed inside.
You know you’re guaranteed to learn something watching David Hare.
“Racist comments don’t belong in a play about mothers and shit.
Danse Macabre Productions consists of a trio of graduates of the University of York with a weakness for the horror genre.
The works by French poet and playwright Edmond Rostand, just one of the victims of the influenza pandemic which swept the world in 1918, are today largely forgotten; the one except…
Shakespeare will always be Theatre Marmite.
Watching Clare Duffy's one-act play "Arctic Oil", a particular phrase kept coming back to me: that mantra of 1960s' student protests and second-wave feminism, &qu…
An hour of sensational Improvised Comedy.
"Best leave history in the history books—get on with living.
Alongside Pinter One – nine individual texts that together create something that is as exciting as it is dark – is the altogether different, though not surprisingly named Pinte…
Within a cluttered clearing in some woods that's neither town nor countryside and so somehow feels like nowhere, an unnamed Man (David McKay) sleeps the sleep of the just-finis…
Jamie Lloyd must be excreting pheromones of cool right now.
It's just four years since Pitlochry Festival Theatre put on a production of Anne Downie's 1989 play The Yellow On The Broom, based on the autobiographical novel by Betsy W…
Managing a venue at the Fringe can be a hugely rewarding experience, but is also a mammoth undertaking for all involved.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme for Fringe participants.
One tube ride, 7 scenes, 67 years.
The year is 1940, the last Kindertransport to escape the German forces has arrived in England.
By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.
Alan Bennett is a national treasure, and his writings are justly well respected.
From Show Boat to Showman, there’s always Another Op’nin, Another Show about the sparkling self-obsessed world of musical theatre! And why not? Some of the best shows are all a…
In an original play by Alex Jones, an awkward Halloween dinner party between friends and a new boyfriend is interrupted by an invader with an unhealthy obsession with horror.
An Alan Bennett one act play-originally written for TV in 1982.
The true and ongoing struggle of a family ripped apart, after Nazanin and her baby daughter were taken in Tehran in 2016.
Catriona Morison Mezzo sopranoSimon Lepper Piano Songs by Brahms, Schumann and Mahler.
End your Fringe day with relaxing classical music by candlelight in this beautiful historic church.
In the beginning was the Word, but I honestly don’t know which word to begin with when trying to describe this production.
Osric Omand and the Story of Hope is a horror-action-comedy that follows Osric Omand and his ex-Nazi caretaker Hans as their institute of monsters suffers an outbreak.
Brian Kellock, piano.
Laurel and Hardy – arguably the best comic duo ever, with never a bad word between them.
The Skits, Cornell University’s original sketch comedy troupe, has crossed the Atlantic to deliver some cold, hard jokes.
Traditional choral evensong and benediction with the renowned choir and organ of this historic Anglican Catholic church directed by Dr John Kitchen.
One-man show telling King Lear’s story in his own words, using text from the original and new words.
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church with renowned choir and organ directed by John Kitchen.
King Creosote, aka Kenny Anderson, returns to the International Festival three years after he performed his glorious soundtrack to the nostalgia-soaked film, From Scotland With Lov…
A series of very special evening concerts which combine the wonderfully vibrant playing of the Herald Angel Award-winning Russian String Orchestra with the atmospheric and historic…
Ilker Arcayürek TenorSimon Lepper Piano Songs by Schubert and Wolf Winner of 2016’s International Lieder Competition in Stuttgart, Ilker Arcayürek has been compared to Ian Bo…
From pin-drop delicacy to infectious grooves that leave you smiling.
Inspired by a true events, a young black woman rises to power in the Hollywood entertainment industry while suffering through an illness.
Direct from the USA, the defending three-time National Shakespearean Acting Champions present Shakespeare’s rarely done history, King John.
Paul Merton and his highly acclaimed Impro Chums are wonders of nature.
When Uther Pendragon passes away England falls without king.
Born in the UK to a family of Bengali doctors, the early 1990s saw Paul qualifying as a doctor and taking his first steps on the stand-up comedy circuit.
One of the hardest calls for a reviewer to make is where to draw the line between production and play.
A captivating show suitable for all encompassing a variety of dance styles, colourful costumes and entertaining narrative.
Following a successful Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2016, mind control artist Mason King returns for another journey into the inner depths of the human mind.
Six friends.
These entertaining and informative guided walking tours tell the story of the musicians who have stayed, played and made music in Edinburgh.
Award-winning silliness for all the family from one of the nation’s most successful spoken word artists.
It’s Story Slam time! Bristol Improv’s brand new show uses your ideas and experiences as the basis for its improvised stories.
NY comedian and Vice contributor Harmon has made a career infiltrating extremist groups.
It’s hard to do good when everything’s falling apart.
New(ish) for 2018! Not featuring televised comedians or Fringe legends, just friendly unknowns being friendly.
Paper Dolls is advertised as a one-man show, but the person standing in front of us for the next hour isn't the show’s performer, writer, director and producer Shaun Nolan; r…
The Joni Mitchell Story returns to take you on an emotive journey through the life of the nine-time Grammy winner and folk music pioneer.
Mark Thompson is quite clear about what his (modestly) titled Spectacular Show isn't: "It's not a science lecture," he insists.
The Traverse One stage looks more ready for a gig than a piece of theatre, but while music undoubtedly runs through the heart of Cora Bissett's latest, most autobiographical wo…
It seems that Cardiff-based Hijinx Theatre Company are happy to take risks.
The Dolly Parton Story premiers at The Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the Queen of Country, who currently holds an astonishing 153 major awards i…
Paul Currie is a disturbingly brilliant comic who plays his crowd like the conductor of an orchestra.
Travel with the boy from Tupelo through his teenage years in Memphis, tentative footsteps into Sun Records studios, to his meteoric rise to the worlds biggest selling artist.
A unique concert, which celebrates the unforgettable music of Simon & Garfunkel.
The James Taylor Story returns with the addition of Carly Simon to take you through Taylor’s career as he embarks on a journey into superstardom and his turbulent relationship wi…
After a sell-out run in 2017 The Carole King Story returns to take you on an incredible journey through the career of this six-time Grammy Award winner and 20-time platinum hit mak…
Fringe sensations Racing Minds are back after five sell-out years! A doddery grandfather can’t quite remember his ripping yarn, but with your help a mystery stuffed with hilarious …
Feeling pressured by his success last year with The Elvis Dead, Rob Kemp returns with ten(!) shows stuck to a spinning wheel.
On any given afternoon in the Fringe, you’re likely to find Simon Munnery gracing the stage of The Stand comedy club.
How to build a story – for everyone! Want to be the best storyteller you know? Come and join the Story Builders! You’ll learn the secrets of every great story and together we’ll …
Trev Tokabi, from the Ivory Coast, has a knack for putting himself in compromising situations! If you have a mate, friend, partner, homeboy, homegirl, brother, sister, husband, wif…
He doesn’t know it all but Silky can make up something plausible really quickly.
Returning for its fifth year, the smash-hit, sell-out show returns to Edinburgh! Written and directed by award-winning playwright Liam Rudden and featuring the hit Bay City Rollers…
A portrayal of the life of Eva Cassidy.
An entirely un-erotic journey that begins in a public toilet, then takes strange diversions via a sexy tomato plant and a clap clinic.
The Johnny Cash Story premiers at the Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the 18-time Grammy winner.
Following his army demob, Elvis Presley joins Frank Sinatra’s 1960 Timex TV show special.
One of the most valuable functions of theatre is to offer us a way to explore difficult issues without fear of blame without fear of censure.
Comedy.
What a difference a decade can make.
Tales of woe, tales of science, tales of curses, tales of defiance.
For anyone who thinks they don't make physical comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton any more, here's a word from the wise—which, in this context, essentially …
If you like pina coladas, and deep emotional pain.
Tim Renkow insists he’s spent the last decade on the comedy circuit trying to find a social or racial group that he’s NOT able to insult, because that would mean – as a disab…
Do you struggle to fit in in an ever-changing world? Does the speed of change make you feel old before your time? Then you know how Paul feels.
From the age of sieges and chivalry comes a show about medieval love, adrenaline junkies and an insane quest for glory.
She is arguably the most famous Hollywood screen icon and pin-up.
Though now a household name thanks to a semi-final place in last year’s Britain’s Got Talent, singing impressionist Jess Robinson is a familiar face of the Fringe.
Comedians Bronston Jones (USA) and Martin Mor (IRE) are joined each day by a different guest.
"Life is a hideous thing," we're told by the lean figure of Simon Maeder, dressed for dinner and sitting in a leather armchair like some classic teller of ghost stori…
Paul Patin is a French actor/singer/dancer who has performed around the world with international companies for more than 10 years.
As a huge number of the entries in the Fringe programme could tell you, the life of a stand-up is a tough one – hours and hours of unpaid work just to get a decent set together a…
Olivier Award-winning Simon Callow performs Oscar Wilde’s searing meditation on his life, in the form of a devastating letter of reproach to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas – ‘…
There are going to be two kinds of people who read this review: fans of Paul Foot, and people who are curious about Paul Foot.
Following previous five-star reviews, this unique talent returns to perform thought-provoking, evocative, original songs in a wonderfully intimate setting.
In 1966, Joe Welch, a skipper, sails into dingle harbour with a very unusual catch.
Perhaps it is because of the multi-show venue, or just the financial realities of bringing any production to the Edinburgh Fringe nowadays, but Peter Darney’s production of Charl…
Hi.
Paul Revill, Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year 2014, returns with a work in progress.
The jig is up! Paul Williams is a quadruple threat – song, dance, comedy and opinion.
Wonderfully unexpected opportunities can occur at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; even more so at the 'Free' variety.
So what exactly IS the Trouble with Scott Capurro? Is it that this left-leaning liberal American (yes, he’s the one, apparently) seemingly talks without pausing for breath? (“Are y…
It was irresistible, I suppose: part way through Dan Freeman’s absurdist play A Joke, the acclaimed Scottish actor John Bett turns to his co-stars to start a joke with: "Doc…
Paul Foxcroft (Cariad and Paul, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show) is a professional improviser who, for some reason, has decided to script an hour’s show in defiance of his many years o…
David Mills is always well turned out: sharp-suited, finely tuned, sitting on his stool like some Easy Listening Singer from a bygone age.
Returning to Edinburgh for their eighth year, All the King’s Men are the voices that are defining a genre.
Discover the story of Scottish pop from the 1950s to the present day at this major exhibition.
Rik Carranza is a Star Trek fan.
It's obvious from the loud, excited audience in Assembly Studio 3 that London-based comedy theatre trio The Pretend Men – Nathan Parkinson, Zachary Hunt and Tom Rose – have…
People Show have been producing work for more than 50 years which, given the self-indulgence of People Show 130 (or The Last Straw, to give its more Fringe-friendly title), is some…
There are books which are called seminal largely because so many people have read them.
“Bitter Sweet Symphony” by The Verve.
This November happens to mark the 55th anniversary of the BBC broadcasting the first ever episode of Doctor Who, so it’s hardly surprising that several shows on this year’s Fringe …
Marmite: it’s the breakfast spread that we apparently love or hate, and the word has – in that way the English language often does – subsequently evolved far wider metaphoric…
Hairy, ever so slightly scary tales for kids from the multi award-nominated wizard (alias John Henry Falle) and his arch-enemy, Mandy the Witch Who Lives Under The Sink (Funny Wome…
Last year, Simon Evans earned rave reviews for Genius, his howl of despair at our declining national appetite for intelligent conversation, let alone public figures of exceptional …
Free speech is a right fiercely protected in today’s society.
Until relatively recently in Western society, children with physical, sensory or learning disabilities, or a wide range of neural and behavioural challenges, were either institutio…
In For A Penny is Libby McArthur’s true-life tale of the unforeseen consequences of an unpaid parking ticket - how one person can fall foul of a system that sees only the facts a…
An exquisitely detailed design of a picture box façade-free house.
Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir of her youth, adapted for the stage and performed by her granddaughter Ingrid.
Tom Neenan has been a regular Fringe attraction for several years now, bringing a succession of one-man pastiches - Edwardian ghost story, Vaudeville Horror tale, 1950s British Sci…
To say that Paul Mayhew-Archer is not afraid to poke fun at himself would be the understatement of the last decade.
With the advent of the internet, smartphones and social media, today’s politics happens under an unprecedented level of scrutiny.
Home is a powerful concept.
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a fantasy novel by Samuel Butler which, first published anonymously in 1872, presented itself as the experiences of its narrator on discovering the m…
After last year’s sell-out run, Paul returns to Edinburgh with his life, seemingly, still bordering on disarray.
I'm sure that history will suggest otherwise but, after seeing George Steeves perform his one man show, I couldn't help but think that Stevie Wonder must have written his s…
If silent Hollywood star Buster Keaton is remembered for anything, it's his emotionless, mask-like expression; so the initial shock here is that this Buster speaks and smiles.
If there’s one thing the majority of people at the Fringe can empathise with, it’s how hard the life of a jobbing actor can be.
Award-winning comedian Rob Carter’s cult-hit creation, Christopher Bliss, is back.
An enigmatic title is the hallmark of many Fringe shows – I’m sure no one knows quite what to expect from Duckpond: An Element of Mystery in Umpteen Samples or Lights Over Tesc…
Come help jolly Mr Fizzywigg create a new story before his beloved factory is shut forever! Using all the tools of the trade, including the giant wheel of silly voices and the mass…
After last year's sell-out show, Paul returns to the Great Yorkshire Fringe with his life, seemingly, still bordering on disarray.
“I went to a funeral the other day.
For those who pertain to be students of the Theatre of the Absurd movement prevalent in the 1950s and 60s, there is nothing of value to you in this review.
Trump.
King Courgette is an old-time vegetable string band Featuring Wild Zucchini Bill from international trash-bashing phenomenon STOMP! Expect a righteous mix of fiddles, ba…
★★★★★ “Ian McKellen reigns supreme in this triumphant production.
Greetings.
One of the early factors that contributed to the massive success of the Lehman Brothers – the power they had in the US, their huge business growth and its eventual demise – was…
Statistics show that last year the most common reason cited in UK divorce papers was "irreconcilable bathroom habits”.
Tipped to be London’s theatrical event of 2018, the multi-award winning and critically acclaimed Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and…
“I went to a funeral the other day.
It can’t be easy creating a programme that justifies the term National given to the theatres on London’s South Bank, when you know that your most frequent visitors of critics a…
We see homeless people every day in Brighton, on the street and in our parks, trying to build a ‘home’ out of the small number of possessions with which they surround themselve…
"Grow up, mature, and come back when you have something to contribute!" It's not the most sympathetic way to address a young audience; nevertheless, it succinctly sho…
There is a bit of a buzz around BOY.
Part of the inherent challenge for Noel Jordan and the Imaginate team when putting together their annual Edinburgh International Children's Festival is their very diverse poten…
Fairy tales survive because they can be constantly retold, uncovering new depths and relevancies to the world today.
Chris Woodley’s autobiographical solo show ‘The Soft Subject (A Love Story)’ invites us back into the classroom to learn about love, loss and The Little Mermaid.
Probably William Shakespeare’s most famous play and possibly his greatest, Hamlet has long been a target for comedy.
Andy Manley is undoubtedly one of the treasures of Scotland’s current theatrical landscape, all the more so given his seemingly innate (but presumably hard-learned) skill in hold…
The Ealing Inheritance is a comic tale of intrigue, gold-digging and dastardly dissimulation reminiscent of many an Ealing comedy - hence the double meaning of the play’s witty t…
Some Guys Have All The Luck is a fantastic theatrical production celebrating the career of one of rocks greatest icons, Rod Stewart – from street busker through to…
Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Max & Ivan (as seen on BBC2’s ‘W1A’ and heard on Radio 4’s ‘The Casebook of Max & Ivan’) bring their critically acclaimed origin story to Brighton, a…
Do you struggle to fit in in an ever-changing world? Does the speed of change make you feel old before your time? Then you know how Paul feels.
The Foster’s Edinburgh Best Newcomer award-nominated ‘Story Beast’, “a bearded force of nature” (The Guardian) and critically-acclaimed “charming storyteller” (Chortle), …
By popular demand! Original musical journey from 400 AD Boerthelm’s Tun to present day Bom-Bane’s, with portraits of all the colourful inhabitants along the way.
Paul Savage spent last year trying to be better.
I’ve always been partial to a bit of prestidigitation.
We all want to look good, don’t we? Everybody likes to feel attractive.
The opening premise of Twilight Theatre’s Waiting for Curry, written and directed by Susanne Crosby, runs thus: Rob and his wife Chris have invited their friends Phil and Sue ove…
Multi-awarding-winning Comedian Dave Bailey has something to say.
Step right down for a debauched carnie cabaret within tent, hosted by magic roustabout and snake-oil peddler Paul Zenon, TV trickster and longtime ‘La Clique’ ringmaster.
Eleanor Westbrook embodies what I love about the Fringe.
An extremely funny yet entirely unerotic journey that begins in a public toilet.
The Lord of the Rings (known as LOTR to the mega-fans) is one of my favourite books.
Bringing us four short scenes, Puck’s Players – consisting of Bill Poulton, Phillip Lee and Aaron Thaddeus Lee – were able to exhibit outstanding versatility as performers, d…
Sweet Werks' studio is a well-suited venue for The Start of Something.
Last time I looked, drag was a minority sport in gay bars, performed by men in frocks belting out mediocre ballads, lip-synching to pop songs, and generally being misogynistic.
There’s little to evoke more anxiety and dread than the phrase ‘Traditional Family Christmas’.
Queen Elizabeth II is dead.
Brighton’s number one, award-winning traditional city walking tour.
Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2017 Alasdair Beckett-King returns to this timeline with an inter-dimensional, work in progress stand-up comedy show.
Cognitive dysfunction does not, perhaps, naturally strike us as a rich vein of humour.
Remember when Nazis were only found in Germany, Austria, and Clacton-on-Sea? Well now they’re in the White House, Downing Street, and Clacton-on-Sea.
One of a series of seven one-night-stands of experimental theatre, How Disabled Are You? is curated by theatre co-operative Spun Glass Theatre under the heading of The Spark Factor…
A trip to Story Corner is the perfect way start to your Fringe day.
All the King’s Men bring their five star, sellout tour to London’s West End… AtKM’s astonishing vocal colour and arresting, creative choreograp…
August Strindberg apparently subtitled his play Creditors (in Swedish: Fordringsäxgare) a “tragicomedy” but, while David Greig’s 2008 adaptation does indeed contain a few de…
Sometimes, when it comes to suspending our disbelief, we just have to go with the flow.
“In my day, we trusted people.
A road movie, according to Wikipedia, is “a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip,” during which “the hero changes, grows or improves over the cou…
About five minutes in to the therapy session cum comedy gig cum This Morning Celeb Interview that tonally is The Prudes, late 30s couple Jess and Jimmy inform the audience as their…
Helen and Gordon spend their retirement on their Mediterranean balcony, reading and drinking gin, quite a lot of it.
Walk Right Back tells the story of the most successful duo of all time - The Everly Brothers.
If The Royal Court’s reputation for producing work that’s a little ahem, “arty” has put you off making a visit recently for fear of Death by Pretension, then the enjoyable …
Due to huge popular demand, after his first tour-de-force, smash hit, sell out tour, ‘My Life Story’, Suggs is treading the boards again with a brand new show.
If theatre is home to lies that impart truths, then this Actors Touring Company’s production of Roland Schimmelpfennig’s Winter Solstice (translated by David Tushingham) makes …
As one quarter of the amazing Pants Down Circus and one half of hit children’s show The Circus Firemen, Idris Stanton has absolutely earned the right to put his name above the ti…
Sisonke Msimang is a South African writer and activist.
“It’s sweat on your brow that gives life meaning,” says one of the supporting characters in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, and it’s fair to say that, on occasions, there’s a …
Mr Badger tells this much loved, classic story celebrating the joys of nature and friendship.
Recently, Simon was told he was going to be a dad.
Rich acapella singing opens this show as Melvin Brown takes to the stage.
Ever wondered what wine goes best with Fairy Bread? Why hasn’t the ‘Champagne Spider’ caught on? These questions and many more will be inadequately answered by the self-sty…
Fresh from SOLD OUT performances in 2016 and 2017 to standing room only crowds for The Adelaide Fringe, Motown Connection are back by popular demand at The Gov to present “The Moto…
King of the comedy, master of the crowd & slave to the laugh.
Ingrid Garner wrote and performs the internationally acclaimed, theatrical adaptation of her grandmother Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s award-winning memoir, detailing her youth as an Am…
Join the artist who isn’t afraid to explore and change up familiar territory.
There’s a moral sense of the inevitable in Macbeth.
Terry Who? (Final Touch/Gen XYZ) performs a tribute to the fantastic works of Sir Paul McCartney (Singer/Songwriter, Beatle, Trainee Bass Player, Trainee Piano Player, multi-lingua…
Fresh off a successful sold out season at the 2017 Adelaide Fringe, Harry Baulderstone and Marcus Ryan return with: Feelin’ Groovy - The Songs of Simon & Garfunkel.
Jeff Jenkins opens the show with a tale of how a young 19 year old Bob Dylan hitch-hiked his way from Duluth Minnesota to New York City with a guitar and $10 in his pocket and went…
AN ADAPTATION BY LOUCAS LOIZOU.
Adelaide’s 2016 Award Winner and 5 Star performer returns to show you why he is widely regarded as one of the funniest magicians on the planet! Dressed to impress and with more th…
“Get around pres at Danni’s.
As seen on The Project.
IN GOOD COMPANY – a fabulous 40 voice acapella group will sing original arrangements of many of Paul Simon’s hits such as “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”, “Cecilia�…
Songs of beauty, songs of heartbreak, old squabbles and spontaneous nonsense.
