Kicking out our Pantomime coverage, Dominic Corr chats with Jorgey Scott-Learmonth, who stars as Alice in the Tron Theatre’s latest panto, as we tumble down a Glasgow pothole into WEEGIELAND—a glit…

Experience the electrifying journey of Tina Turner in this vibrant musical at Edinburgh Playhouse, celebrating resilience and artistry.

Alan Cumming’s Inaugural Season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre Alan Cumming has unveiled a debut season as Artistic Director for Pitlochry Festival Theatre that reads like a love letter to theatre i…

Experience the powerful production of To Kill a Mockingbird at Festival Theatre, where past injustices echo in a stunning adaptation by Aaron Sorkin.

Experience a bold adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull at The Lyceum, blending humor with poignant drama in a stellar debut!

Written by Izzy Gray With Original Music by Quee MacArthur Review by Dominic Corr Scottish Storytelling Centre ★★★★ The adage that the monster within us is the most dangerous of all is far from a unique concept, but to see it utilised with such empathy is strikingly fresh and encouraging in Izzy Gray’s new writing piece, Beastie, brought to the stage thanks to…

Created by Yoon Junghwan, Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse Review by Orly Benn The thought of walking into Summerhall’s Main Hall 2 weeks after the end of the Fringe is somewhat akin to meeting your mum’s new partner not too long after the separation of your parents, stunted with memories of previous glories. However, this is immediately forgotten when walking into the energetic ceilidh festival celebration that welcomes the audience of…

Book by Rob Drummond Music and Lyrics by Dave Hook Directed by Orla O’Loughlin Review by Orly Benn Traverse Theatre ★★★★ This week’s A Play, A Pie, A Pint, written by Rob Drummond and Dave Hook, brings us a slick and thought-provoking hip-hop musical comedy with the life (or myth) of 13th-century Scottish legend and freedom fighter William Wallace…

Review by Marina Funcasta Summerhall - Dissection Room ★★★★★ In both style and substance, PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD screams feminism. Loudly. But a messy, chaotic, hilarious kind – precisely what trio, Nora Alexander, Dora Lynn and Kat Cory, try to distance themselves from in the opening of their performance. A proper, organised three-act play, they say? Almost too good to be true for the all-female company, In Bed with My Brother.

Review by Marina Funcasta Summerhall - Main Hall ★★★★★ Lit with four LED lamps, the Main Hall at Summerhall is almost unrecognisable: smoke wafts from beneath the seats, Suburban Knight’s album, Nocturbulous Behaviour, blasting in the audience’s ears. And in the corner of the stage, there are three hidden bodies which bounce in unison: forming a pyramid, these dancers float to the pounding beat, like…

Concept and Choreography by Farah Saleh Review by Aislinn McSharry Summerhall - Techcube 0 ★★★★ A site of political discourse, Balfour Reparations tells a fictional future of British politics: thought-provoking and poignant, it is empowering, encouraging the audience to mobilise.   Set in 2045, the audience becomes members of the "Balfour Reparations" committee, reflecting on the 20th anniversary of an apology letter made by the British Government, to the…

Review by Libby Hutton Summerhall - Dissection Room ★★★★★ ‘Pussy Riot was never a punk band’ states Alexander Cheparukhin, producer of the show. I am standing in a crowded audience on the final night of an 11-day run, preparing myself for what I’ve heard to be a “confrontational” and “essential” show. Maria (Masha) Alyochina of Pussy Riot:

Review by Eve Nugent Pleasance Courtyard - Beyond ★★★★ At 14:55, in her magnificent pale pink suit and with a slick-back bun, Diona Doherty waltzes onto the Monkey Barrel 2 stage in style. This award-winning Irish comedian wastes no time, diving headfirst into her 50-minute long set which centres on the hilarious tribulations of parenthood, marriage, age, IVF, womanhood, and so much more.

