LGBT

The Importance of Being Earnest as Performed by Three F*cking Queens and a Duck

The Importance of Being Earnest as Performed by Three F*cking Queens and a Duck

Melbourne’s Out Cast Theatre company, using ‘bits of Mr Oscar Wilde’, as stated on the flyer, return a sort-of version of The Importance of Being Earnest to the Edinburgh Fringe... 

James Dean Is Dead! (Long Live James Dean)

James Dean Is Dead! (Long Live James Dean)

Springing up from the wreckage of his famous car (a Spider), James Dean talks honestly, candidly and sometimes with discomfort about his life. He makes no apologies as he discusses his childhood, issues with his father and the death of his mother when he was a mere nine years old... 

From Today Everything Changes

From Today Everything Changes

Before Chris’s wife died, she made him promise to be himself. She had known he was gay before he did, but things were different ‘in those days’ and you stayed together. Newly widowed and embracing ‘from today everything changes’, he begins online dating, not really believing he has anything to offer – especially to men younger than his own pensionable age... 

A Generous Lover

A Generous Lover

A Generous Lover is La JohnJoseph’s heartfelt account of caring for a bipolar partner. Orpheus and La JohnJoseph pass through various institutional limbos including health services, art therapy seminars and medication focused recovery plans... 

Dandy Darkly's All Aboard!

Dandy Darkly's All Aboard!

When you step into the venue for Dandy Darkly’s All Aboard, you don’t expect much. You see a man in drag standing in front of a veil of Halloween cutouts with a microphone in front of him, desperately trying to get your attention... 

Zach Zimmerman: Started as a Bottom, Now I'm Here

Zach Zimmerman: Started as a Bottom, Now I'm Here

Queer NYC comedian Zach Zimmerman (The Second City, The New Yorker) attacks conservative Christian parents, contemporary gay culture, and hunts for a husband in this provocative and hilarious stand-up Fringe debut... 

Like a Sturgeon

Like a Sturgeon

Edinburgh-raised drag queen Ripley makes his Fringe debut this year with Like A Sturgeon. This is a perfect drag homage to some of the world’s leading females in politics. The show is perfectly lip-synced to an array of popular music, as well as Ripley’s own original lyrics... 

Not All Men

Not All Men

Not All Men wash their hands after going to the toilet, not all men brush their teeth twice daily. Not All Men is an autobiographical performance challenging the idea of Maleness. When being a man has become synonymous for being strong it can leave many feeling vulnerable when they don't fit the societal mould... 

Rainbow Baby

Rainbow Baby

Love. Life. Loss. The reality behind LGBT+ pregnancy. Alice and Melissa have been together for four years, they're married and want to start a family, but it isn't quite that simple... 

Rights of Passage

Rights of Passage

Miremba, a Ugandan woman forced to leave her girlfriend and marry. Izzuddin, a Malay man who’s scholarship is removed when his sexuality is revealed. Hamed, an Iranian man who is told by the British Home Office that he is not gay... 

Enough

Enough

Can the liberation of one award-winning self-harming poet-dietitian be connected to all liberation? A powerful look at one woman's story of living through a traumatised body in the brutal delusion of neoliberalism... 

Raise the Roof

Raise the Roof

Returning after last year's critically acclaimed debut, a hard-hitting look at food, body respect and professional complicity in a post-truth world. Linking body shame, Grenfell and the Black Lives Matter movement with lyrical abandon and astute acuity, this is a mesmerising and unashamedly queer exploration of the ways we connect with ourselves and each other... 

Dragtime Presents: Things Live!

Dragtime Presents: Things Live!

Things Live! A variety cabaret of Dragtime's most unusual and magical drag performances yet. Drag kings, queens and inbetweens gather for an evening of opera, musical theatre, dance, lip-syncing, spoken word and general oddity! Throw the gender roles out the window and come to see Cambridge University's only touring drag troupe in their most ambitious show to date, accompanied by a live string quartet! 

Ryan Ward and Joe Molander: Natural Born Performers

Ryan Ward and Joe Molander: Natural Born Performers

Britain's most popular magicians and amateur bounty hunters, Joe and Ryan, perform an hour of classical music and salsa dance, with Claire Sweeney on banjo. (Note: from 19th-26th August, they will be doing half an hour each of stand-up instead... 

Red and Boiling

Red and Boiling

Red and Boiling is an entertaining cabaret-style show with some serious undertones. Created by Noga Yechieli Wind and Joshua Rivas, it relates the stories of ‘queer womyn’ (sic) and non-binary individuals who deal with coming out and life thereafter... 

Fringe Queer Artists Kiki

Fringe Queer Artists Kiki

Part of the Fringe Central Events Programme for Fringe participants. Let’s have a kiki! Drag duo Hasadick and Rosay host this year’s LGBTQ artist mixer. The goal of this event is not only to bring queer artists together, but to create a network of potential collaborators worldwide... 

Loud and Proud on the Fringe

Loud and Proud on the Fringe

Scotland's LGBT choir, Loud and Proud, is back in support of Waverley Care, Scotland's HIV and Hepatitis C charity. Expect Scottish songs from Burns to The Proclaimers, as well as favourites from a wide range of genres, all performed a cappella with the choir's trademark enthusiasm and warmth – and more than a dash of silliness! The music may make you smile, surprise you or bring tears to your eyes, but most of all, you will experience their joy in singing together as a community... 

Clay Nikiforuk: Fun to Be Around

Clay Nikiforuk: Fun to Be Around

Fun to be Around is an authentic, no-holds-barred narrative about triumphing over psychosis. This well-written, thought-provoking show is an honest account, as Clay shares her personal experience of ‘coming back from the edge’... 

Artcoholic

Artcoholic

As you enter the cavernous, tunnel-like venue, the scene is set with cool music playing, whilst the stage is strewn with various artistic accoutrements: an easel, paints, brushes and Warhol images... 

Queer Words

Queer Words

Three performers on stage present an intriguing blend of poetry and dance. The piece is split up into clear scenes, addressing different issue with relationships and gender through a queer lens... 

A Gay and a NonGay Live! – Free

A Gay and a NonGay Live! – Free

Prepare for the gay and straight worlds to come together, as unlikely friends James Barr and Dan Hudson bring their hugely successful podcast to Edinburgh – live! James will explore the "admin" behind gay sex, while Dan promotes his campaign for metal music fans to be recognised as a minority... 

Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist

Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist

Some shows are a must-see simply because of the title, and Tilda Swinton Answers An Ad On Craigslist is about the best title for a play I’ve encountered in several years of reviewing... 

Sirens

Sirens

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if figures from Greek myth were around today? Well, Zoo Co Theatre Company have got you covered. In Sirens, three of the half-bird, half-woman creatures are transplanted to modern day Hastings... 

Banana Boys

Banana Boys

Sports and sex. Cam and Cal have been best friends since jumping off a cliff at the age of eight. But when sex and hormones infiltrate the boys' football team, the boys begin to struggle with their sexuality. 

Really Want to Hurt Me

Really Want to Hurt Me

Self identity, depression, sexual awakenings and The Smiths are all topics central to writer/director Ben SantaMaria’s incredibly touching and heartfelt play about growing up gay in the 1980’s... 

147Hz Can't Pass

147Hz Can't Pass

147Hz Can't Pass is the culmination of lived experience. Manifesting as a calculated mess of movement, energy, spoken word and slam-style poetry, it does not seek permission and offers no apology... 

...What the Frick?!

...What the Frick?!

A request for sex talk in German, a crippling back injury and coming out to her religious grandmother... Alice Frick knows the recipe for disaster well! The confused Austrian abroad indulges in life with wide-eyed enthusiasm... 

Trans Pennine

Trans Pennine

Trans Pennine is a funny, fast-paced, and emotional play about family disagreements, gender-identity, and caravan holidays. Following her death, the family begrudgingly go to scatter Mum’s ashes in the Yorkshire Dales – a commemoration of a wife and mother none of them liked... 

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Curious Pheasant Theatre reinvents the Bard’s most famous tale of ‘star-cross’d’ lovers in a bare-bones, twisted production that will have purists running for shelter and audiences that lack their reverential devotion to every word enjoying a butchered but exhilarating rendition of the text... 

Polaris

Polaris

Holly & Ted’s Polaris opens with a slow explanation of the characters the two actors will be playing, frustratingly broken up by the use of a tablet to control an impressive soundscape... 

Fronting

Fronting

A bold and convention-bashing introspection on the impact of HIV, through the medium of two young gay men. David and Will catch each others’ eyes over the mist of a steamy nightclub... 

Love Song to Lavender Menace

Love Song to Lavender Menace

We in the L.G.B.T.+ community are often slightly adrift from our own history. The legal and cultural oppression that has existed for almost the entirety of modern history has left many of us disconnected from our past and shared communities... 

Gypsy Queen

Gypsy Queen

Hope Theatre Company bring us this brutal and beautiful production exploring sexuality through the lens of two boxers. This is a refreshingly unique glimpse into the lives of two men experiencing a love which dare not mention its name, and the potential repercussions when stereotypical masculinity is perceived to be challenged... 

Marmite

Marmite

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 metaphorical implications covering a whole host of things we’re unlikely to sit on the fence about... 

Addiction: The Untold Story

Addiction: The Untold Story

Addiction: The Untold Story and Love is inspired by a true story of one young man’s journey to redemption from sex addiction and alcoholism. A drama sprinkled with some audience improv and light comedy, Addiction deals with sex addiction head on... 

Cazeleon: The Movies in My Mind

Cazeleon: The Movies in My Mind

Cazeleon, the self-proclaimed ‘cabaret chameleon’ – resplendent in monochrome make-up and a jaunty red, wide-brimmed hat - opens her show with a pitch perfect rendition of ‘History Repeating’... 

24/7 Live

24/7 Live

Join British-Chinese provocateur artist Le Fil in a pop gig with extras as he, she or it explores a 24/7 world of gay-straight men, bad romances and the modern constructions of gender that package us up for consumption... 

James Barr: Thirst Trap! – Free

James Barr: Thirst Trap! – Free

Wonderfully unexpected opportunities can occur at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; even more so at the 'Free' variety. You can be queuing for Stephen Bailey: Our Kid only to discover that, as he's away 'doing some TV,' his slot in the room is filled by another young, gay standup called James Barr... 

Aeroplane Jelly

Aeroplane Jelly

Life is like jelly – easy to make, but a bit messy without a mould. Aeroplane Jelly is Stephen's third Edinburgh Fringe show, but for the first time he's telling his own story, no holds barred... 

Sod's Law

Sod's Law

From the humid and dark recesses of Greenside Infirmary Street, a particularly fabulous member of the aristocracy takes us through a rollicking and camp-filled history of homosexuality in what is surely one of the more bizarre and fabulous cabarets at this year's festival... 

The B in the Room

The B in the Room

Dana's 39, happy, comfortable. Elliot is a teenager from a Christian background. When they both reach moments of crisis, they have to ask themselves why it's so hard to go against their relative norms... 

Georgia Tasda Means Business

Georgia Tasda Means Business

It’s a tough gig getting by in today’s cut-throat economy, but help is at hand! Join prize-winning comedy drag queen Georgia Tasda for a business masterclass, as she reveals the tricks of the trade she used to build her business empire... 

