ALL EVENTS Order by: Date / title

Tickets:   x = Preview     x = Two for One     x = On Sale     x = Free     x = Sold Out
Rose Bruford

Bruford Warm-Up Mornings

An opportunity to have some time and space for yourself and to prepare, recoup your energy and maximise your time at the Fringe meeting and working with other artists. Workshop leaders will include Gabriel Gawin, Niamh Dowling, Magda Koza, Company of Wolves, Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas and others.

_ Time: 09.30 (60 mins)

Vooruit, Arenbergschouwburg, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, TRP, Summerhall

Another One

“If you break my heart, I’ll break yours too.” This thrilling and inventive new work from one of Belgium’s most exciting young companies explores the world of both tolerating and being tolerated.

_ Time: 10.00 (55 mins)

Antosh Wojcik / Penned in the Margins

How to Keep Time: A Drum Solo for Dementia

What happens when memories disappear? Where do they go, and can we get them back? Using just his voice and a Roland TD-4KP electronic drumkit, Antosh Wojcik explores the effects of inherited Alzheimer's on speech, memory and family. Poems become beats become glitches in time in a mesmeric display of live drumming and spoken word.

_ Time: 10.15 (60 mins)

Two Destination Language

Fallen Fruit

In Fallen Fruit, as the Berlin Wall splits open in 1989, a girl looks forward to life beyond communism, a couple unravels, and 80s TV permeates everything. In 2019, Britain leaves the EU while Europe celebrates 30 years since the end of the Cold War.

_ Time: 11.25 (60 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

Sticks and Stones

All performances captioned. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

In an age when technology multiplies every mistake, can we find a way to understand each other? A razor-sharp satire about the search for a sure footing in an uncertain world from BAFTA-nominated Vinay Patel.

_ Time: 11.30, 14.30 (70 mins)

ACE-Production in association with From Start to Finnish

All the Lights Are On

A fearless play about the limits of hope and the consolations of reality, from Finland’s youngest and most irrepressibly talented new playwright

_ Time: 11.40 (60 mins)

Nina’s Drag Queens

Alma, a Human Voice

The Italian company Nina's Drag Queens explores drag queen aesthetics, blending songs, film extracts and lip-syncing with theatre, live acting and choreography.

_ Time: 11.50 (60 mins)

SKaGeN/KVS, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, TRP, Summerhall

Unsung

The makers of BigMouth return with a thrilling, relevant new show, delving deeply into the politician’s life and exposing those juicy backstage scenes we all look for and asking why anyone seeks recognition in a job that is known to be the most unpopular ever.

_ Time: 12.00 (75 mins)

Raw Material Arts Ltd In association with The Beacon

After the Cuts

Captioned performance on 14 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Produced by Raw Material, in association with the Beacon Arts Centre. A dark comedy by Gary McNair, directed by Beth Morton. It's the future; just like now, but a bit more... well, shitey.

_ Time: 10.00, 12.00 (60 mins)

Adam Lazarus

Daughter

Warning: Disturbing content, sexual content and descriptions of sexual violence.

The show that rocked Canada, sparking a thousand conversations with its head-on confrontation of toxic masculinity. Adam Lazarus plays The Father and he's done bad things in his life. Taking you through his struggles with love, lust and violence, he presents himself as a figure for our amusement, dismay, and judgement

_ Time: 12.30, 22.30 (70 mins)

James Ley

Love Song to Lavender Menace

BSL performance on 15 Aug.

After a sell-out run at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, nostalgic bookseller Lewis and party-boy Glen are back in this hit gay romantic comedy set in 1980s Edinburgh. Love Song to Lavender Menace is a funny, celebratory play about the radical, lesbian, gay and feminist bookshop which began in the cloakroom of Scotland’s first gay nightclub and became the beating heart of Edinburgh’s LGBT+ community.

_ Time: 12.55 (75 mins)

Darkfield

FLIGHT

This event takes place in absolute darkness.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to direct your attention to the on-board safety demonstration and ask that you give us your full attention. In the unlikely event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure alternative scenarios will be provided.
Flight is presented by Darkfield, the creators of 2017 Edinburgh Festival hit, Séance. It takes place in a shipping container in absolute darkness.

_ Time: 13.00, 13.30, 14.00, 14.30, 15.00, 15.30, 16.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.30, 18.00, 18.30, 19.00, 19.30, 20.00, 20.30, 21.00, 21.30 (30 mins)

Natalie Wearden

Performer:Maker

This event is free and unticketed.

Performer:Maker was originally produced to consider the fetishisation of the artist as a labourer; overworked and underpaid. The piece will exist both as performance and sculpture. It is a physical artwork activated by performance, and lives on even once the performance has ended.

_ Time: 13.00 (60 mins)

InSite and Leeds Playhouse co-production

Blackthorn by Charley Miles

Captioned performance on 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22 + 24 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

The only two children born in a North Yorkshire village for a generation cannot imagine ever being apart, but as their lives shift, so too do the ties that bind them. Charley Miles’ outstanding debut play Blackthorn explores the changes and choices that pull us from the places and people we love.

_ Time: 13.05 (60 mins)

Futures Theatre

Never Vera Blue

Captioned performance on 16 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Written in response to conversations with survivors of domestic violence and abuse, Never Vera Blue is a disorientating story of one woman’s journey to recover who she is.  From the city to the Kent coast, from a war-torn land to the pit of the stomach, Alexandra Wood’s new play explores just what it means to be made to doubt yourself and how to regain a sense of identity.

_ Time: 13.05 (70 mins)

A Prime Cut and Pan Narrans Co-production.

My Left Nut

The true, touching and hilarious story of a Belfast boy growing up with no father to guide him through, and a giant ball to weigh him down.