Perhaps it was tempting fate, but David Leddy’s decision to call his latest work The Last Bordello now comes with a certain irony, given that it could well prove to be his final …
While not even Herbert George Wells’s own first dalliance with the concept of time travel, his 1895 novella The Time Machine has nevertheless become pretty much the definitive te…
Writer and director Tony Cownie has established a particular niche at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, taking potentially overlooked 18th century comedies (like Carlo Goldoni’…
Most stand-up comedy these days is based on the lives of the people standing behind the microphone, albeit reshaped to varying degrees to ensure their material matches the “rule …
It’s 36 years since Andrea Dunbar’s breakthrough play announced the all-too-brief flowering of a new writing talent – “a genius straight from the slums,” as the Mail on S…
The central metaphor running through Frank McGuinness’s 2012 monologue The Match Box is almost breath-taking in its simplicity; it’s that all of us, all of our lives, are ultim…
Alan McHugh has played in enough pantomimes down the years to ensure It’s Behind You! reeks of authenticity, albeit the heightened theatrics of the genre.
Dark and challenging, epic and shocking, human and uplifting.
David Harrower’s debut play, Knives in Hens, made a big splash back in 1995, recognised as a modern classic which has since seen revivals by companies as diverse as the Nation…
UK theatregoers may be playing catch-up when it comes to playwright Annie Baker.
“So we went for a walk.
When watching the stage adaptation of any book, especially one I’ve not read, there’s often a question lingering at the back of my mind; would I appreciate this more, would I…
Welcome to another theatrical dimension, beyond which there may be no clear sense of purpose.
There’s a deliberate cheapness to the temporary, painted proscenium arch erected in the Brunton’s theatre-space, indicative of this local panto’s rough ’n’ ready (and n…
This revival of Shona Reppe’s acclaimed puppet retelling of the iconic fairytale is a fascinating jewel of a production, ideal for young children and families alike; subtle, s…
It’s a real shame temporary roadworks make accessing this show’s venue ever-so-slightly off-putting; also, that the venue is still relatively new, especially when it comes t…
As Scotland’s self-declared “new writing theatre”, Edinburgh’s Traverse does like to offer up an alternative to the pantomimes and decidedly family-focused fare on offer…
At times I question The Royal Court for programming plays aimed solely are the pretentious and the seasoned theatre critic.
It’s said that actors should never work with children or animals, presumably because of their unpredictability and the extra work this requires.
Stories illuminate the truth, lies hide it; that’s just one of the lessons audiences of all ages can take from Suhayla El-Bushra’s energetic new adaptation of The Arabian N…
Constella OperaBallet return to the Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells this November with their award-winning Sideshows.
Ukrainian playwright, Natal’ya Vorozhbit may be one of the few global voices for a conflict many of us seem to have ‘forgotten’, as though the Russian intervention happened…
Here we have a play, based on a film, about television, with heavy use of video (live, recorded and even outside broadcasting), incorporating social media, onstage DJs and audie…
Scottish Comedian Danny Bhoy embarks on his maiden tour of his brand- new show this autumn is selected theatres throughout the UK.
It’s mildly amusing to see two grown men briefly falling into a childish bragging-match about their fathers—one a retired Church of Scotland minister, the other a former Bis…
“We’re beautiful, wild, free and full of joy,” say the titular Maids, Solange and Claire, towards the close of Jean Genet’s 1947 drama, courtesy of Martin Crimp’s 1999…
There’s a wonderful clarity to Linda McLean’s short play Thingummy Bob, a firm favourite with Scotland’s leading theatre company for people with learning disabilities, Lung H…
“Lavender Menace”, according to Wikipedia, were “an informal group of lesbian radical feminists formed to protest the exclusion of lesbians and lesbian issues from the fem…
There were a lot of expectation around this new Wales Millennium Centre production of Manfred Karge’s one-woman play, Man to Man.
There’s little obvious theatrical artifice on show; just four actors, in casual clothes, sitting or lying on the plain black floor of an empty stage as the audience comes in.
There’s no doubting the raw energy and physicality of this show, a work of dance theatre that definitely prefers choreography to speech, and uses it—along with some pretty st…
Site specific theatre is nothing new in Scotland; from the numerous innovative creations by the likes of Grid Iron Theatre Company to much of the work by the “without walls” …
For those who don’t know much about mid-20th century Russian literature – I’m sure there must be one or two – satirical playwright Evgeny Schwartz’s 1943 play, Drakon …
The year for the National Theatre so far has been beset by the dramas over the dramas on its programme – depending on your viewpoint, it either doesn’t contain enough classics o…
Historically speaking, the original “Damned Rebel Bitches” were—according to the “butcher” Duke of Cumberland—the Jacobite women who marched behind their men in order…
During the early years of the British Broadcasting Corporation, its first Director-General Lord Reith established the BBC’s mission as being to “inform, educate and entertai…
Given that she’s such a much-loved public entertainer, an all-too-obvious challenge in creating a musical based on the early life of the late Cilla Black—born Priscilla Mari…
The challenge with any dramatisation of an historic moment is in trying to appeal to the people for whom the event just ‘rings a bell’ right up to those whose lives were dire…
The first night of our season of songs about stories and stories about songs.
Direct from a SELL OUT Worldwide tour and standing ovations at every performance, The Simon & Garfunkel Story arrives in London’s West End! Using huge projection photos a…
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
From pin-drop delicacy to infectious grooves that leave you smiling, this renowned singer-songwriter brings you songs of love and seafood with some very special guest appearances.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
America’s Got Talent winner, ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, heads to Fringe for three nights only, fresh from headline shows in Las Vegas, with a sparkling new show featuring his all-s…
The award winning & brilliantly imaginative Paul F Taylor is BACK.
Story Poker is a game where five comedians tell their true stories, to win a round of Story Poker.
Uncovering the true and still unfolding story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: a charity worker detained in Iran while on holiday, visiting her family.
Back due to popular demand! Gary thinks a good joke should be like a drunk Glaswegian, short and punchy.
‘Simon Amstell has a gift for taking a social norm and gently mocking it until it seems utterly ridiculous.
yt2 return with Birdland by the Olivier and Tony award-winning Simon Stephens.
The life of Elvis Presley told through 17 women: some enthralled, some appalled, all obsessed! From Tupelo, Mississippi where 12-year-old Elvis wanted a BB gun instead of a guitar,…
Period production set in India in the 1940s, staging a spiritual journey two people take as they step foot into the theatre of life.
Morning People Productions’ self-written and self-directed Twenty Something is a wonderful, shrewd new play about the whirlwind of realities and disappointments in young adult li…
Classical music close up where wriggling is allowed.
Snow is the newest prisoner at HMP Young Offenders Institution, Hull.
If you had to pick one writer to sum up the inventive spirit of the post-war transatlantic era, you could hardly do better than Paul Auster.
Two men meet in a club.
Simon Currie’s 6plus1 is a band of seven musicians playing New Orleans jazz, mixing in funk, rock and ska styles with two saxes, two trumpets, trombone, tuba and drums.
In a modern cabaret format, Now Here’s A Funny Story is a jaunty romp through the golden age of music hall, often delving into its dark underbelly.
Join us for traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy with the renowned choir, organ and congregation of this historic church, directed by City and University Organist Dr John Kitchen.
Join us for traditional Choral Evensong and Benediction with the renowned choir, organ and congregation of this historic Anglican Catholic Church.
Part confessional monologue, part lecture and part nostalgic trip back to the days of the BBC’s Jackanory, there’s no doubt that There Were Two Brothers is a funny, personal—…
World-renowned Elgarian Sir Andrew Davis conducts a rarely heard masterpiece: Elgar’s Viking cantata Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf.
There’s a real sense of excitement in the run-up to Stand By, not least thanks to the slightly-unusual venue—inside an Army Reserve Centre in the north of the New Town.
Brought to you by EnjoyMedia Cultural Company, Carry King is a visually striking, experimental piece of theatre.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
Much-loved Scottish mezzo soprano Karen Cargill is a powerful Wagnerian with a voice that can fill the Met or Covent Garden.
Meticulously crafted and uplifting, ‘stellar stand-up’ (Age).
After sell-out shows at last year’s Fringe and Celtic Connections festivals, Bwani Junction return with their joyful rendition of Paul Simon’s Graceland album.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
Come, meet our oriental beauty, mother of a great ancient nation.
Lucy and Jim are on their own.
This startling, if indistinct production from Mind the Gap, England’s largest learning disability theatre company, gets straight to its point, with cast members slipping into ‘…
New for 2017! Not featuring televised comedians or Fringe legends, just friendly unknowns being friendly.
Paul Savage gets himself into good places, and then blows it all up.
1960s America.
There’s nothing that says ‘Edinburgh Festival Fringe’ quite like the portrayal of sex on stage: that said, compared with many of the thousands of shows in Edinburgh this August, …
Dabek is an old-school showman; his banter is honed to a bleeding edge and you can easily imagine him holding forth on classic Saturday night TV, perhaps as a guest on The Paul Dan…
Upbeat Gordon Southern may dress like the kind of supply teacher that the kids love to bully (his words) but, despite his repeated mantra of ‘Not Laughing, Learning’, his lates…
20 years ago, Simon Morley had an idea.
Unwritten, according to the flyer, is ‘a secret history of Scotland’; specifically, though, it uses the individual experiences of three disabled people to talk about Inclusive …
With Hollywood’s recent adaptation of his works, the name JRR Tolkien has come to be associated with huge spectacle and epic scope.
The Californian pianist and composer’s improvisational flights through bebop and beyond – sometimes highly structured, sometimes wild – are rhapsodic, heartfelt and boldly melo…
A brand-new show from this hairy idiot man-child, strap in for more fun and nonsense as the entire audience is taken by the hand into a true circus of silly.
“I need more light,” our protagonist Caravaggio says at one point, and it’s fair to say that the 16th century Italian’s use of light and darkness is one of his paintings’…
The James Taylor Story is one of a series of shows at the Fringe under the Night Owl Shows, the company created by Dan Clews.
A portrayal of the life of Eva Cassidy through video, voice and song.
Direct from a sold-out appearance in Toronto, the 2014/15/16 smash-hit sell-out show returns.
The Symposium Hall is an ideal venue for an acoustic music show with great views from the whole of the theatre.
The Carole King Story premiers at the Fringe to take you on an incredible journey through the career of the six-time Grammy Award winner and 20-time platinum hit-maker.
A blend of incredibly accurate live performance and multimedia, returning to the Festival after sell-out runs in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
What would an unpublished Agatha Christie mystery be like if, by some strange quirk of fate, its editor had given it over to P G Wodehouse for a final literary polish? Well, thanks…
Zinnie Harris has five plays on in Edinburgh this August, including two within the Edinburgh International Festival’s theatre programme.
The summer is coming.
Today’s class is about love, heartbreak and The Little Mermaid.
Award-winning performer Paula Valluerca, aka Madame Señorita, is committed to reconnect with the pleasure of being a totally deluded idiot.
Andrew Doyle has, allegedly, lost quite a few friends this last year.
It might seem all-too-witty for a SCRABBLE World Champion, when asked by the media for “a few words” on his victory, to admit ‘I don’t really know any’.
When you see Leo Kearse — and you should — there’s a very good chance it’ll be a four-star experience.
If the illustrious names that have performed as part of The Rat Pack Presents is a guide, then it is worth heading along to the Cabaret Voltaire during this year’s festival.
Paul Revill, Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year 2014, returns to the Fringe with his debut hour.
The blurb suggests this is a show about nothing, but amidst the surreal humour there is a deeper meaning.
Wakefield’s poet son may have a self-confessed tendency for lewd social observation but Matt Abbott is also an unpretentious recorder of life in the raw, with a talent for coming…
This acclaimed show from award-winning Australian theatre company Sisters Grimm clearly aims to put the “lion” back in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, through a startlingly …
Time and again during Zinnie Harris’s new adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s famous farce, people tell each other not to be absurd.
Star of Impractical Jokers (BBC Three).
The truth about fairy tales, all too often forgotten by us grown-ups, is that the best ones are meant to be scary, albeit in an ultimately reassuring context.
‘One of the most tirelessly silly stalwarts of the Fringe’ (Time Out) provides tales of plumbing woes and his attempts at under-tent heating, and ridicules the insanity of capitali…
Very much in the spirit of the Fringe, Phill Jupitus steps out of his comfort zone with a show of improvisational comedy that sees him inhabit two wonderfully diverse characters th…
When Phill Jupitus commits to the Fringe, he does so 100 per cent.
Is it a curse to stay? What if we couldn’t travel, could never leave home and see the world? Can we still be happy? A girl looks across the ocean and longs to discover.
Confession time: I’ve never been a fan of The Smiths or Morrissey.
Ding dong the witch is back! Multi award-winning Fringe sensation Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho returns with the most fabulous game show of all! Join the Iron Lady for songs, gam…
One figure doesn’t appear in Performers, Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh’s new play inspired by some of the behind-the-scenes stories surrounding the making of 1970 cult film Pe…
Given that so much of the stand-up comedy you’ll find on the Fringe is blatantly autobiographical—at least to some extent—it’s not surprising that a lot of Jamie MacDonald�…
Follow in the footsteps of power on this walking tour of capitalism from British Empire to banking crisis, with jokes.
Following 2016 five-star reviews, this unique talent returns to perform thought-provoking, evocative original songs in a wonderfully intimate setting.
By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.
Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story won the first Broadway Baby Bobby Award in 2014 as one of the most outstanding productions of that year’s Festival Fringe.
Thanks to the numerous adventures of Sherlock Holmes, we arguably don’t have the best impression of the Victorian Police Detective—especially when it comes to either their inte…
Culminating in an audience member punching a stuffed monkey named Jonnie whilst Paul Foot shouts ridiculous syncopated mottos about equality for all mankind, this show provides alm…
It is ten years since Simon Stephens captured the chaos of London in 2005: within a few days London went from celebrating Live8 and the announcement that they would be hosting the …
Fundamental Theater Project’s Dickless is a tale of rumours, girls, a headless cat and bizarre sexual conquests in the small-town of Dunningham.
You are what you eat.
When a comedian comes on clutching notes you would expect that you were about to watch something that was underdeveloped and in need of refinement.
After sold out Fringe shows in 2014 and 2015, Angela Barnes is back with a new routine that is, at times, remarkably and worryingly prescient.
Snowflake, a new play written and directed by the former Artistic Director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, Mark Thomson, feels a necessity to explain its title right from th…
Anna Mann is, according to herself, the greatest actress of her generation—a quote she can now legitimately edit for future Fringe posters with no fear of censor.
Fringe sensations Racing Minds are back after four sell-out years! A doddery grandfather can’t quite remember his ripping yarn, but with your help a mystery stuffed with hilarious …
Time has not withered Moira Bell, Alan Bissett’s 2009 tribute to the hard-working, hard-playing, straight-talking working class women of Scotland, and Falkirk in particular.
Ed Byrne’s latest show is based around the notion that as a generation we are all spoilt.
A two-woman show starring only one woman – not a typo but the conceit at the centre of the latest show by Canadian actress and interactive artist Laurence Dauphinais.
Theatre today increasingly falls into one of two broad camps.
It’s a hard task to sum up quite what The Andy Field Experience is about without using the words surreal and odd.
The King is back, long live the King.
The Backyard Story, directed by Chen-Chieh Sun with lively music composed by Chien-Hsun Chen, is a charming black-light theatre show for children aged 5+.
There’s one point during Geoff Norcott’s latest show when it really flies, when you sense he really has most of the audience on his side — even though at least one or two of …
The art of the comedic double act is a difficult one and its success largely based on chemistry between the two performers.
Much as it is a pleasure to discover a hidden gem amongst the mass of shows in Edinburgh, there’s also something very reassuring about having a list of reliable prospects.
In 2011, Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson were women without a mission.
The award-winning comedian Alasdair Beckett-King is legendary, in that there is little historical evidence he exists.
It’s four years since Rob Lloyd first brought this autobiographical, Doctor Who-related show to Edinburgh.
I have never seen anyone manage to create humour from pessimism and snobbery as well as Simon Evans does and oh my, we were in for quite a helping of it in this hour long show.
A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) is about a woman’s struggle with depression, told through a simple, storytelling format and soundtracked by original music from Fris…
Burly Glaswegian stand-up Scott Agnew has for many years joked about “blow-job knee”—wear and tear arising from too much time on his knees providing oral sex.
Given the way that Jan Ravens effortlessly reels off her startling array of impressions it begs the question why it has taken so long for her to branch out on her own.
Choose Your Battles is Lucy Porter’s 11th Edinburgh Show and it’s a wonderfully crafted hour that is both funny and, at times, a poignant look at someone who goes out of their way …
Returning to Edinburgh for a 7th year, All The King’s Men are the voices that are defining a genre.
It’s 54 years since the last conscripted British citizens returned to civilian life after completing their National Service.
Victor Hugo once said “You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.
Many an article’s been written on how the gay scene appears dominated by drugs and sex.
“Ah yes.
Alan Bennett’s Bed Amongst the Lentils is one of the great observational pieces from the master wordsmith’s influential Talking Heads series.
The finals of the Great Yorkshire Fringe New Comedian of the Year competition as ever throw up a talented assortment of acts.
There is a tongue planted firmly in cheek with this affectionate tribute to the music of the Carpenters and in particular the legacy of Richard, forever doomed to be the “other�…
The show that offended a thousand piglets is back.
Let’s get something out of the way - Olivia Colman is darn good at this acting malarkey isn’t she? It might actually even be illegal to use her name without the prefix ‘Natio…
There’s a lot wrong with the world at the moment, but I reckon if you gave everyone a ukulele then you could go a long way to curing all that’s troubling.
Bad times make for good drama.
A site specific, immersive play invites the audience into Danni’s student flat for pre-drinks and Ring of Fire with her best friend, Jack.
“O, what a tangled web we weave,” Sir Walter Scott wrote in his epic poem Marmion, “when first we practise to deceive!” It’s a life lesson we can only hope unfortunat…
“Some stories didn’t make it into the history books” In 1943, young Mid-Westerner Stu serves in the army as a photographer for Yank Magazine, the journal ‘f…
A marriage isn’t just the joining of two people, or even two families—it marks the coming together of two communities.
Killology (by Gary Owen, writer of last year’s award-winning play, Iphigenia in Splott) follows in a similar ilk to the likes of recent pieces Upstairs at The Royal Court, Yen an…
Within the first five or so minutes of Common, a large chorus of people wearing shrubs, trees and animal heads over their faces chant menacingly, a woman in her fineries introduc…
Much-loved guitarist, Paul Gregory, returns to perform a solo recital of J.
‘Eve’s Dawning’ combines storytelling, live music and animation to tell the dystopian fairy tale of Eve, the last girl in the world, as she navigates a post-apocalyptic waste…
First things first: if you’ve ever worried about how a history of depression or suicide in your family could affect you or your children, DO NOT go and watch Anatomy of a Suicid…
It’s fair to say that Bounce!, created and performed by French company Arcosm, is a delightfully playful blend of music and dance, performed with real skill and alleged wild a…
Recent years have seen a significant rise in the number of (usually) London theatre productions being transmitted live to cinemas and other venues across the UK.
The Foster’s Edinburgh Best Newcomer Award-nominated ‘Story Beast’ (“a bearded force of nature” (Guardian)) and critically-acclaimed “charming storyteller” (Chortle), Ric…
“Incredibly Funny!” (SG Fringe), “Redefining Comedy Hypnotism” (British Comedy Guide).
Join us for some drag king cabaret by the seaside as we celebrate the bois from previous King of the Fringe competitions.
At one point during Glory on Earth, its two main characters—stage right, the young, romantic Mary, Queen of Scots; stage left, the firebrand Protestant preacher John Knox—ar…
CTRL ALT DEL: Restart, Repeat, Restart, Repeat.
The critically acclaimed Edinburgh sell-out comes to Brighton Fringe.
Alasdair Beckett-King is a legendary comedian, in that there is little historical evidence he exists.
An original musical & gastromonical journey from the 5th Century settlement of Boerthlelm’s Tun to Brighton in 1795, with affectionate portraits of the colourful inhabitants of 24 …
“Keep going,” actor Andy Clark says repeatedly to the musicians behind the glass screen in the unsubtly-named Limbo Studio created on stage, ensuring that we find our seats …
A courtroom in hell.
Blooming Ludas presents Power Story – a tooth-achingly sweet participatory, environmentally friendly piece of storytelling.
Escaped psychiatric patient Kevin Haggerty is not pleased about his diagnosis, even less pleased about being on a section of the Mental Health Act and distinctly upset about being …
My life is a constant search for emotional and electrical outlets.
“There is no language for what happened that night,” states Salome in narration as her older self shortly after beginning this new, happily more feminist, retelling of the myth s…
Paul Prem Nadama is a singer-songwriter-guitarist of beautiful, soulful acoustic songs, with a new-age twist.
In 1983, the BBC published a retrospective about “the first 25 years” of the by-then globally famous BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
“The true mystery of the world is the visible .
Will and Heidi are two thoughtful, principled stand-ups who will do anything to get a laugh, including dropping all principles.
After Muofhe’s thriving musical career in her region in the northern province of Venda in south Africa, she has decided it’s time to introduce her African rhythms to the rest of …
The London-born artist Joan Eardley, who settled in Scotland to study and whose artistic career was cut short when she died—aged 42—in 1963, is best known for two very diffe…
Brighton’s most popular 90 minute traditional city walking tour.
The 306: Day is the second of a three play trilogy instigated by the National Theatre of Scotland, inspired by the stories of the 306 British soldiers that we know were executed…
Paul Revill, Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year 2014, heads to Brighton Fringe with his debut hour.
This is Richard II as you’ve never seen him before, in a purple shell-suit wielding power over his puppet kingdom with subjects that range from beautiful two foot high hand carve…
If you ever crave the feeling that all the weight has been taken off your shoulders, this show and its desire to unburden you is worth a shot.
There’s no doubt that when Tony Kushner’s “Gay Fantasia on National Themes” first came to the stage in the early nineties, it was like little that had been seen before – both i…
This is a homecoming, of sorts; the revival of a play, first performed at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre back in 1989, which subsequently enjoyed successful productions in the West …
“I used to be Shirley Valentine,” explains the focus of Willy Russell’s 1986 one-woman play; a 42 year old Liverpudlian woman who, now that the children have flown …
The comedic tone of David Weir’s Confessional is clear from the start; as Schubert’s beautiful Ave Marie fades into silence, “Good Catholic” Kevin—or, as he puts it, th…
There’s much to admire, to even love, in Douglas Maxwell’s new play at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum; a script full of humour and subtle characterisation, if not always …
Based on the first novel of The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster and the graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli.