The LOL Word

The LOL Word

Like comedy and queer women? Then you’ll love this mixed bill of stand-up stars who are rising through the comedy ranks faster than you can say Ellen Degeneres. BBC New Comedy Award nominees (2016, 2017), Funny Women finalists (2017), Soho Theatre Young Company alumni... 

Jim Swann: The Man With No Vaginas

Jim Swann: The Man With No Vaginas

Somewhere between who he is, who he thinks he is, who he wants to be, who he wishes he wasn’t and who he suspects people want him to think he is… you’ll find the child in adult’s clothing struggling to hide the fact that he has absolutely no idea what the bloody hell he’s doing. 

Late Night Lip Service

Late Night Lip Service

Ferocious queens and fierce divas of the world, rejoice! Gingzilla, the giant, ginger, award-winning Glamonster, returns to host Late Night Lip Service, featuring the Fringe's wildest acts, lip-sync battles, debauched drag and midnight madness... 

Me Plus One – Improv with Two People – Free

Me Plus One – Improv with Two People – Free

Improviser Mara Joy (TBC Improv, The Spontaneous Players) is joined by a different special guest every day to create an entirely unique two-person show based off one word from the audience. 

Gender of Attraction

Gender of Attraction

Gender of Attraction is a heartfelt romantic comedy that puts a spotlight on trans relationships. When Azul, a gender non-conforming makeup artist by day / drag performer by night meets (mostly) straight Mitch, the attraction is undeniable... 

Other Voices Spoken Word Cabaret

Other Voices Spoken Word Cabaret

Welcome to our open-hearted open mic, where you can enjoy features from fantastic spoken word artists and different special guests daily, with a sumptuous cabaret vibe. This show is dedicated to the words and voices less heard, hosted by PBH's spoken word artistic director Fay Roberts... 

Rik Wolters – Heroic Failure

Rik Wolters – Heroic Failure

Rik is a bit of an oddball. Socially awkward, obsessive compulsive and sarcastic to the core, he has made his fair share of enemies over the years. In his Fringe debut, Rik recalls some of the stories from his somewhat chequered past and invites the audience to join him in laughing in the face of failure! 

I Have Always Been a Storm

I Have Always Been a Storm

In a fantastical world where weather is rigidly controlled by the Shipping Forecast, an individual weather pattern dares to question their assigned role. With help from the audience (and lots of dancing), they battle the powers-that-be to reclaim their identity and emerge as the force of nature they truly are... 

Lip Sync Lollapalooza

Lip Sync Lollapalooza

Are you ready for the ultimate Fringe party? Drag acts face off against comedians with hilarious and over-the-top performances that will leave you positively shook and gagging for more as they battle to become the Fringe's lip-sync champion! Spliced with DJ sets of cheesy, camp pop hits and modern booty-shakin' mash-ups, you'll party with Crudi Dench (Yorkshire's answer to RuPaul) and award-winning queens from the Haus of Dench... 

Jet of Blood

Jet of Blood

Brought to you by Civil Disobedience and that actor trapped inside the fur suit in Roddy Bottum's Sasquatch: The Opera, Jet of Blood is the documadrama/ballet/opera/performance art/musical/protest piece you've haven't been waiting for... 

The Dip

The Dip

How about we go back to mine and baba ganoush? Meet Al. He means well, eats his greens and sometimes smokes them too. As he struggles to express his feelings for his mate Nic, the drugs take hold... 

Comedy Queers / Free Festival

Comedy Queers / Free Festival

A raucous late night show offering a fabulous selection of the most outrageous queer performers from across the Fringe. If you’ve already seen one too many straight/cis comedians at the Fringe, come and spice things up with the queer comedy showcase... 

Gloria Hole Presents: The Clinic

Gloria Hole Presents: The Clinic

Got a burning problem? Got an itching question? Time to visit the clinic. Join Gloria Hole and a panel of top comedians as they solve your problems. Expect shots, laughs, games and sheer chaos... 

Bulgarians, Buggery, Brokeback and Beyond

Bulgarians, Buggery, Brokeback and Beyond

Tormented souls, evil villains, cliched employees, best friends and invisible men – enjoy a humorous look at the evolution of gay male characters on stage and screen in the past 100 years... 

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays

Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays

Two little words and suddenly your whole world changes. An A-list line-up of writers offer unique takes on the moments before, during and after 'I do'. Witty, warm and occasionally wacky, these plays are vows to the blessings of equality, the universal challenges of relationships and the often hilarious power of love. 

Jasper Red: Press Play

Jasper Red: Press Play

Jasper Red invites you to a special healing session. Are you in denial about how much you use your phone? Are you struggling to let go of the past? It's time to explore your chakras! Blending drag and dark comedy, Jasper will leave you with the desire to either bulk buy crystals off Amazon, or at the very least experiment with a bottle of poppers and a cocktail stick... 

Leviticus

Leviticus

It is the mid-90s, the dot-com millionaires are kings... Austin and his wife Jess host a dinner party to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of friends Robert and Stacia. Austin and Robert are estranged childhood friends, until Robert rings Austin out of the blue to be his best man... 

Ganymede

Ganymede

Rosalind's favorite book is As You Like It. From those pages are drawn comfort and parallels with life as an orphan living with the local Reverend's daughter, Celia. When he finds out they are more than just friends, he throws them out of the house... 

The 900 Club

The 900 Club

Four friends reunite after five years to commemorate the death of their friend, which broke them apart. They catch up, reminisce and try to cover their tracks as secrets are dug up from the past... 

Free and Proud

Free and Proud

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 Charles Gershman’s Free & Proud is a stripped down affair... 

Hot Gay Time Machine

Hot Gay Time Machine

After their multi award-winning debut at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, the hot gays are back. Bursting with 'hilarious original musical numbers' (Stage), Hot Gay Time Machine covers all the most important moments in a gay man's life, from coming out to your mum to trying not to look at cocks in the locker room... 

Le Gateau Chocolat: Icons

Le Gateau Chocolat: Icons

Opera and lycra-loving cabaret sensation, Le Gateau Chocolat storms into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the captivating international smash-hit, Icons. Gateau seamlessly weaves through pop, opera and rock from Whitney to Pavarotti, investigating his own objects of worship through the songs and music of his personal icons... 

Hot Mess: Bezzie Mates

Hot Mess: Bezzie Mates

Max and Anna filmed themselves writing silly sketches for a year to make sure they didn't miss a trick. See their funniest ideas from the last 12 months and get a peak behind the curtain of their intense friendship... 

Jake Howie: Read My Lips

Jake Howie: Read My Lips

They say a loose pair of lips could sink a ship, but you've gotta talk truth to give reality a flip. And reality in 2018 needs the hard word, so there's never been a better time to get lippy... 

Jonny Woo's All Star Brexit Cabaret

Jonny Woo's All Star Brexit Cabaret

Drag Superstar, Jonny Woo and Olivier Award winning composer, Richard Thomas (Jerry Springer The Opera) bring you this sequin-spangled musical ripped straight from the headlines. With a star-studded cast of top Fringe talent, including Jayde Adams as Boris Johnson, this glittering musical satire packs big laughs and emotional punch... 

JoJo Bellini: Agents Provocateurs

JoJo Bellini: Agents Provocateurs

A one-woman cabaret about history's greatest female spies. Brassy, bombastic bombshell blasts brilliant ballads about the wicked women of the espionage world. A celebration of history, subterfuge and the women who did it all... 

Sex, Drugs and a Cup of Tea

Sex, Drugs and a Cup of Tea

Sex, drugs, and tea make the world go round for four young flatmates. A Shrek-related drinking game, no clean dishes, and some misplaced bodily fluids result in a fast-paced modern farce with a dark core... 

Pity Laughs: A Tale of Two Gays

Pity Laughs: A Tale of Two Gays

More perverted, more depressed, more jokes... the gays are back! 'The first true gem of the 2017 Fringe' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). Mark's parents are dead. That's not a joke, though it is really funny... 

Andrew Sim: You Gotta Find Joy

Andrew Sim: You Gotta Find Joy

Bringing his first solo show to the Fringe with a combination of storytelling, songs and surreal improvisations, Andrew Sim intends to liberate you from overthinking and explore the elusive subject of joy... 

Fake TV

Fake TV

Uniquely individual impressionist roasts current and past celebrities and politicians using their own words cleverly underscored with music and sound effects. This show is surprising, original and hilarious in equal measure... 

Justin Matson: Fatter Than You Think

Justin Matson: Fatter Than You Think

Adorably awkward with a twist of gay, Los Angeles-based comedian Justin Matson has been kicked off of three rollercoasters for being too fat. Now he’s finally ready to talk about it! 

Hans – Like a German

Hans – Like a German

International superstar Hans, the boy wonder of Berlin, serves up an all-singing, all-tap dancing, accordion-pumping, glittering blitzkrieg of cabaret backed by his three-piece band, The Ungrateful Bastards! With more sparkle than a Studio 54 mirrorball and more feathers than a battery hen farm, hilarious Hans will have you slapping your thighs so hard, you'll think it's Oktoberfest... 

Denim: The Reunion Tour

Denim: The Reunion Tour

After a sell-out global pop tour that came to an earth-shattering finale in Edinburgh last year – Denim broke up. Humanity has been in mourning. But now, through pop, laughter and love, these five queens will reunite for one night only... 

Dragprov Revue

Dragprov Revue

Christian Adore and Eaton Messe are a drag double act who tell the story of their fiery relationship through dazzling songs, sketches and raps based on audience suggestions. RuPaul meets Whose Line Is It Anyway, serving you wit as sharp as their contour, jinks as high as their brows and memories that will stick with you longer than last night’s glitter... 

Neither: Identity Crisis!

Neither: Identity Crisis!

Being – what is it to be a me. For me is a being that be in a place. A confusion. A conundrum. A difficult lost face. What makes us an us. What makes me a me. What makes me exist... 

Paul Patin: Angelo

Paul Patin: Angelo

Paul Patin is a French actor/singer/dancer who has performed around the world with international companies for more than 10 years. Discovered as an insane clown by Lucy Hopkins, he started to create cabaret solo shows... 

Songs of Smut and Sparkle

Songs of Smut and Sparkle

Singing her own parodies of popular songs at her furry pink piano, drag performer Marcia D’Arc brings you crude comedy and witty rhymes enshrined in a shroud of sequins, glitter and rainbows! Come on a journey of light-hearted profanity, plumbing the depths of salacious silliness, with rude versions of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid, Let it Go (re-titled Snort Some Blow) from Frozen, and many more nuggets of naughtiness... 

Ella Jean

Ella Jean

Ella Jean is no stranger to fear. 23 years old and 4200 miles from home, she's using the Fringe to cross off the last few fears on her list. She moved to London at 18 to improvise songs to audiences... 

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho

Following four sell-out Fringe runs and marking 30 years of Section 28, the Iron Lady returns in her original 80s drag cabaret extravaganza! On the eve of a crucial vote, Maggie gets lost in Soho and accidentally becomes a cabaret superstar... 

(even) HOTTER

(even) HOTTER

'People are more fixated on flesh than ever before in history' (Ann, 97). HOTTER return to the Fringe with their crusade against embarrassment. Based on interviews with women and trans people aged 13 to 97, and devised by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, this is a show about blushing, sweating, pinkness and pleasure... 

