4 Star Shows

Mathew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet

Rape, homophobic bullying, knife crime and murder in a mental health/correctional institute, Mathew Bourne's Romeo+Juliet is probably the most shocking and bold of his re-imag…

Mess Maker

We’re all familiar with mess in one form or another, but for most of us dealing with it is probably not an all-consuming activity in the way that it is for writer and performer Jen…

Strategic Love Play

Strategic Love Play offers a tragic and often hilarious mirror to the fears and hopes of the vast majority of us who harbour a fear of dying alone.

An Afternoon with Anton Du Beke and Friends

An Afternoon with Anton Du Beke and Friends, and what an afternoon; Du Beke gives a hilarious and dazzling show filled with humour, dance and song.

Harriet Dyer: Mother

Review
★★★★
Laura Tucker
Edinburgh Fringe
Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive) / Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Tron)
24th Aug, 2023

Keeping stand-up weird since 2013, Harriet Dyer is everything I love about the Fringe.

Life is a Dream

There’s a great, restless energy in Director Declan Donnellan’s production of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s seventeenth century Spanish classic Life is a Dream.

Bluebeard's Castle

Director Daisy Evans draws the audience not only into the dark corridors of a mysterious castle in her revival of the Bela Bartok opera Bluebeard’s Castle.

Beyond Boundaries

Three distinct dance acts bring the unexpected to the stage for Beyond Boundaries, a show billed as a time-travelling showcase of Scottish hip-hop dance.

Irrepressible

Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Carrie Penn and Toby Huelin’s Irrepressible, whilst a compelling story seems to rehash old messages without leaving us with a sense that we should do somet…

The Sorcerer

St Andrews University’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society is in sparkling form with their presentation of this little known show.

The TUNEabomber

Another in the seemingly endless flow of musicals about unlikely subjects that prove successful.

Pippin (2013 Broadway Revival Musical)

An exceptionally enthusiastic and talented youth theatre put on a revival of the 2013 version of Pippin.

Tandava

Tandava – the cosmic dance of Shiva – symbolising time; existence; non-existence and so much more.

Julius Caesar Must Die

Julius Caesar Must Die is a little misleading, as initially it appears to be an absurdist original dramatisation of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit musical 'cats'

How to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit musical ‘cats’ is as bonkers as it sounds, whilst still adding to the philosophical debate on how to live a good lif…

Magical AF!

Review
★★★★
Frodo Allan
Edinburgh Fringe
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse
24th Aug, 2023

Sam Hurst leaps onto the stage in a black sequin suit and skull-covered tie ensemble that screams “entertainer”.

Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns or Can They Not See Them Like How We Can't See Our Noses

Do Rhinos Feel Their Horns or Can They Not See Them Like How We Can't See Our Noses may be in the running for the Fringe’s wackiest title and the show itself is an equally pl…

Shakesperimental

Edinburgh University’s Shakespeare Company present the chilling tale of Hekabe, a reimagined translation of Euripides’ original Greek tragedy.

The Night of the Musicals

The Night of the Musicals is a dazzlingly fun, exceptionally energetic hour of musical entertainment.

Wet

When you think of cabaret you might think of bawdy strip teases, caricatures of femininity, and lewd jokes.

Bird

Relating the most horrible experience a woman can go through portrayed in the most beautiful form, Amina Khayyam Dance Company return to the Fringe with a stage version sequel to t…

SKETCHES/GLISK

This double bill is a treat of depth of talent performing across a huge range of scope – all compressed within a single hour.

AFTER ALL

Don’t be put off by the topic - this dance show about death is far from gloomy.

Dimanche

In an era where anthropogenic climate change is not only an abstract global concern, but also becoming a lived reality for countless people, the joint production of Belgian puppetr…

The Stall

The Stall by Jack Twelvetree is an abstract show that uses a childhood memory of flying as an extended metaphor to explore grief, loss, regret and mental health.

