Search

Toggle dark mode:

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Palestine at the Fringe: culture, protest and falafel at Portobello Town Hall

Kate Copstick Kate Copstick
14 Jul 2025

Something very important is happening down at Portobello Town Hall this Fringe. The kind of important something that makes you glad that, under the vast commercial edifice that all but buries the Fringe these days, its heart still beats. And the important voices to which it can give a stage can still speak. All the passion and the protest and the power of the people that can – and should – find their home on a Fringe is here this year. Not for long, but it is here.

Art changes hearts. This project is a chance for us all to go beyond statistics, despair and political soundbites and, instead, to meet Palestinians where they are – with heart and soul.

This August, Welcome to the Fringe, Palestine offers an insight into – and a chance to enjoy – the culture of a country that has, tragically, become synonymous with death, destruction and genocide. But down in Portobello, in four days of music and dance, discussion and comedy, exhibition and theatre, food and friendliness, you will see a different view of this country, its people and its culture. And probably best to do it while you can, before the government proscribes the eating of falafel and hummus.

The people behind this four-day cultural and political feast (both literal and metaphorical) are an independent Scottish group of writers, directors, performers and producers, and many of the performers onstage are from Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinian diaspora. Organisers promise total freedom of expression and no censorship – which, these days, is something exciting in and of itself. Even more in the spirit of the Fringe and artistic freedom, the whole thing has been largely made possible by crowdfunding (with some help from Creative Scotland) and local support.

Sara Shawaari – one of the organisers – says: “It’s more urgent than ever now to reach out and lift up our Palestinian friends and colleagues, at a time when they are facing so much censorship, harassment and violence. We would not have been able to organise this without the immense support and donated labour, resources and skills, as well as monetary donations of various communities in Scotland – from workers’ unions to small arts organisations, from individuals to community collectives. It is truly a huge collective effort to make this happen, and we cannot thank each person enough for their contribution.”

One of her co-organisers is David Greig – a name well known in Edinburgh where good stuff in theatre is concerned. “At a time when Palestinians are facing extreme violence, it feels like a small, good thing for us to share the human spirit together: art, comedy, music, theatre, food and more, all in the convivial and welcoming atmosphere of Porty Town Hall,” he says. “Art changes hearts. This project is a chance for us all to go beyond statistics, despair and political soundbites and, instead, to meet Palestinians where they are – with heart and soul.”

Tickets are available by the show or by the day. And, in the hustle – and even more hustle – of an August Edinburgh, a day down in Porty exploring and experiencing the culture of a land so horrifyingly under threat sounds, in many ways, like a good thing to do. If you cannot be lured down to Porty, there are Palestinians elsewhere. And, take it from me, you will not find a show that is less than a must-see among them.

Perhaps because of the situation we are in right now, shows with a Palestinian theme have much more of a pull. Political theatre and “angry young men” in the UK have faded somewhat. It seems to be taking us some time to come to terms – like David Mitchell's sweet Nazi officer in the sketch – with the fact that we are the baddies here. But we have done so many bad things in the past that there is always food for dramatic thought.

Britain’s corrosive colonialism in Palestine is the jumping-off point for Balfour Reparations, which sounds so powerful and fascinating that having the words “speculative choreography and Afrofuturism” in the programme entry does not even put me off. There are nights of Palestine Stands Up down at The Stand, featuring comics from both Palestine itself and here, and over at the Pleasance, the entrancing story of The Horse of Jenin. Also at the Pleasance, you will find the man Alexei Sayle calls “the rockstar voice of the Palestinian diaspora”, whose show Peace de Resistance claims to involve clowning and cocktails. There is also mention of hand puppets – but do not let that put you off.

In an Edinburgh packed to its turrets with showbiz ladder climbers and self-indulgence, it's a glorious thing to find shows and to experience events that make you feel different coming out than you did when you went in.

We are not living in good times. And, while I do realise that popping to see a Fringe show does not exactly turn you into Mark Thomas (who, incidentally, is here with his latest show WD40, and will certainly have much to say about the way things are politically, internationally and morally), having Palestinian performers sharing their experiences – there are even plays by children from Gaza down in Porty – giving us first-hand accounts of what is happening there, and using art and performance of all kinds (and falafel, if you are lucky) to spread a word that is being silenced in too many places, can only be a very good thing. The Fringe might even become relevant again. Who knows?

Kate Copstick

Kate Copstick

Probably the most famous critic at the Fringe, Kate has previously been a judge of the Perrier Comedy and Malcolm Hardee Awards. As The Scotsman's chief comedy critic, her opinions have made and sometimes buried the careers of many an aspiring comic. Kate also spends much time in Kenya working with abused women and their families with her Mama Biashara charity, working to set these women up in small businesses, thus making them financially independent.

Related to this article:

Matilda
Phantom of the Opera
Titanique
Popular now
Wicked
The Producers
The Play That Goes Wrong