John Pendal: We Are Family

John Pendal: We Are Family

Storyteller and stand-up comedian John Pendal explores his family tree and discovers mutinies in the 1800s, arson in the 1900s and autism in the 2000s. He uses the results to try and answer life's big questions, such as, is it possible to get along with your Dad after Brexit? This is a show aimed at anyone anxious about the current state of the world... 

Butterfly

Butterfly

Following the success of Even God Knew I was Gay, Jilberto Soto presents Butterfly. Based on the Mariah Carey album, so it’s even gayer. In all honestly, it’s a show that revolves around the butterfly effect, how the smallest change can make the biggest difference... 

How to Be Amazingly Happy!

How to Be Amazingly Happy!

How do you find a new ‘once upon a time’ after the ‘happy ever after’ never turned up? Victoria is on a quest to discover how you make a new life when you can’t have the one you imagined... 

Dean Hendry: Smells Like Dean Spirit

Dean Hendry: Smells Like Dean Spirit

Low self-esteem doesn't grow on trees, but it can grow funny fruit. Let’s explore how, underneath, Dean's spirit smells like a fire in a diarrhoea factory. If that fire contained boxes of explosive shame and overcompensating bravado... 

Courtney Act: The Girl from Oz

Courtney Act: The Girl from Oz

From a shared sovereign and a shaky colonial past, to endless daytime reruns of Neighbours and Home and Away on channel 5, plus cricket, Kylie and Rupert Murdoch; Australian exports have been shaping UK culture for many decades... 

You've Changed

You've Changed

Fitted out in an elegant tuxedo, in an echo of Marlene Dietrich's revolutionary turn in 1930’s Morocco, Kate O’Donnell is every inch the smooth Old Hollywood dame. In You’ve Changed, O’Donnell (writer, performer, and Artistic Director of trans-led theatre company Trans Creative) tells the story of her transition with 30s music-hall flair, using a range of cinematic and theatrical references to convey how ‘transitioning in 2003 felt more like the 1930s’... 

Scorch

Scorch

Welcomed back to Edinburgh after its rave performances last year, Scorch is new writing for one performer. It is a refreshing and important take on the negotiation of gender performance in the 21st century... 

A Different Way Home

A Different Way Home

In A Different Way Home we hear from two estranged members of the same family as they share their sides of a complex family story with us – chiefly how they manage grief after loss of a family member... 

Courtney Act: The Girl from Oz

Courtney Act: The Girl from Oz

Australian drag superstar Courtney Act (RuPaul's Drag Race, Australian Idol) takes you over the rainbow and down under in her new show. Chock full of hits and high notes, you will leave this show realising there's no place like home! 'Coy, funny, sexy, classy, and thoroughly upbeat... 

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Forty something years into a lifetime of looking great but feeling fake, Cally Beaton is ready to come out about her double life in her hilarious brand-new stand-up show, Super Cally Fragile Lipstick... 

Michele Durante

Michele Durante

Michele Durante has been leaving them laughing in the aisles from coast to coast! She's cutting-edge, tackling subjects such as her own sexuality and her time as one of New York's finest. 

Mediocre as F*ck

Mediocre as F*ck

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most mediocre of all? In his 2016 debut show, Gavin shared the story of his struggle to accept the reality of his own mediocrity. Now totally committed, his quest to embrace mediocrity scales new heights... 

Broken

Broken

Can you hear the silent scream in the song of the cabaret? This gripping new drama exposes the twists and turns of a family ripped apart by secrecy and prejudice. A father's love challenged by the ultimate betrayal, as father and son face the truth kept hidden for so long... 

From Today, Everything Changes.

From Today, Everything Changes.

Before Chris’s wife died, after over 30 years of marriage, she made him promise to be himself. But accepting he’s gay is only the start. Online dating is a whole new world; can this younger man really be interested in him? And how does he come out to his daughter? Written by first time Fringe author Ian Tucker-Bell and brought to Edinburgh by the Oast Theatre, this new play takes a refreshingly honest and tender look at a 60-year-old man coming out and finding love. 

Pronoun

Pronoun

The Actor's Centre Theatre Company, Jersey, make their Edinburgh Festival premiere with Evan Placey's critically acclaimed play. A love story about transition, testosterone, and James Dean... 

LGBTQZX

LGBTQZX

Laura Monmoth had a problem. Battling demons, jealousy and breakdowns. This is the story of how a lifelong addiction to retro gaming caused all three, and forced the biggest change in her life... 

Aaron Twitchen: Curtain Twitchen

Aaron Twitchen: Curtain Twitchen

Aaron Twitchen combines aerial circus performance with stand-up comedy. This is an interesting mix and the choppy nature of the entire show keeps the audience on their toes.At first, Twitchen talks about his friends, gossiping in a manner which relies on gay clichés that do not add anything, but reinforce negative stereotypes... 

Andrew Sim

Andrew Sim

For a one-off performance, Andrew Sim brings his first solo stand-up show to the Fringe! Dealing with topics such as prejudice, repressed sexuality and suicide, it’s bound to be a long hour... 

Afternoon T With Georgia Tasda

Afternoon T With Georgia Tasda

Here she comes! London’s breakthrough comedy drag act arrives in Edinburgh with a brand-new show! Join Georgia Tasda for a brew as she spills the T. Expect queer capers, gender-bending, and of course, cocktails! 'Georgia Tasda carries Leigh Bowery’s torch for weird and exceptional drag performance art' (LoverboyMagazine... 

The Naked Dietitian

The Naked Dietitian

Hard-hitting and hope-stirring home truths in a performance tour de force from 'the literary lovechild of Allen Ginsberg and Jeanette Winterson' (BroadwayBaby.com). The Naked Dietitian knows her onions and combines story and science to take you on a tour of your own emotional landscape... 

12

12

Using drag to explore Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 3BUGS and UoB LGBTQ present a night not to forget – get your stockings ready! Ladies, gentlemen and everyone in-between – welcome to 12! A reimagining of a classic ready for the 21st century, 12 is the perfect mixture of drag, dulcet tunes and a lot of daring fun. 

Play Something

Play Something

Two men meet in a club. It’s supposed to just be casual sex. But their paths keep crossing, keeping it casual for years, until feelings deepen. But how does a non-emotional man become emotional? To tell you their story they ask the DJ to play something... 

Gypsy Queen

Gypsy Queen

Despite Hope Theatre Company’s name, this production did not leave me very hopeful about the issue it was raising – that of discrimination against LGBT people in sport. However, in dealing with this potentially delicate issue, Gypsy Queen achieves a good balance between funny and moving in this clever new two-hander... 

Submission

Submission

Liver and Lung Productions have created something extraordinary in Submission, a new play about the conflict between religion and sexuality. A two-hander, this eye-opening story melds physical theatre, spoken word and naturalism in a highly unique and moving way... 

Commons

Commons

In an upmarket hotel room, two men – one a disgraced politician, the other an ex-rent boy – meet to rekindle old loves and re-open old wounds in this darkly comedic character study of love, loss, greed and politics... 

Al Porter in Campus Maximus

Al Porter in Campus Maximus

This outrageously talented 23-year-old Irishman shot to Fringe fame last year with an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination and bookings on McIntyre's Big Show, Live at the Apollo and 8 Out of 10 Cats... 

Wordplay

Wordplay

A dark comedy about a fag and his hag. No words are off limits between friends. Cut between their work environment and their debate, Jess and Nick, using dark humour (and a lot of naughty words) push the boundaries of their friendship as they question appropriate and appropriated word use within the dynamics of society and each other... 

Big Fat Gay

Big Fat Gay

It was an inauspicious beginning for Martin J Dixon’s new stand-up show, with only 11 audience members, some of whom were loud and rowdy throughout the show. However, Dixon managed to power through a reasonably funny stand-up set for the full hour, with some genuinely good laughs... 

Let Me Look at You

Let Me Look at You

Starving Artists are back with a compelling show about homosexuality in which Mark Pinkosh shares how being gay has affected his life.Written by his husband, Godfrey Hamilton, the play is set in present day Soho where Pinkosh can’t take his eyes off a young man leaning against a motorcycle... 

Skin

Skin

Last year, 201 Dance Company shattered the stereotypes associated with hip-hop dance with the critically acclaimed Smother. This year, they bring us Skin, which explores one boy’s struggle through gender transition using urban and contemporary dance and a fantastic original score of hip hop and dubsteb beats... 

How to Be a Sissy with Percy Q Shun

How to Be a Sissy with Percy Q Shun

The Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight prompts an evening of light-hearted, harmless, 80s-inspired fun. Percy Q Shun delivers four exuberant lessons on how to be the best sissy (homosexual) you can be, interspersed with alter-ego (real life) Brian Haimbach who educated the audience on the prejudice he faced growing up in 1980s conservative South Carolina... 

Gayshit

Gayshit

If I were to condense this review into a single word, it would unfortunately have to be the title. Gayshit is a queer cabaret and comedy night, created by Wayne Carter in response to a lack of job opportunities for other like-minded performers... 

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

It’s impossible to miss the irony in the name of the production company behind Priscilla: Queen of the Desert – Car Crash Productions. The show was, in short, poorly-directed, messy and under-rehearsed, and I have rarely spent a musical laughing so hard for all the wrong reasons... 

Michael Griffiths: Sweet Dreams

Michael Griffiths: Sweet Dreams

Helpmann award winner Michael Griffiths is Annie Lennox. From the gender-bending early days as one half of 80s new wave sensation Eurythmics through to her stunning solo career, Annie’s bittersweet lyrics share stories of her triumphs and her heartbreak... 

Hans: Mein Camp

Hans: Mein Camp

Certain thoughts are inevitable when you hear the title Hans: Mein Camp, and the chances are they will probably be accurate. Bursting onto the stage adorned in Lycra and communism, Hans will unashamedly take you through an hour-long banquet of unapologetic cabaret-cum-world-dominance, pausing only for you to praise him and his immense talent... 

5 Guys Chillin'

5 Guys Chillin'

Many an article’s been written on how the gay scene appears dominated by drugs and sex. Once upon a time the dangers were alcoholism and being queer-bashed while cruising, but now some gay men prefer to attend ‘chillin’’ sessions in each others' homes where drugs and sex are always available, even if one often precludes the other... 

Pity Laughs: A Tale of Two Gays

Pity Laughs: A Tale of Two Gays

This show is so much more than a tale of two gays: it is a tale of success. As I came out of the small auditorium at Just the Tonic, it dawned on me that I had just experienced my first true gem of the 2017 Fringe... 

Auntie

Auntie

Nollywood meets Hyacinth Bouquet via the fictional pan-African nation of Kengeria. Auntie vocalises her disdain for tracksuits and chicken shops, which are far from her Ey! Ey! glossy mag dreams of sipping champagne in Buckingham Palace... 

I Am My Own Wife

I Am My Own Wife

One of the good things about the Fringe is that the small scale of most of its venues lead to a sort of intimacy in performance that you get almost nowhere else. This means that small, one person shows can be massively successful... 

Rainbow Soapbox

Rainbow Soapbox

Legendary cabaret artists and arch dissectors of gender norms, Dive Queer Party are celebrating 70 years of the Edinburgh festivals (and 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality) by hopping on their Rainbow Soapbox for a series of live Party Political Broadcasts celebrating queer identity, spaces and history... 