_ Time: 13.15 (55 mins)

Tin Can People

Katie & Pip

Katie & Pip celebrates the relationship between Katie, a 15-year-old Type 1 Diabetic girl and Pip, her five-year-old border collie, trained by Katie to save her life on a daily basis.

_ Time: 13.20 (60 mins)

Arthur Meek, co-produced with Magnetic North

Erewhon

Captioned performance on 17 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

This delightful neo-historical head-scratcher playfully welds future, past and present into a glittering bracelet of time.

_ Time: 13.25 (60 mins)

Katy Dye

Baby Face

Captioned performance on 14 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

In this brave and outlandish performance a grown woman attempts to be your baby to discover if innocence really is as sexy as we’re told it is.

_ Time: 13.30 (50 mins)

Summerhall Distillery

A Pickering's Gin Jolly

Take a gin jolly with Pickering's Gin in their home at Summerhall Distillery. With a G&T in hand, discover how the former kennels of the Royal (Dick) Vet School came to be Edinburgh's first exclusive gin distillery in 150 years and Visit Scotland's best visitor attraction in Edinburgh.

_ Time: 14.00, 16.00, 18.00 (60 mins)

Le Gateau Chocolat

Duckie

Duckie is a reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling with a message of tolerance and self acceptance at its core. Family-friendly glamour and glitz takes centre stage as critically acclaimed cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat breaks out of his shell in his first work for children, a classic tale of identity and belonging.

_ Time: 14.00 (40 mins)

Ming Hon

Chase Scenes

Inspired by our collective nightmare of being chased and the manifestation of this in film culture and real-life experience, three women enact various chase scenes at a break-neck pace. In combination with video cameras displaying live-feed projections, a collection of props and costumes, the spectacle is both live and on screen.

_ Time: 14.25 (60 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

Island Town

All performances are captioned. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Kate, Sam and Pete are stuck. The town they live in doesn’t have much going on. But they don’t really care about that when they’ve got cheap cider and their whole lives ahead of them. And they’re going to break away anyway.

_ Time: 11.30, 14.30 (70 mins)

Sun Son Theatre

Taiwan Season: Once Upon a Daydream

Sun Son Theatre return to Summerhall after the success of Heart of Darkness in 2017, welcoming you to a light-hearted world of live action and hand-crafted animation.

_ Time: 14.40 (45 mins)

Ruth E Cockburn

Ruth Cockburn – Love Letters from Blackpool

Love Letters from Blackpool, a comedy theatre piece about love and Blackpool, originally commissioned by The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and subsequently nominated for Best New Show at Leicester Comedy Festival and Best Comedy Show at Greater Manchester Fringe, uses found love letters, original songs, poetry and audience interaction to answer the questions... What is love?

_ Time: 14.40 (60 mins)

Lisa Richards

The Egg Is A Lonely Hunter

The Egg is a Lonely Hunter is a dark, comedic odyssey about beached whales, black holes and the redeeming power of eggs.

_ Time: 14.45 (55 mins)

Actors Touring Company; Translator Purni Morell, Director Alice Malin.

Big Aftermath of a Small Disclosure

Big Aftermath explores how lives can turn on a word and the allure of the self-destruct button. Comedy and tragedy collide in a play about what happens when one person wants to go and the other wants them to stay.

_ Time: 14.50 (60 mins)

People Show

The Last Straw

Flashing lights are used in this performance

People Show are the UK’s oldest experimental theatre collective. Defying definition and constantly pushing the boundaries of live performance, the company continues to explore the world around us. Each show has been numbered. This is People Show 130.

_ Time: 15.00 (55 mins)

LUNG in association with Leeds Playhouse

Trojan Horse

Warning: This show contains strobe lighting

Trojan Horse was a local story that hit the national press, accusing ‘hardline’ Muslim teachers and governors of plotting extremism in Birmingham schools. Adapted from the real-life testimonies of those at the heart of the UK Government's inquiry, critically acclaimed theatre-company LUNG investigate what really happened.

_ Time: 15.15 (70 mins)

Our Theatre

Taiwan Season: The Delusion of Home

The Delusion of Home is a strong and original documentary-style depiction of everyday life in the Chiayi area of southern Taiwan, refracted through one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies.

_ Time: 15.55 (50 mins)

Sherman Theatre

Tremor

Captioned performance on 3, 10, 17 + 24 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Tremor is a play about now. It’s about how we choose to see things and live our lives in a world riven with anxiety and division.

_ Time: 16.05 (60 mins)

La JohnJoseph

A Generous Lover

A Generous Lover is the true, and very queer tale, of one soul’s journey through the wasteland of mental illness, to deliver their lost love. Brimming with psychedelic proletarian prose, and trenchant wit, it recounts the pandemonium of navigating mental health services on behalf of a loved one, whilst being transfeminine, and occasionally mistaken for a patient.

_ Time: 16.10 (60 mins)

Aurora Nova presents Volker Gerling

Portraits in Motion

Gerling walked 4,000km in 15 years, photographing those he met along the way. He compiles these portraits into flipbooks which capture magical everyday encounters. Gerling returns to Edinburgh with his Total Theatre Award winning show, featuring old favourites and new faces: a gentle meeting of cinema, photography and story.

_ Time: 16.15 (75 mins)

Cunning Concepts & Creations

Huff

Huff is the wrenching yet darkly comic tale of Indigenous brothers caught in a torrent of solvent abuse and struggling with the death of their mother. Their dream world bleeds into reality, as they’re preyed on by The Trickster through hallways at school, the abandoned motel he loves more than home and his own fragile psyche.

_ Time: 16.15 (65 mins)

New Room Theatre

Blackout

BSL performance on 10 Aug.

