Richard Beck met up with Roger Kay, who with his business partner Lauren Varnfield, owns the Rialto Theatre, Brighton, where they are also joint artistic directors.
Renowned playwright, composer, librettist, teacher, dramaturg, arts journalist and actor, Phil Willmott talks to Richard Beck about things past, present and future and in particula...
After listening to the radio play of My Boy Danny and writing up my review, I had a (virtual) sit down with its award-winning playwright and director Alfie James to chat about maki...
COVID-19 has severely disrupted the entire industry.
Kate Copstick recently caught up with her mate Peter Michael Marino, a New York City native who has worked around the world as a producer, director, developer, writer, teacher, and...
Star of stage and screen, but still Rotherham’s least celebrated daughter, Myra DuBois flings open her festive pantry at Soho Theatre next week for a Christmas show unlike an...
A relevant exposé of our relationships with social media
Do you ever find yourself singing The Bare Necessities? Or breathily repeating David Attenborough’s iconic narration? If so, the Ensonglopedia of Animals is the show for you.
Daphne is a coming-of-age movie about a 28, sorry, 31-year-old woman who witnesses a stabbing in a corner shop. Forced to confront her own mortality, she must reevaluate her own life, including her opinion of her mother's way of dealing with terminal cancer and her attitude towards love which, after Freud, she believes is a psychosis...
Australian comedians Michelle Brasier and Laura Frew made their duo debut at this year’s Fringe as Double Denim, having previously performed as part of Backpack Anorak. Michelle and Laura met Broadway Baby’s Sarah Virgo over lunch to talk about their show this year, the first time they’ve worked as a duo and why Edinburgh is the only place to be as a comedian in August.
Meik Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and author of The Little Book of Hygge.
Songmaker Kirsty Law, author Kirsty Logan and harpist Esther Swift came together at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to perform their dark fairytale reimagining, Lord Fox. Part of the Book Festival’s Playing with Books series, Lord Fox combines storytelling, composition and song...
Ever since their debut in 2015 with Weekend Rockstars Middle Child Theatre have been rewriting what musical theatre can be with their distinctive gig-theatre genre.
In his Fringe show Two Little Ducks, UK spoken-word artist and activist Matt Abbott uses poetry to explore contemporary politics.
Having received rave reviews for The Secret Life of Humans as well as supporting dozens of other theatre companies at the Fringe and beyond, the New Diorama Theatre has made a name...
Graeme Macrae Burnet’s literary thriller, His Bloody Project, explores a brutal triple murder in the Scottish Highlands in 1869 through a variety of different, at times conflicti...
Binge Culture are a performance-art group of five that originated in Wellington, New Zealand.
Behind every tyrannical leader is a complicit partner rolling their eyes, and in this new show from comedian Catriona Knox they get a voice. Catriona Knox: Adorable Deplorable delves into the peripheries of power and the minds of the people who know our world leaders the best...
Having made their Fringe debut last year with The Life and Times of Lionel, theatre company Forget About The Dog are back with their new show, 100 Ways to Tie a Shoelace. Kat has had an accident and has trouble remembering things...
In nineteenth-century Holland, a leading neuroscientist tries to ‘civilise’ a wild girl who was raised by lions in the heart of Borneo.
Betrayal, money, power, politics and love. All thing you find in a standard Shakespeare play. And modern politics. Macblair, written by Charlie Duprè, Bard-ifies the rise and fall of Tony Blair with rap, verse and tongue firmly in cheek...
In Sarah Kendall: One-Seventeen, Fringe stalwart Sarah Kendall breaks down what we mean when we talk about good and bad luck. In her own inimitable style she takes the audience to her past in order to discover how she reasons with the chaos and uncertainty of modern life...
Improv is as big as it’s ever been at the Fringe, with well over a hundred shows for you to choose from. Chris Quilietti leads a panel discussion with improvisors from some of the festival’s most popular shows: Will Naameh (Spontaneous Sherlock/Men With Coconuts) Steve Hartil (Murder She Didn’t Write), and Sean McCann (Showstopper! The Improvised Musical/Rhapsodes)...