Sarah, Sky and Seven Other Guys

Sarah, Sky and Seven Other Guys

“Ah yes. We loved Streisand.” It’s just one brief line in this new play from Liver and Lung Productions, but it’s fully representative of the script’s nuanced, aching understanding of human relationships of all orientations, in what (initially at least) appears very much to be a light-hearted stagger through the clichéd straight woman and her gay best friend scenario—you know, the one that will only end when one of them gets a boyfriend... 

Sarah Keyworth: Why Not? (WIP)

Sarah Keyworth: Why Not? (WIP)

Rising comedy star Sarah Keyworth, a Funny Women finalist 2015 and tour support for Stewart Francis and Kerry Godliman, examines what it means to be a child raised believing you could be anything you wanted to be and then turning 24 and realising you are just the same as everyone else... 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Super Scott's Totally Scripted Unimprovised Show

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Super Scott's Totally Scripted Unimprovised Show

Super Scott returns to the Fringe with his own unique blend of comedy, juggling, magic and more. Expect the unexpected! (Recommended by his mother). 

Hilda & The Spectrum

Hilda & The Spectrum

Weird comedy soul mates* Elf and Ryan perform their debut show. Part clown show, part autobiography, it's an absurd, camp comedy about ping-pong, the DDR and Angela Lansbury. Expect improvisation, time travel**, niche film references and lemons... 

Rob Cawsey: Just Cruising

Rob Cawsey: Just Cruising

Unhinged physical comedy from Rob Cawsey on dating, sex and trying to find love. Directed and co-written by Gabriel Bisset-Smith. Rob Cawsey’s debut solo show Simon Slack: The Fantasist premiered at edfringe last summer as part of Soho Theatre’s programme to full houses and critical acclaim... 

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Forty something years into a lifetime of looking great but feeling fake, Cally Beaton is ready to come out about her double life in her hilarious brand-new stand-up show, Super Cally Fragile Lipstick... 

Bleach

Bleach

There are downsides to most jobs and many come with dangers, hidden or otherwise, but there are usually compensatory factors as well. Working as a rent boy is no exception. Through the character of Tyler Everett, Bleach lays bare one gay boy’s daily ups and downs on the game and exposes a shattering, dark ‘event’... 

Dirty Little Secret

Dirty Little Secret

Everybody has a dirty little secret. Whether yours is a metaphorical skeleton in the closet or a full-on body in the basement, this is the place for you to spill the tea anonymously in an evening of music, comedy, glitter and unrestrained campery... 

God Hates Me: I'm Trans

God Hates Me: I'm Trans

According to Baptist ministers in America, transpeople are going to Hell – a fact that Nicci is fine with, since apparently the Devil wears Prada. If people are trying to hate you, you have two options: run away or laugh at them... 

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Gav is a bear – not the grizzly type or the type you’d buy in a toyshop, but the overweight, hairy gay type. He’s had it with love, gay men and life in general. Join Gav as he meets others from the homosexual menagerie and goes to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic... 

The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game

Sam is in a coma. Paolo’s doing everything he can. When Geoff reveals a secret, reality and fantasy blur. This UK debut from critically acclaimed Snowy Owl explores relationships in the digital age, asking what it takes for us to heal and move forward. 

Polaris

Polaris

What happens when you’re in London alone at Christmas for years on end? PBH Free Fringe's Polaris explores one woman’s search for community in the face of chaos through spoken word... 

Mae Martin and Nick Coyle: Show Party

Mae Martin and Nick Coyle: Show Party

Mae Martin (BBC Radio 4's Mae Martin's Guide to 21st Century Sexuality, Russell Howard's Good News) and Australian comic Nick Coyle (Guided Meditation) improvise a variety show based on your suggestions... 

Kate Butch in Kate If You Wanna Go Butcher

Kate Butch in Kate If You Wanna Go Butcher

Join the Comic Sans of Drag, Kate Butch, for an hour of comedy, songs and games. Catch 'a great comedian' (WhatsOnStage.com) in her debut solo show, fresh(ish) from appearing in the cult Edinburgh smash, The Room: The Musical, discussing pornography, marriage, and dot-to-dot puzzles... 

Afternoon T With Georgia Tasda

Afternoon T With Georgia Tasda

Here she comes! London’s breakthrough comedy drag act arrives in Edinburgh with a brand-new show! Join Georgia Tasda for a brew as she spills the T. Expect queer capers, gender-bending, and of course, cocktails! 'Georgia Tasda carries Leigh Bowery’s torch for weird and exceptional drag performance art' (LoverboyMagazine... 

Prestonian

Prestonian

Prestonian is a solo stand-up show by Saskia Preston. It’ll last 40 Edinburgh minutes and feature jokes by and at the expense of someone who’s never actually been to Preston but is a Preston... 

The Soft Subject (A Love Story)

The Soft Subject (A Love Story)

Today's class is about love, heartbreak and The Little Mermaid. Not all lessons can be learnt in school. Chris Woodley's autobiographical solo show invites you back into the classroom to learn about loss, survival and Brazil nuts... 

At a Stretch

At a Stretch

In a big, busy city there’s loads of space. You can jump across rooftops and meet new people every day. But it can be lonely in the big city too. When Mel and Emma meet, something is different and they find themselves on a neon adventure they never expected... 

Thief

Thief

Sailor thrives in the bars, dives and flophouses of the most squalid ports. Look, you will see him. Sailor lives for robbery, imprisonment and expulsion. Be his victim. Sailor's virtues are simple: rent, theft, and betrayal... 

Homo Disco

Homo Disco

Homo Disco is a disco dance party for all who want to act a fool to camp classics. Dance into the early hours with drag queens and more. Get your tickets fast. 

Adriano Cappelletta: This Boy's in Love

Adriano Cappelletta: This Boy's in Love

It's time to paint the rainbow and unleash the world's first one-man gay rom-com cabaret! Hilarious and heartfelt songs meet physical comedy and candid storytelling in one man's final shot at finding love... 

Gary Lamont: Dropping the Soap!

Gary Lamont: Dropping the Soap!

After eight years on BBC's River City, Gary's leaving his role as hairdresser Robbie behind. But is he destined to be an international showgirl following in the footsteps of Kylie? Or will he be flogging yoghurt Martine McCutcheon style? Join him for a down and dirty hour of soapy comedy and music... 

Robert White: InstruMENTAL

Robert White: InstruMENTAL

Malcolm Hardee Award-winning, gay, autistic comedian adopts a new stance. For the first time combining his musical composition talents with his well-honed comedy chops, Robert presents a fully orchestrated comedy opera of unbelievable, but true, misadventures and misfortune... 

Joe Sutherland: Model / Actress

Joe Sutherland: Model / Actress

London. Paris. Coventry. Joe Sutherland started from the bottom, now he's... here. This is the tale of a former model turned aspiring model, chasing fame at any cost. From the depths of poverty to the heights of the fashion industry, to the middles of a temp agency... 

My Pet, My Love

My Pet, My Love

A one-man show about fish, forgetting and the fear of dying single. A child discovers death for the first time; an elderly gay couple struggle with the onset of dementia and a man reveals his fears from the trivial to the profound... 

John Pendal: How to Escape from Stuff

John Pendal: How to Escape from Stuff

John’s beautifully candid 2016 show, International Man of Leather, won the hearts of audiences and critics alike and went on to tour the world. This year he looks back on the decade he spent as an amateur escape artist... 

F*cking Men

F*cking Men

Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro's play reimagines La Ronde in today's gay scene. A slick dramatic comedy of sexual manners, in which 10 characters circle through a series of erotic encounters... 

Mindy Raf: Keeping My Kidneys

Mindy Raf: Keeping My Kidneys

Weed lube, throuple therapy and one life-altering text message. With an open mind, heart and vagina, Raf demolishes the romantic comedy and the roles we play in it. As she demystifies love, loss and sexuality, Raf engages her vulnerable, razor-sharp storytelling style to face the complexities of modern love and leave us asking 'could I ever do that?'... 

Smut Slam Cabaret: where sex and storytelling collide

Smut Slam Cabaret: where sex and storytelling collide

Smut Slam is a raucous celebration of sex in all it's glorious, awkward and heart-warming forms. Beginning in 2011, a normal Smut Slam is an open mic night with a deliciously dirty twist: those feeling brave enough in the audience are invited to divulge in the telling of a personal sex story... 

The Girl From Mars

The Girl From Mars

Due to popular demand, the ‘Britpop Rocky Horror’ returns for a second year! Following an epic premiere at Brighton Fringe 2016, and a nationwide tour including a full show at Shiiine On Weekender, ‘The Girl From Mars’ brings you the biggest Britpop anthems in a cosmic love story... 

The Girl From Oz

The Girl From Oz

Courtney Act, takes you over the rainbow and down under in her new show: The Girl from OZ! Chock full of hits and high notes, you will leave this show realizing there's no place like her home! "Coy, funny, sexy, classy, and thoroughly up-beat... 

Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt.

Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt.

'Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt' is a darkly funny, pathos-fuelled show inspired by the TV show of similar name by writer and performance artist Karen McLeod. Shrouded in iconic anorak, knees bulging from pop socks, Barbara Brownskirt is the unsuccessful lesbian Poet-in-Residence at the 197 bus stop, Penge... 

Macho Macho

Macho Macho

Bosnian-Dutch artist Igor Vrebac draws inspiration from Instagram after-workout selfies, Turkish wrestling and the idea of bromance in his new physical performance 'Macho Macho' to question the objectified "men’s world" we are living in today... 

Sex Education

Sex Education

One parent refuses to talk about sex. The other parent buys their child gay porn DVDs. Revisiting the explicit films his dad bought him at fourteen, Harry Clayton-Wright explores the ways in which we learn about sex and how that shapes us later in life... 

The Curious Incidents of the Gay at Night

The Curious Incidents of the Gay at Night

Stand-up comedy from Manchester-born comedian, Russell Arathoon. Russell gives his take on modern life, his move from Manchester to the Royal Borough of Chelsea, his best mate, 'big fat Sarah' and no subject is safe... 

Sexual Fears of a Modern Day Virgin

Sexual Fears of a Modern Day Virgin

Kids these days! No one knows what they’re up to. Well, we do and we’re willing to let you in on the secret. What if I told you that you know nothing about sex? You don’t even know what a virgin is... 

Gender Spanner

Gender Spanner

A joyous and empowering hour of cabaret, burlesque, and labels that just don’t stick. Armed with a ukulele, spinning plates, and more costumes than you can fit in your closet, Jessica McKerlie presents a smorgasbord of original music and poetry with a common thread: Are you a man? Are you a woman? Are you sure? Inspired by Jessica’s own explorations and understanding of gender fluidity, 'Gender Spanner' is a cabaret that goes to the very core of what it is to be human. 

Mark Lester Steps In

Mark Lester Steps In

The world's going to hell in a handcart, with climate change, extremism and cliches like 'going to hell in a handcart'. Enter South West London's favourite songwriter (possibly), to sort things out (possibly) with catchy tunes and tortuous rhymes... 

Joe Black: Meet Me At The Eldorado

Joe Black: Meet Me At The Eldorado

In this lushly hilarious show, noir superstar Joe Black conjures up the atmosphere of the Eldorado; the Berlin nightclub that served as a regular haunt for gay men and women before it was closed by the Nazis in 1932... 

