Was Queen Elizabeth I really a virgin? Was the Spanish Armada lead by a giant inflatable penis? How good was Mary Queen of Scots' head game? Find out in this surprisingly accurate (horrible histories inspired) musical comedy. Join us on an in depth exploration of the folds of a woman who's been documented as much for her body and sexuality as her actual achievements and success. Through scandal, conspiracy and raunchy musical comedy, let us delve into the life of Queen Elizabeth I. After all, there's nothing weird about discussing a 491-year-old's wobbly bits, is there

Regina Vagina

Fingers Piano Bar

Princess Gayatri seeks to preserve her father’s legacy and the survival of her people. Can she attain her dreams? Epic new opera from Mhyajo, based on Mpu Prapanca’s 13th century Javanese manuscript Nagarakertagama, with music composed by Franki Raden, a professor in ethnomusicology, and co-directed by Bona Palma. ‘Fascinating and brilliantly scripted’ **** (TheatreAndArtReviews.wordpress.com). ‘A brave and deeply ambitious spectacle’ **** (LouReviews.blog). ‘Its combination of contemporary and traditional, of history, music and movement, is unexpectedly compelling’ (SeeingDance.com). ‘A stunning story and artform… am now desperate to see more!’ (TheArtsBusiness.com).

Gayatri: The Majapahit Trilogy (Episode 1)

C ARTS | C venues | C digital

A spooky fantasy adventure. A young girl named Minerva is a hero in her dreams but feels helpless in real life. When her friend is taken by Oizys, the Goddess of Anxiety, Minerva must travel through a skeleton-ridden city to rescue her. A touching tale for any child or adult who has ever struggled with the constant worry that they're not good enough. Featuring award-winning cinematic shadow puppetry from Japan. Hundreds of puppets are projected on a large screen to create a live animated movie. From the creators of Space Hippo and Shadow Kingdom. ***** (Now Magazine).

Shadow Necropolis

Assembly Roxy

What happens six months after your five minutes of fame? Cyrus and Ben are the first gay winners of TV's biggest reality show. They're 22, have thousands of followers, but now spend most of their days making sponsored content about dog food, and fronting campaigns about adult incontinence. When they're offered an influencing deal in Dubai, the couple must decide how far they'll go to cling to celebrity... and at what cost. A smash-hit satire by multi award-winning comedy writers for Netflix and BBC Television. 'Fantastic play... had me howling with laughter' (BroadwayWorld.com), from BAFTA-winning Unusual Productions.

Love's a Beach

Pleasance Courtyard

Estelle models for the Artist. Despite decades of experience, she has never sat for a session like this. What happens when she can't stand sitting any longer? How does this class change her life forever? An exciting new work from Maria MacDonell (Miss Lindsay's Secret) and featuring Leo MacNeill as the Artist, LIFE is a play which is an active drawing class. Pencil and paper are provided and limited on-stage tickets are available seated at easels, with drawing materials provided. You can participate, or simply watch the story emerge.

LIFE

Scottish Storytelling Centre

Birdy is 19. She's too old to beat boys up in the playground or skip maths. But she wishes she wasn't. Until, by chance, she unearths a family secret. One that's been buried since 1930s Cairo. One that her grandfather would rather stay hidden. But for Birdy this might be her chance to right the wrongs of the past, and prove maybe she isn't so useless after all? From award-winning playwright Amy Lever, Lost Girl is an exploration into Jewish-Arab heritage, the expectations of womanhood and family.

Lost Girl

Underbelly, George Square

A cocky gay clown in therapy. A clueless detective. An X-Factor sob story. Pop culture and queer drama drama drama collide against a rainbow backdrop. A surreal, fast-paced and darkly funny exploration of a queer relationship gone bad. Blending clowning, drag and a subversive take on the trauma-parading solo show, plewds is about the lengths we’ll go to avoid what’s right in front of us, in a story where the villains don’t look like villains. Being queer is the best, right? Mary Dick Award Winner 2024. Made with support from Camden People's Theatre.

plewds

Summerhall Edinburgh

On the heels of a major childhood event, K Lorrel Manning's Lost... Found takes you on a soul-searching, delightfully human rollercoaster ride through music, unlikely heroes and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

Lost... Found

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not an Arab eyes? Israeli-Palestinian co-creation following four friends and how mandatory conscription to the IDF affects them. One wants to get out, one's a pilot, one was never drafted, one's torn inside. A raw multilingual, physical portrayal that exposes the consequences army life has on the mental-health of the teenagers enlisted. It explores themes like protest against war, self-harm and what it means to be Israeli and peace-pursuing; the critical voice for coexistence under the pressures of politically motivated violence. Who's a rebel? Who's a patriot?

Rebels and Patriots

'Here we all are... sat together in one room. One room. One audience. One… beautiful nation'. From the creator of We Were Promised Honey! and Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist comes a new experiment in storytelling. It’s the story of a nation. It’s the story of a theatre. It’s the story of an audience. Outside there are people trying to get in. And in the middle of the room… apparently a show is taking place. ‘YESYESNONO make shows that feel completely different to anybody else’ (Exeunt). Off West End Award finalist, 2022. Best Production, Total Theatre Award.

Nation

ROUNDABOUT @ Summerhall

Surrender yourself to a comedy-thriller experience inspired by the classic game of deception. What feels like a game by daylight takes on new life when plunged into the night. Created by one of New Zealand's most innovative theatre companies, Werewolf features chilling sound design and a unique immersive style; you can be a fly on the wall or take charge of the situation. However you decide to play it, you will become part of a community coming together to make it through the night. But what is hiding in the darkness that is making everyone so nervous?

