TO DO LISTS Solo Show to Open at Edinburgh Pleasance Courtyard
Amy Lever's solo show is directed by Giulia Grillo and explores productivity, loss, and chaos.
To Do Lists will come to Edinburgh Fringe. Performances will run at Pleasance Courtyard (The Green), 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ, Wednesday 5th - Monday 31st August 2026 (not 12th, 17th, 26th), 17:15.
Born from a compulsive relationship with list-making as a way of navigating creative ambition and everyday chaos, To Do Lists, written and performed by critically acclaimed Amy Lever of Lost Girl, is a high-energy solo show about our obsession with getting organised. Drawing on diaries, calendars and memorabilia, it starts in total control before spiralling into a playful breakdown of order itself, as the lists multiply, mutate and slip beyond control, asking what’s left when productivity collapses and nothing can be neatly checked off.
Ever since she can remember, Amy has written a to-do list to get her through each day. Now, she gathers the mounting years of dusty pages and comes face to face with hidden secrets. On a time-travelling journey, audiences are taken through her life goals from childhood to adulthood, where productivity gradually begins to replace childhood itself, from tackling exams in a one-size-fits-all school system, to getting into the University of Cambridge and trying to make it as a writer. This system, which structures days, months and years, continues to hold until her failsafe begins to crumble following the unexpected loss of her father. It asks how we cope when our own systems of structure begin to fail us.
Directed by Giulia Grillo (Golden Time & Other Behavioural Management Strategies), this theatrically adventurous show builds a cartography of paper lists and post-its, propelled by Amy’s compulsive need to tick off every item. Combining creative captions, paper, playing cards and projection, To Do Lists draws audiences into an intimate, sensory storytelling experience exploring the pressures and inner workings of a productivity-centred society.
Giulia Grillo comments, To Do Lists interweaves Amy’s own life and family history with commentary on the UK assembly line education system and the plight of millennial and gen z culture: forced by a culture they did not create to always be conscious of themselves and build a successful life. Amy’s sharp dialogues capture the energy of teenage friendships and will remind you of your favourite coming-of-age films. Then, just when you think you know the rhythm of the piece, she shifts into something more expansive. Genuinely, her writing has taken my breath away. You're in for a treat. Amy is one to watch.
Produced by new Manchester company Rainy Day Theatre and PJ Cunningham, To Do Lists is in development with support from young people's mental health charity 42nd Street and their creative engagement space, The Horsfall. As part of their process, the team are working with young people experiencing mental health challenges to explore how creativity can support positive mental health.
Get Broadway News on WhatsApp
Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.
|
Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical Gilded Balloon Patter House (8/05-8/29) |
|
Elvis in Chaos Lime Studio at Greenside @ George Street (8/07-8/15) |
|
Couplet: Folk Marry Kill Assembly George Square (8/05-8/30) |
|
Glass Child Summerhall (Old Lab) (8/06-8/16) |
|
Thermodrama Summerhall (Old Lab) (8/07-8/31) |
|
Black Blues Brothers: Let's Twist Again! Underbelly (8/05-8/31) |
|
The List Festival Awards W Edinburgh (8/28-8/28) |
|
Long Way Home Gilded Balloon (Snug) (8/05-8/31) |
|
Racists, Recessions and Revolutions ZOO (Playground 3) (8/07-8/30) |
|
The Listies: 110% Ready Assembly (Studio One) (8/05-8/16) |