Tricyclic Transform

Tricyclic Transform

Solo musical cabaret exploring genderqueer identity with songs and drag. Miss Liliane, "biologically-challenged drag-queen", has penis envy and that makes her slightly unhinged! Join them round the gender wheel as they try on alternate personas by performing iconic torch songs... 

King of the Fringe: Best Of

King of the Fringe: Best Of

Join us for some drag king cabaret by the seaside as we celebrate the bois from previous King of the Fringe competitions. Past winners Sammy Silver, Benjamin Butch and George Faithless will be lip-syncing, hip-thrusting and lyric-twisting for your pleasure alongside some other crowd favourites and special guests... 

The Elephant Girls

The Elephant Girls

Forget lovable rogues and artful dodgers, this uncomfortable monologue tells the true story of a London awash with criminal gangs in the interwar years. The Bermondsey boys, Battersea boys, City Road boys, Goose Green boys; the list goes on, but with only one girl gang- The Elephant Girls... 

Fran & Leni

Fran & Leni

1976. Fran and Leni meet in a North London comp. Three years later they are The Rips, girls with guitars, bored of playing nice. “I was the punk. I was born punk. But she was my rock... 

Mediocre as F**k

Mediocre as F**k

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most mediocre of them all? In his 2016 debut show, Gavin shared the story of his struggle to accept the reality of his own mediocrity. Now that he is committed, his quest to embrace mediocrity scales new heights... 

Wood

Wood

I guess you planned to have fun on your spring break. Come back to uni relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on the rest of the semester. Only this morning, you woke up to find your friend lying dead in the middle of your campsite... 

Five Card Stud

Five Card Stud

If the clients play nice, male escorting can be a pretty sweet gig. Problem is, Elliot doesn't always play nice... What service will Ace, our 'Five Card Stud', be expected to perform when confronted by his past? Following its Old Red Lion directed reading and workshop with the Old Vic Workrooms, join Ace and Elliot’s evening as it unfolds in two different ways: one where the client is an older man, one as a woman... 

Kuan-Wen and The Closet of Curiosities

Kuan-Wen and The Closet of Curiosities

A Taiwanese gay boy who fled from his tiger mum, trained as an accountant in London, but escaped to "find himself" in Berlin, ended up performing stand-up comedy in English, in Germany... 

OUT

OUT

We are presented with two bodies: a loud Jamaican dance hall music and disco lights. As we enter The Marlborough we are not seated in the usual position. Instead we are on the stage and the performers are on the floor... 

Trouble with Men

Trouble with Men

Three remarkable short plays about modern male homosexuality: a farce about stereotypes and unrequited love; a drama about a date going very wrong; a transcontinental love story about a naive Brit and a closeted Syrian... 

Nicole Henriksen: Techno Glitter Penguins

Nicole Henriksen: Techno Glitter Penguins

My first venture to the Marlborough could not have been more welcoming. As I walked into the theatre space I was instantly greeted by the night’s performer, Nicole, offering me a handful of popcorn, which I gratefully took and stuffed my face... 

Mark Cram: Pipe-Bomb

Mark Cram: Pipe-Bomb

Mark Cram has had enough. He’s had enough of explaining his sexuality, justifying his choices, competing with his brother and being just another spoke on the wheel. Who cares that other comedians are more famous? Who cares that all his friends are getting married... 

Sweetmeat

Sweetmeat

Sigmund and Christian meet, and slot together like puzzle pieces. Their friends don’t understand, but that’s fine. They only need each other. Aching for an impossible closeness, and in thrall to morbid passions, they decide to push their relationship past a final, irreversible boundary. 

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

If you thought a night with the Rainbow Chorus couldn't get any better, then get ready for a departure from our usual concerts as we roll out an evening of songs from the familiar, the not so familiar to the downright quirky as the marvellous beautiful-sounding and often hilarious Yorkshire-based, lesbian a capella singing group, the Deep C Divas join the fun for one night only! BSL (British Sign Language) Interpreted. 

Perfection In Progress

Perfection In Progress

You don't have to be perfect... but you are! Organic juice drunk, clever books read, cool documentaries seen, supplements sipped, South American medicine adventure done, Yoga in India, burnt a man in the desert, coconut oil expert, tie-died hair, eye-gazed, meditated, happy thoughts, tantric raisin sharing, pages written, ecstatically danced... 

Darkroom Diaries

Darkroom Diaries

Dutch comedian Johan Goossens is looking for love in all the wrong places. Dive with him into the darkrooms of Amsterdam. “Are you safe?” “Yes I am safe.” “Ok great... 

Massaoke

Massaoke

Massaoke is the club night sensation where the crowd is the star of the show. A brilliant live band plays the greatest Rock, Pop and Indie anthems with giant video lyrics, and the whole audience sings as one... 

Sex Addiction: The Lecture

Sex Addiction: The Lecture

For the last five years, Tommy has been trying to recover from an addiction that people struggle to class as an addiction. Join Tommy as he questions his own struggles and why society thinks they know what an addict is... 

JoJo Bellini: Crash-Bang Cabaret!

JoJo Bellini: Crash-Bang Cabaret!

After the roaring success of JoJo Bellini’s ‘Kitchen Cabaret’ at Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe in 2016, the salacious songstress brings to Brighton a brand-new, and much naughtier, cabaret performance... 

Epicene

Epicene

Award-winning musician Paul Diello invites you to his gender-blending celebration of iconic women in music. Join the Brighton-based avant-garde performer and his band on a colourful camp cabaret extravaganza as they reimagine classic female songs originally performed by legendary singers such as Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and PJ Harvey to name but a few... 

John Pendal: How To Escape From Stuff

John Pendal: How To Escape From Stuff

Before John became a comedian he spent ten years as an amateur escape artist. Not the magic trick kind, where you know how you're going to get out, but the "get tied up by anyone and give it a go" kind... 

Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous

Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous

It shouldn’t take long for you to notice that despite his name, Alfie Ordinary is as far from the boy next door as you’re likely to get. There he stands at the beginning of this one-man show: dazzlingly sequined from head (platinum bowl-cut) to toe (sparkling shoes)... 

Correct Me if I'm Wrong

Correct Me if I'm Wrong

Claire does not contain the following ingredients: slugs, snails, puppy dog tails, sugar, spice or things (nice). Why not join her on a spiffing adventure into gender and impress all your chums with your newfound knowledge and vocabulary... 

Rubber Ring

Rubber Ring

“I’m sixteen. I don’t know whether I like boys or girls. I live in Sheringham. I’m fucked. Well I’m not actually, that is the problem." Jimmy is sixteen, sexually confused and stuck in Sheringham, the seaside town they forgot to bomb... 

Fall of Duty

Fall of Duty

1916. An actor falls from the sky in Northern France. A hundred years on, can Sue and her son Jack, 20, escape political turmoil and an addiction to infinite warfare? Four people thrust together by war, song, reality, and escapism, but pulled apart by a century... 

Ladies Marmalade

Ladies Marmalade

Ladies Marmalade is a show with 3 unusual and hilarious women who will make you taste different flavours of comedy . So outrageous and powerful; Arielle Souma, Victoria Howden and special guest; break down walls for your delight... 

Heidi Regan and Will Rowland Present: Some Comedy in a Venue

Heidi Regan and Will Rowland Present: Some Comedy in a Venue

Will and Heidi are two thoughtful, principled stand-ups who will do anything to get a laugh, including dropping all principles. Cerebral, silly, surreal and sibilant stand-up from two rising stars, one the winner of 'So You Think You’re Funny' 2016, and the other who should be commended for his persistence... 

Deep in The Heart of Me

Deep in The Heart of Me

A 'Shirley Valentine' tale for the 21st century with songs from the Rat Pack repertoire, ‘Sway’, ‘Let’s Fall in Love’ and ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’. “Incredibly enjoyable, endearing, utterly believable... 

Transgender Shakespeare

Transgender Shakespeare

Introduced in last year’s Brighton Fringe, Rory and Simon are back, still struggling with the age-old problem of family communications. Communication? Between a father and a child? How difficult can that be? Communication? Between a father and a transgender child? How much of a nightmare can that be? Can the wordsmith Shakespeare help? After a start in last year's Brighton Fringe, Rory, Simon and the father, are back again continuing to explore each other’s worlds with the help, and hindrance, of the Bard... 

Disco Lovers

Disco Lovers

After 3 sold-out seasons, the Disco Lovers return to their now-legendary late night slots at the awesome Spiegeltent. With their irrepressible mix of joy and humour, they promote inclusivity, raise money for good causes, and of course play epic Disco and Classic House music all night long!   

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Super Cally Fragile Lipstick

Forty something years into a lifetime of looking great but feeling fake, Cally Beaton is ready to come out about her double life in her hilarious brand new show, Super Cally Fragile Lipstick... 

Piers & Queers

Piers & Queers

Over 200 years of history from a lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer perspective including Regency Dandies, 1950s lesbian and gay life and political activism. We encounter prominent historical figures as well as some extraordinary unsung heroes: a pioneering doctor who passed as man decades before women were allowed to practice medicine, a 19th century lesbian diarist, an Edwardian 'drag king' and an early 'same-sex' marriage... 

The Hot Mess Method

The Hot Mess Method

'Hot Mess' is a very serious sketch comedy duo consisting of Anna Piper (Funny Women's One to Watch 2016) and Max Levine (Radio 4 Newsjack, Cambridge Footlights). Following their process you'll learn the renowned 'Hot Mess Method' allowing you to examine the big issues... 

The Poetry we Make

The Poetry we Make

“The man I love... is dead.” Two lovers: a girl called Elliot and a boy called Robin. He is everything she ever dreamed of... but Robin wants to be someone else. When Robin decides to transition to become a woman, all that Elliot assumed to be true is turned upside down... 

The Holey Truth

The Holey Truth

From being raised as a Scientologist in the ‘burbs of New Zealand, to the peculiar and pensive realities of sexuality, Reading Comedy Festival New Act of the Year 2015 winner, Jake Howie, is looking for his own version of the holy truth... 

Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel

Inspired by the age-old legend 'The Faerie Boy of Leith', 'Fallen Angel' is a disturbing new supernatural thriller... Beat. Beat. Beat. Do you believe in faeries? Beat. Beat... 

Even God Knew I Was GAY

Even God Knew I Was GAY

In case you were wondering... Jilberto is a Seattle-based comic who has brought his talents to London. He is a corporate professional snob during the day and just a snob at night... 

FEM.ALE Brewster Beer Festival

FEM.ALE Brewster Beer Festival

FEM.ALE Brewster Beer Festival is returning to the Marlborough pub and theatre for our second year, celebrating women in the brewing industry, bringing musical talent from our home town of Norwich to join the best riot grrrls Brighton has to offer and inviting local women beer experts to share their brewing knowledge! Join us on Friday evening for local DJs to kick off the weekend... 

Eglantyne

Eglantyne

Inspiring solo play about Eglantyne Jebb, a courageous, passionate, Edwardian human rights activist. From her idyllic Shropshire childhood, Eglantyne went on to Oxford University, heartbreaks, suffrage rallies, the Balkans, arrest in Trafalgar Square, spiritualism, co-founding Save the Children, and pioneering children's rights... 

