Edinburgh Festival

In 2023 TikTok sent a notification to millions of users with Jodie's face, and the caption 'Is She Hot?'. Now, her debut show is a hilarious reflection on womanhood, grief and feminine rage. Told through musical comedy, sharp observations, and her own teenage diary, Jodie delves into the contradictions of modern femininity, balancing girliness and grief, sweetness and fury, and humour and heartbreak. A style that blends charm, candour, and raw emotional depth, Jodie delivers an unforgettable hour that's as thought-provoking as it is funny. A must-see debut from a rising star.

After her hit sold-out show at last year’s Fringe, national treasure Miriam Margolyes returns with a brand new piece. At 84 years young, Margolyes knows she doesn't have to prove herself to anyone. Sporting a beautifully vibrant gown, she commands the stage with a charming combination of crude remarks, cheeky innuendos, and brilliantly timed one-liners.

Unsettling music and Chekov's child draw the audience in before 1612 even starts, creating the perfect environment to learn about this historic witch trial. Rather than focussing on the people in power and how the hysteria and rumours spread, the show centres around the rising panic in a few central families. The deliberate targeting of traditional medicines is better understood now, and not a particularly new take, but this show highlights the reality of how people, generally poor or oppressed already, come to be accused of witchcraft.

This whirlwind show absolutely flies by in the time we wish it took to learn to love ourselves. Blending a variety of original songs with comedic rants, this sermon on self-love is halfway between standup and a musical. It's hilariously ironic and relatable, highlighting the conflicting messages about defining self-worth, and the unpredicatable nature of the show reflects society; when is a suggestion a joke? When is it a threat?

49 and 64 are in the room. They cannot see each other but they can talk and pass notes. All they have is questions, wedding veils and dog tags. Who are they? Where are they? What is going on? And why? And who is J Doe? And why are they watching them? 113 focuses in on the ideas of identity and memory. It asks if memory is what makes our identity, and if we were able to see ourselves objectively, could we change?

Following the arrest of a famous billionaire, four unlikely friends team up to break her out of prison in return for half her fortune. Led by bumbling Luke and set in the rather grim reality of struggling to make ends meet, it’s an interesting concept that asks the audience to question what their morals would really be under duress and begs the question: “if I’m not the worst person here, is my position justified?” Featuring a number of good songs, a charismatic villain, and funny side characters, Dirty Money has the makings of a great musical.

Advertised as a 'moving and darkly comic remix' of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Lost Lear retells the play through the eyes of Joy, an elderly dementia patient and former actress trapped in a perpetual memory of rehearsing King Lear for the stage. Doctors and nurses step into her imagined world, supplying sound effects and taking on roles to maintain her charade. But when her long-absent son Connor arrives seeking reconciliation, his presence unsettles the fragile theatre of make-believe she has so carefully constructed.

Khalid Abdalla (The Kite Runner, The Crown) redefines and reclaims the solo show in a lyrical tapestry where resistance, displacement and selfhood are delicately woven through an avant-garde aesthetic. At its heart lies a searing question voiced at the start: ‘This nowhere is safe. But there are places in the world where nowhere is safe. And when the unfathomable becomes persistent, where do you go?’

Mary: A Gig Theatre Show is a cool concept. It advertises itself as a blend of folk rock music and spoken word formulating a feminist retelling of the story of Mary Queen of Scots. In theory it feels inspired by the hit show Six, but with it's own unique voice. The idea of a 'gig theatre show' suggests an interesting new form to explore within the realm of performance. Unfortunately, in practice the show certainly gives us 'Gig', but severely lacks in 'Theatre'. 

A monster's guide to tolerance and temperance. The silliest of shows for the scariest of days from Edinburgh Best Show Award Nominee. You've seen Jess on BBC's QI, Live at the Apollo and Celebrity University Challenge. From Travelman on C4, World's Most Dangerous Roads on Dave and more. You know her from her two BBC R4 series of Sturdy Girl Club plus podcasts The Guilty Feminist, Hoovering and Contender Ready

A Y2K-drenched coming-of-age comedy-drama: ASTNT follows David’s move from the city to a small Northern town where being the only Black kid means fitting in isn’t an option. Against the chaos of the 2000s: lads mags, MSN and questionable fashion, he tries to find his place but fails spectacularly. For fans of The Inbetweeners, it’s nostalgic, sharp and hilarious... But beneath the laughs lies a Black British story about identity, belonging and carving your place into a world that can’t quite place you.

Josh Elton makes an assured and highly memorable Fringe debut with Away With The Fairies, a show which captures both the unfiltered chaos of the life of a comic and the mythic absurdity which shapes it. With an energetic blend of sharp gags, playful storytelling and sincerity, Elton proves himself to be one to watch. 