Atalanta

Expecting a retelling of the Greek myth, the office set is initially a little confusing.

Dazzling

Dazzling is a one-woman show following Alix, a quirky twenty-something living through the obligatory suffering which comes with discovering oneself, especially in the shadow of her…

2020 The Musical

2020 the musical follows main characters Emily Goodhand and Adam Pictor, two musical theatre performers who have faced a lot of rejection, finally get their big break in a show tha…

A Chorus Line

A Chorus Line - and what a chorus line! I was wowed by this performance of A Chorus Line presented by the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group.

Lies All The Way Down: A New Chamber Musical

This completely original chamber musical by Shaye Poulton Richards is a darkly charming piece of new writing.

Pieces of Us

Snippets of newsreels fill the Haldane theatre as we take our seats.

Rhys James: Spilt Milk

No use crying over spilt milk is a very commonly used proverb, and its familiarity and any possible connection to it is at the forefront of our minds as we watch this show.

What If They Ate The Baby?

There’s something really unsettling about 1950s suburbia, and What If They Ate The Baby? really taps into that feeling as it plunges deeply into the aesthetic of a stereotypical …

Photon StarBlaster and the Suicidal Spaceship

This show is light-speed FAST.

Watch List

If you’ve been handed a flyer for Watch List in the street, you might expect what’s written on it –a show about an insecure police officer on a journey to clean up the street…

Nicole Travolta is Doing Alright

Nicole Travolta is Doing Alright is Travolta’s debut show that tells the story of her crippling shopping addiction and how she manages to abscond a steadily increasing mountain o…

Attachment: The Leech Show

The premise of Attachment: The Leech Show is very simple: it’s a play devised and performed for the sole benefit of impressing a single specific audience member; a prominent thea…

Locusts

We begin, as most trauma does, in the distant past.

Les Millénniables

A classic story for a modern age, Les Millénniables is a self-aware and uniting musical, because it satirizes the generational divide, and understands its own ridiculous nature.

Shoot From The Hip

The improvisational sketch group Shoot From The Hip bring their spontaneous hour of games and tomfoolery to the Fringe this year.

The Town Cryer

Brooke Finegold is masterful in her hour of live poetry, spoken word and stand up comedy.

Crash and Burn

Examining the clashing forces on climate change, from eco-activists to oil barons and airheaded celebrities trying to make a change, Crash and Burn not only delivers on a very funn…

Darren McGarvey’s Common People

On a sunny afternoon in the mid-90s, a young ginger-haired boy is making his way across town to reach his psychologist appointment.

The Devil's Passion

I thought I knew what to expect from The Devil’s Passion.

Paul Black: Nostalgia

Social media star Paul Black returns to the Fringe this year with his new stand-up show, Nostalgia, a look back into his childhood as a gay wee boy growing up in Glasgow as the son…

I Heart Musicals

The best way to express what this show represents, is to say it is like a classic cabaret crossed with a night with Mr Rogers.

As Far As Impossible

The show is derived from interviews with humanitarian aid workers about the Impossible.

Paul Merton's Impro Chums

Paul Merton’s infamous Impro Chums return to the Fringe after a four year hiatus and is warmly welcomed by the Pleasance Grand’s 750 seat capacity bursting at the seams.

Siblings and Family Friends

These girls are batshit crazy and I love it.

A Shark Ate My Penis: A History of Boys Like Me

It’s hard to imagine that any show called, in full, A Shark Ate My Penis: A History of Boys Like Me could be weirder or more fun than it sounds.

Spring Awakening

The 2006 musical Spring Awakening, based on the book of the same name, tells the story of teenagers at a strict religious school in late 19th century Germany, struggling as they di…

Death by Shakespeare

Hurly Burly’s Death by Shakespeare is a stylised ode to Shakespeare, that lifts and showcases his best-known characters in a tumultuous yet entrancing way.

A Trilogy: box.