Werewolf

Love at first sight is easy, letting it through the front door is a goddamn Odyssey. All he wants to do is let the perfect man in, but can he overcome his unhinged neighbour, a seductive cult, a self-obsessed vampire, and a cat intent on dragging him to hell? From Audible and the award-winning producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, I'm Almost There is New York favourite Todd Almond's rueful, hilarious and poignant modern love story in song about a man crossing a sea of doubts to find happiness…and good coffee.

I'm Almost There

It's the Black Women Curse. A poetic reflection of a harrowing true story. Godlike, a Walking Universe, with the power to create life. When the mind forgets but the body doesn't, every traumatic event is etched into the fabric of DNA. Memories manifest themselves like a pollutant. Afrofuturism through an East African lens. Interweaving language, customs and music with wearable tech MiMu gloves, ethereal artist Lula Mebrahtu (aka LULA.XYZ

OommoO I Am A Walking Universe

'This is just the start. Of Everything. Of Us.' It's the late 90s. Charlie and Debs have perfected their Wannabe routine. They're drenched in Impulse Blue. And they're each other's everything. But as the world pulls them in different directions, their friendship begins to strain. It dies. Again and again and again. If a female friendship dies many deaths, how many can they survive? Spanning 25 years and the countless lifetimes of one friendship, this new romcom explores the heartbreak of platonic love. By Amy Powell Yeates. Directed by Claire O'Reilly.

Little Deaths

Abigail’s mum is dead. But it turns out she can’t afford her to be. It’s £4000 for the funeral. Extra for flowers. Even more if you want sausage rolls. Then, when a theatre suddenly pulls out of Abigail’s new project, she is asked to write about something else. Something more raw, from her "unique working class lens". Yep. To afford the funeral, she has to write about her mum. With power and playfulness, Kelly Jones’s new play tackles the inequalities around death, and the cost of turning your loved ones into art.

My Mother's Funeral: The Show

Inside Chekhov's masterpiece, Olga, Masha, and Irina are trapped in a cycle of disappointed hopes, heartbreak, and inertia. But this time, it's going to be different. Looking for answers, this trio investigate the trope they have been written into, from Greek mythology to the Sugarbabes. Harnessing the raucous energy of girlhood and the wildness of three women on the brink, Sisters Three sets ablaze a construction of femininity drawn by men, to find hope in its ashes. TheatreGoose return to Summerhall following their OFFest-nominated and BBC Popcorn Award-longlisted debut Her Green Hell.

Sisters Three

Belles was the it girl, hip girl, oh-so-very-fit girl. When she was 17. Now, she’s 24 and spends her days bossed about by her Mum and girls she 100% used to bully. So, when a life-changing opportunity slides into her DMs, she carpes the diem, makes her millions and proves the worth of women worldwide one post at a time. Except she doesn’t. Because…come on. A finalist for The Stage Innovation Award, this is a hair-pulling, fake-nail scratching, cat-fight against get-rich-quick schemes and what it means to be a Girl Boss™.

I Really Do Think This Will Change Your Life

Pleasance Dome

An ape named Red Peter is captured. In his quest to break out of his confinement, he learns to imitate humanity and contests identity based on outward appearance. Through his journey, Kafka's Ape questions the understanding of otherness. Miyambo has received multiple accolades for this powerful performance, including winner of Outstanding Performance Award at Prague Fringe Festival 2019, Best Satire Award at New York's United Solo Festival 2019, and the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, among others.

Kafka's Ape

Join Australian musical comedian Darby James for his multi-award-winning cabaret about the process of sperm donation. On this unforgettable voyage with all original songs, Darby clicks a Facebook ad and gets swept up on an hilarious, heartfelt adventure. As he navigates medical questionnaires, psychological evaluations and musings on potential parenthood, Darby finds himself stranded as a seaman in moral purgatory, facing the question: should we be having children? Winner of the Edinburgh Touring Award and Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023, and nominated for six Green Room Awards, Darby James dives headfirst into his international debut.

Little Squirt

Journey into Dublin, a city where pints are needed before chats can happen. James and Sean are hopelessly single while Grace and Kayleigh are in relationships that are problematic. When the four collide in a crowded bar opportunities appear. Will they follow their hearts or eternally just settle? Find out in this engaging romantic comedy. Colin O'Donnell recently had One More commissioned as a pilot for Irish TV. He's joined by a scintillating cast that takes you into the real life stories of people searching for love in 2024. Colin previously had a sell out show 'Coppers Uncovered'.

One More

This is a show about food banks. This is not a show about food. This is about the bad stuff. This is an emergency. This is a clowning show. Multi award winners Ugly Bucket (Untapped Award 2022) present a blazing inferno of physicality, clown, original music, and transformative personal testimony. Stuffed is a roaring call to action amidst the wreckage of a desecrated system. 'As enraging as it is brilliant. A tour-de-force performance that deserves the nation's attention' ***** (OpeningNights.co.uk). 'You could hear a pin drop in the furthest corner of the room' ***** (NorthWestEnd.co.uk).