2 Grumpy Gay Men: Loitering With Intention

2 Grumpy Gay Men: Loitering With Intention

Benjamin and William are waiting, but as time progresses, so do their differences of opinion, from 'Doctor Who' to Brighton seagulls. But who are they waiting for, and why are they there? 

The Ruffian on the Stair

The Ruffian on the Stair

A young man says he’s just looking for a place to stay, but he’s got sex, violence and revenge on his mind. When Mike and Joyce open their door to Wilson, they’re letting in so much more than a handsome stranger... 

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus: The Superhero Show

Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus: The Superhero Show

They move among you unseen. To the untrained eye they appear just like you and me, but that's just a smokescreen. Then, Bam! Pow! Suddenly, there they are: righting wrongs; saving the day; helping you choose your wallpaper... 

Wank Bank Masterclass

Wank Bank Masterclass

Rural Ranga, the Australian artist who created an art book from his happy ending massages in New York City, brings you an informative, interactive and playful masterclass of original techniques to perfect the art of handling your partner’s member (or even your own)... 

Taiwan Season: Solo Date

Taiwan Season: Solo Date

Looking like a cyberpunk priest, Tsai Pao-Chang’s hero is swamped in technology — AI, encrypted files and dating sites. We see a bereaved protagonist, Ho-Hien. His lover has just died in a plane crash and he cannot find peace, especially so when a file belonging to his deceased shows a torrid history... 

John Pendal: International Man of Leather

John Pendal: International Man of Leather

If you think you have seen and done it all, try John Pendal on for size. The former champion of Chicago’s International Man of Leather, the equivalent of the fetish Olympics, regales you of his life and what led him into the world of kink through a well-seasoned blend of comedy and narrative... 

We're All Mad in Here

We're All Mad in Here

We’re All Mad in Here follows the story of Alasdair Carroll, a young gay man living in Edinburgh who comes across an elusive drag club called Curious Appetites. One night, Alasdair follows one of the performers who is running late for work and finds himself amongst a host of familiar characters like you’ve never seen them before... 

Canon Warriors

Canon Warriors

Punch, Fleur, Dog and Sid. ‘Punch’ is a lesbian show-woman. ‘Fleur’ is a (previously high-flying) university dropout, working part-time as a teaching assistant. ‘Dog’ is a dog puppet... 

Smother

Smother

Hip Hop is a strange medium with which to tackle the homosexual experience. It’s a genre that’s steeped in anti-gay rhetoric and misogyny with ‘gayness’ being viewed as something to be disrespected and even destroyed... 

Dive and Summerhall Present... C U Next Tuesday Cabaret

Dive and Summerhall Present... C U Next Tuesday Cabaret

Sometime in between Jak Soroka cracking eggs on her naked body and Sam Reynolds dry humping someone in the audience, you realise nights at Dive’s C U Next Tuesday cabaret can get pretty wild... 

Deal with the Dragon

Deal with the Dragon

It’s a familiar scene to many a Fringe-goer: a black-box stage, a chair and an actor with his story. But what an electric, even dizzying story Deal With the Dragon turns out to be... 

Scorch

Scorch

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. Stacey Gregg’s story of a gender-curious teen’s first love is both intimate and politically charged, bringing to the stage controversial cases of ‘gender fraud’ in all their complexity... 

Panti: High Heels in Low Places

Panti: High Heels in Low Places

Panti Bliss has had a whirlwind of a few years and, naturally, she has more than a few fabulous stories to share. After calling out homophobes on national television, becoming embroiled in multiple lawsuits and appearing on more talk shows and interviews than you can shake a stick at, she’s here in Edinburgh to expose the latent homophobia that’s still found in the UK and Ireland... 

Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth!

Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth!

Louis CK is undoubtedly backstage in the Edinburgh Playhouse, prepping for his show while his audience stretches around the block. They’re not keen to move in fear of losing their place, so I have to fight my way through to the iconic gay bar, CC Bloom’s, which nestles under the historic theatre... 

Saturday Night Forever

Saturday Night Forever

I’ve left theatres in all sorts of states from elation to depression, anger to jubilation, in tears and totally numb. I left Saturday Night Forever marginally moved and totally frustrated... 

Wayne Carter Teaches You to Be Fabulous

Wayne Carter Teaches You to Be Fabulous

The word “fabulous” is defined as being extraordinary and wonderful, and having no basis in reality. However, it’s a genuine stretch to describe Australian Wayne Carter as mythical – even if he’s a burly guy in a dress, ready to lip-sync and do some burlesque – given he’s performing in the basement of one of Edinburgh’s less notable bars... 

The LipSinkers: Set On Mahogany Bluff

The LipSinkers: Set On Mahogany Bluff

'The LipSinkers are a drag troupe who mime to pop songs. But their show isn't a Night Out with Danny La Rue. It's not RuPauls Drag Race. And it's not for the mild at heart or the mess-averse... 

The Gayest Thing You've Ever Seen

The Gayest Thing You've Ever Seen

Claiming to be the gayest thing in a room full of LGBT people in a gay bar (although straights are welcome too) is quite the boast. In the case of Martin J Dixon it is also entirely untrue... 

Sexual Fears of a Modern Day Virgin

Sexual Fears of a Modern Day Virgin

Sexual Fears of A Modern Day Virgin. Not the snappiest of titles, but they say sex sells. The place is packed with slightly bashful people, all acting casual, but all intrigued by a show billed as an exploration of virginity... 

Pussyfooting

Pussyfooting

Pussyfooting is a project that has been evolving over the course of a year, and, presumably, could continue to go on evolving with its bright new company from Oxford University: Knotworks... 

Company

Company

Company is a musical so of its time that a string of directors over the past decade have struggled with the problem of whether to present it as an unchanged period piece or contemporise it in some fashion... 

Gary Lamont – What a Riddy!

Gary Lamont – What a Riddy!

The scissor-wielding star of BBC's River City and Scotland's favourite sassy strawberry blonde hairdresser was once a wee boy from Castlemilk struggling with ginger-vitis. Now you're invited to Gary's salon as he dons his fanta pants to sing the songs of his fellow redheads, from Cilla to Sonia and Lulu to Bette... 

Irons

Irons

Irons the new play from writer Colin Chaston certainly pushes the envelope of believability. We are meant to believe that West Ham United can score 5 minutes from a match starting. What next, Hibs winning the Scottish Cup? At the very least it’s nice to see a play about football that doesn’t revolve around hooliganism... 

Callisto: A Queer Epic

Callisto: A Queer Epic

Callisto: A Queer Epic is a thoughtful piece of theatre which explores social conflicts that coincide with the queer lifestyle. Brought to life by a talented ensemble cast, this play by Howard Coase weaves together stories from the 17th, 20th and 23rd centuries to form a rich tapestry of queer narrative... 

The Elephant Girls

The Elephant Girls

This is the forgotten story of a controversial gang that robbed the streets of London for over a hundred years. The Elephant Girls were a gang made up entirely of women. Through the perspective of an ex-gang member, we listen to the story of the climatic era of the gang’s reign... 

A Boy Named Sue

A Boy Named Sue

A Boy Named Sue written by Bertie Darrell provides an interesting insight into the experiences of members of the LGBT+ community, played with great energy by the cast of three. Standing on a bare stage, director Claudia Lee is clearly smart and confident enough to let the script and actors shine without any gimmickry... 

5 Guys Chillin'

5 Guys Chillin'

If your idea of chillin’ is sitting in the armchair with a cup of cocoa and a novel, you probably won’t feel at ease with this play. Indeed, if that is your source of relaxation, you probably don’t use the word “chillin’” anyway and perhaps shouldn’t read the rest of this review... 

Looking 4 Dick

Looking 4 Dick

BenT is a small and phallically-challenged man.  He has however, enjoyed considerable success in his search for dick in bars, backrooms, saunas, and supermarkets.  Good times come in all shapes and sizes and falling flat on your face leaves you ready for action... 

Playing Mortal Kombat Guarantees You Inner Calm

Playing Mortal Kombat Guarantees You Inner Calm

Multi award-winning poet Dominic Berry (seen poeting on BBC and Channel 4) returns after touring Canada and USA with his unforgettable new show about love, loss, and his quest for a cheat to quick-start tranquillity... 

Touch Therapy

Touch Therapy

Lotta and Erik should be happily married but there's one problem – the sex. Based on the true story of a lesbian's experiences, Touch Therapy asks what goes wrong when you try to make everything just right. 

Gender Spanner

Gender Spanner

Gender Spanner is a joyous and empowering hour of cabaret, burlesque and labels that just don’t stick. Armed with a ukulele, spinning plates and more costumes than you can fit in your closet, Jessica McKerlie presents a smorgasbord of original music and poetry with a common thread: Are you a man? Are you a woman? Are you sure? Inspired by Jessica’s own explorations and understanding of gender fluidity, Gender Spanner is a cabaret that goes to the very core of what it is to be human. 

Mae Martin: Work in Progress

Mae Martin: Work in Progress

Mae Martin (BBC Radio 4, Live from the BBC, Russell Howard's Good News) improvises a brand new hour every night as she develops her new show. Come and witness the chaos. 'She has mass appeal, is interesting, hugely likeable, and is above all else is very funny' ***** (Chortle... 

ThreeWay

ThreeWay

A new, innovative piece of theatre that offers a new perspective into the world of dating and relationships. It explores these topics through comedy and reveals a polyamorous relationship that unfolds between three people, none of whom identify as this... 

Homophobe

Homophobe

It’s very difficult to dislike Tommy, the narrator of this one man show. He’s open, warm, and willing to display a level of vulnerability that many performers would balk at. However, it’s equally difficult to credit his moniker, The Queer Historian, as this show has been put together without any of the precision, methodology or scope that that name would suggest... 

Queer Side Story

Queer Side Story

As he shimmied onto stage, Gregoire Aubert’s performance of Queer Side Story could be nothing other than entertaining. Based on the well-known musical West Side Story, Aubert’s combination of exuberance and charm valiantly queered up the characters within it... 

Bent Double

Bent Double

A gay-friendly, irreverent night of fun and frolics hosted by Zoe Lyons ('Mock The Week' and 'Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow'). Featuring Laura Lexx, David Mills and Aisling Bea... 

High as Sugar

High as Sugar

Inspired by the true life of Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn, ‘High As Sugar’ is a one-person musical about a trans woman living in 1970 New York City. Sugar’s life is unapologetic, raw and full of underground parties, unlawful indulgence, Vaseline and glitter. 

The Girl From Mars

The Girl From Mars

The Brit-popera for Common People Like You. A Martian dominatrix’s mission to kidnap humans to save her species is thwarted by a barmaid and a wannabe rockstar. With a stellar 90s Britpop soundtrack, and its tongue firmly in its cheek, the show is inspired by 1954 B-Movie ‘The Devil Girl From Mars’... 

Hannah Brackenbury: Jumbled

Hannah Brackenbury: Jumbled

Brighton-based musical comedian Hannah Brackenbury performs silly songs on the themes of pound shops, vodka, selfies, tiny horses, cake, country music, cats and more! 

I do it to Break

I do it to Break

A piece of new writing by Royal Court Writers Programmes' Isabel Sensier. Incorporating themes of isolation, self-harm and pizza. Four strangers try to connect, despite the pressures of modern life... 