How do you summarise a whole life? Is it in the knick knacks and curios we collect? Do the objects we surround ourselves with truly represent who we are inside? And even if you lov…

14-18 Cyrano de Bergerac

Students from Westcliff High School for Boys, Essex, have arrived in Edinburgh with 14-18 Cyrano de Bergerac, an exciting re-imagining of Edmund Rostand’s 1897 classic tale writt…

Reclaim

This circus, dance and music show accepts no boundaries.

David McIver: Small Boy Trapped in a Wellness Retreat

It is genuinely difficult to keep track of all the wellness tips that you’re supposed to follow to have a healthy body and mind.

Edges

The students of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s MA Musical Theatre programme are a staple at the Fringe, and they never let us down!Edges, a song cycle written by Benj Pasek an…

Patrick Spicer: Yes Haha What

The room in the Brewdog Doghouse that Patrick Spicer occupies brings with it an air of informality that helps to set the tone for Spicer’s Yes Haha What.

Eva Cassidy Celebrating 60 Years

I’m more of a casual Eva fan.

Aloft Presents Sanctuary

Aloft Circus Arts of Chicago (USA) burst onto the Fringe scene with their hit Brave Space last year.

Eddy Hare: Leave It With Me

Eddy Hare’s Leave It With Me is a great example of his dead-pan humour, flair for musical comedy, and joke writing ability.

Men With Coconuts

Review
★★★★
Michael Benson
Edinburgh Fringe
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse
8th Aug, 2023

Emotional balladry, lyrical wizardry, and musical husbandry are the cornerstones of Men With Coconuts, at PBH's Free Fringe @ Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse.

Ceilidhs (Scottish Dancing)

A traditional dance class running from 9pm to 11pm daily, the Ceilidh is a sweaty fun-filled session in the extravagant grand hall of the Royal College of Physicians, featuring a l…

The Standard Short Long Drop

Ticking Clock Theatre brings to life the grim days of the Victorian hangman at the Space Triplex Studio in The Standard Short Long Drop, a fascinating play set in the cell of two p…

Taiwan Season: Duo

It is comparatively easy to portray conflict; showing the different forms of domestic love is much more difficult.

La codista / The queuer

La codista / The queuer is a deceptively simple show about a woman who waits in line for other people.

Banana

Banana is a wacky hour of outside-the-box clown comedy that makes you smile from ear to ear.

Climb

A guitar, microphone and stool wait expectantly on an empty stage.

Sensuous Governing

Away from the hurly-burly of the centre of the city, one of the Sisters Hope parades the silent streets, ringing the bell to call the initiates to the ritual.

Gerard Noir

This is a glorious experience from the opening theme tune, through commercial breaks, down to the 'traditional' preview of the next episode.

Mister Shakespeare

What a remarkable and fluid performance full of depth and charisma!Mister Shakespeare is a detailed tale penned by Michael Barry, that shows Shakespeare at work in his lodgings.

Be Home Soon

A chance meeting in an art gallery and a new flatmate moving in provide the simple framework for Be Home Soon, a beautifully crafted and sensitively performed debut play from By Th…

Common Dissonance

Not all circus is dance, but Na Djinang Circus’ Common Dissonance certainly is.

The Portable Dorothy Parker

The year is 1943 and famed wit Dorothy Parker sits in her New York apartment, sifting through her works and deciding which will make it into the new anthology ‘The Portable Dorot…

RENT

La vie Bohème! I can’t believe it’s been nearly 30 years since the rock musical RENT hit the stage and almost 20 years from the film version.

Dead Man's Suitcase

The title, Dead Man’s Suitcase, doesn’t give much away and even at the end it’s a little unclear what the message of Felix Westcott’s musical is supposed to be.

Clive Anderson's My Seven Wonders

The conceit of this podcast is that Clive Anderson invites a different member of the comedy circuit to share with him their own seven wonders of the world.

JM Coetzee's Life & Times of Michael K

Puppetry arguably reached a new level of realism and sophistication with War Horse.