Stuffed

This one's for the young hearts, the old hearts and the broken hearts. Story, science and a synth combine in an exhilarating performance that examines what happens in our bodies when we're bereft. From acclaimed New Zealand company EBKM (Yes Yes Yes), Heartbreak Hotel tracks a woman's broken heart in a wrenching and relatable journey that's studded with classic break-up songs and razor-sharp observations on the physiology of love. 'Fantastic. Karin McCracken is, quite simply, brilliant. She's hilarious, heartwarming and moving – often all at once' (TheatreView.org.nz).

Heartbreak Hotel

1999. Lucy is in labour. She’s just been handed a document to sign and her sense of self is beginning to deteriorate. 2024. Claire is an art student. Her latest panic attack means her art course could be over. Oh, and she can't stop contemplating her own mortality. Misdiagnosis, mistreatment and misinformation were rife back then. And still are now... Claire and Lucy have OCD. But they don’t know that yet. From award-winning Almost Adult writer/performer Charlotte Anne-Tilley (***** (EdFestMag)), Lipstick (**** (The Stage)) director, Ed White and Destiny (**** (Guardian)) producer, Tom Bevan.

Oh, Calm Down

Cairns Lecture Theatre

What would you want to say to your best friend if the world was about to end? Exploring queer friendship, platonic love and nuclear anxiety, Seconds to Midnight asks what happens in a world with no consequences. Diving into the parallels between beginnings and endings, we follow Jo and Eddie through the first seven minutes of their friendship and the final seven hours of the world. Praise for previous work: 'A brilliant addition to the queer theatre landscape' ***** (BroadwayWorld.com). 'Tender and original' **** (Skinny).

Seconds to Midnight

The Herald Angel Award-winning smash hit of modern Scottish theatre returns to the Fringe for a fifth successive year. The tragic, comic and epic tale of the greatest bagpiper that ever lived, a Pitlochry bin man who rocked tradition, flew beyond the summit of his art and changed Scottish music forever. Whatever notions you have of bagpipes, leave them at the door. 'A stunning, staggering piece of modern Scottish folk theatre' ***** (BritishTheatreGuide.info). 'Elucidating, charming and rip-roaringly inspirational' ***** (TheQR.co.uk).

Thunderstruck

As children they were evacuated from a war zone. Fifty years on, Barton and Andy are still trying to find out who they are. Precious Cargo is a powerful, timely new show about the life-long impact of the Vietnam war, by Australian writer-performer Barton Williams (Huynh van Cuong) and Hebridean composer Andy Yearley (Nguyen Tang). Drawing on interviews with Operation Babylift adoptees from across the world, it is a story about the chaos of conflict, childhood trauma, racism and a generation running out of time to find lost families. Directed by Fringe First winner Laura Cameron-Lewis.

Precious Cargo

Jamie can’t swim. Bit awkward when you’re 30. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, Jamie is taking on her biggest fear, the ocean. With the help of a chipper swim instructor, a shady spiritual guide and one cathartic crab sandwich, she’s questioning, ‘how many lengths does it take to wash away regret?’ Brilliantly witty, deeply heartfelt, this play explores what lies beneath the surface of Black people’s relationship to water. Somebody Jones’ searing debut is 'funny with fear, liberating with grief' (FringeReview.co.uk) and impossible to walk away from unchanged.

How I Learned to Swim

Join performance-maker and foodie Sean Wai Keung as he explores fortune cookies as well as his own mixed-race identity. Write your own fortunes as he bakes cookies live while exploring the history of this most enigmatic of after-meal snacks. An intimate performance for ten people maximum, you will have the opportunity to write fortunes for yourself or for someone else. Suitable for vegans.

A History of Fortune Cookies

No one likes crusty knickers and a broken heart. But that’s just life, isn’t it? Three friends grow up under an ancient tree. They’re filthy, brutal and full of hope. By turns hysterical and poignant, Playfight is a searing probe of their inner lives as they hunt for love. Proper, ugly love. As their roots sink deeper, the branches stretch higher… so they decide to climb. Multi Fringe First-winning team Julia Grogan (Gunter), Theatre Uncut and Grace Dickson Productions present Playfight, shining a vivid light on adolescent desire in a landscape of rising sexual violence.

Playfight

Jules has just discovered she likes girls. Juniper has always known – a queer romcom exploring polyamory, shifting sexualities and modern love. Written by award-winning playwright Stephanie Martin. Follow two women redefining romance and exploring what it means not just to survive without a template, but how we can carve our own.

Juniper and Jules

Fairy Sprinkles isn't your average fairy... In this award winning rock'n'roll monologue from Lucy Heffernan, all the glitzy hell of a kid's birthday party explodes out on stage to rip apart class, challenge traditional feminine behaviour and explore the impact of mental illness on family. Telling stories from Heffernan's time as a Party Fairy, and featuring five original rock songs – don't miss this intimate, funny and deeply moving work. Winner: 2023 Adelaide Fringe Weekly Award for Best Theatre / Physical Theatre.

Party Girl

From the creative team behind the five-star, multi-award winning plays Jesus, Jane Mother and Me, and Heroin(e) for Breakfast. The horrors of war have broken young Wesley, but could the madness he encounters beyond it save or destroy a soldier's shellshocked mind? A powerful new play from multi award-winning playwright Philip Stokes, recognised by the British Library as a culturally important playwright of the 21st century, and Olivier, Tony and Emmy award-winning producer Richard Jordan. Starring Jack Stokes (Winner, Adelaide Critics Circle Award 2023) and Lee Bainbridge – Heroin(e) For Breakfast: ***** (Sunday Telegraph).