If populism breeds cynicism, then there’s a high quota of cheap shots that could be made towards the Royal Court’s latest offering.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s debut novel has become so iconic in Western culture that the word “Frankenstein” is now used pejoratively to describe any scientific o…
If the usual writerly advice is to always “show, not tell”, then biography is arguably one of the few artistic forms where a certain amount of direct author-to-audience expl…
The Biblical narrative that is the foundation of the Christian faith has been described, on numerous occasions, as “The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Children’s entertainer Jango Starr is a total clown, but that’s certainly not meant as a criticism; sans white-face, he instead relies on a pair of trousers just sufficientl…
Almost at the start, Gilchrist Muir—here inhabiting the tweed suit of our lecturer, Glasgow University-based Theoretical Zombiologist Dr Ken House—insists that Zombies are no…
A young girl, annoyed by being made fun of by her seven older brothers, joins in the family’s evening game of throwing stones and unintentionally shatters the sun from the sky…
From the start of his exploration of the scientific method, through the prism of the 17th century rivalry between Isaac Newton and the now little-remembered Robert Hooke, playwr…
In one sense, this Lyceum revival of Caryl Churchill’s 2002 play is exactly the “dynamic two-hander” described in the programme: the only actors on stage are Peter Forbes,…
The symbolism is hardly subtle; when we enter the Traverse Theatre’s principal performance space, we have to choose which side of a massive shipping container we sit next to.
There’s always a risk attempting to present previously “unknown” stories as theatre.
I’m not a fan of promenade performances, especially those involving the audience being led in a group from one set piece to another.
Science Fiction isn’t the most common genre you find on stage; ironic, really, since it was Karel Čapek’s 1920 play R.
Decouple any romantic notion of sex as being the physical demonstration of love and what is it other than just an act to satiate a desire for power, ownership, closeness, or to m…
Paul Carrack is one the UK’s great singer songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.
What’s real, what’s imagined and what’s the cause - or effect - of madness are the questions most of us know to be raised but rarely consistently answered in Shakespeare’s most (…
It’s said that one first eats with one’s eyes.
Dominic Hill, artistic director of Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre, apparently doesn’t like to constrain any theatrical experience with the blunt instrument of a rising or falling c…
Evan Placey’s Girls Like That (first performed at London’s Unicorn Theatre three years ago) came to Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre—courtesy of the neighbouring Lyceum Thea…
There’s much to love about this new touring production of La Cage Aux Folles; gloriously Technicolor™ sets, gorgeous costumes, tight choreography, clearly enunciated sin…
Three-quarters of a century on, there are still stories of the Second World War that aren’t as well known as they should, but Stuart Hepburn’s new play—while promoted as t…
The old showbiz adage that “the show must go on” is usually invoked—in the aftermath of some behind-the-scenes calamity—before curtain-up, but the point of The Play That…
It’s great to see new writing being performed at one of the National’s bigger spaces and there are big themes at play here in writer Lindsey Ferrentino’s National Theatre and UK …
There’s one deliciously unique—sadly never repeatable—moment during the opening night of Allan Stewart’s Big Big Variety Show, when Stewart introduces the singer Susan B…
Nostalgia is big business.
The writer and historian James Truslow Adams once defined the “American Dream” as the potential for life to be “better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity …
3pm-4pm The first show of the day will feature about as wide a variety of improvisation styles as one could ask for, with three groups that could not be more different from each o…
Set against the majesty of the Serengeti Plains to the evocative rhythms of Africa, this spectacular production explodes with glorious colours, stunning effects and enchanting musi…
Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale has all the characteristics of a Tragedy, as we speedily witness the horrendous consequences of King Leontes’ groundless jealousy for pregnant …
Warning: Contains text of a sensitive nature In the 70s and early 80s, the well-known Manchester band, Joy Division, took their name from events had nothing to do with joy.
“I’m so excited”—that iconic 1982 hit by the Pointer Sisters—is an apt intro to a show with a predominantly female audience that’s already wound up to have a good ti…
“Not a circus, it’s a Berserkus!” Cirque Berserk! boldly comes with two USPs.
18 years after her death, “blue-eyed soul singer” Dusty Springfield remains many things to many people—not least a gay icon, thanks to her emotional fragility and memorabl…
I have an inherent discomfort with theatre that requires a certain knowledge or level of intelligence in order to appreciate it (reference my ongoing debate with the current Royal …
If politics is about people—specifically the ever-fluctuating power imbalances between people in different situations—then Federico García Lorca was right to focus his “po…
There is, ironically enough, a lot that’s incredibly old-fashioned about Thoroughly Modern Millie; it’s a feel-good, song and dance show about a young gold-digger who, while se…
For 9 weeks only, Dirty Great Love Story makes its West End debut! Two hopeful hapless romantics get drunk, get it on and then get the hell away from each other.
You can always feel a particular kind of excitement in an auditorium, before “curtain up”, when a significant proportion of the audience are (a) less than five years old, an…
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland isn’t known for its plot; in fact, it’s essentially a succession of wonderfully fanciful sketches which happen to share …
In Sartre’s existential drama, three characters are placed in a mysterious room with no way out.
God life can be a depressing old thing can’t it? When, through no fault of your own, you find yourself struggling to just exist from one long unfulfilling day to the next – kno…
As titles go, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a fine conflation of the innocent and disturbing, although the cultural impact of Joan Lindsay’s novel is arguably more down to Peter W…
Pantomime, as we’re reminded by the Ambassador Theatre Group’s pre-show video (narrated by Brian Blessed), is a peculiarly British theatrical tradition, although it’s a sha…
“I can be pretty dim, sometimes,” says Sion Pritchard as Tom, an office-working film school graduate who doesn’t, initially, come across as particularly sympathetic.
Following sell-out seasons in 2011/12 and critical and audience acclaim, Simon Callow returns in this much-lauded production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, playing at the Arts Theatre for a…
Scottish writer Stuart Paterson now has a back catalogue of sufficient scale to warrant a revival or two; his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine is curre…
It’s a brave show which starts with the words: “I don’t like it.
Inside Out Theatre’s second pantomime for relatively news arts venue Websters (located in Glasgow’s Kelvinbridge area) is another self-consciously low-rent production which …
Reviewing Mamma Mia! almost feels like a lost cause; it’s an unstoppable global phenomenon and, if this touring production—setting up home in the Edinburgh Playhouse for Chri…
There’s no doubting the energy in Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre before this show starts; many kids are already singing along to a soundtrack of current chart hits.
As a rule, the best children’s stories—be they novels, comics or TV shows—all inspire the same question: “What on Earth were they taking when they came up with that?” …
“Small boys are not to be trusted,” says the titular George’s gleefully malevolent Grandma in this new production—by Dundee Rep’s Associate Artistic Director Joe Dougla…
The master of the English ghost story, M R James, once described Irish author Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu as “absolutely in the first rank” among supernatural storyteller…
Taking place over the five years in the seventies that turned out to be the last Labour Government for nearly 20 years and that led to the Thatcher era, the politics being manage…
If the purpose of life is to continue its perpetuity, the implication is that those of us who spawn children are naturally superior to those who don’t.
There must be little more that can raise the spirits of young or old than the idea of flying free through the skies.
First performed in 1775, Sheridan’s The Rivals remains surprisingly relevant, not least thanks to its inter-generational conflict.
Whilst this latest in a long line of Chichester transfers may be a new reworking of the classic Tommy Steele vehicle – with new songs, music and deeper characterisation added �…
You get a strong sense of what Jumpy is going to be like from Jean Chan’s impressive set—two jumbled piles of household goods, surrounded by an off-kilter frame of plain wall…
“Why is Opera important? Because it’s real-er than any play”.
A risk when putting any historical figure on stage—let alone a writer and thinker of the calibre of Dr Samuel Johnson—is that using their own words makes them appear less a …
It’s not every play that starts with a reaffirmation of one of the basic fundamentals of theatre: that things which aren’t true can be imagined, and that what can be imagine…
The opening minute or so of School of Rock immediately sets the stall for what to expect and what to accept in order to enjoy the rollicking fun show ahead.
When the voice of Bryony Kimmings - writer and director of this piece and “performance artist by trade” - asks at the start “how could you make a show about illness and death wit…
“It’s quite comfortable being old,” 80 year old actor Tim Barlow tells us at the start of his latest one-man show, a work co-devised with the writer Sheila Hill.
For at least some of its audience, it’s enough that Grain in the Blood reunites actors Blythe Duff and John Michie—long-time compatriots on STV’s Taggart.
There’s no hanging about with Morna Pearson’s Walking On Walls; when the lights come up, we see a bespectacled woman observing a man who’s bound on an office chair, tape a…
This one-man show, written and performed by Gary McNair, won lots of praise during its initial run as part of the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
It was the head-to-head that, even at the time, seemed almost unthinkable; a televised face-off between British chat-show host David Frost—certainly at the time not exactly kn…
We’re somewhere among the Western Isles, and at least a thousand years back in time.
Something’s Gonna Happen returns for autumn presenting the best in fantastic live, local music.
Edinburgh-based Grid Iron Theatre Company has long specialised in creating immersive, site-specific theatre.
If you’re a student theatre company with somewhat limited resources, but still want to try your hand at a reasonably successful Broadway musical, then [title of show] is argua…
Children are often said to be the most “difficult”—or, to put it another way, most honest—theatre audience performers are ever likely to face: they’re not “adult” …
In ancient Greece, it was the practice before any theatrical performance to name those citizens who had financed it, and for a respected citizen to give “the libation” to th…
Among the gifts bestowed on the world by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the one-hour slot, into which everything—stand-up, spoken word, circus, dance or drama—has become s…
It’s not just the eponymous seldom heard, often bullied, fragile young girl LV who struggles to be heard in Jim Cartwright’s classic tragicomedy The Rise and Fall – finding he…
R C Sherriff’s Journey’s End, inspired by his own experiences of life in the trenches during the First World War, stands as an authoritative exploration of men “in extremis…
It’s fitting, in the weeks running up to the latest Arctic Circle Assembly (running from 7-9 October in Reykjavik, Iceland) that the team behind A Play, a Pie and a Pint opted…
Much can be understood by words that aren’t spoken.
There are a number of uses for the word ‘epic’ and this production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ highly stylised play clearly sets out to be defined by them all.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
A guitar and organ driven blues trio, the band was formed in 2014 by Dundee-born guitarist Simon Kennedy.
Fife’s Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote, has become one of Scotland’s most acclaimed and prolific singer-songwriters: a squeezebox Casanova and a seafaring pop heart-breaker who…
Traditional, contemporary Scottish songs by five of Scotland’s celebrated folk musicians.
If you’ve ever cursed Human Resources for making you work with such unreasonable people, you should see what Thomas has to put up with! Mike Bartlett’s 2013 tale of Darwinian c…
There’s a very British way of how we process learning about atrocities going on in the world that many of us know little about - first humour, then guilt, a desire to somehow “fi…
A scintillating 13-piece live band, featuring percussion and brass sections and fronted by Stu Goodall pay reverence to the songs of Paul Simon with an explosive show.
Procrastination may confound human progress and productivity, but it also provides the inspiration for Brick by Brick’s fantastic, multimedia clown show.
Performed by a company of young actors, this is a credible adaptation of Shakespeare’s rarely performed King John that revels in the high stakes of its historical narrative.
Simon Munnery marks his 30th year of Fringe shows with an unmissable, one-off gala.
There aren’t many plays with a cast of teenagers that are this slick.
It’s hard to imagine a more emotionally-gruelling hour of theatre: three women held prisoner by an abusive patriarch finally free themselves from his clutches by shooting him in …
Paul Kelly has recorded over 20 albums as well as several film soundtracks.
I’ve finally found it: the Fringiest show at the Fringe! Hyena is a free-wheeling, difficult, often uncomfortable and sometime revelatory experience.
A concert full of well known pieces from the worlds of opera, operetta, musicals and popular music.
One of Ireland’s most respected, best-loved singers, this renowned international entertainer, ‘a mixture of all the great voices of the 20th century’ (Guardian), has few peers for …
James VII (reigned 1685-8), Scotland’s last Catholic king, was overthrown by his son-in-law William of Orange in the revolution of 1688-9.
Sometimes a little simplicity can go a long way in the theatre, and in this case, the title of this piece about the life of composer and performer Ivor Novello is very apt, as it r…
As a piece of verbatim theatre, I Love You / It’s Over gives a much more clear headed, down-to-earth view of love than you’re likely to find in a more highly wrought play.
Join award winning, West End performer Sharon Sexton in this smash hit one woman, musical rollercoaster.
One of Ireland’s most respected, best-loved singers, this renowned international entertainer, ‘a mixture of all the great voices of the 20th century’ (Guardian), has few peers for …
This tragic romance has always been about the individual consequences of divisions in society.
Apparently, even circuses nowadays feel a need to satisfy the public’s desire to glimpse behind the scenes, to smell the greasepaint and discover how the magic happens.
David Payne, having already portrayed C.
Upstairs Downton and Petting Zoo (‘Improv supergroup’ TimeOut) star creates a staggering array of characters using his mouth, brain, hands and body.
Rarely performed and more or less unknown to all but the most hardcore of Shakespeare addicts, Troilus and Cressida explores star-crossed love and political machinations in the mid…
With hints of Black Swan and Inland Empire, Olly Lawson’s new play is a surprisingly arresting example of student writing.
An adaptation of Luigi Pirandello’s 1921 absurdist piece, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Barrie Wheatley’s modernised version blends the source material’s meta-theatr…
If you’re expecting an uncomfortable exploration of mental health issues and the stigmas associated with them, the tone of Happy Yet? might catch you off-guard.
Join us for traditional choral evensong and benediction with the renowned choir, organ and congregation of this historic Anglican Catholic Church.
The tale of one daredevil’s quest for glory! This mischievous show will fire up your engines with dangerous feats, epic story and jaw-dropping magic.
Join us for traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy with the renowned choir, organ and congregation of this historic church, directed by City and University Organist Dr John Kitchen.
From pin-drop delicacy to infectious grooves that leave you smiling.
Later, considerably ruder and darker shows from internationally acclaimed, award-winning Scottish stand-up comedy meteor.
Combining the bawdy naughtiness of St Trinian’s, the desire to escape sobriety, language and depiction of true Scottishness of Trainspotting, with beautiful choral harmonies and …
Weird cabaret. At the end of the day does it matter? Comedy pioneers Nina Conti and Simon Munnery bring their playful best, plus oddball guests from across the Fringe.
In this one-performer play by writer Donald Smith, actor Robin Thomson plays King James – at once James VI of Scotland and James I of England.
Simon David is the next big music sensation but what makes him unique? He’s a virgin! Co-written by Fringe First Winner Chris Larner, Simon & his live band tell the story of his di…
Paul Merton returns to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with an improvised comedy show.
This legendary singer/songwriter and pop-icon performs his chart hits Ariel, Lucky Stars, Lydia and more.
The music of Egberto Gismonti is like a microcosm of his native Brazil – diverse, joyful and unique.
A world within a world, a tale within a tale; A Story of Stories is the visually stunning and innovative production that will capture a parent’s imagination as much as a child’…
There’s something wonderfully uncluttered and unpretentious about this particular wander down literary lane from the Mercators, one of Edinburgh’s oldest amateur drama clubs.
Gary Delaney has been touring all over the UK for months.
Mason King’s Mind Control mixes card tricks, deception and mind-reading into just under an hour of delving into the human psyche.
Gary thinks a good joke should be like a drunk Glaswegian: short and punchy.
Paul Foot pits two teams against each other, discussing a series of real-life, perilous, yet bizarre situations and attempting to work out which of Paul’s unusual items will save…
Paul Wady’s unique and controversial mass autism conversion show returns for a second year.
Offbeat one-liners, flights of fancy and a totally absurd storyline from surrealist fool and NATY 2013 winner, Paul F Taylor.
A gloriously friendly show packed with hopes, dreams, snacks and drums.
The show’s stated theme is a philosophical discussion of how we end up where we end up, In actual fact this thread isn’t really followed up.
In a sitcom-esque black comedy, three bohemian students lazily speculate about the end of the world, until they begin to suspect that one of them might have taken drastic action ag…
Paul Dabek is back in the spotlight at the Free Fringe and, without giving anything away; this is man who really knows how to make the most of a spotlight.
The show begins with a strikingly visual movement piece, then a discovery of the characters in the story, revealed through various musical instruments.
The show begins with a strikingly visual movement piece, then a discovery of the characters in the story, revealed through various musical instruments.
Meet Reginald, the bravest piece of rope in show business.
Renaissance tragedies are rarely as enjoyably silly as Wanton Theatre’s ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore.
A Free Fringe double bill of stand-up with no particular theme, Irish comedians Keith Fox and Ger Staunton underwhelm with their unassuming stage presence and only mildly amusing h…
Almost twenty years ago, Guy Ritchie changed the landscape of British cinema with his love letter to the charismatic psychopaths of the East End underbelly Lock, Stock and Two Smok…
A sure contender for Best Title for a Comedy Show at this year’s Fringe, George Zacharopoulos’s riches-to-rags tale is just as entertaining as it sounds.
The story of Edinburgh’s beloved Margaret Sinclair and her everyday sanctity is vividly brought to life in this one-woman play.
In an hour that mixes spoken word and storytelling, Zöe Murtagh explores the symptoms and stigmas faced by anxiety sufferers in a show co-written with Victoria Copeland.
It’s pretty clear what kind of show we’re about to see when – as it becomes obvious that there isn’t actually a sufficient number of seats for all of the audience that’s …
Now in its third year at the Fringe, I Ran With The Gang written by Liam Rudden for his company LR Stageworks returns this year to the cosy yet lavish surroundings of Le Monde in u…
Writer and performer Emma Jerrold could be described as something of a hot property at this year’s Fringe.
Following the story of an Irish emigrant’s relationship with her father, Remember to Breathe is quietly affecting rather than arresting; assured and well-rounded rather than boun…
Simon and Garfunkel: Through the Years is a blend of incredibly accurate live performance and multimedia, returning to the Edinburgh Fringe after sell-out runs in both 2014 and 201…
This educational, charming piece on an American folk-rock visionary is fittingly presented by an up-and-coming sensation of the same genre, Dan Clews.
There’s a certain size and scale that one gets used to at the Fringe.
You are about to be transported to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas where you have the opportunity to be the star of the show! This is the UK’s first and only full production int…
It’s apt, if a little predictable, that the pre-show music Doug Segal selects for his latest Fringe show is the classic James Brown track I Feel Good.
Comedian Paul Johnson guides his two sons through first loves, playground fights, youth sports and the timeless longing to fit in and be one of the cool kids – an urge Paul still…
New work is at the heart of the Fringe experience; new work by new companies all the more so.
When deciding on a show to bring to the Fringe, you have two main choices: one, a piece of new writing - exciting and impactful but harder to market - or two, a take on a classic -…
“Poggle’s not scared of climbing trees,” we’re told early on in this beautifully clear and uncluttered piece of vibrant dance theatre aimed at very young children.
Spiders by Night is one of the more intimate Fringe shows: two monologues about spiders and mental health difficulties.
Mission accepted.
ShakeShakeTheatre present the tale of a man named Bumblegrum in a quirky and enjoyable puppet show for children.
One of the things I’ve noticed about this year’s Fringe is the number of stellar one-woman shows, and Prime Cut Productions’ Scorch is the best so far.
In a single dining room revisited over the course of the 20th Century, a series of family dramas show the decline of the American upper-middle class.
Northern Irish master of surreal nonsense and bohemian clownarchist.
Trust me, Fringe magic still happens.
Some stupid adults, having forgotten what it’s actually like to be children, are often surprised, disturbed and horrified by the serious issues lurking in the heart of the most s…
It’s clearly an uncomfortable time of life for Jo Caulfield; a succession of musical heroes have died, she’s moved from middle-class Morningside to somewhat more “cosmopolita…
An improvised Jane Austen novel was always going to be a lot of fun, and Austentatious’s talented cast certainly delivered an amusing hour of comedy.
Steam lives up to its name, delivering a staggeringly intense hour of physical theatre.
Mine is perhaps one of the most intense hours at the Fringe.
Rare chance to enjoy this unique talent performing thought-provoking, evocative original songs in one of Scotland’s most intimate music venues.
There is always plenty of political comedy at the Fringe, but rarely as passionate and earnest as James Meehan’s Class Act.
Imagination and reality collide in the world of Simon Slack.
The gamut of performers at Fringe brings with it a spectrum of experience; from shiny new student companies, powering forward on naive enthusiasm and off-brand energy drinks, to ve…
Manchild autocorrect nightmare Feilder returns after his ‘delightful debut hour’ **** (Metro), with another hot batch of jokes, films, sounds and stupidity.
What do you do when your singing partner vanishes? For twee Scottish children’s entertainer, Gerald Wee Gerry Hoots Galbraith, he grew a beard and went full art folk.
While acknowledging his immense talent, some reviewers have accused Steen Raskopoulos of going through the motions, trotting out the same tired routines he’s been spinning for…
There are plenty of plays at this year’s Fringe which criticise gender norms and take on patriarchal systems, but Mr Incredible truly gets to the heart of the kind of beliefs tha…
For a comedian with such a cult following, renowned for surrealist originality, I was very excited about my first encounter with Paul Foot’s comedy.
Throughout history, every generation has thought they would witness the end of the world.
Ding dong, the witch isn’t dead! And this time it’s definitely cause for celebration! After her previous success as an ‘international cabaret superstar’ Maggie is back in b…
Theatre audiences are, for the most part, quite comfortable with their self-assigned role of secret voyeurs of the people on stage who go about their lives with no apparent knowled…
Uplifting, illuminating and meticulously crafted comedy, from a ‘stellar stand-up’ (Age).
