EDINBURGH 2023: Pick of the Programme - Returning Favourites

Missed that 5-star show last year that everyone is still talking about? Fear not! We have compiled a list of 10 critically acclaimed shows that will be making a return to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe if you missed out (or just wanted to see them again!).

Trainspotting Live

Acclaimed immersive adaptation of Irvine Welsh's classic, staged in celebration of the book's 30th anniversary in a unique, bespoke venue. The audience are literally part of the action, including the notorious 'worst toilet in Scotland' scene. Back after six sold-out Fringe seasons, this is a ticket to ride you won't soon forget, so book early! Choose life.

What Girls Are Made Of

The smash-hit, gig-theatre show returns, charting the true story of Cora Bissett's rollercoaster journey from 90s indie-kid to wised-up woman. Touring with Radiohead, partying with Blur, she was living the dream. Until she wasn't. With a live band, Cora celebrates life's euphoric highs and epic lows, asking what wisdom we should pass to the next generation, and which glorious mistakes we should let them make. A Raw Material / Traverse co-production, directed by Orla O'Loughlin.

Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder

BFFs Kathy and Stella are Hull’s least successful true crime podcasters. When their favourite author is killed, they are thrust into a thrilling whodunnit of their own! Can they crack the case (and become global podcast superstars) before the killer strikes again…? The hilarious musical from the Olivier Award-winners behind Fleabag, Baby Reindeer and A Super Happy Story returns! Written by Jon Brittain (Rotterdam) and Matthew Floyd Jones (Frisky & Mannish).

The Beatles Were A Boyband

The cosy, safe world of three flatmates is rocked by a woman's murder. Now Violet's scared walking home from her late shift. Daisy's become an accidental activist drawing unwanted attention from the manosphere. And Heather just wants to get on with her life. After all, who really needs to change to make women safer? This unforgettable play by Rachel O'Regan and feminist theatre company F-Bomb returns to Gilded Balloon, having won a Scotsman Fringe First Award and the Sit Up Award for social impact in 2022.

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

The must-see, Olivier Award-winning West End hit is back! Watch the masters of musical improv create a brand-new musical comedy from scratch at every single performance of this multi award-winning show. Audience suggestions are transformed on the spot into an all-singing, all-dancing show with hilarious results. A Fringe favourite and sell-out phenomenon; your Edinburgh festival experience is simply incomplete without it!

Black Is The Color Of My Voice

Fringe First and Spirit of the Fringe award winner Apphia Campbell's stunning solo show, inspired by the life of Nina Simone. Back at the Fringe to celebrate its 10th birthday! Strictly limited run of five performances only. 

Almost Adult

Hope's leaving her hometown up north for the bright lights of London. It's going to be mind-blowing. Attractive Hinge dates. Mature new friends. A job at a dinosaur-themed bar. Hell. Yes. Okay, her manager's a creep. And her housemate seems to hate her... But we don't need to talk about that. With a hilariously naïve protagonist, 'blisteringly funny' (Indiependent.co.uk) Almost Adult combines quick-witted character comedy with touching vulnerability. That's right, Charlotte Anne-Tilley (Winner of Everything Theatre's Award for Ingenuity and 4theatre's Best Debut Performance) is returning to Gilded Balloon for 2023.

Bloody Elle

Bloody Elle returns to the Traverse for a strictly limited run after award-winning, sell-out TravFest22 performances. This heartwarming and belly-achingly funny story is stuffed full of those stomach-flipping, time-stopping moments, a touch, a glance, a kiss, that everyone will recognise. Set to an original live score that builds loops and layers of sound to make you feel like there is a ten-piece band on stage, audiences are transported to a sweaty, packed-out gig in the back of a pub or a 10,000-seat arena.

Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel

The smash-hit West End comedy, as heard on BBC Radio 4, celebrates its 10th glorious year at the Fringe! The all-star cast (featuring Rachel Parris, Graham Dickson, Cariad Lloyd and more) improvise a hilarious new Jane Austen novel every show, inspired entirely by a title from the audience. Performed in period costume with live musical accompaniment – it's a riotous, razor-sharp show where swooning is guaranteed.

The Importance of Being...Earnest...?

When a traditional production of Oscar Wilde’s classic play gets underway, everything seems to be going perfectly to plan… that is, until the lead actor fails to arrive on cue. You might think you know this chaotic story of love, mistaken identity and double lives, but you have never seen it like this before. Filled with wicked Wildean wit and bursting with bunburying, join us for a hilarious and unpredictable twist on the world’s favourite comedy classic.

In Loyal Company

eturning after sell-out runs in 2018 and 2019, In Loyal Company is the incredible true story of missing WWII soldier Arthur Robinson, written and performed by his great-nephew David William Bryan. May 1941. Hitler's bombs rain down on Liverpool. Local packer Arthur Robinson joins up, becoming a private in the 18th reconnaissance division. Deployed to Singapore where his ship is destroyed by Japanese dive bombers on arrival, Arthur is declared missing. This extraordinary true story of survival is a one-man tour-de-force war epic.

The full programme is available at www.edfringe.com

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