4D Cinema

4D Cinema

Mamoru Iriguchi performs live, rigged up with a screen around his face and a projector above his head. Iriguchi explores the relationship between recorded material and live performance, while calling on Hollywood stars of the past... 

Mawaan Rizwan: Gender Neutral Concubine Pirate

Mawaan Rizwan: Gender Neutral Concubine Pirate

Quite why Mawaan Rizwan describes himself as a Gender Neutral Concubine Pirate remains a bit of a mystery throughout the show. He prances about the stage and over the audience in a brocade frock coat and skinny jeans with a distinctly piratical air, but there is no actual piracy to see... 

How I Almost Became the First Lady of the USA

How I Almost Became the First Lady of the USA

This is a true story. In the early '90s in Chicago, I fell in love with a man who was running for president - in a dress. This man was Joan Jett Blakk, and he promised to "Lick Bush in ’92". 

CarMen

CarMen

Set in the gay community of liberal 1920s Spain. José, the central character in this all-male reworking of Bizet’s tragic opera, is sexually confused and dominated by a strictly religious upbringing. 

Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly

This traditional production champions the anti-stereotype stance of the LGBT community, by casting the superb soprano Paul Bork in the title rôle of the tragic geisha. Sung in Italian with surtitles. 

5 Guys Chillin'

5 Guys Chillin'

The highly acclaimed graphic, gripping, funny and frank verbatim drama exposing the chill-out chem-sex scene. “Beautifully done” **** (Gay Times), “As confronting as theatre gets” **** (British Theatre) 

Torn Apart (Dissolution)

Torn Apart (Dissolution)

'Torn Apart (Dissolution)' is about talking to your lover, drinking beer, ultimate rejection, the white picket fence fantasy, sexuality, the rules of being on a visa, The Berlin Wall, but mostly it's about love... 

The LipSinkers plus Afterparty!

The LipSinkers plus Afterparty!

"Camp, cult and glorious" ***** (The Times). [newline] At the heart of London's alternative cabaret scene since 2006. Includes an after-party with The LipSinkers 'til 3am. DJs, Go-Gos, sideshows, floorshows... 

About a Goth

About a Goth

When little in your life seems to be easy then perhaps, for some, the only way to take control is to adopt a persona. A death-embracing, black-clad Goth is an easy go-to for a young homosexual man struggling with his sexuality and a myriad of other personal relationships... 

Piers & Queers

Piers & Queers

Why is Brighton the LGBTQ capital of the United Kingdom? That’s the question tour guide Ric Morris poses at the start of Piers & Queers, a queer-historical walking tour that spans the seafront between the West Pier and the Palace Pier... 

Rainbow Chorus Sings Out!

Rainbow Chorus Sings Out!

Brighton and Hove’s very own LGBT choir swing open the doors of St George’s Church, Kemptown for a medley of songs. We will also add fun to the evening with some audience participation... 

Erect But Unstable

Erect But Unstable

Canadian monologist John Arthur Sweet undertakes a comedic odyssey to medicine, psychotherapy and religion in search of answers about queer love, sexual awakening, and obsession. Nominated as best new work at Prague Fringe 2014 - and it’s even better now! “Definitely worth a ticket” (Prague Post) 

Going Down

Going Down

The Sex Shells present 'Going Down': a glittering, twisted, all-singing, all-prancing look at gay existence in the twenty-first century. Be transported to Gaydes and meet a host of mythological mates burning in a blackly sparkling hell of their own devising in this hilarious tale of redemption. 

Charity Gala Night

Charity Gala Night

Welcome to an evening of fun and entertainment featuring the fantastic poet Alice Denny, cocktails, raffle prizes and more. All proceeds go to Trans* Pride Brighton: Putting the T first. 

Larry Dean: Work In Progress

Larry Dean: Work In Progress

Fosters Comedy Awards 2015, Best Newcomer: Nominee, and Scottish Comedian Of The Year award-winner brings his new show to Brighton Fringe. "Dean is unmissable" ***** (Edinburgh Festivals Magazine), "The audience lap up his cheeky-chappie shtick" (The Guardian) 

Joan

Joan

Thoroughly entertaining, cleverly written and immaculately performed. These are the words that spring to mind when describing this production. The stage was sparse but the drama was presented with full force... 

Daggers MacKenzie

Daggers MacKenzie

Step right up and behold the one and only Daggers MacKenzie, the gal who defies death with every toss of the blade. Straight from Edinburgh Fringe and featuring 10 original, genre-defying songs, heart-stopping knife juggling, and a tantalising tale that will capture your imagination. 

Sellotape Sisters by Lee Mattinson

Sellotape Sisters by Lee Mattinson

1966. Legendary soap opera 'Sellotape Sisters' is being cancelled. With no ideas left for the final episode, the writers' raid the actors' private lives for storylines. In shock, and with the live broadcast looming, will the cast stick to the script? Find out in this outrageous, farcical new play. 

The Half Life of Love

The Half Life of Love

The half life of love is forever - it remains toxic, poisoning life long after love is over. How does love and nurture turn to rejection and hatred? This latest play from Gail Louw is a thrilling examination of the complex relationships of adopted parents, their children and gay partners. 

M Lamar: Funeral Doom Spiritual For Male Soprano Piano and Electronics

M Lamar: Funeral Doom Spiritual For Male Soprano Piano and Electronics

From the ashes and ruins of long dead earth and the infinite blacknesses of what will be the year 2116, emerges the Funeral Doom Spiritual. Funeral Doom Spiritual is a song of mourning for what Antony Paul Farley calls “The motionless movement of death through slavery, segregation and neo-segregation... 

Help! I think I Might Be Fabulous

Help! I think I Might Be Fabulous

With his unique take on drag, Alfie has become a stand-out act in the UK cabaret scene. Now, with a piano and some cheap backing tracks, Alfie, the son of a drag queen, tells his story from first discovering that he is fabulous to coming out to his mother in his debut solo show! 

Transgendered Shakespeare

Transgendered Shakespeare

Communication? Between a father and a child? How difficult can that be? Communication? Between a father and a transgender child? How much of a nightmare can that be? After 400 years, can Shakespeare help? A father and child explore each other’s worlds with the help, and hindrance, of the Bard. 

Traumfrau presents Disco Outrage - Spiegeltent: The Queer Takeover (A Night of infamous disco and disgraceful performers)

Traumfrau presents Disco Outrage - Spiegeltent: The Queer Takeover (A Night of infamous disco and disgraceful performers)

Dance until the late hours. Watch disgraceful drag acts and incredible performers. Meet gender benders, weirdos and the hottest queers in town. It's more than a dance floor... Sounds like a dream!? 

Dusty Limits: Grin

Dusty Limits: Grin

For one sensational night only, cabaret legend Dusty Limits graced the stage of a very chilly Republic venue on Brighton’s seafront. With an opening number that cried for him to be aborted before he was born, it became immediately apparent that this was no ordinary show... 

Boy Stroke Girl

Boy Stroke Girl

Is it possible to fall in love with someone if you don't know their gender? An unconventional love story in which Peter, a previously heterosexual young man, faces a challenge to his identity when he develops a passion for the sexually ambiguous 'Blue'. 

It's Bound to be Right on the Night

It's Bound to be Right on the Night

“Actually” Gay Men’s Chorus are celebrating their 10th anniversary with performances dating back to the very beginning. After their phenomenal concert with the London Gay Symphony Orchestra at the Brighton Dome in January, come and join them as guests from the past appear through the magic of Dr Who! 

John Pendal: International Man of Leather

John Pendal: International Man of Leather

This solo stand-up comedy show is the true story of how a shy Baptist boy from Watford became an unlikely international sex ambassador when he won the 25th annual ‘International Mr Leather’ contest in Chicago in 2003. 

G

G

Like 'Waiting for Godot' on speed, this hilarious and moving new show revealing the dramas that transpire when an old TV actress from Hi-De-Hi and a young classical actor get together and stage their own play... 

The Daily Grind

The Daily Grind

Hi. How are you? Looking for? A darkly comic solo show aiming to cruise, confide and query the complexities of love, sex and the internet age. 'The Daily Grind' explores the consequences that dating apps, image sharing and instant communication have on our everyday lives. 

Break Yourself

Break Yourself

A show about the relationship between power and sexual desire, what it means to want to be someone else, and Bruce Springsteen. Performed in male drag, Break Yourself is a risky, dishonest, headfirst and wholehearted attempt to try and be something we have never been before. 

King of the Fringe

King of the Fringe

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 packages and fierce facial hair as we try to find the next King of the Fringe! 

Rosie Wilby: The Conscious Uncoupling

Rosie Wilby: The Conscious Uncoupling

We’ve all been dumped. Rosie Wilby establishes this from the get-go and those afraid to admit it have come to the wrong show. Mixing theatre, storytelling, spoken word and gentle comedy, the show takes a retrospective look at Rosie’s real life relationship and why she has chosen to exhume it for in-depth analysis... 

DOUZE

DOUZE

In 2015 Pop Star XNTHONY and The Penny Slots were heading to Eurovision. Except they weren’t. Unphased, XNTHONY’s making (another) comeback. Equipped with glitter and host of potential bangers, they’re convinced they’ll make it to Eurovision... 

JoJo Bellini's Kitchen Cabaret

JoJo Bellini's Kitchen Cabaret

May 6 marked the official opening of Brighton’s famous Fringe Festival, with glorious sunshine all day and a wonderfully warm evening, the British weather played its part in giving the whole experience a proper festival feel as we waited to go into Studio 3 to see the show... 

All The Nice Girls

All The Nice Girls

Fascinating, touching and truly enlightening, this lesbian musical romance tells the story of forgotten Variety stars Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney. Nominated for Outstanding Local Talent at Brighton Fringe 2015... 

Naked Boys Reading: La Femme

Naked Boys Reading: La Femme

Ascending the back stairs of the Marlborough to be greeted by the towering and magnificently coiffed Dr Sharon Husbands, doesn't quite give an accurate taste of what follows. Her light, breezy and gently dirty compering would sit well in any number of traditional cabaret, drag and glamour nights but what she actually introduces, and has produced, is a far more novel invention... 

Icons (Preview)

Icons (Preview)

Brighton Fringe 2016 is here: bigger, better and fringier than ever! And who could be better to kick things off at the Warren than Le Gateau Chocolat, the powerhouse baritone wrapped in lycra and the only artist who can pull off both Wagner and Xanadu... 

The Sissy's Progress

The Sissy's Progress

Nando Messias was beaten up on the street in an act of homophobic hatred. After years of dreaming up his response, he presents 'The Sissy’s Progress'. Part dance-theatre, part walking performance, he leads audiences out onto the streets with a live marching band... 

English Disco Lovers

English Disco Lovers

Sell-out 2014 and 2015, the 'English Disco Lovers' are back at the best little tent at Brighton Fringe. Bringing their irrepressible mix of awesome classic Disco and House music, humour, anti-racism, inclusivity and fun to Brighton Fringe’s beautiful late night venue... 

Deep in The Heart of Me

Deep in The Heart of Me

On holiday in Greece, Janet meets the woman of her dreams in a suit and tie singing Frank Sinatra songs, but it’s not all plain sailing. New work from Behind The Lines, Nominated for Outstanding Local Talent at Brighton Fringe 2015 and Best Arts Stage Event L-Fest 2015... 