Blackout is the honest, brutal, uplifting and darkly comic story of alcoholics, and ultimately of their hope in recovery.

_ Time: 16.20 (60 mins)

Willy Hudson

Bottom

Join Willy for a queer coming-of-age remix, as he questions if ‘bottom’ in the bedroom means ‘bottom’ in life - and whether Beyoncé can help put his love on top.

_ Time: 16.25 (50 mins)

New Perspectives Theatre Company

A Fortunate Man

This striking mixed media performance takes the pulse of GP practice then and now, continuing the conversation in the 70th year of the NHS.     

_ Time: 16.30 (60 mins)

Annie Saunders & Becca Wolff, Wilderness, Aurora Nova, Boat Rocker

Our Country

'A striking dream world... one of the most ambitious pieces we have ever presented' (Anna Woo, The Getty Villa). California’s marijuana country: the still-Wild West. Annie conducts a forensic exploration of 'the facts' about her outlaw weed farmer brother as this genre-bending work slips into disputed territory: childhood memories.

_ Time: 17.15 (60 mins)

Teatteri Metamorfoosi in association with From Start to Finnish

The Sauna

In Finnish tradition, the sauna is a solemn place; a scene of cleansing, contemplation, birth and death. According to myth every sauna had its own spirit, whom visitors should care for and respect. The Sauna is a speechless mask and object theatre performance accompanied with live sound effects and original music.

_ Time: 17.25 (50 mins)

James Rowland

Revelations

Contains full nudity and details of a traumatic labour

My best friends, Sarah and Emma, asked me for my sperm. This is the tale of what happened after I gave it to them. A storytelling show about love, faith and trying to do the right thing. Made with Daniel Goldman and set in the same universe as Team Viking and A Hundred Different Words for Love.

_ Time: 17.40 (70 mins)

Malaprop Theatre

Everything Not Saved

The team behind last year's five-star double-bill, Love+ and BlackCatfishMusketeer, is back. This one's for anyone who wants to be tickled, provoked, or has a brain and has ever worried about what it's not telling them.

_ Time: 17.50 (60 mins)

Fishamble: The New Play Company. Supported by Culture Ireland

Maz and Bricks by Eva O'Connor

Triple Fringe First and Olivier Award-winning Fishamble’s Maz and Bricks tells the story of two young people who meet over the course of a day in Dublin. Maz is attending a ‘Repeal the 8th’ demonstration, while Bricks is going to meet the mother of his young daughter.

_ Time: 17.55 (80 mins)

Marieke Dermul, DeBrakkeGrond, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan, TRP, Summerhall

European Citizen Popsong

Music’s power has erased boundaries before, but can it make us feel connected as citizens, even after Brexit?

_ Time: 18.00 (60 mins)

National Theatre of Scotland, Théâtre PÀP and Hôtel-Motel

First Snow / Première neige

BSL performances on 3, 7, 16 + 23 Aug. Captioned performance on 19 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Isabelle summons her family back to their ancestral home in Québec. Despite their history, they come. Her right-wing brother Harry, daughter Mina, and Catherine, the rebellious baby of the family, who has her new Scottish boyfriend in tow. Then there's François, her adoptive son, and her long lost friend from her radical youth. It’s time to talk about the future. But who does the future belong to?

_ Time: 18.10 (90 mins)

Paper Doll Militia

Egg

Captioned performance on 14 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Egg is a powerful and evocative new aerial theatre production from acclaimed circus theatre company Paper Doll Militia, a highly visual exploration of female fertility, sexuality and choice.

_ Time: 18.15 (60 mins)

Dirty Protest

Sugar Baby by Alan Harris

Captioned performance on 4, 11 + 18 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Being a small-time drug dealer in Cardiff is tough. Marc avoids his mum, disguises his cannabis plants with fake tomatoes at the allotment, and now has to bail his old man out of £6,000 owed to local loan shark Oggy.

_ Time: 18.55 (60 mins)

Boaz Barkan

May I Speak About Dance?

A dancer dances, while another explains. A quirky performance-lecture about the problems of dance and meaning, referencing iconic figures in contemporary dance such as Yvonne Rainer, Tatsumi Hijikata and Jérȏme Bel, and getting tangled in non-dance, Butoh and somatic practice.

_ Time: 19.20 (50 mins)

Molly Taylor

Extinguished Things

Captioned performance on 16 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Vivid and lyrical, Extinguished Things is a captivating exploration of what it means to spend your life with someone, and the nature of what you leave behind.

_ Time: 19.25 (60 mins)

Nick Cassenbaum

My Kind of Michael

Ever since he was a kid Nick has loved Michael Barrymore. In this heartfelt and playful tribute, Nick invites you to examine the turbulent relationship between showman and spectator.

_ Time: 19.30 (60 mins)

Nutshell

Handfast

The boiler's broken, the owl with the rings is missing, the celebrant's late and the band haven't turned up. Can Mona and Geoff still tie the knot and live happily ever after? This is a wedding you won't forget. An unmissable evening of ink-black comedy and brilliant performances.

_ Time: 19.40 (90, 75 mins)

Novasound and Belle Jones

Closed Doors

Inspired by the reality of a multicultural neighbourhood in Glasgow, Closed Doors refuses to recognise genre boundaries as it tackles questions of identity, heritage, community and isolation with rigour and heart.

_ Time: 19.45 (60 mins)

Jim Harbourne

The Myth of the Singular Moment

With every choice we create a new universe. I make it, I don’t make it, I make it, I don’t. Two musician-performers take us on a fantastical journey that links four characters in interconnecting stories across the Multiverse.