Written and Directed by María García Pleasance at EICC ★★★★★ “In every new beginning there is magic” Suzanna Rosenthal Productions presents LOLA: A Flamenco Love Story. Stepping into LOLA: A Flamenco Love Story is like being wrapped in a swirl of rhythms, vivid emotion and devotion to the Spanish culture. From the very first note, this is a performance that radiates passion.

Presenting: The Golden Goose For one time only (until next year), we ditch our trademark crimson and don the finest of guilded feathers to celebrate our top choices for this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We'll be crafting a selection of 'Top Geese' from the flock, with each of the writers submitting their top choice across all categories of the Fringe.

Directed, Designed, and Animated by William Kentridge Translated by Robert David Macdonald Review by Dominic Corr The Lyceum Theatre ★★★★ Thirty years after its original incarnation, Faustus in Africa returns with a vengeance—reimagined, recontextualised, and still brimming with theatrical bite. Directed by William Kentridge and brought to life by the legendary Handspring Puppet Company, this production is a fever dream of colonial critique, visual invention, and moral reckoning.

Directed by Sam Blumenfield Review by Eve Nugent Pleasance Courtyard - Beyond ★★★★ With their shining tickets for Haus of Dy-lan in hand, the audience step into the bright yellow storage bunker in the Pleasance Courtyard, not quite sure what to expect at 19:30 on a Thursday evening. The eye-catching flyer promises a “musical-comedy”, but what classically-trained-pianist-turned-musical-comic Dylan Adler…

Created by Conor Murray and Hannah Power Directed by Emma Finegan Review by Aislinn McSharry Underbelly Cowgate - Belly Dancer ★★★★★ A hilarious love letter to friendship, growing up, and most importantly, to Princess Diana, Conor Murray and Hannah Power's Don't Tell Dad About Diana is truly the greatest, funniest, and most heartfelt show at this year's Fringe Festival.   In Dublin, August 1997, two best-friends prepare for the…

Written by Lucy McIlgorm Directed by Anastazie Toros Review by Dominic Corr Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios ★★★★ The more one thinks about the title, the stronger the production's merits become. There’s a quiet power in REFUSE—a production that doesn’t shout but resonates. In a festival often saturated with spectacle, this piece from Just Bcoz Productions strips things back to the essentials: story, performance, and truth.

Written and Performed by Ewan Downie Directed by Ian Spink Review by Dominic Corr Assembly Roxy ★★★★ There’s a feral pulse running through The Bacchae at Assembly Roxy, a solo retelling that trades grandeur for grit, myth for muscle. Ewan Downie channels Dionysos with a raw, ritualistic intensity, conjuring gods and mortals alike in a performance that feels less like storytelling and more like summoning.

Written and Performed by Annie Davison Directed by Daniel Bainbridge Review by Dominic Corr Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★ There’s a particular thrill in watching a performer sprint headlong into their own chaos—and Annie Davison does so with wit, warmth, and an explosively impressive performance. BAIRNS, her one-woman show about surrogacy, sisterhood, and self-sabotage, is a tightly wound monologue that never loses its footing, even as its protagonist stumbles through pregnancy, restaurant shifts, and emotional minefields.

Review by Eve Nugent Monkey Barrel Comedy ★★★★ Performing to a sold-out cave in Cabaret Voltaire, the magnificent Ria Lina makes a triumphant return to the Edinburgh Fringe at long last with Riabellion – a sharp, exceptionally polished hour of comedy that dares to tackle provocative topics with balance and wit. Bursting onto stage with vibrant energy, her name blazing across her vest and her funky rainbow-dyed hair, Lina immediately establishes a palpable charm.

