The Edinburgh Fringe is upon us, and with over 3000 shows to choose from seeing everything is an impossible challenge. So, what should you prioritise?
I have put together some picks for shows in the ‘theatre’ category at the festival. Have a look at my picks below. Which ones feature on your list?
15 Minutes of Shame: Plunge into the desperate world of a young London couple facing the brutal reality of financial struggle. Tired of watching others’ curated success online, they decide to chase fame and fortune by launching an OnlyFans account. But as subscribers grow, their connection in reality drops. Balancing biting comedy with raw drama, Adébayo Bolaji directs this provocative mirror to our times.
1918: The Final Salomé: London, 1918. When wartime hysteria pillories Oscar Wilde’s Salomé for corrupting the nation, Robert Ross, the late author’s literary executor and devoted friend, is once again made to defend the legacy he sacrificed his life to protect. As a courtroom circus shatters his curated memories, the line between devotion and delusion begins to blur.
A Better Memory: Eleanor switches on an AI replica of her late husband but discovers memories that don’t match her own. Mia is young, disillusioned with dating men, and in love with an AI chatbot. When secrets surface, both women are forced to question what they thought they knew. A dark comic exploration of memory, forgiveness, and the human experience by Lubna Kerr.
A Foot Is Not An Appropriate Prize For The Tombola: After a severed foot is found in one of the tombola prizes, Lydia is determined not to let it ruin the village fete. But as the revelations get more bizarre and Lydia attempts to work out “whodunnit”, a more horrific truth emerges. A camp and comedic interactive murder mystery inspired by cosy crime and cosmic horror, performed by Daniel McVey.
A Ghost Among the Living: Enter the uncanny world of Edgar Allan Poe, where reason spirals into madness and guilt has a heartbeat of its own. Box Tale Soup present five terrifying tales from the master of the macabre. An unknown scholar takes the stage to honour Poe’s darkest masterpieces, but lines blur, and stories twist into a dangerous confession.
A Wolf Shall Devour The Sun: Wolves were hunted to extinction in Scotland by the 18th century. Ancient myth, mesmeric imagery, and dreamlike soundscapes open a liminal space where Norse gods, Irish shapeshifters, and Siberian wolf-children traverse Scottish moors and Transylvanian mountains. Stories about our oldest ally ask: in the absence of the wolf, what is lost?
Adam Riches: The Captain: Fringe hit Adam Riches returns with the true story of Captain Matthew Webb, the first man ever to swim the English Channel. It’s time to remember this most humble of men, this Shopshire lad, whose extraordinary feat ought to be far more celebrated than it is. A man who died as he lived, chasing the impossible.
Apples in Winter: Miriam’s son has been on death row for 22 years, and at midnight the state will execute him. His last request: his mother’s apple pie. As Miriam bakes the perfect pie, this extraordinarily powerful one-woman play by Jennifer Fawcett reflects on the impact of violent crime on its hidden victims.
Badgers: Something has taken root in this town: a recluse, a disappearance, a mysterious folk song. Podcaster Meles is about to stumble into something unfathomable that could change everything. A folk tale about folk tales, the art of letting go, and the ethics of true crime, written by Malaika Kegode with music by Jakabol.
Blackbox: A play disguised as a magic show where history and illusion intertwine. Enslaved in America, Henry ‘Box’ Brown conjures his life and reenacts his daring 1849 escape when he shipped himself to freedom inside a wooden crate. Gospel-infused soundscapes and stagecraft transform the theatre into a site of sanctuary and reckoning.
Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story: Witness the true survival story of Titanic stoker Frederick Barrett. Working in the boiler rooms of the maiden voyage, Barrett’s fight for survival is one of the most devastating accounts of the ship’s final hours. Boiler Room Six gives a voice to the sacrifice of the working men below deck who saved hundreds of lives while giving up their own.
CADEL: Lungs on Legs: The riveting true story of Cadel Evans, the only Australian to win the Tour de France. Returning after a sold-out 2025 premiere, Connor Delves delivers a powerhouse performance, pedalling live on the actual bike Evans rode to victory. Grit, storytelling and heart-pounding energy combine in a breathtaking theatrical ride.
Cathy: Cathy is a new comedy inspired by writer Eilidh Loan’s grandmother, and how she dealt with the grief in her unique way after losing her husband. Cathy insisted that Elaine C Smith must play her and so she is. Joining her will be Michele Gallager, Chloe Hodgson, Alan Orr and Sally Reid.
Clive: Thomas loves his job and working from home. All the while talking to his best friend – a cactus called Clive. He’s not going mad at all. When a new boss takes over, work becomes stressful, life starts to unravel and he grows even more reliant on his spiky friend.
Copycat: Does AI spell the end of humanity or the dawn of a new utopia? Fringe First Winner Joe Sellman-Leava uses innovative design and a whirlwind of uncanny impressions to tell the story of a teacher, a student, and a copycat dictator, examining the links between art, fascism, and rapid technological change.
Cyn: Set in 1995, Cyn explores the consequences of colliery closures on South Wales mining communities. We follow Emyr, the son of a miner whose life trajectory was scrambled by the mine closure, and Simon, an Englishman out of petrol and lost. Accompanied by Max Boyce’s music, tensions simmer as the past is interrogated.
Daughter of Sweden – That One Princess Who Got Drunk with Lizzie I and Thrown Out of England: When Sweden’s 19-year-old Princess Cecilia Vasa is caught with a lover in 1559, Europe thinks the scandal will tame her. She enters Renaissance Europe where war, chastity, and men rule. Could friendship with Queen Elizabeth I grant her independence, or perhaps a life of piracy?