Peter White made a controversial decision to write a stand-up show about the problems faced by straight, white men, and it’s unclear whether this is quite brave or a terrible mis…
Andrew Doyle has now brought five solo shows to Edinburgh, each noticeably different in style and tone; even Doyle’s on-stage persona has shifted somewhat from one year to the ne…
Simon Munnery performs for his 30th year at the Fringe.
Perhaps one of the most entertaining shows I have seen on the Free Fringe, Lovehard consists of comedians Jacob Lovick and Tyler Harding (see what they did there?), who in what is …
Paul Revill, Bath Comedy Festival New Act of the Year 2014, returns to the Fringe with his debut hour.
Tim Renkow has a handy tip for anyone who feels uncomfortable around him as a result of his cerebral palsy.
In Paul Duncan McGarrity’s eighth show at the Fringe, Ask An Archaeologist, interesting and funny are blended to create a must see stand-up at the heart of the Free Fringe Festiv…
While categorised in the Fringe programme under theatre, this work – created and directed by Kai Fischer with contributions from its cast – is certainly not a play, at least in…
There are two ways to reach the small room where UK-based American character comedian Will Franken is performing.
Aidan Goatley’s stand-up show isn’t, despite its title, about ELO; indeed, there’s no obvious guarantee that he will get round to telling us why he chose one of that band’s…
A beautiful flower is born with the help of something dirty, trivial and unexpected.
Despite the commanding tone of his show’s title, John Gordillo doesn’t actually come across as a fan of Capitalism as an economic and social system.
Wow! Happy Together is a ferociously intelligent new play by MA student Kate Newman, and perhaps the most meta thing at the Fringe.
Underbelly’s largest venue is the huge tent – shaped like an purple cow tipped onto its back – that this year has been transplanted into the western half of George Square Gar…
Bob drives his BlundaBus around Europe looking for adventures.
Just one glance at this year’s stuffed-to-bursting wedge of a programme is enough to see that there are bewildering array of performance disciplines represented at this year’s …
What is love? In an immersive clown show with an interesting lyrical vein, Sean Kempton (of Cirque du Soleil) attempts to find out.
Alistair Williams is a bit of a lad.
Dressed like a hip hop stereotype and with an accent he describes as “Forrest Gump on crack”, LJ Da Funk is the brainchild of stand-up Zac Splijt.
Despite coming across as likeable and charming, Romina Puma’s stand-up set doesn’t provoke too many laughs.
“Orthodox”, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, is an adjective that suggests “following or conforming to the traditional or generally accepted rules or belie…
“Every woman is a riot,” is roughly painted on the wall behind the stage area of this hidden-away New Town bar’s seldom used attic space.
If you’re looking for some genuinely funny political comedy, Rahul Kohli is your man.
An adaptation of Jan Guillou’s semi-autobiographical novel, which went on to become an Oscar-nominated film in 2003, Evil tells the story of systematic bullying and brutality at …
The word “fabulous” is defined as being extraordinary and wonderful, and having no basis in reality.
Star of Impractical Jokers (BBC Three), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC Three), and Stand Up Central (Comedy Central), Paul returns with a brand new stand-up show.
Several years ago, a couple of wannabe stand-ups decided to do a Free Fringe show based around some of the odd things their respective fathers had said and done down the years.
There’s an anarchic edge to the Trash Test Dummies – as might be expected from a circus troupe who go on to perform a succession of tricks and humorous gymnastics using that mo…
As soon as Stuart Mitchell entered the room, I knew I was in a safe pair of hands.
My name is Lara and I broke the law.
Fresh from London, Boston, New York performances, returning to Edinburgh for a sixth year.
Part monologue, part stand-up show, Lana Schwarcz (writer, actor, puppeteer and comedian) shares her experience of breast cancer with honest emotion and cheesy one-liners.
Story Pocket Theatre bring Michael Morpurgo’s novel about King Arthur to life with a solid and enjoyable production.
Scott Agnew is looking good, these days; whether that’s down to him drinking less is unclear, though it’s clearly a bit of a culture shock on the night of this review as it’s…
Geoff Norcott, as he points out quite early on in his set, has not been seen on television.
The sharp-suited David Mills is already seated on stage when his audience comes in, chatting with us, riffing along to a Barry Manilow hit; while he later insists that the role in …
I should declare an interest here.
When life gives you lemons, those with an optimistic, can-do attitude invariably suggest you make lemonade.
The show that guarantees the biggest laughs of the festival and your money back! BBC Radio Four favourite, Evans, has been immersing himself in economics for a couple of years, lik…
Mikey and Addie is a story about two pre-teen kids who couldn’t be more different – Mikey’s life is all about imagination and play, while Addie’s is focused on enforcing rule…
Smart may seem innovative in putting Facebook and Tinder at the heart of a drama, but this cannot compensate for boring and one-dimensional characters and a tedious plot.
Tom Neenan appears to be making his way through the genres with his one-man/many characters shows: Edwardian ghost story in 2014, and 1950s-styled British science fiction thriller …
A lot has happened to Boris Johnson since Boris: World King’s runaway success at last year’s Fringe.
Neil Frost can’t speak, so his audience must tell his tale and help this nervous man change the monotony of his life by taking a risk.
Joining the ranks of slightly nerdy comedians who primarily joke about their non-existent sex lives, So You Think You’re Funny finalist Alex Kealy is a safe bet for some well-tho…
Improv comedy is a tricky beast - when it’s good, it’s very, very good; when it’s bad, it’s pointless.
There are a fair number of improvised comedies this year, but Degrees of Error’s Murder She Didn’t Write is causing a particular buzz.
The incoming audience is met by a tall man resplendent in shorts, M&S shirt buttoned to the collar and white joke shop beard.
A surprisingly moving hour of theatre, Something Borrowed deals with the struggles of a 21st-century, 20-something feminist trying to reconcile the desire for the perfect fairy tal…
Pretend news reporter Jonathan Pie – the creation of actor Tom Walker – has risen to public attention, during the last year, thanks to a succession of videos on YouTube which a…
Jamie MacDonald comes from a tradition of endearingly grumpy comics, ranting affably about all of life’s niggles, from racist taxi drivers to obnoxious ramblers.
Graínne Maguire is a pretty cool woman, and once trended worldwide for tweeting the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) updates on her menstrual cycle.
Like a family-friendly version of Sin City with hand puppets, The Toyland Murders follows the adventures of Inspector McGraw (Becca Jones) and her deputy as they attempt to track d…
It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate venue than the Demonstration Room at Summerhall for Nick Cassenbaum’s coming of age tale.
Come for an immersive ‘clubbing’ atmosphere and free face paint; stay for perceptive political dilemmas and great naturalistic performances.
Paul McMullan’s debut fringe show is stuffed full of clever insights into the world of British drinking culture and its potentially destructive nature.
After Mafia? and Western? at previous Fringes, comedy trio Sleeping Trees now turn their gaze to the stars.
Puppet pioneers Flabbergast Theatre have made an interesting move this year, establishing their own dedicated performance space, The Omnitorium, within the confines of Assembly Ge…
Male stand up comedians from certain parts of Glasgow often face a significant impediment; they can’t help but sound like Billy Connolly, and so inevitably find themselves compar…
I’m sure we’re all used to growing the Fringe brochure and seeing shows with enigmatic titles which tell you nothing about the eventual content.
Fringe sensations Racing Minds are back after three sell-out years! A doddery grandfather can’t quite remember his ripping yarn, but with your help a mystery stuffed with hilarious…
Anyone looking for important and assured new writing would be well-advised to give Ecce Theatre’s Crazed a look.
There’s surely no better sign that mental health issues – and depression in particular – are becoming more openly discussed than for the likes of Colin Hoult to come along an…
Max & Ivan are celebrating the anniversary of when they met – and having in recent years become a staple of the Fringe, it’s easy to understand why.
Some things never change; despite more than a decade performing stand-up, Laurence Clark still opens his set by drawing attention to his cerebral palsy: “This is just how I talk.
Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme, for Fringe participants.
Spending a full day (11 hours from first curtain up to last curtain call) watching three of Chekhov’s early plays (hence the ‘Young’ of the title) may not sound like the most fun…
Sean O’Casey may not himself have fought during the infamous Easter Rising of 1916 but, nonetheless, his play is still borne of personal knowledge and first-hand involvement.
Making a musical out of poetic animal stories aimed at children is nothing new but, while Andrew Lloyd Webber opted to turn T S Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats int…
With its clipped accents, simmering tension, undulating music and themes of mental anguish and sexual tension, Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea is quintessentially old-school…
Calling the run-down Greek shack that acts as the entire setting of this play a ‘Villa’ and then naming it after Thalia (representing comedy as the Greek Goddess of Festivity), A…
With Into The Woods – possibly one of Sondheim’s most accessible musicals – known fairy tales are twisted into an allegory for today’s times; stripping away Red Riding Hood, …
Whilst always a welcome promoter of new writing and new experiments in theatre, more recently The Royal Court’s choice of programme has been called divisive at best and pretentio…
If theatre is all about holding a mirror up to ourselves, then Tales From the Hanging Captain certainly makes the grade – it’s the first performance piece arising from the thr…
George Orwell’s 1984 still resonates today because for all the disturbingly dark ways that the events of the story unfold, his key themes of conspiracy, class and governmental an…
The Wee One starts with a scenario familiar enough from numerous television sitcoms – a couple well into middle-age who appear to be stuck with an adult child who has failed t…
Strange Town is an Edinburgh-based company which offers opportunities for young people between the ages of five and 25 to fulfil their creative potential though drama and perfor…
There’s a definite shift in the second play in this double bill from Edinburgh-based theatre company Strange Town.
A selection of pieces dealing with current day issues.
Part of the attraction of seeing magic tricks performed well – beyond the sheer spectacle – is trying to work out how they’re done.
“The here and the now is wow!” we’re told at the start of Broken Dreams.
As I’ve said before, whilst important times in history demand to be explored in theatre and film – and often bring raw emotion with them the more recent the history is – subj…
There’s a simple idea at the heart of Australian company cre8ion’s show Fluff; rescuing and giving a new home to lost and abandoned toys.
An exploration into award-winning playwright, Simon Stephen’s work.
Straight from London’s comedy duo ‘Carroll and Hodgson!’ Paul brings his absurd and sometimes downright nasty characters to life in this one hour spurt of bad language, bad d…
Something Rotten, not to be confused with the 2015 Broadway musical of the same name, is this time Hamlet’s villainous uncle, Claudius’s version of events, told as if he wer…
Traces is a theatre show with no obviously clear-cut beginning or end; if there’s a start at all, it might be when the two principal performers – Marko Werner and Michael Lur…
Sometimes words feel unworthy of the task when it comes to describing and reviewing a performance, especially a dance-piece as vibrant, colourful and joyous as this.
On 4th July 1845 – Independence Day, suitably enough – the young Henry David Thoreau went into the woods at Walden Pond, near the town of Concord, Massachusetts, and lived t…
There is much more to history than just learning dates and facts.
The physical core of the The Little Gentleman is a large wooden crate, addressed to the show’s venue, which is slowly revealed to include numerous small doors and openings from…
As he shimmied onto stage, Gregoire Aubert’s performance of Queer Side Story could be nothing other than entertaining.
Alasdair Beckett-King - “One to Watch” (Time Out) - is a legendary comedian, in that there is little historical evidence he exists.
Short stories set to music.
Fantastical absurd one-man sketch show.
She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the big…
Hear Ye, Broadway! From the co-director of The Book of Mormon and the producer of Avenue Q comes something original… something fresh.
Winner! 4 Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical! Tony Award® winner Kelli O’Hara (The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific) and Jose Llana (Here Lies Love) star in a magni…
Touring stand-up George Egg has spent – and, presumably, continues to spend – a lot of his life in hotels the length and breadth of the UK.
Never, ever underestimate the stupidity of the rich and powerful; that’s certainly one of the obvious lessons you can get from Liz Lochhead’s brilliantly funny take on the sc…
There are some incredible strengths in this latest production from Edinburgh’s most inspiring new theatre company.
A common preconception of Brecht’s work is that his political views, his ‘anti-theatre’ style and the didactic tag that precedes any conversation about it, creates theatre that s…
A work-in-progress show from the star of BBC3’s ‘Impractical Jokers’ and ‘Russell Howard’s Good News’.
Pulling up a stool in front of the intimate, softly lit stage down in the basement of Komedia, reminiscent of so many NYC music venues, the audience and I settled in to enjoy the…
I must admit to feeling a tad confused after experiencing Dirty Dusting.
Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise Theatre Company continues to lead the way in producing theatre that’s fully accessible to people with physical and/or sensory impairments, both …
Neil Frost has a story to tell.
Brighton’s only drag king competition is back! It’s time for bois to become men as they battle it out to win the crown (and 100 quid)! Expect a night of bulging biceps, protruding …
It’s not that unusual to see something that sweeps you up, makes you believe in the characters and feel their emotional pain, throws energy at you with hard guitar riffs and make…
All theatre requires some degree of “suspension of disbelief”.
Surreal one-liners, flights of fancy and a totally absurd storyline from the NATY 2013 winner.
A show inspired by Hetty King (an emblematic, early 20th century drag king), which embraces the possibility of women making connections across stages, in time.
A show inspired by Hetty King (an emblematic early 20th-century drag king), which embraces the possibility of women making connections across stages, in time.
Join Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Awards finalist Paul Jones, as he presents his guide to parenting for nerds.
London-based comedian Paul Laight and guests deliver a free hour of jokes, puns, observations and a song or two about the horrors of everyday life.
They say you should never meet your heroes.
Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy regains girl, and they live happily ever after.
Award-winning, ‘one woman wonder’, West End performer, Sharon Sexton.
During the 2008 Spring Season of “A Play, A Pie and A Pint” at Glasgow’s Òran Mór, writer and director Selma Dimitrijevic presented audiences with a delicate, poignant e…
This is the second time Michael Pennington has donned the crown of Lear and this time it’s a Lear clearly made for a 21st Century audience; cut down and pacey.
It’s not immediately obvious where Second Hand is located; Jonathan Scott’s set for this latest production in the Spring 2016 season of “A Play, a Pie and a Pint”, at Gl…
Brighton’s No.
Another week, another example of storytelling to be seen at Greenwich Theatre, with The Flanagan Collective’s gently soporific tale of the strive for idealism in today’s frenetic…
The fantastical, magical stories created by Roald Dahl have proven themselves to have the potential to inspire family shows that enthral rather than patronise with the award-winn…
It says something about us as a species that one of our oldest myths, crystallised in the form of Homer’s epic poem Iliad, is about war – specifically the bloody climax of th…
Theatrical serendipity currently means that, after some masculine brutality set during the latter stages of the ancient siege of Troy (in the Royal Lyceum’s new adaptation of H…
Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman’s original script for The Suicide was seen as such a strong satirical attack on the Communist Russian Government that it was branded ‘dangero…
Over three hours into Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comment on the everyday existence of the everyman, The Flick, one of the characters says that (his) “life may be depr…
As a playwright, David Edgar long ago sped past the number of plays written by Shakespeare, but it’s fair to say that – while often making a big impact at the time – not m…
First lines are important; as attention grabbers, but also as indicators of what’s to come, tonally at least.
You don’t need to have read any of the Arthur Conan Doyle novels in order to feel that you know a great deal about Sherlock Holmes.
Ring roads are not usually places you go to; they’re a means of avoiding congestion, of giving a wide berth to somewhere.
Fanny Brice’s prowess and fame were arguably due to her impeccable comic timing and clown-like performances, combined with a powerful singing voice that could both move you with …
For some strange and unknown reason, the idea of witches and witchcraft tends not to carry the darkness or horror that other (possibly) mythical demons do – even though there w…
For all we may use the platitude that “life is too short”, the harsh reality is that for most of us, it is anything but – and we fill the many minutes, hours and days bemoa…
It’s difficult for many people today – and not just those whose lives weren’t directly impacted – to really understand the common sense background to what my Mum (and the BBC…
On 10 January 1992, the container ship Ever Laurel, several days out from Hong Kong en route to Tacoma, Washington, hit a storm in the North Pacific Ocean.
There’s are plenty of laughs in this imaginary conversation between King James VI of Scotland – preparing in March 1603 to make his stately progress south from the Palace of…
The legendary pair of James Levine and Plácido Domingo have defined Verdi’s art for more than four decades.
It has become traditional for Lung Ha Theatre Company – Scotland’s principal theatre group for people with learning disabilities – to present at least one large show every…
A love-triangle comedy with a supernatural streak, this excellently cast new play by J.
If someone was to lose their grip on the concept of time as being linear, then the accepted psychological structure of how things happen, when, where and with whom, may break dow…
Most of us come to fairy tales – folk tales in general – courtesy of their so-called “traditional” retellings by Disney or the local panto.
In the near-century since Czech writer Karel Capek first gave us the word “robot” (in his play R.
It is a tad ironic that, initially, the most overpowering element in this new show from Stellar Quines Theatre Company – established in 1993 to “celebrates the energy, exper…
David Leddy’s apocalyptic fable International Waters certainly starts as it means to go on; loud and bold, with the memorable image of four gas-masked figures performing a tab…
Phil Differ is not someone you’d immediately recognise.
This fast rising and consistently delightful American tenor presents a wide-ranging recital of songs by composers including Schumann, Wolf, Berlioz and Villa-Lobos, as well as the …
Addiction and theatre may seem good bedfellows as they have often made for a spectacular combination.
Most theatre audiences have an anonymous – some might even suggest voyeuristic – role, viewing the action on stage from the safety of a darkened auditorium.
Brighton’s only drag king competition is back and tougher than ever! It’s time for bois to become men as they battle it out over three heats to make their way to the final.
Everybody lies; small lies, big lies, white lies and lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction in order to start what some may say is an illegal war.
With the current societal hatred for bankers and their sky high bonuses, we may put aside any thought for the young individuals who throw away any chance for a personal life, wit…
In one sense this latest production from Edinburgh-based Blazing Hyena Theatre Company is nothing more than a theatrical game in which writer Jack Elliot creates a succession of…
Legendary Sheffield-born singer, songwriter and former frontman of Ace, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics returns to the road with his band in early 2016 for a 34-date UK tour v…
In Greek mythology, princess Iphigenia is the eldest daughter of King Agamemnon, sacrificed to the goddess Artemis in order to allow her father’s warships to sail off to Troy.
(performances begin on Thursday) It’s a royal spring at the Brooklyn Academy of Music when the Royal Shakespeare Company arrives with a quartet of celebrated productions: …
There’s a beautiful symmetry to this new production from Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise Theatre Company; the start and end deliberately remind us that the four disabled men o…
Families eh? You can’t live with them, you can’t legally murder them for feeling that you have no more in common than a bloodline.
At the risk of sounding ageist, an immediate concern with any student theatre company taking on Shakespeare’s tragedy of tragedies, King Lear, is that it is in many respects a …
Drawing on contemporary sources, unsullied by Tudor propaganda, ‘Good King Richard’ dramatises for the very first time, the true events which propelled Richard III onto the thr…
I’ve long been a fan of Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, in which an Antarctica exhibition uncovers the still-living legacy of a previously unknow…
With typical modesty (not), Glasgow-based Vanishing Point describe themselves as “Scotland’s foremost artist-led independent theatre company, internationally recognised and …
What happens to your sense of identity when the world in which that self was created dramatically changes? If you lived to fight, what if the outcome of that fight wasn’t what yo…
I’m lucky that I’ve had no first hand experience of the impact of the disease looked at in The Father so my knowledge is only general rather than personal.
Arguably, the most important part of any Agatha Christie play doesn’t happen on the stage at all; it takes place in the rest of the theatre during the interval, when there’s…
The playwrights, directors, and actors who constitute the loose confederation that is the Village Pub Theatre once again moved in to the more upmarket, city central Traverse Thea…
The Village Pub Theatre’s second evening of short new dramas at the Traverse, in celebration of LGBT History Month, came with a wonderfully louche vibe, thanks to the easy MC-i…
Seemingly wanting to be judged as the output of an experiment rather than a ‘proper show’, Beyond The Fence is the result of Sky Arts TV documentary Computer Says Show, which…
Outside of the almost factory-like default setting of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s one hour time-slot (long-since exported around the world), it actually feels somewhat odd…
In the face of something terrible, we can either laugh or cry.
Tim FitzHigham has spent many years investigating – and replaying – the bizarre pastime of making bets for the sake of making bets.
Mike Bartlett’s beautifully worded imagining of a constitutional crisis without a constitution invites us to witness the starkness of the Royal Family stripped bare whilst presen…
Valentine’s Day may have a cheesy reputation, but the heart-filled holiday has inspired plenty of great live comedy for devoted couples, optimistic daters and determinedly si…
In the run-up to Mike Bartlett’s play Cock opening at the Tron Theatre, a lot of people – myself included – clearly couldn’t help have some innocent adolescent fun with …
A mixed troupe of lost souls find comfort in each other in the enjoyment of telling “silly little stories about silly little things” that are extensions and exaggerations of the…
All theatre requires a certain suspension of disbelief, musical theatre even more so.
Those of a certain age (likely to be over 40) who took Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds double LP record to their hearts - and those who found it on one of its many re-releases…
We find the notion of the waste of anything in life shameful, if not sinful – removing, as it does, any idea of success or achievement by focusing instead on what could or shou…
A story of how the roots of religion generally – and Deep South American Christianity specifically – may be preached, but is little more than a series of made-up stories and …
“Finished, it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished.
There have been a lot of Simon Munneries over the years.
Coming to a “classic” Agatha Christie whodunnit after a full day’s binging on the latest series of the BBC’s Silent Witness – oh, the life of a reviewer! – is, frank…
Marty Feldman’s style of comedy - and indeed his story - is of a very specific time in the annals of British entertainment.
“A dastardly attempt was made in the early hours of yesterday morning by suffragists to fire and blow up Burns’s Cottage, Alloway, the birthplace of the national poet,” rep…
When your life is borne of problems, pain and lies, the longer you don’t – or can’t – do anything to improve it, the more you may take an almost masochistic solace (from the …
Caryl Churchill rarely does interviews and never discusses the meanings behind her plays (even her stage directions are scant) - so I would be building myself up for a fall if I …
When faced with the knowledge that one has a high risk of a potentially terminal illness such as cancer, there are many different ways of dealing with the news.