Shellshocked – An Explosive New Play

Iris and Thalia. Thalia and Iris. A flatshare. A secret. A friendship dancing on the edge of time. Everything moves different when you know it's all coming apart. From the company that brought you Bluewater ('a true original' ***** (BingeFringe.com)), this electric ode to female friendship by Danielle James confronts us with a searing question: how do you grieve something you haven't yet lost?

Knives and Forks

Gilded Balloon Patter House

Mother is in prison. Daughter, from whom she has been estranged for 12 years, has come to visit. Closely watched by security personnel, they have 1 hour. As unreliable as she is charming, Mother recounts her version of events, knowing this is their last chance to reconnect. Along a blurry journey of sleep deprivation and abandoned love, we discover the true reason for her imprisonment and ask: how can you keep a hold of yourself when you're forced to get lost in your keeper? A new play from the writer of multi award-winning Bacon. 'Beautiful and devastating' ***** (Stage)

Surrender

Described by WhyNow magazine as a modern-day Under Milk Wood, and an 'unmissable hour of theatre' by LostInTheatreLand.co.uk, This Town arrives at the fringe after a successful sold-out run at Contact and Derby Theatre. Based on the epic poem And Within These Cobbled Streets published by Verve Press, This Town pushes the boundaries of spoken word, storytelling and theatre, dropping audiences into a small Midlands town whilst investigating the difficulties of male friendship, masculinity and sexuality. The characters will make you laugh cry and reflect on on the importance of close-knit communities supporting each other through difficult times.

This Town

'If you follow someone down a path you don't recognise, you risk not being able to find your way back.' When Ouida was a child her father sleepwalked out of the house... never to return. Ouida suspected her imaginary friend "Burt" led him astray, but her family insisted he'd abandoned them and she must give up all notions of imaginary things. Years later, Ouida is a respected therapist debunking the irrational and fantastic... But what will you believe? This beautiful, darkly comic story about magic versus cynicism leaves audiences charmed – and just a little bit spooked.

Piskie

1968. Three thousand students occupy the London School of Economics, in the most significant act of protest in a generation. 2024. Two friends and flatmates try to work out what radical change means today, searching through archives, photos, and first-hand accounts. Following a sold-out Soho Theatre run, Lessons on Revolution comes to Summerhall. This five-star, 'compelling and galvanising' (James Graham) piece of documentary theatre takes you on a journey through global and personal history which asks: in a new age of inequality and injustice, how can the voices of the past give us hope?

Lessons on Revolution

New York Comedian/Moth StorySLAM Champion Brooke weaves award-winning storytelling, poetic narrative, wry comedy to fashion a uniquely styled, kaleidoscopic identity exploration and invitation to reflect on outtie and innie worlds. Following sold-out solo shows Off-Off Broadway and Edinburgh Fringe, Brooke's infectious energy and unique voice crafts a celebration of indomitable human spirit. Previous: 'Writing and delivery is first class'; 'A proper performer to balance the comedy and drama'; 'Brilliant tour de force' (Audience reviews). 'Sharp comedic timing' **** (Skinny); 'Endearing wit… thoroughly worth seeing' **** (TheatreWeekly.com); 'Intriguing and heartfelt' **** (LondonTheatre1.com).

The Brilliance of Broken Glass: Button

What happens six months after your five minutes of fame? Cyrus and Ben are the first gay winners of TV's biggest reality show. They're 22, have thousands of followers, but now spend most of their days making sponsored content about dog food, and fronting campaigns about adult incontinence. When they're offered an influencing deal in Dubai, the couple must decide how far they'll go to cling to celebrity... and at what cost. A smash-hit satire by multi award-winning comedy writers for Netflix and BBC Television. 'Fantastic play... had me howling with laughter' (BroadwayWorld.com), from BAFTA-winning Unusual Productions.


At 69, Alice wonders: if she hadn’t been expelled from convent school and had sex with Keith from the sausage rolls section, what might her life have been? Will Alice shake off the shackles of the patriarchy and live out the rest of her days with outrageous abandon? Find out in this rip-roaring feminist comedy, created by three women over 60.

In the Lady Garden

Meet Nicole: Hyperverbal, chaotic and a little dramatic with deep self loathing and crippling self esteem issues, she thought she was a complete disaster, until she found out she had ADHD. Three years later she impulsively wrote and performed her first one woman show in 2023 about discovering her ADHD at 30, Why Am I Like This? Bracing herself for failure, the opposite happened: everyone loved the show (and her?!) So why is it so hard to believe? Why is she so empty? Now there's a new question: Why Am I (Still) Like This?

EPSG:4326

Why Am I (Still) Like This?

Online

"Fortunes" lost. "Fortunes" gained. Canada's Miramichi Valley High School presents this world-premiere production of privilege, power, love and revelation, set in Regency-era England. The untimely deaths of their parents has upheaved the world of the three young "Lady Fortunes", whose idyllic lives of standing and innocence are replaced with declarations of unwanted truths, long hidden jealousies and shockingly dark desires. A compelling story of entangled secrets and devious retribution.

Miss Fortune's Misfortunes

Central Hall Edinburgh

The NHS is on its knees, yet no one has thought to call a theatre company... until NOW. Can actors Adam and Kemi single-handedly save our healthcare system, before it's too late? No other theatre company has had such consistent collaboration with NHS / Care Home staff since April 2020. Join us in our interactive and exhilarating A&E as satire meets medical mayhem in a rousing call to arms, with inspiring verbatim stories and dark humour from the frontline. Post-show events 10, 15, 22 Aug, 13:30-14:30.