Holly Smale is the author of Geek Girl, a teen book series that follows the comic adventures of a high-school girl turned high-fashion model. Smale – herself a former model – returns to the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year for the release of Forever Geek, the final book in the series...
Meow Meow is an international actress, singer, and dancer.
Architect Rob can't find his Rotoring mechanical pencil. A small event, perhaps, but the early onset dementia it heralds will challenge Rob and his wife Cathy's relationship to its very core...
In 2011, Neil Hilborn’s poetry slam team placed first in the US College Poetry Slam. Since then he has toured with Button Poetry and published two collections of poetry, Clatter and Our Numbered Days...
Leyla Josephine is a performance artist and writer from Glasgow.
Writer and actor Milly Thomas is best known in the theatre world for her 2016 play Clickbait and for writing an episode of Clique on BBC Three. This Fringe she is presenting two plays of her own penning: Dust at Underbelly – which she also stars in – and Brutal Cessation at Assembly...
Broadway Baby’s Gordon Douglas met Adam Castle, the host of Pollyanna to talk about the outrageous, late-night queer cabaret that’s on everybody’s minds.As well as directing and hosting Pollyanna, Castle is the director of Edinburgh Artists’ Moving Image Festival, an annual festival for the celebration of moving image...
Underbelly Untapped Award-winner Prom Kween is a high-energy comedy musical about Matthew Crisson, the first non-binary person to win a prom queen title in a US high school. Features Editor James T...
As a course leader at The International School of Storytelling, Danyah Miller can certainly spin a good yarn. Here at the Fringe, she is turning her talents to the baffling question of why we strive so desperately for perfection, often at high costs...
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University have teamed up to bring two brand-new musicals to the Fringe. Atlantic: A Scottish Story is a haunting show set on a remote Scottish island that asks the question: what if we didn’t go on the adventure? It follows Eve, a girl who didn’t follow her heart and stays where she thinks she belongs...
Jack Rooke's career was launched by his 2015 Fringe meditation on loss and mourning, Good Grief, which took him on a national tour, sold out at the Soho Theatre in London, and saw him present his own BBC documentary last year...
Broadway Baby’s Gordon Douglas is joined by Scotland-based theatre-maker Clare Marcie to talk about her new show What Would Kanye Do?, part of the programme at theSpace @ Jury’s Inn...
As part of the Edinburgh International Festival the Royal Court was invited to present a series of rehearsed readings by playwrights from Chile, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Palestine and...
Kae Kurd isn’t intimidated by the prospect of debuting his first hour-long stand-up show, Kurd Your Enthusiasm, in a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Partially, that’s because it’s not his first time to the rodeo: he’s been doing stand up for five years, and performed in Edinburgh last year as part of The Pleasance Comedy Reserve showcase...
By any account, Dominic Holland has had a successful career. As a stand-up comic, he’s won a best newcomer award at the Edinburgh Fringe, hosted a Radio 4 series, appeared on a number of television shows including Have I Got News For You, published four books and worked as a stand-up comic for 25 years...
Annie McGrath: Ambivert is a stand-up comedy show set in 2017 and performed by a 27 year old woman called Annie McGrath. We sent Annie a Q&A. This is how she responded…
Where Are We Now is emotional, musical, dark and personal. It’s a musical investigation of what is happening in the world right now.We fired over a Q&A to Camille to get more info.
Colin Hoult / Anna Mann: in How we stop the Fascists is a brave, challenging piece where Colin Hoult’s character, actress, Anna Mann, attempts to beat fascism with some awesome sexy theatre...