If there’s one moment in this new production of Conor McPherson’s The Weir that encapsulates the quality of its cast and director, it’s towards the close when a moment of …
ON YOUR FEET! is the new Broadway musical about two people who believed in their talent, their music and each other and became an international sensation.
Carole King, the chart-topping music legend, was an ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent.
Strange Town is a theatre company based in Edinburgh which aims to “enable young people to fulfil their creative potential”, by providing five to 25 year olds with the opport…
“Gallows humour” probably lives in the same area as sarcasm, self-deprecation and the “stiff upper lip” as stereotypically British ways of how to deal with difficult or challengi…
At a time of year when most theatres across the land are bursting with colour, raucous laughter and the panto spirit, it’s typical of Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, long-esta…
When it comes to retelling Cinderella, two of the three most important roles in terms of plot and audience participation are Cinders’ best pal Buttons and her Fairy Godmother.
Like most of Scotland’s producing theatres, the Citizens Theatre does not, as a matter of principle, “do” panto.
Pantomime is arguably the most self-aware and self-mocking of theatrical forms, with the most successful shows seeing cast and audience mutually shattering any metaphorical four…
To Breathe starts with its six performers standing in a circle, staring at the audience, just breathing.
“Smells like Seton Sands” is precisely the kind of line you expect in a pantomime at The Brunton theatre in Musselburgh; it’s hooked on local rivalries, and grounds the ubi…
Panto is the season for daytime TV stars and sportsmen past their fighting prime to don outrageous costumes and deliver hackneyed dialogue.
There is an intrinsic roughness to this latest production from Edinburgh-based Blazing Hyena productions: performed “in the round” in a student bar within city’s Art College, th…
Beethoven’s final three piano sonatas are the subject of this White Light Festival event, featuring this British pianist of uncommon eloquence and depth.
It’s impossible to dislike the persona we think of when we think of Dawn French - her clownlike, down-to-earth warmth and sense of approachable ‘ordinariness’ make us feel that w…
In the 70s and early 80s, the well-known Manchester band, Joy Division, took their name from events had nothing to do with joy.
“A truce is a truce, but war is war,” we’re told early on in Ben Blow’s history play focusing on the all-too-forgotten consequences of Robert the Bruce’s victory over …
The soprano Christine Brewer may disappoint some admirers of her sumptuous voice by not performing more often in opera.
The Construction Company, a 45-year-old arts organization, presents an evening of new and revivified works by the veteran choreographers Sally Silvers and Kenneth King, as well as …
With stage musicals being turned into movies, books into plays, and singers’ back catalogues into flimsy show storylines, it’s becoming rare these days to see a piece of theatre (o…
Leicester-born David Campton, who died in in 2006, was a prolific British dramatist, especially adept at writing thought-provoking one act plays that make us laugh as much as we …
“Juke-box musicals”, which essentially use existing songs as their musical score, may strike you as a relatively modern theatrical phenomena – think Mamma Mia! or We Will …
It’s a somewhat hackneyed saying - favoured by many a High School teacher of English Literature - that if Shakespeare were alive today then he would likely be writing for soap op…
Panopticon, written and directed by second year University of Edinburgh student Liam Rees, is set in a women’s prison, into which well-meaning dramatist Julia comes to run a s…
“One day every company will fear a geek in a garage,” we’re told early on in Elliot Davis and James Bourne’s Loserville.
One of the strengths of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company during the last half-century has been its ongoing commitment to providing quality drama education and performance opport…
The first thing that strikes you about this new stage adaptation of William Golding’s classic dystopian novel is Jon Bausor’s astounding set: the huge section of a passenger…
Even if you don’t know the whole story of F.
While this troupe normally presents acts based on stories written by and for children, “After Dark” draws from the same material for an adults-only performance.
The family at the heart of Nina Raine’s Tribes is liable, at least initially, to make you yearn for the exit.
“I must learn to keep my mouth shut when there’s an angel in the room.
Walking into the Donmar with the seating closed in, the stage set with a circle of wooden school chairs and the colour drained from a metallic coloured set and cold lighting, you…
A criticism sometimes made about Edinburgh – especially by Glaswegians – is that, while the city appears sophisticated and morally upstanding, this is just a facade hiding a …
(previews start on Saturday; opens on Nov.
Mr.
There are many good reasons for launching the celebratory 50th anniversary season of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre Company with a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiti…
Arguably the most significant work of new theatre from “north of the border” in recent years is the National Theatre of Scotland’s Black Watch, an excellent example of inve…
Panto legends Payne & Pearce bring their new, hilarious and live stage show to Clapham! Expect chaos, jesters, princesses and tons of giggles for the whole family.
Managing a venue at the Fringe can be a hugely rewarding experience, but is also a mammoth undertaking for all involved.
A riotous non-verbal comedy about a nervous man who decides to change the monotony of his life by taking a risk.
Through their use of improvisation and mime, backed with a fantastic live band (The Glue Ensemble), Cariad and Paul bring to life a series of hilarious stories, based solely on one…
Pressure.
Since March 2015, Skottes Musikteater has been taking part in a huge theatrical event in a renovated industrial site at Gävle (200 km north of Stockholm), where Gävleborg´s Folk…
Barry Bonaparte’s Travelling Circus is in trouble.
Theatre is, for the most part, about telling stories with the aids of actors, scenery and props; in contrast, stand-up comedy is usually about a single person sharing their perspec…
Vesper Walk describe themselves as a “quirky five to eight piece band performing art-pop music in a gothic style.
Join Morran, Weatherby, Brechin, Duff and Freeman on a musical journey through the centuries, a multicultural Scotland (Angles, Vikings, etc) rising from waves of settlers.
Recent cinematic reboots notwithstanding, there’s arguably at least one generation of television viewers for whom Star Trek’s starship captain of choice is not James Tiberius K…
Musical comedian Jamie Kilstein has an utterly charming stage presence.
In our fast-paced and demanding consumer culture, a production that takes time to examine and appreciate the joys and sorrows found in everyday life can be a real gem.
Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise Theatre Company is arguably Scotland’s most innovative and ground-breaking theatre company when it comes to exploring disability and producing ful…
Matt Abbott admits that poetry is a hard sell on the Fringe, impossible to talk about without coming across as pretentious – which may well explain why one of his bespoke marketi…
Every successful show needs a Unique Selling Point – or, put simply, a gimmick.
Donald Torr was, apparently, the best big brother any little girl could have, especially growing up on the outskirts of 1960s’ Aberdeen.
Simon Mayo broadcasts live from the BBC’s Edinburgh venue. Join us for a mix of live music, in-depth interviews, and a daily dose of the Radio 2 Book Club.
The best humour is the kind which refers to shared experiences Luckily, The King of Monte Cristo picks up on the stereotypes and personalities familiar to anyone who’s worked in …
If there was a drop of water for every play ever staged about how money won’t bring you happiness during the Fringe, then Edinburgh would experience major flooding.
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church close to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile with renowned choir and organ.
Traditional choral evensong and benediction in the catholic Anglican style with the renowned choir and organ of this historic church close to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
For those of you not lucky enough to live in Edinburgh all year round, Village Pub Theatre (VPT) is a regular “let’s put the show on here” brand of new theatre based in the f…
From pin-drop delicacy to infectious grooves that leave you smiling.
Scotland’s visionary guitarist/composer returns with an astonishingly powerful new trio line-up of his award-winning Indo-Western ensemble, with Raju das Baul, mesmerising exponent…
Due to massive demand, six later, quite probably ruder, shows! Scotland’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning comedy half-man-half-Xbox.
Paul works as the Scottish agent for Keddie Scott Associates Ltd, a London based agency.
Become autistic.
If the name isn’t familiar, the tunes will be.
Paul Merton and his highly acclaimed Impro Chums are wonders of nature.
The bard gets replaced by the baaard in Missouri Williams’ eccentric production King Lear With Sheep at The Courtyard Theatre.
Many religions insist that humanity was created in God’s image; others argue that, throughout history, the process has been the other way round.
Sometimes a production doesn’t come together and it’s not for a lack of trying.
Dr Niamh Shaw is that relatively rare thing – a skilled and engaging stage performer who also happens to be a scientist and engineer, with both a degree and PhD to her name.
Some cabaret performers attempt to lull you into a false sense of security about what they do, but thankfully any audience finds out quickly enough what they’re going to get from…
The Creative Martyrs, that white-faced Laurel and Hardy of existential cabaret terrorism, are not men to be trifled with, as some rather talkative front-row audience members discov…
Remember the times when you were scared of the dark? When everything went bump in the night? When all the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end? Well, they’re back and they’…
Paul Savage can’t sleep.
There are some shows that you just get a good feeling about from the moment you step into the theatre.
Fantastical absurd one-man sketch show.
Where do letters and parcels go, when – because of an incomplete address, or lack of forwarding address – they can’t be delivered? According to Catherine Expósito and Marli …
Stephen Sondheim’s score for his self-described “black operetta” Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, must rank among his most complex and challenging works, if on…
The Nursery together with Freestival is bringing an improv only venue to Edinburgh - a Fringe first! Every night for three weeks, the Holyrood Suite at the Thistle Hotel will trans…
Fancy watching a comedian perform their club set during the world’s largest arts festival? You’re in luck.
This production portrays the tempestuous love affair of two teenagers.
Daphna Baram, an Israeli human rights lawyer turned journalist, a bleeding heart and an inadvertent anthropologist of British life gets herself leave to remain in the UK, builds a …
The Fringe is a place for new discoveries – the freshest, young talent rubbing shoulders with the world’s best at their craft.
If you got your idea of adulthood from F.
The 2014 smash-hit sell-out show returns, starring Alan Longmuir.
A man is desperate for a job.
If you got your idea of adulthood from F.
Dan Haynes and Pete Richards of Bookends have returned to the Fringe to once again give us their mesmerising renditions of some of Simon and Garfunkel’s most beloved songs.
Rare chance to enjoy this unique, individual talent performing his thought-provoking, evocative original songs in one of Scotland’s most intimate music venues.
Nelson: The Sailors’ Story.
Daphna Baram plays the outsider in England, reflecting on what makes people British from her own standpoint as an Israeli woman.
There have been many books, films, documentaries, etc on Mary Stuart, giving us many perceptions of Mary, those involved with her, and incidents in her life.
It’s easy to get lulled by the constant flow of shows at the Fringe, to give in the mid-afternoon slump and the heavy-eyed semi-slumber.
If you got your idea of adulthood from F.
Block is a production that constantly surprises, though not always in ways that are comforting.
Sailor – he had a real name once, but he believes “Sailor” suits him now – is a street hustler, thief and raconteur; the illegitimate son of a prostitute who has taken up h…
Margaret Thatcher was – still is, two years after her death – a divisive figure, loved and hated in equal measure.
“Just go with the magic,” says one of the three singers on stage to a slightly reluctant compatriot.
Simon Munnery believes that the camera should be used more in live performance, and the result is the fantastical world of his Fylm School.
It’s fitting that, given how this is the centenary of its original publication by Edinburgh-based publisher Blackwood’s, that at least one version of John Buchan’s classic th…
This play tells the story of Benji and Alf, next-door neighbours becoming best friends, bonded by their love of the titular ‘Fairly Tales’.
‘God, what a day’ is the first thing said to us by Scaramouche Jones, the red-nosed, white-faced clown who – sensing the ghosts of an audience in his dressing room – decide…
Last year I used the word Schadenfreude in my description, and it seemed to frighten off dumb people as I had lovely audiences.
There is something inherently heartbreaking about the small metal-framed chair standing centre-stage as the audience comes in, but no more so than when one of the show’s co-devis…
Surrealist comedian Paul Foot is an Edinburgh Fringe institution.
It’s your classic love story, really: inflatable crocodile meets mannequin head, they fall for each other but soon enough cracks show and they fall apart.
Great Scott! 2015, still no hoverboards.
Simon returns once again to what he does, being himself for an hour.
‘A raconteur extraordinaire! One of a kind! Sunshine is star!’ (Japan Times).
Having rummaged around the UK, Paul takes you on a tour of some of his charity shop finds.
Paul Currie returns to the Edinburgh Fringe with his anarchic, bread-filled 2014 masterpiece Release the Baboons after a triumphant run at Adelaide Fringe.
Despite being one of Jack London’s more obscure works, his 1915 novel The Star Rover or The Jacket is one that feels oddly contemporary.
Return of acclaimed and libellously funny storytelling show on how to find outrageous nightly adventure on a budget of £5.
During the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, What A Gay Play gained a certain amount of attention, given that its late-night scheduling and blatant use of the cast’s flesh on the flyers sug…
Spillikin, expertly directed and written by Jon Welch, follows two periods in the life of Sally, a charming and rebellious woman who married her unlikely childhood companion, the c…
British Asian, Paul Sinha, makes a very welcome return to the Stand Comedy Club during the Fringe after a four-year absence.
FUBAR Radio and Underbelly present The Underbelly Radio Shows recorded live from 12:30pm each day at Ermintrude, Underbelly hosts a series of live radio broadcasts brought to you b…
John Henry Falle (of Radio 4, Chortle-nominated sketch idiots, The Beta Males) hath now become The Story Beast.
Like every other animal on the planet, humans need to eat in order to survive, but arguably no other species has developed such complicated social etiquettes around the consumption…
The nervous Barry Twyford (from Crackwhore and Mingpiece Market Research) takes to the stage and explains that he has accidentally booked himself to do a show at the Edinburgh Frin…
A series of personal portraits of extraordinary men.
Boris: World King is a giddy, silly and savagely satirical delight.
Aaaand Now for Something Completely Improvised spins out a fully-fledged, one hour show, firmly founded on nothing more than the performers’ wit, charm, comedic reflexes and audi…
Graeae Theatre Company, according to the information sheet handed out before the start of the show, sees itself as ‘a force for change in world-class theatre – breaking down ba…
Following last year’s generally well-received comic homage to the Edwardian Ghost Story (The Haunting of Lopham House), writer and performer Tom Neenan shifts his genre gaze forw…
Returning to the Fringe with another slice of slickly made sketch comedy, Hannah Croft and Fiona Pearce once more impress with cleverly structured and impeccably acted comic vignet…
When hurdles try to stop us, when problems appear to be unsolvable, we seek something to help us carry on.
When boredom threatens at the Fringe, a hero will rise.
At first it’s almost as if George Dimarelos has chosen to counter any preconceptions about loud Australians by opting for the least dramatic stage entrance possible; he’s alrea…
The legend of Faustus, the man who sold his soul for knowledge, wealth and power is one which has been in the public consciousness for over 500 years.
One of the challenges of reportage theatre – works in which the words and experiences of real people are edited and put into the words of actors – is to justify the process as …
If at first you don’t succeed, try online dating.
Collegiate a cappella has become a major trend in recent years at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Daphna Baram, an Israeli human rights lawyer turned journalist, a bleeding heart and an inadvertent anthropologist of British life gets herself leave to remain in the UK, builds a …
Direct from London’s world-famous jazz club, Ronnie Scott’s musical director and his ‘All Stars’, take to the stage to celebrate ‘The Ronnie Scott’s Story’.
Yes, the man with the silver shoes is back, and each of his 58 minutes on stage are as weird and wonderful as ever.
Paul Merton and his “Impro Chums”: Mike McShane, Lee Simpson, Richard Vranch and Suki Webster, have been practising short form improvised comedy for decades and bring their com…
Mr.
The publicity for this new revival of Tommy at Greenwich Theatre talks a lot about it marking 40 years since the original film was released of The Who’s 1969 concept album - and …
I was reading about a Gay Pride event in Glasgow last week that had banned drag acts from performing for fear they may offend transgendered members of their community who were conf…
Serial Innovator Simon Munnery returns with a preview of a brand new show.
An all-new, all-female production of Shakespeare’s war play, King Henry V follows Henry and her band of brothers as they face the challenges of life on the front line, exploring …
(previews start on July 13; opens on July 27) The career of a sport agent is a high-testosterone avocation, but Liz Rico does it a as well or much better than her male colleagues.
(previews start on July 9; opens on July 23) Colin Quinn recently complained that his boyhood neighborhood, Park Slope, had subsided into “Whole Food lesbian baby carriage st…
It’s not often that I’m asked back to see a show, let alone because those involved have openly taken on some of the points I made in my review!When the War Came Home is a …
German dramatist Frank Wedekind’s play Frühlings Erwachen – written around 1891 but not performed until 1906 – deliberately kicked against sexually-oppressive fin d…
Described as “a metaphysical shocker” on its release in 1970, The Driver’s Seat was apparently author Muriel Sparks’ favourite amongst her own stories, in part thanks to th…
“This is not just about me,” says one of the cast at the start and close of Chris Goode’s Stand.
(previews start on Saturday; opens on June 29) Having just brought us Moss Hart’s entrancing “Act One,” Lincoln Center offers another piece of showbiz reminiscenc…
Internationally acclaimed singer Kate Dimbleby & Naadia Sheriff on piano, explore the songbook & life story of cult 70’s songwriter Dory Previn.
Having enjoyed a relatively carefree childhood and colourful teenage youth during the 1970s, I’m often still annoyed by the apparent cultural consensus which dismisses those y…
See the best in live performance for and by young people (and open to everyone!) at Venue B, Brighton’s only dedicated venue for young people. Check our website for full details.
Site-specific works can be accused of relying on their location to do the heavy-lifting, theatrically speaking.
It’s 2015, and still no hoverboards.
Look how we’ve evolved! Learn about women in policing.
Hanuman is half human, half monkey.
Through movement and play participants will identify their own Fools and Kings to explore the beautiful, ridiculous and poignant conflict of this unlikely alliance.
Join Adam Blampied “Delightful” (British Theatre Guide), Richard Soames “Excellent” (Sunday Times) and The Story Beast “Bearded force of nature” (Guardian) as The Beta Males finall…
The Improverts are back for two Exam Specials in the Teviot Debating Hall! A different combination of players will take to the stage each night for a round of high-class, high-ener…
Wyrd-O! Tales From The Absurdicon Go-Anywhere theatre that recklessly pulls at the threads of reality.
Noëlle Rimmington and Colin Pinney give a new insight into the lives of the Brontes: Branwell, mistaken for a doctor but dismissed from three posts; Emily, whose only friend when …
‘Bookends’ perform the most authentic sounding tribute to the unforgettable music of Simon and Garfunkel.
Drag Queens are over and the boys are back in town! Strap on a strap on, bang on a beard and join your hosts for the Drag King competition of the century! Be amazed by the figurati…
A hardhitting, powerful, entertaining drama about the 1972 National Builders’ Strike and the trial of the Shrewsbury Pickets.
Star of ‘Derek’, ‘Being Human’ and ‘Carnival of Monsters’ returns to the Brighton Fringe with two entirely new shows: Sit on the Ledge and Jump Down to the Ground (7, 2…
People with Parkinson’s Disease, researchers, graphic artists and comic creators have come together to capture a sense of being diagnosed with the condition.
The Vikings have a reputation of having been awful people.
“Wonderful and hilarious… quick wit and fearless storytelling” (Broadway Baby).
Rebel armies, the pub darts team, political parties, chaps who drive Audi TTs, religion, Cornwall, knitting clubs, men who wear crocs with socks.
In the shot and smoke of battle 4 crew aboard HMS Victory strive to destroy the Combined Fleet of France and Spain.
1926: Houdini’s right-hand man deals with the death of his boss.
Brighton’s No.
At first glance, Alonzo King and San Francisco make an unlikely pair.
Alan Spence is not the first to imagine a meeting between two famous people from different worlds, though there’s certainly a whiff of wishful thinking in this thoughtful, if …
For some, he was “Italy’s Shakespeare”, “the Moliere of Venice”; yet it’s only relatively recently that British theatre audiences have warmed to work by 18th centur…
On 5th February 1941, during heavy gales, the cargo ship SS Politician ran aground off the Island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides.
Written very much in the tradition of the suspense-filled, atmospheric ghost stories by M R James, Susan Hill’s gothic novel, The Woman in Black, has been adapted numerous time…
It’s fitting that, this Eastertide, a resurrection of sorts lies at the heart of this latest collaboration between Glasgow’s Òran Mór and Edinburgh’s Traverse theatre.
Even the greatest of parties end with the hangover of cleaning up afterwards.
Fools and their stories were the theme of this latest set of short plays, dramatic monologues and glorified sketches presented in rehearsed readings by the Village Pub Theatre t…
Many of the world’s greatest Tragedies – Shakespeare’s in particular – are grounded on the character flaws of their titular characters: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and so …
No less a figure than Inspector Rebus creator Ian Rankin once insisted that the only author to ever “nail” Edinburgh was Robert Louis Stevenson in his classic 1886 novella, S…
The History Boys – at least according to the programme notes accompanying this latest tour – is “generally regarded as Alan Bennett’s masterpiece”.
Life was so much simpler, back in 1980.
Only a clever or ignorant writer would deliberately choose to begin a play with that most egregious of sitcom clichés: “Hi Honey, I’m home.
There’s one thing I hate about musical theatre, which is especially common with “amateur” productions – there’s seemingly no way of stopping audiences full of family an…
There’s something particularly appropriate about experiencing Peter Shaffer’s Equus at the Bedlam Theatre.
It’s never too late to reinvent yourself: After 60 years as the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the group returns this year as Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, a more in…
(previews start on March 12; opens on April 16) Fans of the midcentury musical are most likely whistling a happy tune as Lincoln Center revives this Rodgers and Hammerstein show fr…
At one point in the first act of The Judas Kiss, Oscar Wilde admits to always having had “a low opinion of what is called action.
Since its first publication in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has been adapted for stage, cinema and television hundreds of times.
There’s rumbustious joy aplenty in this new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s infamous examination of legality and justice.
Unexpected pre-show choice of “Easy Listening” music notwithstanding, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag is an exciting theatrical ride, slipping from laugh-out-loud humour to…
They say that, while you can choose your friends, you can’t choose your family; even when you pick a partner, you have no say about the family that comes along with them.