_ Time: 19.45 (60 mins)

Chris Thorpe, Rachel Chavkin, China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz

Status

BSL performance on 16 Aug.

We all have a nationality.

Or almost all of us.

Status is a show about someone who doesn't want his anymore. About running away from the national story you're given. About who is responsible for that story and what might happen to it if you try to give it up.

Springing from globe-spanning conversations about nationality, Status is a journey of attempted escape – with songs.

_ Time: 19.55 (80 mins)

Sam Snedden

Running

It’s me running for an hour. That’s it. I’m just, running. Down the street, or maybe in the park…Look the route isn’t set yet, but I’ll be running the whole time and I'll, like, do my best y'know? But I’ll also just be myself, but like, faster than usual. I will be taking questions and although I fell over last time, I can’t promise that kind of gripping drama this season”

_ Time: 20.00 (60 mins)

By Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair. A Francesca Moody Production

Square Go

Max is a normal-ish kid in a normal-ish town. He spends his days daydreaming and hanging out with his weird wee pal Stevie Nimmo. But when Max is called for his first Square Go, a fight by the school gates, it’s his own demons he must wrestle with first.

_ Time: 20.20 (60 mins)

Grassmarket Projects

Where It Hurts

A group of Edinburgh residents, carers and health professionals examine their experiences of seeking and giving care in the NHS. Grassmarket Projects return to Summerhall after the successes of Doubting Thomas and Doglife with another politically charged true life drama directed by six time Fringe First winner Jeremy Weller.

_ Time: 20.30 (90 mins)

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop

Famous Puppet Death Scenes

Behold: the eternal masterwork of puppetry for adults finally comes to Edinburgh! Willingly undergo a heart-wrenching parade of theatrical demises that will severely exacerbate your fear of death.

_ Time: 20.30, 22.30 (70 mins)

Sean Mahoney

Until You Hear That Bell

Told through spoken word and within timed boxing rounds, Until You Hear That Bell is a story about ten years of amateur boxing and a changing relationship between father and son. Sean Mahoney is a spoken word writer and performer; this is his first solo show.

_ Time: 20.55 (60 mins)

Carys Eleri and Wales Millennium Centre

Lovecraft (Not the Sex Shop in Cardiff)

Vivacious and hilarious, BAFTA Cymru nominee Carys brings her extensive research, along with buckets of Welsh charm (and oxytocin) to Summerhall in this intelligent and highly entertaining show.

_ Time: 21.00 (60 mins)

Elbow Room

Prehistoric

Prehistoric offers an iconoclastic and hilarious take on the pivotal 'punk moment' that still echoes today. Winner of Best Performance award – Melbourne Fringe Festival.

_ Time: 21.15 (75 mins)

Last Tapes Theatre Company

Valerie

Named stand-out cabaret of the year by the NZ Herald, Valerie is an inter-generational, interdisciplinary and interrupting piece of theatre reaching into the guts of family mythologies. Music, genetics, and storytelling combine to unravel one family's history. A love letter from grandson to grandmother, this celebration of resilience is gig-theatre at its finest.

_ Time: 21.15 (65 mins)

Dumbworld

Drive-By Shooting

This is a standing event that takes place outside.

Drive-by Shooting is a video and sound installation that blends opera, street art and animation. It appears as a stencil style animation on city walls with sound transmitted to wireless headphones. Created by John McIlduff and Brian Irvine. Featuring Doreen Curran, Sylvia O'Brien and the RTE Concert Orchestra.

_ Time: 21.30, 21.45, 22.00, 22.15, 22.30, 22.45, 23.00, 23.15, 23.30 (15 mins)

Middle Child

One Life Stand

Captioned performance on 8, 15 + 22 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

When we can have sex whenever we want, with whomever we want, why settle for a normal relationship? With the promise of fresh excitement just a swipe away, is Kat’s long-term lover her lifelong dream?

_ Time: 21.45 (70 mins)

Love Is the Drug

Notorious Strumpet & Dangerous Girl

Step into this unassuming Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where twisted storytelling and spectacular circus skills are shaken and stirred, with one part dark comedy, one part serenity and three parts hostility, hilarity and honesty.

_ Time: 21.55 (70 mins)

Compagnie Cornelius, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, TRP, RBC

Nele Needs a Holiday: The Musical

A Belgian popstar moves to London to steal the job of British popstars. Luckily, austerity is there to stop her. A witty pop-opera about a girl called Nele who turns her life into a big international mess because she wants to be famous on the other side of the English Channel.

_ Time: 22.15 (55 mins)

Brush Theatre LLC

Woogie Boogie

BRUSH Theatre, last seen at Summerhall with The Overcoat, are back with another vivid and inventive show for younger audiences. A lonely boy Woogie and his troublemaking pet turtle Boogie experience their first sea adventure. What will happen to them in this beautiful but scary new watery world, and will they return home safely?

_ Time: 10.00 (50 mins)

Chaliwaté Company and Focus Company

Backup

North Pole, 4 am. Under a snowstorm powerful enough to wrestle with a sequoia, a used-up van finds its way across the icecap. Three reporters land on the ice as if stepping on the moon for the first time. A bear stares straight at them. The team gets ready...

_ Time: 10.50 (30 mins)

LockedInEdinburgh Escape Game

Locked In Edinburgh: Escape the Distillery

1 group (2-5 players) per game - only 1 ticket required per group

Locked In Edinburgh escape game challenge to solve the mystery of who's plotting against the distillery. Play as a team and puzzle your way out, while saving the gin in the process! Summerhall's previously sold out escape show.