In the Sick of It

Assembly George Square Studios

Imagine discovering that your friend's novel was all about your late husband's affair and murder... A psychological thriller with echoes of The Talented Mr Ripley and Rosemary's Baby: female "hysteria" vs sexual identity. On the tenth anniversary of her husband's death, May adds the finishing touches to the table settings just as the doorbell rings. This is it. The moment of truth. But as May welcomes Eric with a warm embrace, their conversation takes an unexpected and unsettling turn...

Things Between Heaven and Earth

Underbelly, Bristo Square

Award-winning solo performance about women over three generations. A mystic siren calls out from distant shores to take the audience on an astral journey of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. The awakening of the feminine within through monologues, dance, chanting and live music liberates a past bondage and leads to spiritual metamorphosis.

Voices of a Siren

The University of Edinburgh

This is Temi’s show. It’s all about her. Not you. Her. Temi got veeeery good at being everybody’s sassy best friend. Growing up a black girl in a white world shunts you into playing a side character in your own life. But now she’s stepping into her Main Character Energy and it’s your privilege and pleasure to give her all the attention she deserves. As self-aware as it is self-indulgent, this show is a high-energy cocktail of comedy, audience interaction and cabaret. An excuse to show Edinburgh how radiant Temi is.

Main Character Energy

Nominated for Best Production at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023, You're Needy (sounds frustrating) is a site-specific piece for one audience member about a woman's retreat from everyday life in pursuit of peace, solitude and "wellness". Carrie's moved into her bathroom. She's living on slim noodles and chopped parsley baths. Every week she's visited by a volunteer hired to help her reintegrate into society. This week, it's your turn. Take an ocean breath and snort a line of rock salt. It's time to peel off those cucumbers and take a long hard look at yourself

You're Needy (sounds frustrating)

Buccleuch Terrace

Moscow 2001. Echoes of Soviet Russia linger and young Putin is flirting with the West, when two rebellious souls lose themselves in a vodka-fuelled romance. Bringing audio diaries made on an old Walkman to life, Moscow Love Story is an untamed exploration of love and memory, paralleling personal boundaries with geopolitics in a world on the brink of transformation. Developed with support of Alma Alter Theatre Laboratory, Bulgaria and Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. 'Jenkins weaves a substantial, ambitious play of ideas' **** (Telegraph, for First Person Shooter).

Moscow Love Story

Every day a different unrehearsed performer takes to the stage, ready to receive instructions. Line-by-line a story unfolds, and a life unspools. A new show by makers of work.txt, ***** (Guardian) Instructions is about AI, creativity and the dying days of capitalism, performed by a different actor every day. They are about to give the performance of a lifetime as the borders between reality and fiction begin to blur. By Nathan Ellis. Produced by SUBJECT OBJECT. 'God, but I do love this' ***** (Guardian). 'Brilliantly conceived and highly original' ***** (Scotsman).

Instructions

It's the EURO 2020 Final at Wembley and Billy's gone viral for sticking a flare up his arse! Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England is a blisteringly funny new play that returns to the Fringe after a sell-out, five-star run. Billy and his best pal Adam are die-hard football fans. It's how they spend every weekend. It's their escape, their religion and their life. But when they encounter a new group of mates, they start to take their support one step further.

Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England

Being of service can be a wonderful thing. But can saying yes to everyone be a toxic trait? Told through tales of years working in the service industry, from call centres to cafes, How Can I Help You is a musical ode to Callum's 33 years as a chronic people pleaser, an exploration of the power of no and a look at how scary it can be to set boundaries, for yourself and for those you love. Callum Patrick Hughes returns to The Pleasance after his critically acclaimed 2023 Edinburgh Fringe debut Thirst.

How Can I Help You

The critically acclaimed, sold-out comedy from New York makes its UK premiere. Two actors and a Foley artist perform a live, shot-for-shot parody of the greatest dinosaur film of all time. A wildly inventive tour-de-force of comedy, physical theatre and live Foley. 'Painfully funny... made us cry actual tears of laughter... a pure joy from start to finish' Critic's Pick (Time Out). 'Amazing and hilarious... go see this masterful production' (StageBuddy.com). 'This is something that can't be missed' (TheHappiestMedium.com).

Hold on to Your Butts

'On my 29th birthday I died. And went to Heaven. Only it didn't happen in that order...'. A tropical rollercoaster of love, sex and margaritas. A birthday that turns her world upside down. From the golden shores of Costa Rica to the depths of her past, in this journey through paradise, surfboards and salsa nights collide with the raw truths of female sexuality. 'I'm saying no – maybe I'm not saying it loud enough because he doesn't hear it?'

How to Kill a Chicken

For decades trans people have been using hyperpop to shatter standards of genre, gender and good taste. Right now, the only thing Saoirse wants to shatter is her own f*cking voice. Told through live vocal modulation and manipulation, this is a rip-roaring and unabashedly queer theatrical deep dive into trans identity and music. What it means to speak, sing and, for the audience (yes, you babe), to listen.