A play about the battle between celebrity and “art” with a good dose of codpiece and a ghost thrown in!
Those who don’t know history, according to the Irish statesman Edmund Burke, are destined to repeat it, while the Bible insists more than once that the sins of the father will b…
American film actor and comedian Bill Murray allegedly fields offers of work via a voice mailbox which, according to Wikipedia, “he checks infrequently”.
When reviewing a play – especially one verging on farce – where two of the main characters are professional theatre critics, it’s hard not to become a tiny bit defensive …
Jan-Paul Sartre, the great French existentialist, displays his mastery of drama in NO EXIT, an unforgettable portrayal of hell.
Men – especially working class men from the West of Scotland – are not known for expressing their emotions, instead hiding behind either brutish silence or dry humour.
Lincoln Center’s popular Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts series offers rewarding, mostly younger artists in 60-minute programs starting at 11 a.
The “Scottish Play” is among Shakespeare’s shortest, but for critically acclaimed theatre company Filter to edit it down to barely more than 90 minutes, without missing an…
The First World War is often described as the first “total war”, that is involving the entire population, at home as well as on the battlefield.
Reality and performance lie at the heart of this solid production of Irish playwright Brian Friel’s Faith Healer.
Always Different, Always Funny! After a sell out run at Edinburgh Fringe 14 and comedy residents during term time Edinburgh University, The Improverts are performing two shows in L…
This friendly, formulaic jukebox show about the New York-born singer-songwriter might as well be called “Brooklyn Girl,” so closely does it adhere to the template of th…
Rona Munro’s comedy drama, originally produced for Radio 4 in 2008, tells the story of a period in the life of Walter Scott when he was tasked with commissioning a kilt for King …
Expect high-octane energy at the New York debut of this Venezuelan quartet made up of principals of the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra.
There’s a moment in Pamela Carter’s play Slope when the 19th century French poet Paul Verlaine, ensconced in a seedy London flat with his young lover Arthur Rimbaud, fears t…
Nikoli Gogol’s The Gamblers (premiered in 1843) is relatively rarely-performed, at least in comparison with the writer’s most famous work, The Government Inspector.
“Nobody thought to save any of the roots,” says Sara towards the end of The Bondagers.
There’s a strong whiff of Farce about Cardinal Sinne from the off; only that particular genre, after all, requires quite so many doors in a set—in this case three interior d…
Kill Johnny Glendenning is a play of two halves; each a brutally funny, finely-tuned treatise on the various overlapping hierarchies of power and violence that, while shaping ou…
There are five characters in Tennessee William’s breakthrough “memory play” The Glass Menagerie.
When a work of fiction becomes so iconic a cultural “classic” that it’s known and understood by people who have never read it, it’s unsurprising that a few inaccuracies cre…
Simon Singh has a very easy style and voice which belies the genius within.
Managing a venue at the Fringe can be a hugely rewarding experience, but is also a mammoth undertaking for all involved.
The EClub, the active networking club based at the University of Edinburgh Business School, is delighted to host Simon as part of our Fringe series.
This new show pays tribute to one of the greatest icons of popular music: Dolly Parton.
Alison Jackson has made a name for herself creating fake behind-the-scenes photographs and videos of celebrities with look-alike models.
This intelligent piece of theatre focuses on the religious faith of the famous Scottish Olympian Eric Liddell and his trainer, Tom McKerchar.
During the last few years, the Belarus Free Theatre company has built a strong reputation in issue-based theatre, utilising a wide range of performance techniques to frame and ex…
From the slums of Manchester to the dark heart of colonial Asia, bungling revolutionaries Marx and Engels rattle through the mid 19th century rewriting history and common morality …
Successful stand-ups usually have a memorable on-stage persona; it may be manic, taciturn or just ‘nice’, but it’s what they’re remembered for.
Simon Mayo broadcasts live from the BBC’s Edinburgh venue.
A completely spontaneous improv adventure, taking one word from the audience and immersing them in a bespoke world of bizarre scenes and bold characters.
Kiss Me Honey Honey! appears to be attracting a decidedly local crowd of middle-aged women, at least if this performance is anything to go by.
This contemporary ballet choreographed by Helen, Bryony and Emily Garner will take you on an emotional, yet uplifting journey, as these young performers sensitively portray the har…
Traditional choral evensong and benediction in the Catholic Anglican style with the renowned choir and organ of this historic church close to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
The story of how big band music became the first worldwide pop phenomenon, inspired the first ever youth culture revolution and became a byword for sexual liberation and teenage ex…
The Old Testament story of King David is quite a romp.
Led by the visionary Scottish guitar virtuoso, Simon Thacker’s Ritmata play exhilaratingly direct new music combining sounds from every corner of the globe with the incredible musi…
In January 2014, Mercury Music Award nominee Kenny Anderson (AKA King Creosote) completed his first ever film soundtrack for Virginia Heath’s poetic documentary, From Scotland With…
Some shows take the audience on challenging yet rewarding journeys through layers of meaning, interpretations, and staging.
Youth Music Theatre Scotland return for another successful year at the Fringe, this time with a remarkably professional and well-executed production of West Side Story, perhaps t…
The true roots of fiction are often misunderstood, strangely explained and just plain lied about.
Tiernan Douieb’s enthusiastic energy and affable disposition immediately engages the audience as soon as he takes the stage.
Leah wants to rest, Goneril and Regan want to party, Cordelia’s off to France and matricide is in the air.
Like most men of his age and delusion, Simon Evans dreams of striking out into The Wild and slipping the surly bonds of suburbia.
Ivor Novello: glamorous stage and screen star, author and matinee idol is mostly known today as a glorious melodic theatrical composer.
The Sad Story of the Moon and the Sun is a shadow puppet adventure.
The Year Out Drama Company’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing begins with a game of charades and its brisk humour quickly melts away my scepticism.
This trinity of new plays by Scottish playwright Rona Munro are a timely study of nationhood, identity and the consequences of political actions.
We don’t see one of the most important events in the life of James II, just its immediate consequences; a hurried, chaotic, almost dream-like explosion of fear and movement fo…
If we’re to believe Rona Munro, the third James Stewart to rule Scotland was the country’s answer to England’s Edward II; a monarch who, while undoubtedly a man of culture…
This is a solid performance of a classic play which, while it doesn’t amount to a re-telling in anything but the literal sense, does a creditable job of rendering the whole thing w…
King Ubu was performed only once in playwright Alfred Jarry’s life.
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church close to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile with renowned choir and organ.
King’s exciting new show pays tribute to the timeless songs and musical genius of one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers of the 20th century, Duke Ellington.
As anyone who’s ever dealt with a three-year-old can tell you, keeping their attention can be a Herculean task.
Due to massive demand, six extra, later, and quite probably ruder shows from comedy’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning half-man/half-Xbox.
From the gospel parlors of black Florida to the racist salons of white NYC, Sevan learns that it takes more than an NKOTB t-shirt to become a white American.
Newcomers to the city should come to the Jazz Bar regardless of what’s on.
Paul Merton and his highly acclaimed Impro Chums are wonders of nature.
A darkly humorous one-woman physical theatre piece with an elaborate costume made of black bin bags.
I’ve often wondered how Edinburgh locals truly feel about the Fringe - is it a huge party or just a massive disruption? Given the wealth of subjects from around the world being d…
‘Simon Amstell has a gift for taking a social norm and gently mocking it until it seems utterly ridiculous.
Gary Little isn’t.
The Story of Medieval England From 1066 to 1485 at Roughly Nine Years and Two Jokes Per Minute Incorporating The Hundred Years War as a Football Match and of Course Scottish Indepe…
Paul Dabek deceptively weaves a tangled web of comedy, magic and lies.
If the title’s not really doing it for you, it’s probably going to take more than these 100 words to bring you round.
There’s a sort of delicious irony to queuing for a show about rationing whilst watching one of the cast frantically stuffing their face with crisps.
Newton’s Cauldron is an unexpected gem, a brisk little piece which mixes storybook, history book and textbook deftly and amusingly.
Accompanying Paul Savage on his quest to find every joke in the Bible is an enjoyable way to spend an hour.
Have you ever heard of the law of attraction? Have you ever heard of manifestation? Believe and you will receive! Motivational speaker Anthony Dobbins will show you how dreams real…
Theatrically interesting in the most accessible of ways, Paul F Taylor opens the show in the guise of an infomercial, claiming to be taking pills that cure him of his comedy lifest…
How many kilos of flour does it take to tell a good story? In the case of Heather Lai, over fifty during the course of her Fringe run and every gramme is put to excellent use.
For several decades, it was the habit of the acclaimed medieval scholar Montague Rhodes James (who died in 1936) to entertain his Christmas guests with an especially composed tale …
“Gossip,” we’re told, “travels fast in a valley.
With an enviable variety of excellent voices and a real commitment to his physicality, Simon Jay skilfully portrays the various characters crammed into the tragic life story of his…
If this show was a stick of rock, it would have “Anger” written all the way through it in blood red: specifically anger at the medical, commercial and political establishments …
A rare chance to see award-winning Scottish songwriter and leading fingerstyle guitarist in one of Scotland’s most intimate music venues.
Arcos describe themselves as a ‘multimedia dance company’ and they certainly deliver.
The Tulip Tree is a very intelligent piece of theatre that crams a lot of subtlety into a short period of time.
There have been many books, films, documentaries etc, on Mary Stuart giving us many perceptions of Mary, those involved with her and incidents in her life.
Dawn State’s sharp, modern adaptation of Kipling’s classic novella could be deemed a classic in itself.
Regulation 18b of the Defence (General) Regulations 1939 is a now little-remembered piece of legislation which came into force just before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Free Fringe comedy can be a risky prospect but it can be a risk worth taking in service of finding a night worth seeing.
Science-theatre is in vogue at the moment.
The centrally-located art gallery, Dovecot Studios, has provided a lovely break from the madness of fringe with its current offering of exhibitions.
“When a man starts a war against the State, it’s a war he cannot win,” says our nominal hero Willie McKay at the point in this play when the writer presumes we will sympathis…
Folk duo Bookends, made up of David Haynes and Pete Richards, pay homage to one of the greatest pairings in modern folk music with this heartfelt, competent and surprisingly mult…
The Fringe’s late-summer position in the calendar means that few of those who visit the Scottish capital ever experience one particular form of indigenous theatre — pantomime…
The award-winning comic’s libellously funny story-telling show on how to find outrageous adventure on a nightly budget of £5.
My first clue should have been the warmup.
Following on from last year’s acclaimed show Awkward Hawk, Paul Duncan McGarrity (Amused Moose finalist 2011) looks at the power of schadenfreude, embarrassment, and how being hi…
Juvenal is most likely a familiar name to many people and yet very few would claim to know much about him.
There’s a particular pleasure in seeing someone do their job incredibly well.
In addition to their main show at the Pleasance, the writer-performer foursome known as the Beta Males have split into pairs to do something a bit different in the afternoon.
Irish comedian Aidan Killian certainly cuts a surprising figure with his new show; not so much for the long, simple robe he wears, but the fact that he’s shaved off half his bear…
The God Box is a show which is well worth seeing.
Sometimes, we can miss what’s important.
As a card-carrying, paid-up member of the Grumpy Old Men squad, I occasionally look at all those fresh-faced stand-ups staring out from the posters plastered across the city like S…
Patrick Mulholland and Paul McDaniel return to Edinburgh, and this time they’re full of beans.
MommAutism is one-woman show about raising a son with autism.
Paul Foot’s offstage microphone isn’t working, so the pre-show announcement of Paul Foot - Hovercraft Symphony in Gammon # Major is apparently ruined.
Tim Renkow has cerebral palsy.
“Are you ready to party?!” blares the PA at the start of the show and the audience roars in the agreement.
Scheduling is an often overlooked aspect of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, not least by venues attempting to squeeze in as many popular shows as possible.
Two-time comedian of the year nominee Luke Benson has been looking at his life: nearly 30, not quite winning and obsessing over how big is fun-size.
Billed as ‘Comedy (mime, physical theatre)’ I was a little unsure about what to expect from Kraken, but whatever it was that I had been expected was soon proven to be way out.
‘This is the most inventive and hilarious act I have seen in years’ (Director, Leicester Comedy Festival).
The African Sahara, a wrecked plane, a stranded pilot and a vastness of sand.
For all its claims of being a one-man show, the stage can get pretty crowded during The Pitiless Storm.
“Heard of Simon Munnery?” asks the blurb in the Fringe programme.
Stephen Bailey—all silver dickie bow tie, floral grey suit and camp demeanour—is clearly in love with love and romance.
Lord of the Dance Settee marks Richard Herring’s 23rd Fringe show, an accumulated Edinburgh residency of just under two years; enough, as he himself points out, to make him mor…
Paul Chowdry is perhaps one of the most interesting comedians at the Fringe this year.
Sometimes in this show, there’d come some songs like this.
We all have them, if we’re honest; those moments in our lives where we’ve reacted without thinking and “put our foot in it”, slipping from innocent victim to outright offen…
Growing up as a kid in the 1970s, my first experiences of academic lectures were either snatches of TV programmes aimed at those studying courses with the Open University (thankful…
One of the best things about the Fringe is the energy and ingenuity of the young companies performing here and these are both words that apply perfectly to Double Edge Drama, creat…
The Trouble with Being Des, according to Des Clarke, is that he has an inner demon man child inside him which makes him “weird”—not least within the context of growing u…
During the last few years, Andrew Doyle has made a name for himself as a frequently hilarious, sharply intelligent, and fearless comedian, ready to push his audiences’ tolerance …
“You’ve proved my point: nobody has any respect for me”, McCaffery laments as four latecomers traipse across his stage to their seats, interrupting his flow.
This excellent one-man show from Mark Farrelly portrays the transformation of Denis Charles Pratt, born in suburbia, into Quentin Crisp.
Aaaand Now for Something Completely Improvised is a solid hour of good fun.
As Ethel Merman famously sang in Gypsy, ‘you gotta get a gimmick if you want to get ahead’.
David O’Doherty is one of those rare stand-ups who is a familiar face without being plastered everywhere, who is successful without being packaged.
The now infamous case of the 1924 ‘thrill killers’ Leopold and Loeb is a well-mined source of theatrical material, from Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 play Rope, in turn transform…
“There has not been a single incidence of Zombieism anywhere in the world to date,” according to Doctor Austin of the Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies, but “this does…
In themselves the Beasts’ sketch personas are fairly standard; the nutcase, the buffoon and the straight man.
One of a stampede of comedians making the London-Edinburgh journey for the festival, Feilder knows his Fringe conventions well and isn’t afraid to use them to meta-comic effect.
Edinburgh stalwarts Dan and Jeff are back for another energetic hour and, following Potted Potter, Potted Pirates and Potted Panto, it’s the turn of Baker Street’s own Sherlock…
“What is it that frightens you?” Tom Neenan asks at the start of this one-man pastiche of an Edwardian ghost story.
Dane Baptiste is a confident performer.
Standing centre stage in a dress and a dodgy blonde wig, Mark Grist jokes that this is what two guys with Arts Council funding really look like.
Byron Vincent enters the venue in pinstriped pyjamas and a pair of tatty trainers, wiping his long fringe out of his eyes.
It’s heartening to see a deserving standup successfully transfer from the Free Fringe to the larger potential audience of the mega-venues.
Being visually impaired, Glaswegian stand-up Jamie MacDonald definitely brings a new meaning to “observational humour”.
Age hasn’t softened Scott Capurro; nor, it has to be said, has marriage.
This musical adventure will have you exploring magical kingdoms, meeting wonderful characters and singing along by the end.
The exhibition includes paintings of early links courses in Bruntsfield, Leith and Musselburgh, and features the greatest golf painting of all time, Charles Lees’ The Golfers (18…
Condemned as a racist, revered as a prophet, Enoch Powell is the most divisive figure in British politics.
Like many men of his generation, Simon Feilder talks about his insecurities about being a single man, but unlike a lot of them he spices his show up with multi-media presentation…
Leicester Square Theatre: 30th Jun 7pm.
Four times Scottish champion of close up magic Michael Neto is an assured and amiable stage magician, whose slight of hand is smooth, assured and doubtless the result of decades …
Buddy is the story of the last three years of Buddy Hollys life, from when he made his first record at the age of 19 to his death, at 22, in a plane crash.
It’s had the audience on their feet in every corner of the globe and now Buddy “the world’s most successful rock’n’roll musical” is back and ready to explode on to th…
As the audience takes their seats, they see a man hunched over an easel, drawing pictures on a large sheet of paper with feverish intensity.
Phil Roach isn’t the first man to be dumped by his girlfriend and realise his life isn’t quite working out as expected but, as Julian Wickham’s “Lifeline” quickly shows, he’s pos…
Louis is one of Canada’s most respected teachers of classical literature.
Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, the husband-and-wife playwrights behind this supple production about the towering comic book artist Jack Kirby, deftly compressing much informa…
Having never been to a Drag King pageant before I was not entirely sure what to expect from King of the Fringe.
A celebration of children and young people in the Performing Arts featuring theatre, literature, music and movement.
Twenty to Something is a funny, moving and truthful show about student life, university culture and the deeper issues affecting today’s young people.
Ever thought about running your own Brighton Fringe venue? Then this panel discussion is for you! Hear about the practicalities, pleasures and pitfalls of running a venue from a va…
What kind of music do you like? We got it.
2 big days, several SECRET locations and a mash-up of live music and epic performance! Special guest stars, festival fever, dance off, skate jams and all the weird and wonderful�…
The King and Country World War I Opera is a show presented in a rather strange format at the Brighton Fringe Festival.
Simon Feilder is a comedian.
Simon Feilder is a comedian.
A dress-up sing-along celebration of everyone’s favourite musicals.
Paul F Taylor and Nick Hodder test out material.
Energetic, dynamic and refreshingly unique, King Porter Stomp celebrate the release of their new single ‘pocketfulofrocketfuel’ with an intimate and very special performance.
If I told you there was a Liza tribute act at the Fringe, you’d probably expect sequins, smoke, mirrors, lights, kick lines and, of course, an awful lot of dancing around chairs.
Hosted by Brighton’s own Doctor Bongo, ‘Something Wholly Inappropriate’ is an eclectic mix of local comedy, music, poetry, lectures, storytelling and debate.
I’ve never actually met Simon Jay.
Master character comedian and star of ‘Derek’ and ‘Being Human’ performs all his critically acclaimed, sell-out, weirdly wonderful comedy shows, fresh from his hit Radio 4 series.
“You will not like me,” insists John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester, at the start of The Libertine; not so much presented an unreliable narrator, more the self-created bad …
Us inhabitants of the British Isles can spend an inordinate amount of our time discussing the weather, yet it doesn’t automatically follow that our “four seasons in a day”c…
Host of Channel 4’s Stand Up For The Week and Star of BBC1’s Live at the Apollo Paul Chowdhry is back in 2014 with his biggest tour to date tackling everything borderline within th…
Explore hidden Brighton on this 90 minute walking tour of Brighton’s fascinating old town.
As part of its contribution to the many debates in Scotland during 2014—sparked into life, of course, by this September’s independence referendum—new National Theatre of Sc…
‘BABY/LON’, the second work by Hackney-based theatre company The Big House, is a big story; one of homelessness, violence, motherhood on the lowest rungs of society and the strug…
When the Glasgow-born poet, playwright, song-writer, musician, cartoonist, humorist and story-writer Ivor Cutler died in March 2006, the nation’s obituarists remembered an “una…
Edinburgh’s revered Traverse Theatre has, for many years, defined itself as “Scotland’s new writing theatre”, regularly giving over its stages to a variety of new voices …
Take a 2004 Swedish vampire novel that was made into a subtitled horror film as your starting point.
There’s no doubting that Philip Ridley’s debut play, even now, feels like a strange beast; a modern fairytale of two infantalised and orphaned twins, Presley and Haley, somehow…
Paul Sinha is a stand-up comedian, but you might know him as ‘The Sinnerman’, from ITV’s tea-time quiz, The Chase.
Big, bold and buxom; playwright Tim Barrow’s Union, directed for the Royal Lyceum Theatre’s artistic director Mark Thomson, starts as it means to go on, with blocks of “sce…
Act One is a company full of high quality actors, all of whom were captivating to watch.
In Arin Arbus’s thoughtful and affecting production, Shakespeare’s most daunting play lowers its voice, the better to be heard more clearly.
A common factor in the best sitcoms–and dramas, for that matter–are situations from which the characters can’t escape, most notably from each other: the binds of family (t…
Managing a venue at the Fringe can be a rewarding experience, but is also a mammoth undertaking.
Managing a venue at the Fringe can be hugely rewarding, but is also a mammoth undertaking.
Singer-songwriter Shaun Shears sort of fancies himself as a 21st Century reincarnation of the medieval Troubadour, travelling the country performing his songs about life, love and …
Jake and Ollie have gone underground.
Two wooden chairs, some books, an otherwise empty stage.
The idea of some supernatural being falling down to Earth and helping change the lives of us mere mortals is a powerful myth that resonates down human history, from the biologicall…
A Killer Story is a fast-paced, noir style detective play about passion, science, sex, and the incredible power of stories.
Comedy improvisers Matt and Ian are sensible enough to start their show with what the unkind might describe as their get-out clause; they admit, from the start, that they ‘might …
Given that, at one point, Jon Ronson describes himself as ‘essentially [just] a humorous journalist out of his depth,’ you might be surprised that the Cardiff-born writer and docum…
Will’s parents are getting divorced, but Will thinks he can save their marriage.
Even on paper, this ‘reconnaissance mission into the no-man’s land where death borders storytelling’ has the potential to be either really good or a recipe for self-indulgence; a…
Written by celebrated folk musician Alan Reid, storytelling and songs relate the tale of this controversial and extraordinary 18th-century Scots mariner.
Double act comedy is very difficult.
‘Wow’ doesn’t even begin to describe the talents of these two comedians.
Raph ‘n’ Simon: two gangsta-rap loving slackers can’t leave the coatroom of a hotel party until they prove they’re not killers. A one-act comedy play.