_ Time: 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, 17.00, 19.00 (75 mins)

The Flanagan Collective & Gobbledigook Theatre

Orpheus

Captioned performance on 17 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

A modern telling of an ancient myth, woven from hair-raising spoken word and soaring soul music. A tale of side streets, dive bars and ancient gods.  A story of death defying love from the creators of Fable and Beulah. Winner of the VAULT Festival Summerhall Award and Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre Award.

_ Time: 14.50 (70 mins)

Rose Bruford

Come to Daddy

“The children grabbed him (the father) and put him on the table. And he became the food. They took him apart, dismembered him. Ate him up. And so he was liquidated... the same way he liquidated his children.”
Louise Bourgeois, The Destruction of The Father (1974)

_ Time: 13.35 (60 mins)

Company of Wolves

Achilles

Fusing storytelling, movement and song, Achilles is the epic story of a man's exorcism: a burning out of his grief, his rage and his humanity.

_ Time: 16.15 (45 mins)

A Hijinx production in association with Spymonkey

The Flop

BSL performances on 17 + 18 Aug.

Paris. 1650ish. Impotence is illegal. When a member of the aristocracy is accused of being less than upstanding, his wounded pride leads him towards a monumental and very public flop. But can a cast of total idiots save a show about a flop... from being one?

_ Time: 16.55 (60 mins)

Most Wanted, Offstage Theatre, Soho Theatre, W14 Productions, Alastair Michael

The Political History of Smack and Crack

The night of the Manchester uprising. That night should change everything. Drawing on his own personal experience, Ed Edwards’ script crackles with anger, humour and authenticity as he chronicles the fallout for communities crushed by the heroin epidemic at the height of Thatcherism.

_ Time: 17.30 (60 mins)

Barney's Beer

Barney's Brewery Tours

Operating out of Summerhall since 2012, Barney's Beer invites visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look at how our brewery runs on a day-to-day basis.

_ Time: 13.00, 15.00, 18.00 (60 mins)

Gema Galiana and Anthony Nikolchev's The Useless Room

The Last One

The Last One is brutal physical theatre created by Gema Galiana and Anthony Nikolchev. Evoked by the song of the last Kauai O’o bird, waiting for a response that will never come to its call for a mate.

_ Time: 18.30 (60 mins)

Samira Elagoz in association with From Start to Finnish

Cock, Cock... Who's There?

Cock, Cock… Who’s There is confrontational, unrestrainedly funny, deeply touching and formally simply virtuoso. Elagoz explores desire, the power of femininity and the male gaze in a world in which the virtual and the real are inextricably intertwined.

_ Time: 18.45 (65 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Soulsville

STANDING ONLY

Est. 2010, this is Edinburgh’s institutional shot of deep rhythms and rugged grooves. Expect rare funk, the deepest disco, Brazilian boogie and some afro-Latin vibrations as Soulsville takes up its August residency at Summerhall. Dress light - shoes advisable!

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

How to Spot an Alien

All performances are captioned. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Join Jelly and Jonjo on their quest to discover the truth in a rip-roaring adventure through space full of friendship, fun and flying saucers. Contains: one confused alien, two brave kids and a busted spaceship. For space cadets age five and up.

_ Time: 11.30 (50 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Adam Holmes & the Embers

Standing Only

27-year-old Edinburgh-born singer/songwriter Adam Holmes is one of the brightest rising stars on the UK roots music scene, with influences from either side of the Atlantic mixing traditional and contemporary folk with his own brand of soul and Americana.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Rhythm Machine

STANDING ONLY

Rhythm Machine is a night of dance music and performance art. Each week DJs Yves, William Francis + special guests play dance music from around the world - rooted in the international new wave scene - as guest artists create new work for the space; approaching it as if creating for a gallery while utilising and responding to the unique context of the nightclub space.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Itch + Scratch

Big Night Out

We’ve chosen 4 of our fave short plays from our back catalogue to bring to the Fringe in this ONE OFF show to, in the words of P!NK, get the party started. Expect big laughs, tears, dancing, bucket hats, confetti, gunfire, Freddos, snogging, and people off the telly.

_ Time: 23.15 (50 mins)

One Inch Badge and Synergy Concerts Presents

Goblin perform Suspiria

Unreserved seating

The Italian Horror Soundtrack maestro Claudio Simonetti and his band Goblin return to the UK to perform their classic scores live to screenings of the famous films SUSPIRIA and DAWN OF THE DEAD in celebration of their 40th Anniversaries.

_ Time: 17.30, 20.50 (130 mins)

One Inch Badge and Synergy Concerts Presents

Goblin perform their Greatest Hits

Unreserved seating

The Italian Horror Soundtrack maestro Claudio Simonetti and his band Goblin return to the UK to perform their classic scores live to screenings of the famous films SUSPIRIA and DAWN OF THE DEAD in celebration of their 40th Anniversaries.

_ Time: 17.30, 20.20 (160 mins)

BBC

BBC Pop-Up Studio: 3D Sound

This event is free but ticketed.

Immerse yourself in the world of cutting edge 3D audio. Join the BBC for live tech demos, listen to exclusive binaural radio content, including an episode of Doctor Who, and find out how the technology works.

_ Time: 17.00 (90 mins)

Rose Bruford

Ur – Medëa

Made in the UK and Georgia, Ur Medëa confronts our world of infinite choices, and moral relativism, with the consequences of remote clandestine wars and the distant awakening of a brutality that finds its way home back into our dreams of family.

_ Time: 19.45 (70 mins)

Ensemble Thing

Jan Tait and the Bear

Based on a medieval story handed-down by oral tradition, Emily Doolittle’s comedic chamber opera tells the story of Jan Tait, a rugged and roguish Shetlander who is always ready for an adventure. An adventure for music and folklore fans of all ages.

_ Time: 10.30, 13.00 (50 mins)

Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Theatre Royal Plymouth, RBC

De Fuut

This performance deals with themes of sexual abuse.