Denim: World Tour is a girl band pop tour designed for Wembley, performed by drag queens in a Fringe venue. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Ed Night's debut hour long Edinburgh Festival Fringe show is called Anthem for Doomed Youth. It’s a comedy show about Ed’s depression.We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Graduate of L'Ecole Philippe Gaulier, the BBC New Talent Hot List 2017 entrant, Elf Lyons is returning to Edinburgh with a brand-new clown show. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Graham Dickson is The Narcissist is described as a meta-theatrical mind-fuck of a character show about an egomaniac called Graham Dickson. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Clown Atlas is a stand-up show about happiness, but Hari gets distracted and talks about other things too. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Jon & Nath Like To Party is sketch comedy with the pace of The Fast Show and the very real slapstick of Bottom. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
John Hastings Audacity. One man. One mic. All jokes. Some about love, others about poo. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Mark Nelson writes, “Irreverence is a man onstage trying to be funny as he can for an hour. No gimmicks, no lessons. Just a man, a mic and jokes.” We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Luca Cupani writes: It’s me! is my fourth solo show, in which I look for an answer to a crucial question: who am I? We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Christy White-Spunner and Mark Jones are Sisters. They appear together in a new Edinburgh show, White Noise. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
The Kagools: Tutti is an hour of anarchic fun. There's no theme, it's more of an experience; like Blue Man Group or paint balling in Swindon. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
The Barry Award and Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee returns with a brand-new hour of comedy characters and inspired spontaneity. We fired over a Q&A to get more info on his new show.
Sleeping Trees at the Movies features three separate comedy blockbusters, being performed in rep at this year's Fringe. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
In Punderdog, Tony Cowards returns with his new show bursting at the seams with glorious gags, preposterous puns and witty one-liners. We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is an all-singing, all dancing, comedy musical, which just happens to be made up on the spot...
On Fire is hilarious, actual stand up, from a bearded Aussie bloke who will be your best mate by the end of the hour. Beer afterwards?
Good Girl is a frank and funny debut storytelling show. A bold look at the darker side of being a good girl. Welcome to the 90s, where the only sex education is Madonna.We fired over a Q&A to get more info.
The self-declared Siren from South Yorkshire stands trial seeking redemption from you, her adoring audience. She’ll tell you herself, ‘the devil made me do it!’ Do what? We wanted to know more.
Mark returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a new show filled with everything that he hopes will help him win all the awards. Death, bees, death, puppets, death, and Bears in heaven (who are dead)...
Andrew O’Neill is an award-winning comedian off telly and radio, who happens to dabble in the occult. We dared to ask him about his free Edinburgh show, Andrew O'Neill's Black Magick Fun Hour.
Alpha Child is critique of Alex Oliver as a person with a few complaints about bungalows thrown in for good measure. Alex tells us more.
Apparently, the Galway Tribune said that “Love & Brain Damage is so tragically funny it’s almost artistic.” The show isn’t listed in the Fringe brochure, or anywhere else...
Thrones! The Musical Parody is.... well, a musical parody of Game of Thrones. We fired a Q&A over to the lovely Al Samuels.
Over recent years, the Showstopper Improvised Musicals have become a Fringe institution. For 2017 they return to Edinburgh with their kids show. Ruth Bratt tells us more.
Shelf: Boys is a comedy show where double act Shelf explore gender, sexuality and mental health with sketches, songs and a boyband.
Sam & Tom just want to perform Unrectifiable, but a silly game goes awry when spirits from a wormhole invade their bodies and ruin the fun! OMG!
Rob Oldham’s Brink is a stand-up show about family, politics, and growing up. There are also two jokes about bums. Our appetite wetted, we asked Rob a bunch of questions.
Rhapsodes is billed as a ground-breaking, unique improvised Shakespeare show, inspired by the bardic competitions of the ancient Athenian festivals. We fired a Q&A off to its co-star and co-creator of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Sean McCann.
Bob’s BlundaBus hosts the show Madame Señorita: 25 Different Shows, Come Every Day! in which Paula Valluerca attempts to create a show from scratch in 25 nights. We fired a Q&A over to the crazy clown.
It says here that, Patrick Turpin - Itty Bitty Little Titty Piece is about being a frothy emotional wetbag in a modern world, but that gets derailed by grief. We just had to learn more.
Manic Pixie Dream Girls is the antidote to pale stale male comedy. A fuck you to crusty chauvinism. It’s pure undiluted joy, and ALL of y’all are invited… This is what they had to say…
Like A Prayer is a theatrical essay about personal faith in which six nuns deliberate attitudes towards the big questions of life. We spoke to Corinne via an email Q&A.