HYPER

Ezra Montefiore is the greatest spirit medium of all time. A master of the seance, levitation and telekinesis, he defies all scientific explanation. But when details of a clandestine affair with Prince Felix Yusupov reach the ears of Rasputin and Russia's Imperial Court he must fight not only for his reputation but also his life. From the makers of the sell-out smash hits Jew...ish and Man of 100 Faces comes an extraordinary story based on real historical events, told through dynamic physical theatre, multi-roling and stage illusion. Expect seances, spirit-possession and live levitation.


In Defiance Of Gravity

Late at night at the corner store, your card got declined again. The fluorescent lights are blinking on and off. When you go for the door, it has disappeared. What happens when strangers are forced to connect? What if some of them are supposed to have passed on, but got stuck? A searingly honest commentary on the absurdity of existence, how we judge the strangers around us, and how much we need each other. An original devised show, incorporating principles of repetition and movement.

How Dead Am I?

C ARTS | C venues | C aurora

Jenny Marx, wife (and brains!) of Karl, was curiously airbrushed from history... Although, given a new voice via a researcher's pen, will she now fight for her truth to be heard, or will yet another formidable woman remain trapped between the lines of history books, silenced by the patriarchy, and occupy outdated notions of what society insists she should be? Commedia dell'arte trained Clara Francesca is directed by Olivier Award winner Guy Masterson, in an astounding performance that nods to Luigi Pirandello and winks at Peter Brook.

Making Marx

Assembly Rooms

Blood spots on my duvet. Stains on my pillowcase. Bite marks on my wrists. Bed bugs in my flat, lurking in my mattress. Except... there were no bed bugs. There were never any to begin with. Based on true events, make the Bed is a solo piece that explores what it's like when your thoughts consume you. When black and white thinking takes over. When you have anxiety. And what it can feel like sitting with that anxiety in real time. And how to maybe, just maybe, go towards the grey. Directed by Cecilia Thoden van Velzen.

make the Bed

'You know I hate looking back.' 'It's not looking back. We're still here.' How does it feel to watch yourself grow old? A woman, Her, returns home to find her childhood in boxes and her mother ready to move on; her parents have sold the house, and things need sorting through. Over the course of the day, Her and Mother find themselves caught up in some difficult conversations, as they come to terms with what was, what is and what will be. A show about nostalgia, reflection and the ache of leaving the past behind.


Paradok Platform: This Natural Scene

Just the Tonic at The Caves

Imagine a bar owned by Love itself. Only people who are in love are allowed in. A couple of young lovers enter the bar. After sultry musical and dance performances, and after meeting many of the guests embodying different types of love, the lovers realise that once someone enters the bar – once someone falls in love – it is hard to get out of it because romantic love can become addictive. Sultry performances. Obsession. Purity. Sex. Are you ready to enter Love’s Concordia Bar?

Love’s Concordia Bar

C ARTS | C venues | C aquila

House of Life is a place of worship with one goal: happiness for all, at any cost. One part sermon, one part purge, three parts party, this is a space to let it all out. Led by the glitter-clad RaveRend, House of Life provides a scientifically proven sense of togetherness and elevation at a time when people feel more disconnected than ever. Heal through music, joy and noise in an eight-step musical programme that is hailed as 'one of the most joyful productions the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has to offer' (BroadwayBaby.com). Get happy. Join the RAVEolution.

House of Life

Underbelly Cowgate

An evening of good, old-fashioned Scottish entertainment, featuring some of Edinburgh's best-known performers. Join Wendy Weatherby (cello, vocals), John Sampson (trumpet, crumhorn, recorders), Sandy Brechin (accordion, piano), Andy Cannon (storyteller) and Allan and Rosemary McMillan (vocals, guitar) for a cheerful, poignant or nostalgic jaunt through our favourite songs, tunes and stories. From Scotland's rich, dramatic folk traditions to the light-hearted fun of its variety theatres, come along, sing along – there's something for everyone at our party!

Mrs Weatherby's Concert Party

artSpace@StMarks

Looks like one hat – isn't. Who would wear a hat like that? It's a solo show with a solo hat. An episodic fusion of clown, character and poignant storytelling that playfully teases at the insightful and the nonsensical. A discovery of the delicate dance between the desire to be seen and the urge to hide. Brought to you by Gaulier freshling Anna Sharpe-Jones and her hat.

The Hat of Many Hats

This immersive family drama, about an older relative’s act of aggression towards a biracial child, actively investigates white privilege, judgement, identity and bias. I Am, Other invites the audience, through interactive engagement, to explore why it is not okay to be different. Spectators become participants in shaping the lens through which they see the world. At the beginning they are presented with a scenario and a point of view, then guided through gamified scenes, and asked to reflect on the event's repercussions. After a replay of the initial scenario, has their viewpoint changed? Q&A after performance.

I Am, Other

We bought a bunch of robot vacuum cleaners off Temu. Form a team with your fellow audience members, pick a vacuum, customise it, and then pit it against a dozen others in a furious knockout competition that will test your robot's speed, suction, agility and fighting spirit. The winning team gets to take home (whatever's left) of the losing teams. That's it. That's the show. If you like Robot Wars, this will probably be nothing like it, but you should come along anyhow.

Robot Vacuum Fight Club

Disney fan? Massive raging queer? Then Happily Ever Poofter is for you! Join Prince Henry (the "Only Gay in the Kingdom") on his hilarious and heart-warming quest for true love! A story of pride, acceptance and queer joy to warm your rainbow heart. This multi-award-winning cabaret spectacular (featuring brilliantly reworked Disney favourites!) has thrilled and entertained audiences all over the world, and now returns to Edinburgh for a third triumphant year. Cum! Join in the magic! Winner: Best New Musical, Offies. Winner: Big Gay Award, Brighton Fringe. ***** (GayTimes.com). ***** (What’s On Adelaide). ***** (Boyz Magazine).