Winner of the Best International Performance Award at the 2017 Amsterdam Fringe and hit of the 2018 Brighton Fringe. Performer and playwright Bastiaan Vandendriessche’s gripping new play invites his audience to step into a darkly woven and deceptive story about his time as a leader of the Seascouts in Ghent six years ago.

_ Time: 15.00, 19.45 (60 mins)

BBC

BBC Pop-Up Radio Drama Studio at Summerhall

The BBC is creating an intimate live pop up radio studio at Summerhall. Eight fresh audio plays from leading writers are being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3. PLAYS: 8th - Of a Lifetime, by Lulu Raczka / 9th - Death of a Matriarch, by Tanika Gupta / 11th - 1962, by Peter Flannery / 14th - The Reality Tunnel, by Karen Laws / 16th - Sam's Secret Orchestra, by Jeremy Raison / 18th - After Fear, by Oliver Emanuel / 21st - The Blackwood, by Jacob Polley / 23rd - Three Letters, written & performed by Nell Leyshon / 25th - Turbulence, by Eileen Horne.

_ Time: 17.00 (90 mins)

Knaïve Theatre

War With the Newts

Witness the rise and fall of a new(t) capitalism. Deep in Summerhall’s basement, an ocean of opportunity arises as a new resource makes contact. Global risk and technological revolution come together in this immersive experience from internationally award-winning Knaive Theatre with surround sound installation by sonic artist Robert Bentall.

_ Time: 17.00, 20.15 (75 mins)

Arrifana Ltd

And So I Watch You from Afar

STANDING ONLY

Northern Ireland’s And So I Watch You From Afar are an instrumental rock outfit, often cited as one of the most influential music acts in their genre of the last decade. Ranging from Post to Math-rock, the Belfast band have released 5 albums & 3 EPs to date.

_ Time: 20.00 (150 mins)

Summerhall

NEHH presents... Start to End - Solid Air by John Martyn

Standing only.

Start to End return with a live band interpretation of John Martyn’s classic 4th solo studio album ‘ Solid Air’, following a sold out appearance at Celtic Connections 2018. Featuring Sam West on vocals and a very special line-up of musicians from Admiral Fallow, Roddy Hart & the Lonesome Fire, Pronto Mama and more.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Please Don’t Goa Party w/ Woody '92 + FRANk

LYL Radio’s Please Don’t Goa’s provisionally only physical party ever! The sage mage from Theme of Nevermore, guardian of the Mirror Zone and respiration recycler for the Deep Sea Discotheque, WOODY ’92 will be showing off his Dojo-perfected reflexes in the Dissection Room.

_ Time: 23.00 (180 mins)

Naomi Sheldon

Good Girl

Growing up in the 90s, GG and her mates obsess over music, vaginas and witchcraft. But there’s a problem. Living feels too extreme. To be one of the good girls, GG learns to make herself numb. But at what cost? Bold and provocative, Good Girl tells a darkly comic coming of age tale about learning to live un-apologetically. 

_ Time: 23.15 (55 mins)

RealRealReal and University of Glasgow

Familiar Stranger

Nothing's easier than returning to the welcoming arms of civilian life post-Army, right? Not for this soldier. Through theatre and VR headsets you will see post-Army life from the perspective of an Iraq War veteran returning home.

_ Time: 13.00, 15.30, 18.30 (45 mins)

Lesley Wilson

Wired

Contains realistic explosion sound effects

The story of a young woman soldier's journey through post-traumatic stress. Following training, Joanna is deployed to Afghanistan and believes she is prepared for what lies ahead. What she is not prepared for is a visit from her past.

_ Time: 14.30 (60 mins)

Helen-Marie O'Malley

In-Valid Voices

The Scottish and Fijian wives of Commonwealth soldier, who have served in the British Army, share stories of war from their perspective. Based on real-life interviews, the wives voices are formidable and brutally honest. They deserve to be heard

_ Time: 16.00 (60 mins)

Smokescreen Productions

Shell Shock

After a long military career, life back on civvy street should be a breeze... right? Tommy’s observations on the absurdities of the everyday are “comic and convincing” (InDaily) and “fabulously witty” (TheClothesline.com.au).

_ Time: 17.30 (60 mins)

One Inch Badge and Synergy Concerts Presents

Pussy Riot: Riot Days

STANDING ONLY

PUSSY RIOT need little introduction, the Russian protest art collective have one of the most important voices of the last 10 years whose lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights, and opposition to Vladimir Putin.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Akademi

The Troth

A gripping story of love and loss set during World War One, blending dance, original music and archive film. Moving from rural Punjab to the Belgian trenches where young Indian men have been brought to fight for the Allies, we learn about the secret promise made by one soldier, Lehna Singh, as he makes the ultimate sacrifice to save another.

_ Time: 20.30 (60 mins)

Summerhall

The Kevin Rowland DJ Show

STANDING ONLY

Kevin Rowland - style icon and leader of the band Dexys (formerly Dexy’s Midnight Runners) - is renowned for his vast wealth of musical knowledge & a highly charged eclecticism, which in turn has secured his standing as a fascinating and entertaining DJ, or perhaps more accurately, “Sing-J”.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Not Too Tame

Northern Souls

Award Winning Not Too Tame, deliver a raucous and raw night of lyricism, laughs and live music in the world premiere of NORTHERN SOULS.

_ Time: 23.15 (50 mins)

TBA

CanadaClub

Multi award-winning venue CanadaHub returns to the Fringe with a new late-night show. Guest hosts introduce the best of Canadian cabaret, comedy and music from across the festival. All acts guaranteed to have been to Canada at least once.