Ex-Cambridge dropout and professional poker player Ken Cheng applies his mathematical brain to comedy in Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian. We fired over a Q&A.
Jonny foolishly promised his daughter that he’d play live on stage at the O2 Arena.It wasn’t as easy as he hoped!
Ian Smith’s new Edinburgh show is called, ‘Ian Smith: Snowflake’ It’s about uniqueness… like everybody else’s. It’s also about a holiday he had in Tromso, Norway. We asked for the deets.
Darren Harriott’s show is called Defiant. It’s full of strong opinions. We fired off a Q&A and asked him for more info.
Dante's History of the Banished is a comedy show about exile. Historical characters are reimagined in a solo debut from Charlie V. Martin. We fired a Q&A over to the enigmatic Charlie.
Bernie Keith: Life Without Sat Nav is a sand-up show about how life isn’t how Bernie thought it would be at 54. We wanted to know more…
KMT is described as an hour of comedy on things that Athena Kugblenu has experienced and observed. Issues like politics, race, class, sexism...We fired off a Q&A to find out more.
Andy Barr: Tropic of Admin asks and answers the question ‘what if a school administrator were marooned on a deserted tropical island?’ We wanted to know more, so we fired over a Q&A.
Eleanor Morton’s Edinburgh show promises a passive aggressive and witty journey through the history of angry women. We wanted to know more…
'Douze' is a pop comedy musical following Xnthony and The Penny Slots as they try to get to the Eurovision, one fabulous pop song at a time. We fired a Q&A over to its star.
Sally O’Leary and Rhiannon Neads are the comedy pairing, Stiff and Kitsch. For their Edinburgh show, they perform songs lamenting how Adele Is Younger Than Us. We needed to know more…
Colin has written a show featuring the story of how and why he created a Digital Legacy. In 2014, while on a date that was going badly, he started planning for his death. We wanted to know more…
From New York City, USA, comes a darkly comic guide for brothers everywhere: how to teach, protect and permanently traumatise each other. We fired a Q&A off, over the ocean, to Brother Richard.
Cowboy Mouth by David Quirk, is a comedy show about other people's dreams, dog years, and something called the Overview Effect. Intrigued, we fired over a Q&A.
David Trent is appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a new show. ‘Here’s Your Future’. We fired over a Q&A.
Imagine if David Copperfield and Claudia Schiffer were from the Gold Coast circa 1989, now crank up the music, roll them in sequins, set them on fire, and you're almost at Peter & Bambi Heaven...
Body of Work is a genuine attempt by Jordan Brookes to pay tribute to his relationship with his nan. We fired a Q&A over to Jordan for more details…
Open Arms is billed as a laid-back, witty and uplifting stand-up comedy show about a man dragged and dropped straight into the deep-end of adulthood. We fired a Q&A over to its star, Kwame Asante.
Lucy Pearman: Maid of Cabbage is a no-nonsense story about a maid looking for the perfect cabbage. Lark Rise to Candleford meets The Mighty Boosh. We ask Lucy nine quick questions.
This Is Your Trial is an improv courtroom with the audience as plaintiffs, defendants and jury. We asked Steve Bennett (no, not that one) for more details if the form of a rather lovely Q&A.
The Choir of Man is described as fun, real, beautiful, modern, energetic, and according to Tom Brandon, it’s for absolutely everyone. We asked Tom to tell us more.
The Cat Man Curse is a surreal comedy that tells the story of a washed out 70s Hollywood actor and his whirlwind encounter with a mysterious curse. We talk to the cast.
Betty Grumble: Love and Anger (or Sex Clown Saves the World Again!) is a show that almost defies description. He talk to sex clown, wild woman and surreal showgirl, the award-winning, head-spinning Betty Grumble.
Loudly Insecure is features Bobby Mair trying to get secure by getting married, finding his biological family and addressing his mental health. Did it work? We ask him.