Written and Directed by Ellie Coote Review by Dominic Corr Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★★ There’s a moment in Hot Mess—a pop musical about the climate crisis masquerading as a romcom—where Earth, played with volcanic intensity by Danielle Steers (The Cher Show), belts a note so pure and furious it feels like tectonic plates might shift beneath the…

Written by Maria Telnikoff Directed by Lauren Tranter Review by Orly Benn Underbelly Bristo Square - Jersey ★★★★ ‘Would you let your best friend be your sperm donor?’. This is the tagline that Big Sofa and the Counterminers are using to advertise their newest show Eggs Aren’t That Easy To Make (‘Eggs’), written by Maria Telnikoff and directed by Lauren Tranter…

Review by Aislinn McSharry Underbelly Circus Hub - The Beauty ★★★★ A circus experience, showcasing a truly phenomenal skill standard, Three Legged Race productions Sophie's Surprise 29th has audiences gasping in awe, laughing-out-loud, and sitting on the edge of our seats, in all too real states of absolute concern, as the performers fling each other around, hang from the ceiling, or even get dressed on moving unicycles!

Directed by Dan J. Bryant Review by Aislinn McSharry Sanctuary at St. Augustines ★★★★ EUSOG's (Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group) rendition of Stephan Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along is engaging, exquisite, heartfelt, and undeniably charismatic. An enthralling musical theatre experience at this year's Fringe, it is to be cherished.   Sondheim's musical follows the central friendship between Franklin, Charley and Mary, and their artistic aspirations (as a composer, lyricist, and writer respectively), told in reverse order, starting in 1976, travelling back to 1957.

Written by Sophie Fisher Review by Aislinn McSharry Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose ★★★★★ A one-woman play detailing the trials and tribulations of casting calls, acting aspirations, and general social survival in the face of all this, Sophie Fisher's An Ode to the Casting Director is hilarious, heartfelt, and completely captivating.    Dismal auditions of hoarse battle cries, to traumatising toe-sucking improvisation classes, Fisher, utterly watchable in her one-woman play, recounts these experiences, all whilst making the audience howl with laughter; With Fisher's palpable charisma at the helm, we are engaged and enticed every step of the way.

Review by Marina Funcasta Monkey Barrel Comedy ★★★ Soresi is a daring performer: waltzing onto the stage, facing nearly a hundred nodding heads sipping from their plastic pint cups, his charisma wins us over almost immediately. To be sure, his consecutive sell-out shows are evidence enough of his success. Whether this energy is maintained throughout, however, is harder to assure.

Created by Richard Jordan Review by Eve Nugent Pleasance Courtyard - The Attic ★★★★ Who is Truman Capote? Where can one find Truman Capote? Where can one find someone similar to Truman Capote? Bob Kingdom asks such questions in this beautiful one-man show as he embodies – in the truest sense of the word – one of the most renowned American novelists of the 20th century.

Review by Marina Funcasta theSpace@Surgeon's Hall ★★★ From Jonny Woo to Tom at the Farm, the abundance of coming-of-age/coming-out content this Fringe Festival has been truly remarkable. All tales are bittersweet, but the conversation seems to be expanding. At least in the theatre world.  This is of course a wonderful move forward. And Michael DeBartolo’s solo show, Tell Me Where Home Is (I’m starting to forget)

Written and Performed by Patrick McPherson Directed by Jonny Harvey Review by Dominic Corr Underbelly Cowgate - Iron Belly ★★★★ There’s a particular kind of silence that falls over an audience when fear is genuine. Not the polite hush of anticipation or the scatter-gun anxiety of jumpscares, but the breath-held, spine-tightened stillness of people bracing for what comes next. Scatter…

Written by Aviary Talent Review by Moyra Jones Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose ★★★★ Aideen McQueen has an instantly charming stage presence. From the moment you walk into the room, the atmosphere feels warm and welcoming, as though you’re being invited into a friendly conversation rather than a performance. The show begins with McQueen pouring herself a drink and revealing that she’s anxiously waiting for a text from Tom, a man she’s just started dating on Tinder.

Directed by Taryn O’Connor Review by Eve Nugent Underbelly Cowgate - Buttercup ★★★ “You’ll never believe how he cheated!” is the six-word summary Britt Migs gave in her interview with Tom Inniss for VoiceMag, and it proves to be the perfect hook for her debut Fringe stand-up show Dolphin Mode. Over roughly 45 minutes, this up-and-coming American comedian blends dark humour with self-exposure, charting her messy divorce and the queer journey that followed.

