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THIS IS NOT AMERICA to Make World Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

Philip Stokes' thriller, performed by Jack Stokes, will play The Pleasance Courtyard's Bunker Two.

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THIS IS NOT AMERICA to Make World Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe

The world premiere of This Is Not America by Philip Stokes will come to Edinburgh Fringe. The production is Written & Directed by Philip Stokes, and performed by Jack Stokes at The Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two). Performances will run 5 - 31 August at 11.05 (12.05).

From the creators of five-star multi-award-winning hit plays Heroin(e) for Breakfast, Jesus, Jane Mother and Me, and Shellshocked, comes a powerful, urgent new thriller that exposes the dark side of the 'American Dream' and what it means in 2026. 

When a dead body is discovered in a house in Brooklyn, three identical brothers are dragged away and questioned. What happens next is only the beginning of their nightmare, as a compelling story woven with secrets and lies unfolds. 

Philip Stokes is a professional playwright and theatre director. In 2006, as Artistic Director of Horizon Arts, Philip wrote and directed his first professional show. Since then, his critically acclaimed plays have sold-out runs worldwide, including in New York, London, Adelaide, Dublin, Chicago, and Edinburgh. His plays have gained 5* reviews, the Fringe Review Outstanding Theatre Award, Adelaide Critics Circle Award (x2), The Stage Pick of The Fringe Award, Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre Award, Theatre Weekly Best Theatre Award (x2), The Charlie Lowe Spirit of the Fringe Award, Edinburgh Fringe Holden Street Theatre Award (x2).

Since 2009, his plays have been developed and produced worldwide by Olivier-, TONY-, and EMMY Award-winning producer Richard Jordan/Richard Jordan Productions, who discovered his work at the Edinburgh Fringe.

In 2014, alongside Ella Daley, Philip became co-company director of 412 Productions Ltd, a dynamic independent performance company committed to new writing and an acclaimed arts academy dedicated to training and empowering the next generation of professional UK artists.

Philip Stokes plays have been produced by Richard Jordan with partners including Pleasance Theatre Trust, 412, Dep Arts, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Underbelly London, e59e59 (New York), Time Won't Wait, Harrogate Theatre, Jersey Arts Centre, King Brilliant Theatre, Ketchup Productions, Leeds Playhouse, Holden Street Theatres (Australia), and Arts Council England. In 2025, Philip was named an Associate Artist at Lawrence Batley Theatre alongside the illustrious Gary Clarke Company.

Philip Stokes remains a unique theatrical practitioner who directs only his own plays. In 2013, the British Library acknowledged him as a Culturally Important Playwright of the 21st Century. 

Hailing from Leeds, Jack Stokes made his professional UK debut in the multi-award-winning one-man show Jesus, Jane, Mother and Me. He was awarded Best Edinburgh Fringe Solo Performance in 2022 and the Adelaide Critics Circle Award in 2023. His sophomore one-man show, LASH, was nominated for an OFFIE (Best Off West End Production) and won Best Monologue from Theatre Weekly UK. Shellshocked was Jack's third professional production and won the 2025 Adelaide Critics Circle Award.

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