Sajeela Kershi: Sharia's L.A.W (Little Asian Women)

Sajeela Kershi: Sharia's L.A.W (Little Asian Women)

Work-in-progress from multi-award-winner celebrating the kick-ass women in our families who stood the test of time despite obstacles via faith, family, culture or the time they lived in... 

Naked Girls Reading

Naked Girls Reading

Join burlesque performer and naked stand-up, Miss Glory Pearl, for an intimate show where beautiful women read naked. Making their Brighton debut, Glory and friends read a selection of texts on a common theme for your listening pleasure... 

Iris Prize Film Festival/Love Bites

Iris Prize Film Festival/Love Bites

Award-winning short films from the internationally acclaimed 'Iris Prize Film Festival': a collection of the winners and runners-up from the 2015 prize. 'Love Bites': a selection of LGBT short films celebrating love, from the Iris Prize archive... 

Care Takers

Care Takers

His teacher believes Jamie is being bullied because he's gay. She wants to help but the Deputy Head thinks it will sort itself out. Is she speaking from experience or is there something more unsavoury about her unwillingness to help? An explosive new play about bullying and homophobia. 

Somewhere Under The Rainbow : The Liza Minnelli Story

Somewhere Under The Rainbow : The Liza Minnelli Story

Award-winning, 'one woman wonder', West End performer, Sharon Sexton. Set in the intimacy of her dressing room, Liza invites the audience to step beyond the footlights as she recounts tales, memories and secrets that make up a fascinating career... 

A Brighton Story: The Original City Tour

A Brighton Story: The Original City Tour

Brighton's No. 1 'traditional city' walking tour. Perfect for visitors and residents alike. 90 minutes of fascinating facts about this incredible city. Find lost fishermen's cottages, curious little 'twittens' and a long lost little black cat on this acclaimed tour. 

Not Fast Enough

Not Fast Enough

'Not Fast Enough' is a provocative and dynamic sprint through contemporary gender politics and imaginative theatre structures. Bringing a free preview of an abridged version of NFT to Patterns nightclub, OvaryActing make their Brighton Fringe debut, before a run at Coachwerks later in the month. 

K'rd Strip: A Place to Stand

K'rd Strip: A Place to Stand

K’Rd Strip: A Place to Stand is a bizarre yet beautiful blend of Māori culture, contemporary dance, vocals and music, drag and real life stories.Amid the smoke a light comes up on a man dressed in just a very short kilt-like leather skirt... 

Five Drinks

Five Drinks

It might be a good idea to take five drinks into the auditorium, to see you through a play that has moments of wit and humour but contains nothing profound. Five Drinks is another script that will end up on the pile of mediocre coming-out, gay dating plays that are little more than possibly pleasant diversions... 

The Little Red Show

The Little Red Show

Ever had therapy? Feel like a failure? Then this one's for you! Join performance poet Little Red as she reveals why the therapy didn't work, through laughter, tears and sexual innuendo... 

By the Bi

By the Bi

By the Bi is a show that offers to tackle the heady subject matter - of the difficulties of being bisexual - head on. Through a range of performance techniques, from physical theatre, to contemporary dance to spoken word, the premise is to use a series of vignettes to explore the central theme... 

Donald Does Dusty

Donald Does Dusty

Donald Torr was, apparently, the best big brother any little girl could have, especially growing up on the outskirts of 1960s’ Aberdeen. Unlike the other slightly older children on their street, Donald didn’t simply ignore and endure the young Diane Torr; conspiratorially, he relished her presence, sensing a kindred spirit... 

Smack, Crackle n' Pop!

Smack, Crackle n' Pop!

Rip open your variety packs and let Emily Bee and Danny Ash treat you to a late night sugar high of assorted cabaret delights! Includes comedy, burlesque, circus and more. Two of London's top cabaret stars serve up a rather late breakfast! Mix your milk with your cocoa puffs and get ready for Putin, hula hoops, rainforests and toilet attendants... 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The internationally ignored song stylist from Berlin is back. Join Hedwig and the band on their anatomically incorrect rock odyssey. The musical tells the story of Hansel Schmidt, a young man from East Berlin who seizes an opportunity to escape communist Germany by getting a sex change and marrying an American GI – but that’s just the start of the story... 

Prey

Prey

One man’s journey to womanhood. This is the story of how a successful businessman cross-dressed to change the way his staff saw him, and ended up totally changing the way he sees the world... 

Distinguished Gentlemen (But Really Just a Couple of ***ts)

Distinguished Gentlemen (But Really Just a Couple of ***ts)

This is a lewd, ridiculous and over the top show that will leave you stunned and cackling.It involves adultery, blackmail, and buggery, and is set in Georgian era England. Two distinguished gentlemen of the landed gentry fall for the same mystiques of an unattached young man, and proceed to court him in an extremely un-gentlemanly manner... 

Breakfast Epiphanies

Breakfast Epiphanies

Wealth and fame haven’t yet been bestowed on young Irish comedian Cormac Friel. But the high quality of his writing and his whip-smart performance in Breakfast Epiphanies are evidence that with the right breaks, he shouldn’t have to wait too much longer for both those things... 

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven

Written and performed by legendary trans playwright, performer and poet Jo Clifford, this unique and extraordinary show combines theatre with storytelling, spoken word and ritual in a way that, according to one audience member, ‘leaves everyone feeling blessed’... 

Sweet Thunder – A Show in Three Layers

Sweet Thunder – A Show in Three Layers

‘Cocking a snook at learned prejudices ... a deliciously ironic commentary ... exuding dizzying eroticism’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com). Join this Threesome for a rocky, inspiring and ultimately triumphant journey, culminating in a live demonstration of the liberatory potential of the microwaveable chocolate cake, and sprinkled with a few rude words... 

Welcome to the Cliterati

Welcome to the Cliterati

'The literary love child of Jeanette Winterson and Allen Ginsberg' (BroadwayBaby.com), Jay Walker takes us on a poetically licentious romp through the story of one body and its many awakenings... 

Odd Shaped Balls

Odd Shaped Balls

'The last 12 months have been very difficult for me. I became concerned with my mental health. Because of this I am going to step away from the game at this time. Thank you all for your understanding and support... 

These Troubled Times

These Troubled Times

Troy Diana’s comedy These Troubled Times focuses on Charles (John Curtis), an openly gay man who arrives at his brother's family home to babysit his niece and nephew. Upon arrival, strange incidents begin to unfold and he soon finds himself getting more than what he bargained for... 

Loud and Proud on the Fringe

Loud and Proud on the Fringe

Loud and Proud, Scotland’s LGBT choir, performs its annual Fringe concert in support of Scottish HIV and Hepatitis C charity, Waverley Care. This year the choir will celebrate their 10th birthday in style with a walk down memory lane, revisiting some of their favourite songs from the past 10 years... 

Dive and Summerhall Present… C U Next Tuesday Cabaret

Dive and Summerhall Present… C U Next Tuesday Cabaret

This show is wondrously delightful. The host, the magnificent Miss Annabel Sings, entertains throughout with song, jokes and even a little dancing. She maintains the mood of the show brilliantly, ensuring that her audience feels fully welcomed, and appropriately riled up for every act she introduces... 

Daggers MacKenzie

Daggers MacKenzie

Hurry, hurry, step right up and behold the one and only Daggers MacKenzie, the gal who defies death with every toss of the blade, as she runs away from the circus in this one-woman musical thrill ride! Witness the amazing power of a well-timed seduction as it transforms a naïve farm girl into a traveling show sensation – and love’s most dangerous renegade... 

I Went To A Fabulous Party...

I Went To A Fabulous Party...

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 suggested some full-frontal male nudity... 

Trans Scripts

Trans Scripts

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 the best means of communicating those experiences to a wider public... 

Divas

Divas

Divas charts the relationship of two men from first meeting to last parting. Following the structure of Jason Robert Brown's Last Five Years, we see Damien and Adam tell their own story but in opposite directions, one starting at the beginning of their relationship and one at the end... 

Happily After Ever

Happily After Ever

A new comedy about gender conformity and sexual identity. David Henry Hwang calls it a ‘hilarious, innovative, and ultimately wise new play.’ When newlyweds Darren and Janet give birth to a baby with both male and female genitalia, they find themselves in the unlikely position of having to choose a gender for their child - all while competing with the perfect couple next door and dealing with a misunderstood family dog - in this side-splitting battle of the sexes... 

To Kill a Machine

To Kill a Machine

Performed by a superb cast, this is a painful and tragic exploration of Alan Turing’s life and the many attempts to break him as a person. The piece explores less of Turing's codebreaking successes of World War Two, focusing instead on his much more pioneering work in computer science, like weather machines that can think... 

The Transgender Tipping Point

The Transgender Tipping Point

‘My music is not based on my being transgender. It's based on my being a human being.’ – Lucas Silveira. In a year where transgender issues took centre stage, join a panel of artists and activists as they discuss gender identity in the arts, the challenges for the coming years and the impact of those magazine covers on the industry... 

As Is

As Is

New York, 1985. The city is in the grip of a disease called AIDS about which little is known. Rich, a young writer on the verge of a successful career is breaking up with Saul, his long-time lover, but his new romance is short-lived when he is diagnosed with the new condition and reconnects with Saul... 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

John Cameron and Stephen Trask’s big, ballsy, gender-bending musical detonates upon Greenside’s Royal Terrace stage with a blast that can be heard clear across Edinburgh.Set at a gig for the eponymous Hedwig, Stephen Trask’s glam rock score is peppered with narrative telling us how little Hansel from East Berlin gets swept away by American sugar-daddy Luther, who insists a little piece of Hansel must remain in order for them to marry... 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The internationally ignored song stylist from Berlin is back. Join Hedwig and the band on their anatomically incorrect rock odyssey. The musical tells the story of Hansel Schmidt, a young man from East Berlin who seizes an opportunity to escape communist Germany by getting a sex change and marrying an American GI – but that’s just the start of the story... 

Sunny Runny Runcorn

Sunny Runny Runcorn

‘You can't run from the corn!’ A fairy’s tale of a town that might be a little rough – but it's also got its bloody blinding diamonds! A trip home to Runcorn can be far from a journey down the yellow brick road... 

All the Nice Girls

All the Nice Girls

In 1920s London, Gwen Farrar and Norah Blaney have an on and off stage partnership, singing popular love songs of the day to each other in West End revues and living together openly... 

Natasha Noman: Noman's Land

Natasha Noman: Noman's Land

Noman's Land is an autobiographical one-woman comedy about Natasha's experiences as a gay, female journalist in Pakistan. The comedy centers around a lesbian Tinder date in Karachi... 

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven

Written and performed by legendary trans playwright, performer and poet Jo Clifford, this unique and extraordinary show combines theatre with storytelling, spoken word and ritual in a way that, according to one audience member, ‘leaves everyone feeling blessed’... 

Al Porter Is Yours

Al Porter Is Yours

Al Porter Is Yours is the irreverent debut show from Ireland's newest comedy star. At 22, Al falls in love daily, has 'completed' Tinder and is still a mammy's boy! A parish secretary's son, Al was supposed to be a priest – until he slept with one and changed his mind... 

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