EDINBURGH 2025: Review: THE TALE OF THE LONELIEST WHALE, UnderbellyAugust 5, 2025'I can hear someone out there. They're singing to me.' Whale sings into the deep blue sea... but no one sings back. Just as he's about to give up, a mysterious voice calls through the waves! Determined to find the singer, Whale sets off on a thrilling adventure – diving through glowing coral caves, dodging wibbly jellyfish and facing wild-eyed sea monsters! Join Hoglets Theatre for a deep-sea adventure packed with beautiful puppets, hilarious creatures, original songs and audience interaction!
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: ROSIE O'DONNELL: COMMON KNOWLEDGE, Gilded BalloonAugust 3, 2025The eleven-time Emmy and Tony Award winner, known for her legendary career in film, television and stage, brings her highly anticipated debut show to the Fringe following her recent move from across the pond. Join Rosie as she reflects on her life in the present, including why she moved to Ireland from the USA, and how that shift has shaped her future. With her signature blend of heart, humour and honesty, expect a night of laughter and reflection from a truly unique voice sharing her opinions on subjects that matter most – here and now.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: SHAME SHOW, Pleasance CourtyardAugust 3, 2025Storm Seamus has struck Northern Ireland and Adam and Stevie are stuck inside. The rural fixer-upper they've inherited can't hack it... and neither can their relationship. Adam wants to stay to make it a home but Stevie has big city dreams of holding hands in public. With no TV to distract them and an all-night fight on the forecast, they parody 00s TV comforts (Straight in Their Eyes, The Weakest Twink, Top of the Poppers) to confront home, happiness and heteronormativity.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: FOOTBALLERS WIVES THE MUSICAL, AssemblyAugust 5, 2025A new British musical based on the iconic TV series following the fall and rise of captain's wife Tanya Turner as she schemes to save her marriage and her husband's career. Rewind to 2002 when Premier League football was the new rock'n'roll – with the money, glamour and bad behaviour to match. Spoiler alert: Contains scenes of an adult nature, drug-taking, noughties fashion, attempted murder, offensive language, outmoded attitudes, sexual impropriety, drama, heartbreak, comedy, singing, dancing – and absolutely no football
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: JACK TRAYNOR: BEFORE I FORGET, PleasanceAugust 3, 2025One of Scotland's fastest-rising stars, Jack's highly anticipated debut combined the bizarre and the brilliantly relatable. Ranked fourth in the world in the Roast Battle League, Jack shares his best stories before he forgets. Jack's vibrant storytelling weaves the real and surreal, and his distinctive comedic style have led him to placing second in the Hot Water Comedy Club New Comedian of the Year, and Roast Battle's MVP in 2024.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: MOLLY MCGUINNESS: SLOB, Monkey BarrelAugust 3, 2025Join BBC New Comedy Awards finalist Molly McGuinness for her highly anticipated debut show about what it means to be a slob. To Molly, life didn’t get any better than a good buffet and belting out Meatloaf down the pub karaoke. But when the Salford-born libertine was unexpectedly laid out by a life-threatening illness, Molly was forced to slob out whether she liked it or not...
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: ROSE + BUD, Pleasance CourtyardAugust 3, 2025Derry Freshers’ Week, closeted Bud is in for a rollercoaster of tequila, tiaras and transitioning. Lucky they have Rose keeping them on the not-so-straight and narrow. This hilarious double-act was described as the 'Queer Philadelphia, Here I Come' at Dublin Fringe. Witness this heartfelt and heartbreaking coming-of-age story about transitioning from Belfast's superstar Rose Coogan.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: LAURA BENANTI: NOBODY CARES, UnderbellyAugust 2, 2025A love letter to people pleasers everywhere. Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares is a one-woman comedy show from the mind of Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. With her razor-sharp wit, the star of stage and screen blends side-splitting storytelling with original songs co-written with Todd Almond. The New York Times Critic's Pick Nobody Cares is a hilarious, heartfelt and sometimes brutally honest tribute to recovering ingenues, mothers and anybody working on themselves.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: DEAD AIR, Pleasance CourtyardAugust 3, 2025Since Alfie's dad died, he's visited everyone's dreams but hers. Rude. Desperate to talk to him, she turns to AiR, an AI chatbot designed to connect the living with the lost. What starts as a comforting conversation between daddy and his little princess spirals into chaos. Each chat uncovers more about her dad's life – and death – than she ever bargained for. Was his death suspicious or is it just a glitch in the machine? A heartfelt and darkly funny dive into grief, technology and the consequences of talking to ghosts.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: HANNAH MORTON: CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH, Gilded BalloonAugust 2, 2025You're invited to Lachlan-Thomas' sixth birthday party hosted by your favourite children's party entertainer, Hannah Banana! Hannah is a writer, performer and most importantly, a children's birthday party entertainer... on the weekends that is! But what do you do when you realise your side hustle is no longer on the side? And maybe being a clown is the only thing you're truly good at? Have an existential crisis during the Cha Cha Slide of course! Expect prizes, games and Hannah asking herself, what the f*ck am I doing with my life?!
EDINBURGH 2025: CECILIA GENTILI'S RED INK Q&AAugust 2, 2025God won't give up on Cecilia Gentili. Unfortunately, neither will the devil. Follow a young trans girl as she navigates the hilarity of rural Argentina during the 1970s. Part stand-up, part camp and (almost) all true, Red Ink is an irreverent romp in searching for faith while trans.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: FLOAT, Gilded BalloonAugust 1, 2025Join Astronaut Indra on a nine-month mission to the moon... but not all missions are successful. A new autobiographical solo show by Indra Wilson about the lonely, turbulent journey of experiencing pregnancy loss as a queer young person
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: A GAMBLER'S GUIDE TO DYING, TraverseAugust 3, 2025This is the story of one boy's grandad who won a fortune betting on the 1966 World Cup and, when diagnosed with cancer, gambles it all on living to see the year 2000. Gary McNair's intergenerational tale of what we live for and what we leave behind has toured the world since making its award-winning, sell-out world premiere at the Traverse in 2015.
EDINBURGH 2025: Review: RIFT, Traverse TheatreAugust 2, 2025Two brothers — one a progressive novelist, the other a convicted murderer and high-ranking member of a white supremacist prison gang — shared a traumatic childhood. Now adults, these men navigate the edges of their bond. Are they truly so different?
EDINBURGH 2025: DIC DIC CHANG CHANG PLAYGROUND Q&AJuly 30, 2025Our award-winning Cantonese opera adventure is back! Join Captain Dic Dic and Chang Chang at the Cantonese Opera Playground in Edinburgh, where the Cantonese Opera Fairy teaches them skills to outwit the Boring King. But they can't do it alone – they need you, the audience, to become secret agents in this interactive spectacle.
EDINBURGH 2025: Thom Tuck Guest BlogJuly 29, 2025Written by Justin Butcher. On Millenium Eve, a 100-year-old clown comes offstage after his final ever performance to tell the story of his life: epic, hilarious and tragic. Performed by Fringe legend Thom Tuck (Penny Dreadfuls, Horrible Histories, Play What I Wrote). Tuck presented this play at the Fringe 2005 and 2015, and plans to revive the piece every decade as he approaches the age of the character.
EDINBURGH 2025: WENCHES! Q&AJuly 28, 2025In 1423 Berlin, two peasants find themselves at the center of hysteria, hypocrisy and impending doom. How… fun! As the flames of persecution rise, they must decide: will they take a stand or simply watch? A darkly comedic dive into fear, guilt and the price of inaction. Wenches! blends historical absurdity with modern relevance, revealing how easy it is to mistake performance for purpose.