Written by Joe Kent-Walters Review by Moyra Jones Monkey Barrel ★★★★ Joe Kent-Walters is back with a new show from Frankie Munroe. Following the 2024 hit show Frankie Monroe: Live!!!, Kent Walters is back with the sequel called, yes you guessed it, Frankie Monroe: DEAD!!! (Good Fun Time). And like all good shows set in hell, it is being performed in the basement of…

Written by Ed Gamester Review by Dominic Corr Underbelly Circus Hub - The Lafayette ★★★★ There’s a moment early in Mythos: Ragnarök when Loki, played with gleeful irreverence by Ed Gamester, locks eyes with the audience and dares them not to laugh. It’s emblematic of the show’s ethos: myth meets muscle, comedy meets chaos, and storytelling is thrown into the ring—literally.

Written by Jack Parris Review by Moyra Jones Pleasance Courtyard ★★★★ You walk in, receive a lanyard, and are welcomed to the panel. On stage, two desks are set up where Adam Boothroyd and Mike Coxhead boredly play instruments behind their computers. It’s the perfect set-up to lay down the kind of absurd energy of the next hour. The story follows…

Written by Ellie Keel Directed by Matthew Iliffe Review by Moyra Jones Summerhall - Tech Cube 0 ★★★★ SKYE: A Thriller, Ellie Keel’s debut play, follows the story of a family grappling with trauma, set thirty years after a life-changing incident. Annie, played by Dawn Steele, recounts the events in an interview with a crime thriller show host, portrayed by…

Written by Michel Marc Bouchard Adapted by Armando Babaioff Review by Marina Funcasta Scottish Storytelling Centre ★★★★ Brooke Dunbar sets herself no easy project: notoriously tragic, the story of Macbeth is a hard one to tell without falling into ominous supernatural pot holes. One of Shakespeare’s heavier tragedies, this cautionary tale is usually met with tears and gasps. In Dunbar’s case, however, the gasps were awe-inspired, and the tears were cured with pacifiers.

Created and Performed by Dougie Mackay and Jemima Thewes Review by Dominic Corr Scottish Storytelling Centre ★★★★ In A Wolf Shall Devour the Sun, ancient myth collides with ecological urgency in a richly textured hour of storytelling, shadow puppetry, and live music. Performed by Dougie Mackay and Jemima Thewes, this Fringe offering is a visually arresting and thematically resonant piece that draws on folklore from across the globe to explore our fractured relationship with the wild—particularly the wolf, once Scotland’s oldest ally and now a spectral absence, and to some, adversary.

Review by Katherine McIntyre Scottish Storytelling Centre ★★★★★ Sometimes, the smallest sections make the biggest noises. Tragic to see in some radical political sectors, encouraging in other respects. Spoken Word may be the smallest of the Festival Fringe’s offerings – but it’s by far the most accessible and welcoming. In a festival bursting with theatrical pyrotechnics and comedic chaos, Loud…

Written by Michel Marc Bouchard Adapted by Armando Babaioff Review by Marina Funcasta Pleasance at EICC ★★★★★ Armando Babaioff’s adaptation of Michael Marc Bouchard’s 2013 play Tom at the Farm comes to the Fringe Festival with not much to prove. Winner of several international awards since its first adaptation in 2017, Babaioff’s translation of has already been regarded as a seminal turning point for contemporary Brazilian theatre.

Review by Katherine McIntyre Underbelly Circus Hub ★★★★★ In a world that often feels brittle and closed-off, Club Kabarett is a glorious act of defiance—a glitter-drenched, gin-soaked celebration of connection, chaos, and unapologetic joy. Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett is more than a show; it’s a living, breathing organism that pulses with life, lust, and radical tenderness. If you think you’re ready for this – have another shot and then come back.