Happily Ever Poofter

Claud's stuck. Big time. Aimlessly drifting between her job as a ghost tour guide to reluctant family dinners to endless bad dates in even worse pubs, Claud is in limbo. Still finding her feet 10 years after her dad died, an unlikely encounter with a ghost at Angel Station comes with the realisation that she's got work to do. Forced to question mortality in this tragically semi-autobiographical tragicomedy, will her rendezvous with the dead persuade her to start living again? 'Fielding performs... with comedic timing and droll, ironic delivery' (LondonPubTheatres.com).

Never Get to Heaven in an Empty Shell

Viking mythology performed by professional wrestlers! Quickly becoming a Fringe staple, this masterpiece brings all the comedy, chaos, and combat of ancient stories to life like you've never seen before. One of the Telegraph's Best Theatre Shows of Fringe 2023, this masterful blend of storytelling, theatre and stage combat follows Thor, Loki and the other Norse Gods in their struggles to overcome primeval giants, rival clans and their own ambitions in what HiFi Way calls ‘One of, if not the best, physical theatre shows of the 2024 Adelaide Fringe'. 'Knockout spectacle' **** (Telegraph). 'Spectacular' ***** (BroadwayBaby.com).

Mythos: Ragnarok

Award-winning Dyad Productions (Lady Susan, I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic, Austen's Women) return with a 21st century take on Virginia Woolf's blisteringly brilliant pre-TED talk. Take an amusing and incisive trip through the history of literature, feminism and gender. Meet Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, Aphra Behn, and Shakespeare's sister, Judith! Introducing a different way to look at creativity, it even comments on what life will be like in the 2020s! Come and be amused, challenged and changed. Rebecca Vaughan performs Woolf's 1928 exploration of the impact of poverty and sexual inequality on intellectual freedom and creativity.

A Room of One's Own

The Fringe at Prestonfield

What would you take if you were forced to leave home with no hope of returning? How would you make a fresh start somewhere completely new? This is the true story of one woman who loses everything. Remembering the tastes and aromas of her mother’s kitchen with live cooking on stage, she recreates the dishes of her childhood and homeland, building a new life and community around food. Written by award-winning Hannah Khalil and starring Isabella Nefar (Salome, National Theatre) this life-affirming new play chronicles the journey of one woman’s quest to start again.

My English Persian Kitchen

Traverse Theatre

The award-winning TMB transports Gogol’s Inspector General to 1970s small-town America. 'An exuberant, joyously unrestrained, and enthusiastic musical comedy' (DiscoverHollywood.com). A timely reflection on corruption and cover-up from the creators of Big Shot and Grail Project. 'The gold standard in wry literary remakes.' (LATimes.com). Gogol said of his play’s good-natured rogues that the only positive character is laughter. Tiny Little Town embraces the laughter with biting wit, beautiful songs, and high-octane physicality. 'As close to perfect as a new production can get' (SplashMags.com).

Tiny Little Town

How do we uncover our true colours in a world full of reasons to hide? A life-affirming, thought-provoking comedy about trying to blend in everywhere yet belonging nowhere, from engineer, entrepreneur (Forbes 30 Under 30) and award-winning storyteller Narie Foster in her Edinburgh Fringe debut. Born in New York to Thai and Canadian scientists, Foster takes us on a multifaceted exploration of freedom, authenticity and scantily camouflaged metaphors. 'Beautifully written. Raw and honest. Naturally hilarious.' **** (InReview.com.au). All profits go to Summerhall Arts charity.

1 in a Chameleon

'At that time, I told myself not to cry, and so I didn't.' Inspired by the writings of Hong Kong author Xi Xi, whose whimsical tales became a defining portrait of a city transitioning away from British rule; and the story of the last male northern white rhinoceros, Sudan, whose death marked the end of a species on the brink of extinction. Must I Cry, performed in English, is a multimedia exploration of memory through the interweaving of texts and narratives presented in poetic form, accompanied by live music and video projections. Directed/performed by Bonni Chen.

Must I Cry

Augustine United Church

Get ready for laughter, tears, and rock'n'roll in rising star Charlene Kaye's hit solo show, Tiger Daughter or: How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame (directed by Jennifer Monaco), about defying your Tiger Mom's dreams of you playing Carnegie Hall, and becoming her worst nightmare: a slutty shredder in all-girl Guns N' Roses cover band, Guns N' Hoses (Welcome To The Vajungle!), amongst other mishaps. This Fringe debut follows a sold-out US tour, and will be presented by comedy legend Margaret Cho at Joe's Pub, NYC this fall.

Tiger Daughter or: How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame

Paradise in The Vault

From Bach to The Beatles and beyond, South Australian cellist/songwriter William Jack presents a free (non-ticketed) multi-style cello recital in the heart of Edinburgh. The program includes iconic songs (by AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Oasis and more) dismantled and reimagined for solo cello. Intertwined with original compositions from William's acclaimed debut album, This Old Cello Box. There's something for everyone, from virtuosic bluegrass, to non-Western sound worlds. William incorporates his jazz guitar background into an unconventional style of cello playing, delivering cellopickin' grooves and catchy hooks, alongside intimate melodies. 'Outstanding, a truly remarkable performance' (BBC Radio 3).