Honesty’s important in stand-up; so’s making stuff up, obviously, but audiences can generally sniff out if the person on stage doesn’t – at least for that moment – believe in …
The Blueswater is the 12-piece band behind award-winning show Blues!, and they will be performing a limited run of five shows at the enigmatic Venue 45.
Meet Marx and Engels, hard-fighting, hard-drinking, mad, bad and dangerous to know.
For me, female acapella is really difficult to get right.
John Rivers is the first to admit he’s not an entertainer and that Poems and Pots isn’t a ‘show’ as such, but hopefully a relaxing opportunity to tease out and encourage the creati…
There are two rules to improvised comedy: One, you’re only as strong as your weakest member and two, never, ever say no.
Playwright Idgie Beau sets out the parameters of A Hundred Minus One Day quickly and economically; 20 year old Jen, who has lived away from home for many years, has returned to her…
UK’s No.
I have to admit, I was not convinced by Gavin Crawford to begin with.
Living a homeless existence in Wei Village during the late Qing Dynasty, the poor, fumbling Ah Q is faced day after day with his own short comings.
A capella group All the King’s Men return to the Fringe for their fourth consecutive year with Knight Fever! It is a professional, well presented and well executed performance, t…
Year Out Drama Company, in association with Stratford-upon-Avon College, present one of Shakespeare’s rarely performed plays.
Perhaps I’m experiencing a cappella fatigue, but the singers at this show did nothing to wow me particularly.
There’s an unfortunate earnestness to this short piece from the Bangor English Drama Society, as they attempt with both script and performance to be all grown up and serious about …
‘A successful bachelor is always a puzzle to others,’ says the singer James Dinsmore, playing the composer and actor Ivor Novello.
Slaves of the Kingdom is a new musical based around the Bible story of Moses and the Exodus and it’s one hell of an ambitious undertaking.
Philip Contini and his Be Happy Band celebrate 20 years with our favourite numbers from Prima, Porter, Martin, Sinatra and Naples.
Traditional choral evensong and benediction with the renowned choir and organ of this historic church.
Kourtney Kardashian.
In May 2013, David Piper - the modestly-titled ‘Global Ambassador’ for Scottish boutique gin producer Hendrick’s - accompanied master distiller Lesley Gracie and celebrated a…
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church with its renowned choir and organ.
Traditional Catholic Anglican liturgy in this historic church with its renowned choir and organ.
Chance to see award-winning songwriter and leading fingerstyle guitarist in one of Scotland’s most intimate music venues.
Due to massive demand six extra, later, quite probably ruder shows from comedy’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning half-man, half-Xbox.
A really interesting, informative and helpful performance, particularly for all those budding authors and performers out there.
One of the Guardian’s top sketch writers at Westminster, will give a hilarious talk about the politicians, prime ministers, poseurs, poltroons and pratfalls he has seen.
Equipped with his electro-acoustic guitar, Paul Gilbody promises for a magical evening of hearty tunes and ripping beats to drive home a funky Fringe show full of imagination.
Paul Merton and his impro chums return to Edinburgh for their tenth festival run, delivering many more hours of top quality improv.
Doogie Paul may not be the most familiar name in music, but amongst those who know him, both directly and indirectly, he is spoken of with a great deal of admiration.
Improvised comedy is a difficult art to master.
It was wonderfully refreshing to come upon something on the Fringe that, by its very nature, had blown the one hour slot to smithereens; further, that tapped into a reserve of fun …
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…
Playwrights’ Studio Scotland is an independent development organisation for playwrights, working with them across the country, including through its talent development programme.
Philip and The Band celebrate 20 years (!) at the Fringe.
Straight from Alaska comes a new piece of musical theatre from a 40-strong cast.
The British geneticist and evolutionary biologist J B S Haldane once stated his suspicion that ‘the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose’.
When you’re looking for a kids’ show at the Fringe, there are a few names which ought to be a safe bet and, of these, none more so than Roald Dahl.
Life’s not easy when you’re a pedant; not that you see yourself as being pedantic, according to Jim Higo, a self-described ‘punk poet, social commentator and general irritant’.
International experiment sharing a story about a woman called Thyme, with local interpretations.
Mike Shephard likes his history and, as a cash-conscious volume-drinker, the prices of rounds of drinks have always easily segued for him into historical anecdotes from the relevan…
It is now 43 years since Love Story hit our movie screens and caused a generation to weep as one with its emotional storyline.
Chops is not a piece of naturalistic theatre, but then that’s hardly to be expected, given that this ‘linguistic farce’ by Brooklyn-based artist Kirin McCrory, performed by an all-…
The Love Story attempts to expose the nature of the individual in our relations with one another and our ability to cope of our own accord.
Folk is a big deal at the moment, with bands such as Mumford and Sons bringing English traditional music to the stadium stage, while American artists such as Alison Krauss enjoy a …
Death Ship 666 is Airplane meets Titanic; an exuberant rollercoaster ride of humorous grotesques, which revels in its own clichés and absurdities.
It’s said that the Devil has all the best tunes, but why shouldn’t the Godless also enjoy the fun and sense of community that comes from gathering on a Sunday morning to enjoy coff…
Canadian Shawn Hitchins bounces onto the stage with puppy-like energy, rushing straight into a ‘blond, brunette and a ginger’ joke to make the point that, as ‘a person of primary c…
Most magic shows you find on the Fringe nowadays are necessarily intimate, close-up affairs – not least because of the size of the available venues, budgets and the ‘close magic’…
This all-female spoken word cabaret claims to offer ‘a veritable smorgasbord of poetry’; yet even though it is, to a certain extent, a daily-changing ‘sampler’ of numerous performa…
Jonny Lennard and Pierre Novellie are two talented stand-ups united to bring you an hour of the freshest, funniest stand-up at the Fringe - if you’re a true comedy fan, you’ll laug…
Now enjoying its third year in Edinburgh, the Magic Faraway Cabaret has a reputation for presenting the best burlesque, variety and sideshow skills available in the Scottish capita…
Cabarets are, by their very nature, fluid and changeable beasts, especially those in Edinburgh which act as convenient samplers of what’s available elsewhere on the Fringe.
The first Prime Minister of India speaks his truth.
Paul Savage sometimes lies awake at night, convinced he’s a sitcom character.
Paul F Taylor is like a puppy: he has very fluffy hair, oodles of energy and even when he slips up, we still like him.
Picture, if you will, your idea of a swing band leader.
Jessica (whose name isn’t actually Jessica but people at work have been calling her that too long to be corrected) has a theory about love.
I first saw Alexis Dubus perform in 2008, when his ‘A R*ddy Brief History Of Swearing’ provided an interesting spine on which to hang some very funny material – and a justificati…
Last year, with Activism is Fun, comedian Chris Coltrane explained how he had returned to political action after years of apathy, not least because – thanks to the likes of direc…
According to the neat-suited Paul Dabek, the Magic Circle demands that all its members must include a card trick at some point in their act, otherwise there’s a terrible risk of ‘m…
Christian Reilly is on a mission to save the world through music.
King Creosote is no stranger to Queen’s Hall.
Rolling into Edinburgh with a brand new barnstorming show, The Horne Section will yet again provide the festival’s best musical mayhem.
One imagines that the members of the Principio Attivo Teatro are absolutely lethal at charades.
Popular culture often gets derided by critics because, unlike many of the so-called ‘great’ works of art (you know, the ones that allegedly make you look good when ‘appreciat…
It’s the 1930’s and a few years have passed since Carl Dunham, the fabled showman brought King Kong from the jungle to New York.
Those who rushed in to Ian Saville’s magic show just before starting were in danger of thinking that the performance had already begun.
What would you risk to make your mark? A girl moves across the world to write a fantastical coming of age story.
To a certain generation of British people, Adam Buxton is a bit of a legend.
From the start, I must point out that I fully accept that standing up on a stage, making people laugh in a foreign language, even if it’s the ‘lingua franca’ of the western world (…
It has been said that the one ‘mercy’ dementia offers is that the person who has it doesn’t know they do; so it is with the emotive subject of this solo play written and perf…
Stephen Schwartz’s musical about Jesus might not be quite as famous as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s counterpart, but it’s just as notorious.
Another outing for put-upon mother-of-three Ruth Rich, Something Fishy charts an ill-fated school trip to Marrakech.
In some 4,000 High Schools across the US, you’ll find a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) group.
One of the delights of the Fringe is that it can throw up the unexpected; so, for example, the first time I hear a delightfully bad-taste joke about a recent double suicide in one …
Jump on board this unique venue-on-the-move for songs and stories for families with Peter Snow.
The story of the Fringe is a story of the periphery.
We Will Be Free is an historical tale beginning in 1834 and is based on the true story of George and Betsy Loveless, prominent members of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
Returning to, and re-staging, the “classics” is not without challenges, not least because they were often originally written at a time when actors were considerably cheaper to hire…
Ping Pong is an energetic game usually involving two or four people, but this latest stand-up show from Alistair Green is very much a one-man endeavour, with the only significant b…
Identity is a complicated matter for Rick Kiesewetter; not least because, as he points out from the start, his Asian face doesn’t match most people’s expectations of his adoptive f…
In the right hands, theatre is an immensely powerful tool for taking large issues and bringing them down to a manageable level.
The anthemic song ‘We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ by The Animals sets the scene for this one-woman, biographical monologue by the writer and performer Monica Bauer.
Daisy and Petunia are stranded in a mysterious fishing village with a dark, dark secret.
Nominally, a Gay Straight Alliance is a pupil-based group found in some (though sadly too few) US schools, which meets regularly to discuss issues around homosexuality in order to …
‘I’ll save you yet,’ says the precocious Antony Sandel to the object of his desires, David Rogers.
I’m not a morning person at the best of times.
My favourite thing about the Edinburgh Fringe is the sheer concentration of talent in creates in the city, an array of people with skills that I can only dream of having.
Kevin Dewsbury is a bloke.
‘Very, very, very, very funny, literally rib shattering, deeply profound and seemingly inane - also overwhelmingly pink.
When Broadway veteran and world-famous mime Bill Bowers starts his show talking about sitting in a Hollywood make-up truck at three in the morning, with Hugh Grant to his left and …
Beachy Head in East Sussex has the tallest chalk sea cliffs in Britain, offering some fabulous views along the south east coast and across the English Channel.
Music, video, comedy and theatre? A physical performance and an eBook? Attempting to tackle the subject of the apocalypse? From reading the show description of ‘The Flood’, you…
A small show in a small space for a small group.
Paul Foot, the backwards-haircut (short on top, long on the sides) staple of comedy panel shows, brings his slurring style of delivery and love for all things surreal to the Fringe…
Nearly 30 years after his death, Richard Burton still stands tall among the ghosts of Hollywood, the poor boy from a Welsh mining village whose acting talent and ambition took him …
It was the 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist and theologian known to the English-speaking world as Rumi who said that ‘travel brings power and love back into your life’…
‘Officer don’t be a Benny/the thing we saw was MGM-y.
There’s a playful, rough-round-the-edges physicality throughout this new show by Megan Heffernan and Sophie Fletcher.
Having bought a house with his girlfriend the Edinburgh-born comic explores how a decision that comes from a place of love can lead to such fear and uncertainty.
Watching Ellis and Rose in the dank damp of the Bunker gives a moment of odd synchronicity.
‘I knew we should have booked a longer time slot,’ said one of the actors as another struggled to make it offstage while pretending to be a beached shark.
The Islanders tells the simple tale of a young Dorset couple, Amy and Eddie; the beginnings of their love, the slow disaster of their living together and the titanic struggle of or…
While the BBC’s iconic sci-fi series Doctor Who is currently one of the biggest, most popular shows on television at the moment - and it’s likely to be everywhere this November, wh…
Science reveals, magic conceals, but both can inspire a sense of wonder, according to stage magician Oliver Meech.
This is not the first time Doctor Who has been put on trial.
In the past Kevin Shepherd has apparently used his Fringe shows as a kind of confessional, finding thoughtful humour in his past social and legal misdemeanours.
If you, like me, are skeptical on the subject of the existence of ghosts, go and see Paul Gannon Ain’t Afraid Of No Ghost.
Often high marks are awarded to those companies who create a new world in the theatre through their use of advanced set, puppetry, props or movement so it is good to sometimes be r…
A poignant adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s tale, The King and Queen of the Universe, produced by Slippers and Rum, tells a story of adulation and bereavement set in the depths of t…
We see a lot of Rich Hall on panel shows these days: QI, Have I Got News For You?, Eight out of Ten Cats, Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Heard of screenwriter William Goldman’s rule about Hollywood? ‘Nobody knows anything.
Rik n Mix is actually a showcase of three comedians combining their short sets to make an hour long show compered by Rik Carranza.
It’s likely that, when you think of France at its coolest, there are certain figures who spring to mind –Francois Truffaut, Jean-Paul Satre, Brigitte Bardot.
Chaos and Order - A True Story.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
The force and power of a child’s imagination against adversity has long been fodder for writers.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that the top British universities these days offer a BA (Hons) course in A Cappella Singing and you’d also be forgiven for assuming that that mea…
Simon Donald is clearly a funny man.
I’m sure any fringe veteran worth their salt has had the experience of seeing a famous face from their childhood appearing out of an Edinburgh side-street to bring back a flood o…
Feast your eyes and teeth on the bizarre, absurd and delicate world of Paul Currie.
Ensconced in an inflatable dome, in the children’s area of the Pleasance, bravely struggling through a voice ravaged by cold and flyering, Jay Foreman does not have an easy job o…
Simon Evans is an agitated Englishman who has come to serve up some scorn and air his collection of grievances at this Edinburgh Fringe.
Sotho Sounds in the band’s current form is four men: cheerful front-man Khuti, guitarist Tankiso, string-player Josepha and frowning powerhouse percussionist Paseka.
There’s a point in every show when stand-up Scott Agnew drops what he calls ‘the G bomb’; that is, he mentions that he’s gay.
Witty, full of puns, and anything but uninteresting, Name in Lights is a free-flowing performance that bears an aura of genuineness.
Though a wayward arachnid hanging from the ceiling threatened to steal Walsh’s show on the night I was there, his genuine reaction to it – ‘HOLY SHIT’ – turned into ten m…
Dan Nightingale wants us to like him.
Katie Goodman absolutely delivers – a gutsy comedian with a satirical side and a fairly foul mouth.
I often revisit companies and venues at the Fringe, simply because I know that their work works for me.
Mime and physical theatre can be risky aspects of a comedy show.
When a performer reaches a certain level of stardom, the reviews may come in easier than ever before; with prime venue, time slots and media attention, life is made all that much e…
The Fringe isn’t always the best place for magic.
Reprising their show Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised are Daniel Roberts, Tom Skelton, Chris Turner and Dougie Walker; together they make up Racing Minds, returning t…
Life must be hard if you want to be a different gender.
The Phill Jupitus Experiment.
Given that the original award-winning novel by Mark Haddon is told from the very singular, focused perspective of a 15-year-old boy on the autistic spectrum, it’s surprising that…
Since West Side Story was my first ever pocket-money album purchase, I am unbelievably, unreasonably touchy about its treatment onstage and off.
Flamenco dancing is perhaps not the first thing I would associate with the legend of the Minotaur and indeed neither is the idea that the conflict between the monster and Theseus h…
It’s not that The Improverts aren’t funny.
I am Google is listed as Comedy, Interactive and Stand-up.
‘Simon Evans: Friendly Fire’ is a misnomer.
Set in Oyo, Nigeria in the middle of World War II, Wole Soyinkas Death and the Kings Horseman centres around the battle between British colonialist views and the local traditio…
There’s been a bit of a pattern to Fringe children’s theatre over the past few years.
‘Success’ is an inventive, endearing and beautifully observed pastiche of self-help seminars.
Located in the small but cosy performance space underneath the main café area of Captain Taylor’s Coffee House, Life or Something Like it sees Mancunian singer-songwriter Claire…
Are our lives ruled by fate or chance? It’s hard to decide most of the time but even harder when a stage magician is making the seemingly impossible happen before your eyes.
You may have heard of a play-within-a-play but a musical-within-a-musical is another matter entirely.
I feel a little drained after seeing this show but in the best possible way.
Another Tarantino Story promises to challenge conventional dance practices while incorporating a multidisciplinary approach to dance theatre.
As an avid fan of old noir movies, crooked cops, and general hard-boiled quick witted cynicism, needless to say I was looking forward to this show.
At the heart of Allotment is a simple, visual metaphor: the burial and later uncovering of objects in the earth that clearly mirrors the suppression and later resurrection of memor…
Joe Bor stands out by sheer force of personality.
‘I shall be remembered!’ cries Dame Elaine Montgomerie for the fifth time in her one-woman show about the life of Madame de Pompadour.
‘Andrew and the Pony’ is, oddly enough, the story of how performer Andrew Bridges has always, since early childhood, desperately wanted a pony and of all the bizarre situations…
Right, listen here.
Paul McCaffrey seems less like a performer and more like a mate in a pub.
Can a magician’s hand really be faster than the human eye? Paul Dabek may well use that serious question as an excuse for a simple physical joke, but by the end of this excellent…
The concept of Bite Size is a perfectly simple, yet novel one, and the clue really is in the title.
Yorkshire-born Chris Cassells seems such a trustworthy young man that it’s somewhat disconcerting to realise that he’s already recognised as a rising star among the UK’s stag…
With her phenomenal voice and subtle and sexy ambiance, Ali McGregor knows how to make an entrance.
This is as good a play as Ive ever seen about the absurdity of prejudice.
Panto usually involves a cast of thousands, huge sets and the theatrical magic supplied by trap doors, smoke machines and flying apparatus.
I haven’t been to the circus for a while and there’s a reason for that.
Matthew John Curtis is famous.
This is a one-man show with a difference: the actor is also a magician.
Say what you will about ventriloquists, theres no denying their talent.
A dinner party and a stand-up comedy performance might not seem to have much in common - and, in social terms, they don’t - but Xavier Toby gamely welcomed his first Edinburgh au…
Like much of the comedy currently clogging up Edinburgh, Toby Hadoke’s latest show is fundamentally about the man on stage, about his life experiences and his personal relationsh…
Daniel Sloss delivers a supposedly darker, meaner show in his later slot but most of his material is relatively clean, geared towards an audience who can laugh at him as well as wi…
Five stars only go to a show that is to all intents perfect, that wakens something inside you and keeps you utterly captivated for an entire hour.
Matador, you say? As in, red capes and bulls and Spanish people? For an hour? And it’s comedy?Thankfully, the matador pretence is dropped in the first ten minutes of Asher Trelea…
King Creosote’s iron-clad strengths are his songwriting - whimsical and understated - and his voice - fragile and melodic.
When someone sits down to write a musical, it’s rare that they dream up a piece of work that is befitting to a small performance space, shying away from spotlights and microphones …
Country Air ‘A Contemporary Ghost Story’ is, to be frank, confusing and confused about what it is.
How many US Presidents does it take to run a country? Three, apparently - and in the late 90s that was Bill, Billy and Hillary Clinton.
We live in the age of the cultural mash-up, of old names reimagined into new forms.
The witty and charming pair Richard Marsh and Katie Bonna give us a beat poetry rom-com ballad that, while not groundbreaking, at least treads old ground with the comfort and warmt…
This piece, performed by students of Howard Payne University, tells the tragedy-laced story of Joseph Grimaldi, father of the modern day clown.
Imagine if David Starkey did a Fringe show.
Everyone remembers storytime – that happy time at the end of the day when the hard work of colouring in and sticking bits of paper to other bits of paper could be safely put behi…
Woody Guthrie was an Oklahoma folk musician, famous for his protest music and probably most famous for the song This Land Is Your Land.
Contrary to what some critics might suggest, it’s not a comfortable experience seeing someone ‘coming off the rails’ on stage, especially when they’re clearly talented and …
Paul Ricketts is a natural storyteller.
Barry and Ian are two estranged brothers in their late middle-age.
If we believe everything we see, at least on the video screen, the stage mentalist Doug Segal can get from his hotel bed to the venue — stopping off mid-route to buy a lottery ti…
Those looking for a bit of relief from the frenetic pace of the Festival can find it underground, in the idiosyncratic Jazz Bar on Chambers Street.
You know you’ve experienced a genuine one-man Fringe show when the guy who’s been performing on stage for the previous 50 minutes has to jump down, run to the tech desk at the …
Is Judas Iscariot the ultimate fall-guy, unfairly damned for his necessary role in what was once called The Greatest Story Ever Told? Is his sin — of “selling out the Son of Go…
There’s a certain type of show that prompts a degree of fatigue in me.
The Jazz Bar’s crowd on Sunday the 12th August was a bit of a mix.
Particularly when compared to the polite folk of Edinburgh, Glaswegians have a reputation for talking.
Taking immersive theatre to the next level, Applespiel have launched into this year’s Fringe with a set of corporate seminars, designed to improve everyone’s awareness of thems…
It’s no small challenge to summarise a country and its history in a single hour, which is perhaps why Carolyn Anona Scott and Jack Foster instead choose to pay ‘homage’ to Sc…
The excitement in the audience is palpable as the lights dim in St George’s West, a beautiful venue that lends itself well to theatrical transformation.
If there’s a book you’re guaranteed to come across in a literature degree, it’s Beowulf.
Conference of Strange is in the form of a lecture, and it’s 30 minutes (not an hour as billed), and it opens with a woman ironing a projection screen, and then the air, and then …
A boy tossed through the revolving door of foster homes and department of family services.
In his book about the onset of his wife’s dementia, former ITN journalist John Suchet explained that the one ‘mercy’ he could see about the condition was that the person with…
This play, which is an updated version of Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing, is set amongst the staff in a modern secondary school, Hazel Valley.
Tin Girl Story is an interesting production but I am unsure as to whether 29 Shoes Theatre Company chose the appropriate setting, or listing for their creation.
Few would argue that the Fringe isn’t all about showcasing up-and-coming talent.
The scene is set by a pumping house tune with a countdown.
Paul Merton introduces a selection of silent film classics, featuring Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Laurel & Hardy.