_ Time: 22.30 (120 mins)

Rokkur Friggjar

Forget Me Nots

Strong language.

Forget Me Nots is a love story between a young Icelandic man and an English soldier. It’s about love, new priorities and the people that got hurt along the way. In a collaboration between Icelandic and British artists, it explores a little known story from our collective history.

_ Time: 13.00 (60 mins)

Dirty Protest

Dirty Protest On Heat

Fancy getting dirty later? Three Welsh writers. Three Scottish writers. Six short plays. One dirty late night extravaganza. 

_ Time: 23.15 (50 mins)

Oani Theatre

Oani Theatre presents Lambe Lambe

This event is free & unticketed. Standing only. Each performance lasts 4 minutes and alternates between the 2 shows listed.

“Lambe Lambe” is a unique form of puppet theatre in which tiny theatrical performances are presented in small, intricately designed boxes, for 1 or 2 audience members at a time.

_ Time: 12.00, 17.00 (120 mins)

Seemia Theatre

Evros | The Crossing River

Follow Doaa who dreams of a better life amongst a backdrop of war, terror and enduring love. The boy from the local garden centre, whose tranquil existence amongst the flowers is torn apart. A mother who cannot keep her children safe.

_ Time: 13.35 (70 mins)

Fringe University

University Professors at the Fringe Networking Event

Fringe University believes that the Edinburgh Fringe makes an excellent classroom. Come meet and network with other university professors from around the world planning to, or already using, the Fringe for educational purposes.

_ Time: 10.00 (60 mins)

Claire Gaydon

See-Through

Part documentary, part live performance, part parody, part desperate as f*ck, Claire does everything she can to entertain her online audience. While remaining 100% totally authentically real. See-Through is an edited, unedited, live, pre-recorded, reality show that invites you to see behind the camera.

_ Time: 11.45 (60 mins)

National Youth Theatre

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Following two critically-acclaimed sell-out runs, the National Youth Theatre present the Edinburgh debut of Mohsin Hamid’s Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist adapted for stage by Stephanie Street and directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah.

_ Time: 11.50 (90 mins)

Showroom

Tetra-Decathlon

The Tetra-Decathlon is a gruelling 14-event athletics competition, requiring a unique combination of skills to complete. Having never set foot on a running track in her life, Lauren Hendry decided to sign up for the event, joining only a dozen other women in the World Championships.

_ Time: 11.55 (60 mins)

Strangeface

The Hit

The Hit’s black comedy explores the nature of cognitive dissonance and how we are perhaps not the autonomous individuals we believe we are. Breaking Bad meets Team America in a show designed to blow your mind.

_ Time: 13.20 (60 mins)

21Common

The Ballad of the Apathetic Son and his Narcissistic Mother

BSL performance: 25th Aug

Hold on for dear life through this all-singing, all-dancing journey of rejection, nurture, transforming, hurting and becoming...

_ Time: 13.45 (60 mins)

Sunday's Child

Get Rreel

Award winning Irish company Sunday's Child’s previous productions include Overshadowed, winner of the Fishamble Award for Best New Writing, recently adapted for television with Rollem productions for BBC Three.

_ Time: 15.00 (60 mins)

Sh!t Theatre and Show And Tell

DollyWould

Oh look, the multi award-winning duo Sh!t Theatre return with their 100% sell-out show from 2017. It's about Dolly Parton and we still f*cking love her.

_ Time: 18.25 (60 mins)

Zanetti Productions

The Basement Tapes

Following her grandmother’s death, a girl faces the overwhelming task of clearing out the basement. She discovers a series of mysterious tape recordings made by her grandmother. As she hears these tapes for the first time, things start to unravel...

_ Time: 15.45, 18.30 (60 mins)

Making Room

The Midnight Soup

Please inform us if you have any dietary requirements. The following ingredients cannot be omitted: Paprika, onions, tomatoes. All other allergies can be catered for with 48 hours' notice. Gluten-free bread option will be made available upon request.

The Midnight Soup is a piece of theatre during which the audience prepare a meal that they share at the end. Starting as a monologue it gently opens out to become a conversation. It tells the story of an unremarkable woman, who sat down every day to meticulously record her life in a diary, until one day she chose her own death.

_ Time: 19.00 (150 mins)

V/DA and MHz, in association with Feral

Void

Based on JG Ballard’s cult novel Concrete Island, VOID meshes experimental dance and abstract glitch-video landscapes. Taking in typically Ballardian themes of dystopian worlds, liminal spaces and urban paranoia, Mele Broomes performs risk-taking choreography to the backdrop of an industrial soundscape.

_ Time: 19.20 (45 mins)

Prime Cut Productions

East Belfast Boy

Meet Davy. The things he sees. His streets. His mates. His girl and... The Boys. With pumping techno, pulverising movement and street sharp poetry, East Belfast Boy is a cliché-free zone.

_ Time: 21.00 (60 mins)

BBC

BBC Pop-Up Studio: Listening in the Dark

Audience members will be blindfolded. This event is free but ticketed.

Listening in the dark. Put on a blindfold and listen in darkness to adventurous sonic delights from BBC Radio Drama: A JG Ballard short story in 3D sound; Fiona Shaw takes us on the final deadly underwater journey of the world's leading free-diver and a special preview of an immersive drama production that is seized by the supernatural.

_ Time: 17.00 (90 mins)

Summerhall

Crow Hill

STANDING ONLY

Meursault presents Crow Hill, a series of urban horror story vignettes, set in the titular, fictional, Scottish town. A project comprising of a studio album, a feature film and a graphic novel, Meursault will be performing Crow Hill in it's entirety, accompanied by projections, dancers and actors.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Komuna Warszawa/Cezary Tomaszewski

Cezary Goes to War

Memories of the director’s own experiences of military recruitment assessments are used to redefine existing concepts to create a queer fantasy system. Written for four actors and a pianist, his real-life story becomes an impulse for a performative, camp variety piece.