This Old Cello Box

St Giles' Cathedral

I Sell Windows is one Black woman's exploration of what is birthed at the collision of grief, ambition and sex. After bailing on a trip home, former actor Kacie is confronted with the unexpected death of a loved one – propelling her into an existential voyage back to her tried and true trade of selling windows. As the days leading up to the funeral become fewer and fewer, she grapples with questions of identity, purpose and forgiveness, ultimately asking herself what she can, or even deserves to, become.

I Sell Windows

'A fierce 70 minutes of music and protest' (Scotsman). The story of two generations of women activists in the struggle for black liberation in America. One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur, the other a college student at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson in 2014. Against a stunning soundtrack of gospel and blues sung live, the show explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. Originally performed as Woke, written by Apphia Campbell, Fringe First Winner and creator of the hit show Black is the Colour of My Voice. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com

Through the Mud

'Why would anyone work in an office. In a suit, stuck in a cubicle. We shit in buckets and for some reason that makes us freer than them. It just does'. Meet Danny, plastering since he was a kid, not scared of anything, he's RUM. Danny's been up all night and now he's rushing to finish a job before he gives the speech of his life. RUM is the raw one-man play that wrestles masculinity, mental health and addiction in the trade. 'A play of rare truth, raw humour and real force' (Simon Stephens).

RUM by Joe Mallalieu

You Heard Me is for anyone who has been underestimated, or told to shut up. This is a loud show about quiet power. A refusal to be silenced, a taking up space and a story of one woman's power to re-make, re-mould and disrupt. Integrating a blend of visceral movement, enveloping sound and lights, Luca and her collaborators involve and immerse us in the messiness and effort of connecting to your own power.

You Heard Me: Here & Now Showcase

ZOO Southside

Winner: Best International Show, United Solo Festival, New York. Music and songs are the key elements that trigger Julian's memories, and set him off on a journey back to his childhood in South America where he discovers his passion for music and his gift for imitating voices. From there, he faces struggles in New York and Europe as he pursues his dream of becoming an artist. Singer/actor Julian Fontalvo portrays different characters that play a part in his story and imitates 70 artists such as Sting, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse and Tina Turner.

The Imitator

Rifco Theatre brings you an immersive DJ deck-off. You're invited to Pali and Jay's latest wedding gig, their make-or-break moment. The uncle and nephew duo are determined to climb the Internet search rankings as Southall's 19th best DJs, a badge of honour worn with pride as they strive for double bookings and the last tile of their ultimate dance-floor. As they adjust the crossfaders, they must work together to save more than their reputation; their dreams and the fragile thread that ties them together – their bromance.

Pali and Jay's Ultimate Asian Wedding DJ Roadshow

A collage style devised work exploring the (potential) collapse of the Anthropocene, this personal meditation on the climate crisis explores the beauty and inevitability of impermanence. Born from the debris of late-stage capitalism, Things We Will Miss features performers in disparate roles, including an amateur astronomer, a park ranger, mythological prophet Cassandra, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and ultimately, themselves. Driven by image, light, and sound rather than linear narrative, it viscerally explores the grief and beauty, the horror and hope inherent in being alive in this very moment.

Things We Will Miss

On the day The Female Eunuch is issued in America, a transgender woman in flapping draperies rushes up to Germaine Greer and says: thank you - thank you so much for all you've done for us girls. Ugly Sisters is an operatic, heretic, parasitic and hallucinatory retelling of this very moment, of sisterhood, of all feminist history. Ugly Sisters is the latest offering from multi-award winning company piss / CARNATION, following their critically acclaimed debut at Soho Theatre 52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals (**** (The Guardian). 'Genuinely groundbreaking' ***** (To Do List)).

Ugly Sisters

Embark on an adventure with Mole, Rat, Badger, and the impulsive Mr Toad. From the tranquility of the riverbank to the perilous depths of the Wild Wood, follow their escapades as they try to keep Toad out of trouble and protect his family home from the nefarious Chief Weasel and his band of miscreants. A heart-warming and humorous adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's children's classic from Fringe regulars C theatre: 'Highly recommended' (PrimaryTimes.co.uk). 'Hidden gem' (FringeReview.co.uk). 'Capturing the emotional heart' **** (List).

The Wind in the Willows

A love story. But not a typical one. Harry has dementia. He also uses sign language. As he moves into a new home, he is accompanied by memories that dance like ghosts around him. A beautiful, tender, visually stunning and award-winning show from renowned theatre artist Ramesh Meyyappan, directed by Matthew Lenton (Vanishing Point). ‘Combines tremendous depths of emotion with sheer technical brilliance’ **** (Scotsman). 'Passionate, powerful and poignant' **** (EdinburghGuide.com). ‘A piece of creative genius’ **** (AllEdinburghTheatre.com). Part of the Made In Scotland Showcase 2024. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com

Love Beyond

Mr John Winner has been found dead in his house in Morningside on the first anniversary of his huge lottery win. Was it murder? He was an extremely wealthy man. Someone bore a grudge towards him, but who had the motivation for murder? Who could have done it? The estranged wife, the lover, the eccentric sister, the dodgy financial advisor – or was it the family friend, or the butler? With your help we can solve this mystery – you become the sleuth, you solve the crime. An interactive murder/mystery show where you are the detective.

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