Flamenco Fiesta

Alba Flamenca presents Flamenco Fiesta, a fierce dancer and amazing musicians team up to bring Spanish flare to Edinburgh’s Southside.

Can't Wait to Leave

Can’t Wait To Leave is a deeply heartfelt and surprisingly humorous story by Stephen Leach and is performed exceptionally well by Zach Hawkins.

The Grandfathers

What would it be like for young people if national conscription were still part of growing up; to receive the letter giving you time and place to report for 547 days of duty and ha…

Sad-Vents

Bold, unapologetic, and certainly unique, Sad-Vents is a really terrific example of innovative theatre that invites its audience into a space which is as unsettling as it is empowe…

Circa's Peepshow (Club Remix)

Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, CIRCA Contemporary Circus is pushing the boundaries of circus excellence, blending incredibly skilled circus performances with contemporary dance …

The Last Flapper

There’s been a mix-up in the weekly appointment with her Sanatorium psychiatrist.

Sherlock Holmes The Last Act

With a plethora of Sherlock Holmes shows to catch at this year’s Fringe; our fascination with the super-sleuth showing no signs of abating.

The Billy Joel Story

Night Owl Shows delivers a worthy and memorable spectacle with The Billy Joel Story that sees the talented troupe of Angus Munro on piano and vocals, Daniel Watts on drums, Alex Be…

Bad Play

Okay, let’s start at the beginning.

The Whitney Houston Story

Cleopatra Higgins gives a fierce performance in The Whitney Houston Story, along with her band, Higgins sings Whitney Houston’s most recognisable hits while exploring Whitney Hou…

The Blondie Story

For casual Blondie fans, it might be easy to forget how many hits the genre defying band have had over the decades.

Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt

In Frank Skinner's Thirty Years of Dirt (a clever pun I shamefully only just got this second), Skinner proves exactly what makes him such a dab hand at this comedy malarkey.

Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised

After a three year hiatus, Tom Skelton, Daniel Roberts, Chris Turner and Dougie Walker return to the Edinburgh Fringe with their critically-acclaimed improv show, Aaaand Now For So…

The Death of Molly Miller

First featured as a radio drama on BBC Radio 4, The Death of Molly Miller now takes to the stage with its plucky hostage comedy that addresses pertinent social issues.

Sasha Ellen: When Life Gives You Ellens Make Ellenade

“The primary school teacher vibes don’t end here,” Sasha Ellen jokes lightheartedly at the start of When Life Gives You Ellens, Make Ellenade.

Manifest Destiny's Child

I don’t think you can ever go wrong watching a Guy Masterson production in the Assembly Rooms.

Tutu

High on my list of must-see Fringe shows for this year’s festival, Tutu is an explosion of colour, grace, and humour.

After The Act (A Section 28 Musical)

After The Act (A Section 28 Musical) is an eye-opening performance about Section 28 a series of laws introduced to the UK in the 1980s that prohibited the “promotion of homosexua…

Ben Target: LORENZO

Award-winning performance artist and comedian of Fringes gone by, Ben Target, welcomes us with coffee on arrival into the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall, a delightfully old-…

Emotionally Unreasonable

Review
★★★★
Katerina Partolina Schwartz
Edinburgh Fringe
Laughing Horse @ Eastside / Laughing Horse @ Home Bar
29th Aug, 2023

Maria DeCotis’ Emotionally Unreasonable is a mildly funny stand-up routine that breaks every so often into really sophisticated pieces of musical comedy that quickly become a tru…

52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals

Taking verbatim theatre into a new realm, 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals is interested in how real life becomes performance and vice versa.

Guru Dudu's Silent Disco Walking Tours

Review
★★★★
Jasmine Arden-Brown
Edinburgh Fringe
Meeting point at Appleton Tower, Crichton St
24th Aug, 2023

I’d been enjoying the Edinburgh Fringe for about two weeks, and had occasionally spotted these large groups wearing headphones being led around the city by a very colourful chara…

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