_ Time: 19.00 (60 mins)

Dice Festival

Dice Festival

Come and see an evening unfold. We don't know what will happen. But we know it’s going to be good.

_ Time: 21.00 (180 mins)

Braw Gigs & Nothing Ever Happens Here

Optimo

Standing only

The legendary duo JD Twitch and JG Wilkes bring Optimo to Edinburgh this festival. Renowned for their visionary and exploratory musical approach during sets, as well as throwing some of the best parties on the planet, the original weekly club night ran uninterrupted between 1997 and 2010. Experience one of the most influential and eclectic late nights ever formulated in Scotland.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

By Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair. A Francesca Moody Production

Square Go

For ONE NIGHT ONLY see Kieran and Gary step up and go toe to toe for their very own Square Go performing the show script in hand to raise money for SAMH the Scottish Mental Health Charity. 

_ Time: 23.15 (60 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Artist Party: Incinerator - Electro Disco

STANDING ONLY

Heat will rise for one night only to ignite The Dissection Room with fed-after-midnight electro disco, homegrown in Summerhall's last industrial graveyard.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Harry and Chris

Harry and Chris Save the World

World Poetry Slam champion Harry Baker and jazz virtuoso Chris Read return to the Fringe after sold-out shows in 2016 and 2017 with their third show that they've somehow managed to resist calling The Harry And Chris Show Three. As seen on The Russell Howard Hour misusing the word 'literally'. 

_ Time: 23.15 (50 mins)

BBC

BBC Pop-Up Studio: Virtual Reality

This event is free but ticketed.

Virtual Reality. Come and try a range of the latest BBC VR experiences – from an incredible visualised music performance, to a seat in the cockpit of a Lancaster Bomber on a raid over Berlin in 1943.

_ Time: 17.00, 17.30, 18.00 (30 mins)

Boundless Theatre and Script Club

Drip

A one-man musical comedy by award-winning duo Tom Wells (words) and Matthew Robins (music) fresh from a sell-out tour.

_ Time: 18.55 (60 mins)

Middle Child

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

Captioned performance on 22 Aug. Please contact the Fringe access office on accessbookings@edfringe.com to book a captioning unit.

Meet Leah and Chris: raised on Harry Potter, New Labour and a belief that one day they would be as special as their parents promised. But what happens when those dreams don’t become reality?

_ Time: 23.30 (75 mins)

Synergy Concerts

Wye Oak

STANDING ONLY

Fusing introspective songwriting with vivid polyrhythmic indie rock and pop, Wye Oak emerged from Baltimore’s underground sound in the mid-2000s to acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

One Inch Badge and Synergy Concerts Presents

Sage Francis + B.Dolan are Epic Beard Men

STANDING ONLY

After a decade of sharing stages and crafting collaborations in the studio, real-life rap BFFs SAGE FRANCIS and B. DOLAN have finally caved to years of fan pressure to form an official group.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

One Inch Badge and Synergy Concerts Presents

Neil Hilborn

STANDING ONLY

The viral poet returns for his second Edinburgh Fringe along with his critically acclaimed new book 'The Future’. The most watched poet of all-time, famous for the internationally successful poems 'OCD', 'Joey', and 'The Future’.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

One Inch Badge

Welcome to Night Vale

The Welcome to Night Vale 2018 / 2019 World Tour will bring a new story to the surreal desert town of Night Vale, examining the role secrets play in the lives there. This entirely new script written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor is a completely stand-alone story that will never be heard on the podcast, and can be enjoyed by both long-time fans and newcomers alike.

_ Time: 13.00, 15.00, 23.00 (60 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Balkanarama

STANDING ONLY

BALKANARAMA are back at Summerhall this August with their incredible sell-out show. This riotous night brings you the best of tastes and sounds of the Balkans - expect superb live music, gypsy belly dancing, Balkan Beats DJs, bespoke live visuals, Balkan rakija, costume boudoirs and more.  

_ Time: 22.30 (270 mins)

Summerhall

The Transatlantic Ensemble Perform Fleetwood Mac's Rumours

STANDING ONLY

Westhouse Collective’s outstanding Transatlantic Ensemble return this August to perform Fleetwood Mac’s iconic Rumours album in its entirety, a record that has soundtracked the lives of multiple generations. Experience one of the greatest albums of all time, lovingly & accurately recreated in a live setting - including many of the band’s greatest hits.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Bert and Nasi

Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas (Work-in-progress / Open Rehearsal)

Part open rehearsal, part durational performance, the final piece in this loose trilogy of work looks at the left through the prism of the right, considering the polarization of political debate and the rise of populism across nations; amid the ruins of unresolved conflict, Bert and Nasi explore whether we can still come together on common ground, however unsteady.

_ Time: 23.30 (120 mins)

Arrifana Ltd

Niteworks

STANDING ONLY

Niteworks fuse Gaelic language and traditional music with electronic influences to create a fresh and exhilarating sound, winning them the ‘Up and Coming Artist of the Year’ award at the 2012 Scottish Trad Awards. The band’s unique sound comes into its own in the live arena with the last year alone having seen multiple sold-out shows in Scotland and stage-closing performances at festivals across the country, leaving packed crowds pulsating into the night.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

The Lone Bellow

Standing only

The Lone Bellow burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut in 2013. The Brooklyn-based band quickly became known for their transcendent harmonies, serious musicianship and raucous live performance — a reputation that earned them their rabid fan base.

_ Time: 20.00 (180 mins)