What did our critic think of AVENUE Q at Braw Venues At Grand Lodge?This smash hit musical is a hilarious satire of modern life starring a mixed cast of humans and puppets. It combines the ridiculous with the all too relatable, following Princeton, a freshly graduated dreamer with his whole life ahead of him, as he gets smacked in the face by reality and does battle with adulthood.

Two people. Many characters. One space. Alexander Burnett and Ellie Whittaker of Voloz Collective make a splash at the Fringe this year with The Crawl—a short, slick, and hilarious physical theatre piece that dives headfirst into the drama of a high-stakes swimming competition.

Scottish comedy legend Johnny McKnight examines the panto dame through an inventive new lens in She’s Behind You. Drawing on his experience writing more than 30 pantos and playing 18 dames, McKnight unpacks the role through a lively mesh of songs, stand-up, dance, and audience participation.

Four generations of Northern Irish women gather for a 90th birthday party in Karis Kelly’s Consumed, and what unfolds is a pitch-black dark comedy with razor wit and gasp-inducing shock. Eileen (Julia Dearden), Jenny (Caoimhe Farren), Gilly (Andrea Irvine) and Muireann (Muireann Ní Fhaogáin) initially present a hyper-realistic family: they laugh, they bicker, and beneath it all, they carry the weight of generational trauma. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one moment and devastatingly reflective the next, forcing us to think about what it really means to be “Northern Irish.”

Flora Wilson Brown’s six-hander examines climate change across 250 years of real and imagined history. In 1856, Eunice begins to question whether carbon dioxide might signal that something is going terribly wrong. In 2027 London, Clare falls for Dan as she faces impending heatwaves and floods. By 2100 in Svalbard, Ana endures an 86-day storm raging outside, questioning the doomed future of our planet.

Welsh comedian Steffan Alun brings warmth, wit and a proudly offbeat perspective to his debut Fringe hour, Steffan Alun: Stand Up. Having honed sets for years on the free fringe, Alun finally embraces a full-length slot with confidence and charm, blending education, sexuality and pop culture through the lens of his Welsh identity and neurodivergence.

Tartan Tabletop is a Dungeons and Dragons panel show which thrives on live comedic improvisation, uncertainty and risks, which results in riotous game play. By merging the world of fantasy role-play with quick-fire wit, Dungeon Master Josh Aitken steers the action by narrating the story, setting challenges and plays all the non-player characters. The unpredictable nature of a giant twenty-sided dice is thrown by an audience member called Colin, who seems at ease, with a great knowledge of D&D. 

Written and Performed by Lizzie T Ollemache and David Ladderman from Rollicking Entertainment, a riot of magic, slapstick and sparkle is brought to the stage with Messy Magic, a family show which manages to be silly, but skilful. With a recommended age of three and above, the performance has clearly been designed to keep young audiences giggling, while still offering enough for parents to remain engaged in its physical comedy and acrobatic flair.

The winner of the 2025 Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award, Rosco McClelland brings his brand new show for 2025. Twice nominated for Best Newcomer at the Scottish Comedy Awards, McClelland is rapidly becoming one of comedy's brightest stars. His previous show was hailed as one of the best-reviewed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, earning recognition as one of Rolling Stone's 12 must-see comedy shows.

Sex, drugs and coercive control... Jackie! is a new musical comedy that follows the young Jacqueline Bouvier as she dreams of becoming the first American Royal. After marrying into the illustrious Kennedy dynasty, Jackie discovers that power and notoriety come with the price of secrecy and silence. With Joe Kennedy pulling the strings, Jackie's sister Lee pulling away and JFK pulling anything that moves, Jackie is left alone to contemplate if life atop the American throne is really worth the familial curse that seemingly hangs over it.

The King is dead and the Prince is unmarried – if he doesn't find someone soon, he must forfeit the crown! In NYC, baker Aaron Butcher is butchering his career as a family baker. Maybe a commission in the non-location-specific country of Swedonia will fix his problems...

After spending her formative years trying to be 'not like other girls', Sarah Bradley is celebrating all things feminine – from rosé to romance novels, horoscopes to hot celebrities, inconvenient crushes to crying at inconvenient times. Whatever your gender, you are warmly invited to leave shame, judgement and societal expectations at the door, and come embrace the girly girl within.

With prisons rarely out of the news, Insiders gives insight into the challenges of life in jail. Danny struggles with anger and isolation. Craig thanks his newfound faith for his recovery. Middle-class Richard is a fish out of water. When tragic news upsets the rhythm of their lives, each must confront the core of what they believe about themselves, the world and what lies beyond.