There’s a reason Charles Dickens’ stories endures in popularity.
This is Soap takes improv comedy to a new level - forget sketch shows, musicals or short-form games.
Tim FitzHigham is a true eccentric and a sucker for a challenge.
Where Theatre In Heights’ production of this new musical is strongest is in its capacity to entertain.
You know something’s different about a show when the people in the first three rows - also known as the slosh pit - are issued with cheap Scotland-branded ponchos.
My assumption is that it was The Stand’s decision to blast Method Man out of the speakers as the audience took their seats rather than Simon Munnery’s, but it is a credit to a …
It’s a funny thing - children’s TV has changed a lot recently.
With so much improvised comedy at the Fringe nowadays it’s difficult to know what to see.
I must confess to having felt more than a little embarrassed at turning up at a childrens show in the middle of the day; we had a heated debate in the queue on the way in as to w…
With its modest and pretty title, Some Small Love Story sets the tone for its performance.
This new adaptation of Dracula plays slightly with the order of the original; the voluptuous vampire orgies of Dracula’s castle take place in the second half as opposed to the firs…
Andrew Lawrence is a young, talented stand-up comedian who has already had two successive if.
Love Child is the story of two women - a mother and daughter - who have never met; the former gave the latter away at her birth, the daughter returns to seek out her lost parent.
Be prepared, the caption warns, to laugh and cry, probably at the same time! This is unfairly self-deprecating; I felt both shows were well-performed, with considerable ent…
A stellar performance from an all-singing, all-dancing cast of miscreants and their formidable opponents from the local neighbourhood watch, Asbo: the Musical is the story of Darre…
Do you remember the days of yore? Of gum detentions, boredom pure? Deep in the Smirnoff Underbelly, a group of Scottish students are putting on a play in memory of those school day…
Sordid Lives is the story of the overwhelming weirdness of small-town American life and the empowerment of its women, through the discovery of pink sequins and two-barrelled shotgu…
Greshams have been performing at the Fringe for many years and have a history of approaching traditional works in a new way.
Andre King’s style is an endearing one.
Callow has a strong and long relationship with Dickens including a hugely successful performance as the author himself in The Mystery of Charles Dickens, and appearing as the m…
In three short years, All the King’s Men have gone from a little-known university a cappella group to the third best collegiate group in the world, and from the simply phenomenal…
There is definitely a reason why Simon Callow has his name at the beginning of the title of this beautifully performed monologue.
I’ve a confession of my own to make; when I chose to review this show I thought it was something entirely different.
I must start with two clear statements.
The exquisitely moustached showman Donny Vomit was just 14, visiting an Oklahoma County Fair, when he saw a man swallow a long balloon.
Anybody who thinks that you can perform Love’s Labour’s Lost without doing something serious to the script probably hasn’t read the play.
There’s one small, very special audience that most of us will be legally obliged to join at some point in our lives — a jury.
Bad things shouldn’t happen to nice people.
There’s something about the marriage of the arcane and the amusing, the faux Victoriana of shows like ‘Bleak Expectations’, that I always find enjoyable.
Given the importance many people put on their annual holiday — the glittering gift to themselves for enduring the hard slog of everyday life for the rest of the year — there�…
Principal Parts is a play within a play.
There’s a long tradition of the gentleman thief - not least in Edinburgh, the city of Deacon Brodie - so it probably seemed apt to bring to the Fringe an adaptation of Eleanor Up…
Fringe regulars may remember the moment towards the beginning of last year’s Festival, when performers, media and audiences alike slowly caught wind of the London riots, followin…
I’m one of those people.
Science Shows for Schools have take three of their popular science presentations for schools and turned them into a 50 minute production for children at the Zoo Aviary.
There’s basically no-one who doesn’t like Roald Dahl – he’s been a cornerstone of kids’ literature for 50 years and with good reason.
Glasgow’s Tramway has a reputation for cutting-edge visual and performing arts; so it’s something of a radical change for them to join Glasgow’s other theatrical venues with …
Written and animated by the alleged French “polymath” François Sarhan, Enough Already incorporates live music, theatre and film in a frustratingly pretentious, paralysingly du…
The Pathhead Halls on the corner of Commercial Street and Broad Wynd, Kirkcaldy, Fife were built in 1882, originally as a theatre and music hall although one room was later used fo…
There’s a brazen, wonderfully self-conscious theatricality in how director Dominic Hill approaches Chris Hannan’s new stage adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s iconic novel, C…
There is one word that, quite deliberately, is never uttered by anyone on stage during the National Theatre of Scotland’s Let The Right One In—vampire.
Although based on true events, the story of Calum’s Road is so unique that it comes with a strong sense of some greater story being told, one of mythical proportions.
Children’s and young adult’s fiction have long been populated by orphans, characters who are both usefully free from parental restraints while also cut adrift from the traditio…
Inter-generational relationships are always controversial, especially when questions of predatory abuse arise in these Savile-dominated times.
Now I’m all for messing with Shakespeare.
There are actually plenty of comedy options at the Fringe if you want to avoid the ‘affable young bloke in jeans and a t-shirt telling jokes’ but perhaps none further removed t…
Can you do anything of theatrical note in under 10 minutes? Is there a place for a theatrical equivalent of flash fiction, whether as a testing ground for new writers or as a form …
Presumably the mention of Katrina and the Waves, Lulu or Bucks Fizz will have a reader questioning why they’re making an appearance in a review about a cappella electro singing.
When does real life stop and the cabaret begin? Or the cabaret stop and real life return? On this occasion, Markee de Saw and Bert Finkle offer no simple or easy answers in this in…
A one-man show about a spare British poet - a challenging prospect for a sweaty Sunday in a tiny black box theatre.
Chris Coltrane is the first to admit that any political radicalism he might once have possessed had faded over time, thanks in part to a depressing sense of powerless after the UK …
Paul McCaffrey can very much be categorised as an observational comedian.
There are many things that make for a successful comedian.
Arguably the most famous Scottish story written by an Englishman is re-imagined as One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest by the National Theatre of Scotland, and showcases a remarkable sol…
What a lovely, original and unpredictable show this is.
From the start, you know that Tomás Ford isn’t your ordinary late night showman.
Sketch comedy is, by its nature, a slightly hit-and-miss affair.
At one point in this freewheeling show, Paul Foot pulls out a heap of colourfully illustrated flashcards and asks us to yield to the ‘glimpses’ of jokes they contain.
Graham Macpherson, aka Suggs, has produced a show with a clue in the title.
The downside of performing in a multi-show venue must surely be that you may have very little time to set up a show beforehand — often little more than 10 minutes — while alway…
Arguments and Nosebleeds is becoming a little nugget of tradition, a one-off poetry performance — now in its third year — that gives a platform to a host of Scottish poets, alo…
One song short of a Spice Girls Tribute band, the boys from King’s have smashed another year at the Fringe.
Jean Paul Jones is an eighteenth-century US naval commander with Scottish roots; and this is the musical of his life.
What a joy and a rarity it is to see a cross-generational cast of performers, ranging in age from 28-78, share the stage in dance theatre of this calibre.
Paul Merton, Lee Simpson, Suki Webster, Richard Vranch and Jim Sweeney improvise for an hour using suggestions from the audience.
Too often, fringe theatre can be overly serious and overly worthy.
British folklore is packed with some of the most iconic figures anywhere in the world.
The improv group Racing Minds want to tell you a story.
Whether you know much about Chekhov or not, Anton’s Uncles still has something for you.
Thrill Me is based on the real-life story of wealthy law students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, who killed a school friend to test themselves at living life beyond limits as Nie…
I’m upside down, the blood’s rushing to my head and I’m swinging madly like some sort of unwieldy pendulum.
Paul Zerdin is clearly an accomplished ventriloquist.
Structuring a review is basically fairly straightforward.
Palimpsest One is a bit of an odd beast.
Take two of Cambridge’s Footlights, give them guitars, throw them in front of a crowd full of people and watch the magic happen.
Character comedy is one of the most difficult types to do well.
In a Fringe increasingly dominated by comedy it can be difficult for stand-ups to stand out.
Paul Sinha has yet to really breakout, although hes been building a solid stand-up foundation over the years at the Fringe.
It’s sentimental, it’s a journey, it’s the story of Doris Day’s life.
It’s a beautiful day at the Fringe and I’m sat on the top deck of a red bus in the Meadows.
In these increasingly cash-strapped times putting on any musical on the Fringe is worthy of praise, even if — with a cast of six accompanied by electric piano and drums — the d…
As a show, NGGRFG has one obvious problem: people are either uncertain how to say it, or are simply reluctant to say out loud the two words it represents, because — quite underst…
Among the delights of the Fringe are the opportunities it occasionally presents to see quality performers in more intimate, personal projects.
In the perfect setting of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, sixty or so children of varying ages and sizes sat enraptured by the accomplished storytelling and puppetry of the Theat…
The things we love as children stay with us forever.
The Camden Fringe is home to many different types of performer; opera singers, musicians, burlesque dancers and poets.
‘Makar’ is a medieval Scots word for poet.
It’s been said before, it will be said again, people will say it for years and years to come.
Sat atop a hill in Highgate town, beneath the clouds but throned over London’s starry spread sits a gem of Fringe theatre and a pleasure unrestrained.
It’s not often you would describe a story about shit as one of life-affirming transcendent beauty, but the moral fable ‘The Dandelion Story’ is all that and more.
One-man fringe shows tend towards extremes.
Few talents serve a stand-up better than audience rapport and I’m happy to say that Matt Tiller has it in spades.
In an increasingly categorised Fringe (this year added Spoken Word to an already multi-colour-coded Fringe programme), it can still be a delight to come upon a show that just doesn…
The Australian duo of musical comedian Sammy J and puppeteer Heath McIvor - best known for his purple puppet Randy - are now experienced Fringe regulars who, quite rightly, are mor…
Nick and Andrew are brothers, but that doesn’t mean they’re alike.
Everyone knows Alice in Wonderland from their childhood at some level - but not everyone agrees what the story is really about.
I hope I get this good a eulogy at my own funeral.
A performance where the embodiment of the communication between audience and performer is at the core of its success, Say Something is the epitome of a live event.
Bandwagon Theatre Company bring this short story to the fringe as they tell a murky tale of the secret sale of the then-Indian-Ocean island of Diego Garcia by the US and Britain.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is a director’s dream.
Three tables, each filled with the paraphernalia of different daytime meals; on each table, there’s an hourglass, progressively smaller.
On its face, ‘It’s a Puppet Life’ seems like a fairly straightforward concept.
There was something very apt about this production.
From the start Richard Purnell (the short one) and Gary From Leeds (the horribly tall one) insist that their teaming up as ‘360 degree poetry consultants’ is not a gimmick.
Sketch comedy duo Chris O’Niell and Paul Valenti started last night with a bit of a mountain to climb.
While Green’s professionalism for going ahead with his solo performance with a tiny audience is worth a mention, this shouldn’t distract from the most important point: that his…
Despite a long and successful career in both British film and theatre, Dame Margaret Rutherford is now best remembered for a role she didn’t, initially, care for at all — Agath…
Tania Edwards is a strange sort of stand-up for the Fringe.
A show about shows is not the most original idea there has ever been but Dan Nightingale’s ‘what might have been?’ take on performing in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe provid…
Describing his genre as ‘racist comedy’ and insisting that the show is not funny, Paul Chowdhry presents 55 minutes of offensive material that is often as uncomfortable as it i…
Other Voices promised much — ‘comedy, politics, naughty lyrics, free sweets… And a veritable smorgasbord of poetry antics’, but the most significant terminology on its titl…
Making their Fringe debut under a year since their foundation, All the Kings Men is comprised of twelve charming, charismatic, but, unfortunately, not musically satisfying chaps …
This summer’s clutch of blockbuster popcorn-bait has been dominated by the four colour heroes of the comic book.
You might think that a visual gag involving a woman with hair not dissimilar to that of King Charles II, dressed up as King Charles II might get old after a time.
The story of Helena and her faithless husband, Bertram, has puzzled theatregoers for centuries.
Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut comes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a strong pedigree and reputation, built on its debut as part of Glasgow’s Òran Mór’s iconic A Play, …
Were I a paying customer in the audience of The Madness of King Lear, I would have walked out when Lear - Leofric Kingford-Smith – began his imitation of Rammstein using Shakespe…
Many comics wouldnt risk starting a show chatting about their hernia, but Tonkinson quickly gets up close and personal with his audience and their experiences.
Some Small Love Story, as the title may suggest, is a short, self-contained and in the end inconsequential story about love and loss, with some songs thrown in for good measure.
Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly played to a packed Queen’s Hall with his own brand of low-key folk-rock, featuring only him and his nephew Dan Kelly, who played guitar an…
The Glasgow King’s Theatre panto, which last year marked its half century, is a much-loved institution in the city.
I live in Edinburgh and choose to go to this throughout the year because it is so good week after week.
Mid-afternoon, an audience of just 10 people is not what most standups would want to see in front of them.
Grapple Theatre Company, starring a cast from Bristol Grammar School, take to the stage in this adaptation of two Gothic stories by Edgar Allan Poe.
There are many things you can say about Chris Cross; that he’s a shrinking violet is not one of them.
Neil LaBute’s companion plays Land of the Dead and Helter Skelter explore a sudden change in life situations, portrayed through the lives of two couples.
As a rule, I’m not always the biggest fan of ‘issue’ theatre.
Up there with The Deer Hunter and The Champ, Love Story came from a decade of schmaltzy tearjerkers that kept tissue manufacturers in healthy profits.
Following last year’s success with Sunday in the Park With George, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s OneAcademy Productions have returned to the work of Stephen Sondheim in…
Lara A.
‘O wad some Power the giftie gie us/To see oursels as ithers see us!’ wrote Robert Burns in his famous poem To A Louse, apparently inspired by seeing the insect roaming over th…
Life is spectacular.
We all live our lives within walls.
Simon Munnery has prepared a cuisine that’s perfect for carnivores, herbivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike.
Do you love Alex? Let me tell you, if you are going to put A Clockwork Orange on, the audience simply has to love Alex.
If comedy often rises out of adversity, could this help explain how Northern Ireland has proved such fertile ground over the years — from Frank Carson and Roy Walker to Patrick K…
“This show is family friendly, apart from your grandma, so she can f*ck off!”Thus opens the foul-mouthed Simon Donald, donning typical private school headmaster robes and morta…
Taking up the action with Kate’s harassment by the rakish Sir Mulberry Hawk and Nicholas and Smike’s return to London, this second half of Space Productions’ revival of the R…
Kings Hall has been taken over by Summer Hall and transformed into the Canada Hub over the festival, showcasing a series of Canadian acts exploring the issues surrounding Canada’…
It’s 1870.
One of the biggest comedy stars in Denmark, Simon Talbot comes to the Fringe with some work-in-progress shows.
It was the title, I must admit, which first attracted me to review Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation; its promise of combining "stage action and illust…
A timeless love story; an electrifying spectacle.
Theatre-making manifestos always make me wary, in part because I'm inherently suspicious of portentous artists in any field: "The aim is not to depict the real, but to mak…
From the creator of the international sensation ‘Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl In Hitler’s Germany’ comes the fascinating sequel, detailing life after war.
Simon Ximenez chatted to Luke Bayer, the Offie Award-winning star of DIVA: Live From Hell about the show’s return to London before heading up to Edinburgh this summer.
Barry McStay tells us about his experience of writing and revising his play, Breeding
VAULT, the creators of VAULT Festival have found their new London home which will open in Spring 2024 with VAULT Festival returning in the Autumn.
Maimuna Memon was one of the stars of the extraordinary new musical, Standing at the Sky’s Edge.
A coveted Bobby has been presented to five shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year.
If you thought Cinderella was just for panto season, as the team behind Greenwich Theatre’s new production tells Simon Ximenez, “Oh no it’s not.”
With multiple shows celebrating first and last nights every night, alcohol plays a big part in creating the fun, celebratory atmosphere of the Fringe.
Simon Ximenez "feelz the noise" as he talks with punk legend Ed Banger about bringing the glam to the Edinburgh Festival this year.
Simon Ximenez talked to the coordinator of this year’s Edinburgh Deaf Festival, Jamie Rea.
Simon Ximenez talks to comedian Ibrahem Al Hajjaj about his journey From Riyadh to Edinburgh.
Simon Ximenez speaks to Nalini Sharma about bringing lightness to dark in Until Death, ahead of its opening in Edinburgh this year.
Simon Ximenez is considering a life on the ocean wave after talking to Max Norman about his Edinburgh show, A Pirate’s Life for Me.
Simon Ximenez gets an unusual insight into parenting, with Kiwi comedy group Femme Natale.
Simon Ximenez looks into the sordid side of fandom as he talks to Emily Allan and Leah Hennessey about their new show, Slash.
Edinburgh woudn't be Edinburgh without a mention of bumholes. Simon Ximenez ticked that one off the list when he spoke with Benjamin Salmon about his show Blowhole.
Simon Ximenez talks with Alistair Hall, whose success with his gripping one-man play Declan, was one of the few positive outcomes of lockdown.
Part animation, part-visualisation technology, a live camera and a toy train, Everything That’s Me is Falling Apart promises to be a unique comedy show at Edinburgh this year.
Simon Ximenez talks with writer and director Emilie Biason about her new play, I Killed My Ex and is relieved to discover this dark comedy about love, friendship, and male dismembe...
Four women.
If you've ever wondered what are the best musicals in London's West End , we might finally have the answer for you.
There’s been disco-dancing to Madonna in an old church, vegan based stand up in a room above a pub, incredible acrobatics, hilarious cabaret songs about near-death experiences an...
There have been some stellar hits and some definite misses, but with some five star performances just starting their runs it could be that your favourite show of Brighton Fringe 2...
That’s right, we’re already coming towards the halfway point of Brighton Fringe.
From dark comedies, to sci-fi authors, to an uncooked lump of dough, Brighton Fringe certainly offers surprises for everyone as we head into this second weekend.
Welcome to Brighton Fringe 2019! We’re ready to welcome back old favourites, discover new talent and generally have a jolly good time.
Ditch the messy arts and crafts this half-term and entertain your little darlings with the best live family friendly performances Brighton and Hove have to offer instead.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year (apart from Brighton Fringe, of course) and there are plenty of delightful performances to entertain you this winter.
Welcome to our top 5 picks from the third year of Brighton HorrorFest, the spooktacular celebration from Sweet of all things that go bump in the night.
Just like that, we approach the final weekend of Brighton Fringe.
May is marvellous.
We're almost mid-way through the Fringe and it seems like there are more shows than ever to pick from.
After the glorious sunshine of the opening weekend, you might be forgiven for thinking that the fun might be over.
Caitlin is a one-woman play by Mike Kenny about Dylan Thomas and his wife's tempestuous life together, written entirely from her point of view.
It’s the bank holiday and you’re ready for the long weekend – but what to do? Read on to discover how to kick-start your weekend with comedy, beer, parties and Julie Andrews.
All this week we've got some fantastic offers on your favourite West End shows. Check back daily for the latest offers.
Tipped to be London’s theatrical event of 2018, the multi-award winning and critically acclaimed Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King And...
The Scottish Storytelling Centre is, in its own words, ‘a vibrant arts venue with a seasonal programme of live storytelling, theatre, music, exhibitions, workshops, family events...
May Bank Holiday weekend can only mean one thing; Brighton Fringe is almost upon us.
Greenwich Theatre is set to have an unprecedented profile at this year’s Brighton Fringe, with no less than eight productions heading for The Warren either co-produced or support...
With Easter on the horizon it’s time to turn attention to Brighton Fringe with a look at some shows that are likely to sell out. Book early – you have been warned.
Broadway Baby's Senior Critic Simon Smith looks back over 2016, a year in which we took what we've learned for more than a decade as the biggest reviewer on the Fringe and turned o...
Bobby Winner Ten Storey Love Song (adapted by Luke Barnes from the Richard Milward novel) is a play cum techno gig about five wretched tower-block inhabitants who deserve better fr...
It’s the halfway point for Brighton Fringe and there are still hundreds of shows left to see.
Weekends are when Brighton Fringe truly comes alive.
Neil has a story to tell.
West End performer, Sharon Sexton, stars as broadway legend Liza Minnelli recounting tales, secrets and blasting through her famous hits.
Dan Haynes & Pete Richards boast consecutive EdFringe sellouts with Simon & Garfunkel: Through The Years! We get to know Pete a little better...
Edinburgh venue St Stephen’s Stockbridge returns in 2016 as the latest addition to the C venues stable.
Brighton Fringe has officially launched.
Following a successful run at Brighton Fringe in 2015 and two previous sold-out and critically acclaimed runs at the King's Head Theatre, 5 Guys Chillin' returns this February.
Christmas is the one time of year you can drag your non-theatre-going friends to the theatre.
Rona Munro, writer of the three James Plays – critically acclaimed and popular with audiences at the 2014 Edinburgh International Festival – has a new collaboration with Stephe...
Acclaimed choreographers and performers Ramesh Meyyappan and Claire Cunningham bring two startling – and highly personal – shows to this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
New York City's "rapid-fire raconteur of sex and death" returns to Edinburgh with a brand new show, where it’s fair to say he’s decidedly Trigger Happy!
The King of Monte Cristo will explore the nature of theatre through theatre. Broadway Baby has a little chat to find out more.
Arches LIVE, the annual festival of new performances and artwork by some of Scotland’s most exciting creative talent returns to Glasgow’s The Arches this October.
Doctor Austin of the renowned Zombie Institute for Theoretical Studies, based in the University of Glasgow, has come to educate the Edinburgh Fringe about the inevitable Zombie Apo...
Described as a “theatrical maverick” with “a propensity for fearless experiment” by the Financial Times, writer-director David Leddy returns to Edinburgh with two productio...
Family-friendly Story Pocket Theatre is a new company bringing Arabian Nights to the Edinburgh Fringe. Pete Shaw grabbed a moment of their rehearsal period to ask some questions.
Game-keeper turned poacher? Liam Rudden may be Entertainment Editor for the Edinburgh Evening News, but he also has decades’ experience as a writer and director for the stage–i...