Disciples of Anatomy: 1848. London’s surgical golden age. Three wives of eminent medical men endure an excruciating afternoon tea as the table is set for calamity. Tense and darkly funny, Disciples of Anatomy champions Autistic-led theatre through its protagonist Maud, the first neurodivergent heroine in a period drama.
Do Not Attempt This Conversation: Exhausted at the end of a late shift, junior doctor Nneka is forced to navigate a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) conversation with a relative she has never met about a patient she does not know. Set within a single encounter, the play explores the emotional dissonance and absurdity of end-of-life decision-making in a stretched system.
Fractured: Eva is falling through time, struggling to piece together her reality following the crash that changed everything. Fractured is a story about memory, shame, grief, and the magnetism of the past to anyone refusing to face it. A pacy debut play from Bill Cashmore Award-winning writer Shona Graham.
Gameplay: Following Lessons on Revolution, Carmen Collective returns with Gameplay: an audio-described myth for the end times. Racing through history into the contemporary and far into the future, it features experimental performance by theatre-maker Sam Rees and sound artist AJ Turner.
Gaudi: God’s Architect: Genius? Madman? Saint? The story of Antoni Gaudí, visionary architect of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família. Written and directed by Stephen Callaghan with a revised version marking the centenary of Gaudí’s death, this show brings to life the powerful events and characters surrounding God’s Architect.
Gridlock: A one-act play about a couple stuck in traffic, both literally and figuratively. As Alexa and Thomas wait for the gridlock to subside, they reminisce on moments that shaped their relationship, trying to answer how they got here and where they are going.
Hater: An unhinged Chinese actress stalks another actress because they share the same casting type, accidentally turning both their lives around. An absurdly comic yet moving play about living with CPTSD, the lasting impact of domestic abuse, the challenges of sisterhood, and untameable rage.
In The Black: A gripping dark comedy following an ambitious Black accountant fighting for a seat at the table on Wall Street. Shortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award, it explores power, class, and identity as a man navigates a system never built for him.
In The Cold Light: The gravestones of two friends pull a journalist into an investigation he hopes will bury the past. Instead, it unearths the harsh reality of staying silent. Scottish playwright George Grant presents a sharp, funny, and quietly devastating exploration of grief and what we leave unsaid.
Josiah: Based on the autobiography of Josiah Henson. Born into slavery in Maryland, he endured 41 years of brutal persecution before escaping to Canada. His indomitable spirit led him to become a respected minister and leader whose story inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Other People: A dark comedy following three final-year university students whose birthday trip is upended by the unexpected arrival of a former friend who recently wrote a negative review of one of their productions. As tensions rise, it asks whether hell is something we create together.
Prophets: A Scottish researcher travels to Saint John, a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific, only to find the island under the control of a growing religious cult. A new two-hander drama from Fringe First-winning writer Jack MacGregor examining the intersection between faith and cult.
Sisters of the Seas: Two female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, are saved from the gallows at the last moment after terrorising the high seas with Calico Jack. Acting Coach Scotland presents an original show combining physical theatre, music, and storytelling to explore the true story of these extraordinary outcasts.
Spare Room: Inspired by true events, Jodie applies for a room in a house share and is confronted with a world of chunder charts, STIs, and tangible testosterone. Set entirely in a student living room, this award-nominated play offers an honest, cackle-inducing insight into masculinity, mental health, and consent.
Steak Out: Two nights before Christmas, an Edinburgh granny, her boyfriend, her son, and her one-year-old grandson rob a high-end butcher’s shop in Stockbridge of all its best cuts. Will they get caught, or will they pull off the meat theft of the century? A gritty comedy by Ruaraidh Murray.
Succubus: Follows a young woman whose body goes rogue as her appetite blooms, putting men on the menu. As she navigates medical shrugs, moral chaos, and a dawning hunger for power, she discovers others thriving in the dark. A coming-of-rage fable written and performed by Georgina Collins.
The Hunger: Megan and Deborah live alone on their farm in the Yorkshire Dales, their only refuge from an increasingly dangerous outside world. But when fragile harmony spirals into darkness, the cost of survival is chillingly laid bare in this post-apocalyptic horror by Black Bright Theatre Company.
The Jolly Fisherman: From the producers of Brixton Calling, this story set in London’s East End follows boyhood best friends Alan and Amir as their worlds pull them apart. Starring Alex Hill and Jonny Khan, it’s a play about identity, friendship, and the places we call home.
The Plot: 5th November 1605, London. Two brothers stand accused of high treason for a plot foiled, while across the Thames, a playwright weaves their story into a new masterpiece to save his own skin. A play by Emma Howlett / theatregoose about the power of great stories.
The Spy Network: On the morning of her execution in 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots meets an actor sent to provide merriment before the chop. With one last chance to set the record straight, Mary stages her story, revisiting secret codes, espionage, and treason.
Van Gogh & Me: Two painters, nine weeks, an ear severed. Journeys back to 1888 to trace the charged encounter between Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin in Arles. Performed by Jack Ellis and written by John Retallack around 24 paintings, examining artistic ambition and fragile minds pushed to breaking point.
William Street: A gripping drama set in Derry during the height of the Troubles. It follows the O’Shea family, led by an IRA member whose world is shaken when his wife reveals a connection to an English soldier, while their daughter secretly dates a member of the opposing UVF.
You Are What You Eat: An action-packed comedy about friendship and outrageous misadventures in 1970s London. Aspiring detectives Lewis and Tom find themselves embroiled in a deadly mystery involving corrupt police, a crime boss, and the death of a young woman.
Tickets can be bought here. Don’t forget to come back to the site to check out my Edinburgh coverage as I head to the festival this summer, and in the meantime, take a look at our Edinburgh interviews.
