Edinburgh Festival

Four Felons and a Funeral is a wonderful representation of found family, queer love and joy, whilst also exploring grief and marginalisation. A powerful and fun production that delivers in every aspect.

Kiran Deol delivers a solid hour of stand up

Following a sold-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe run in 2022, Scottish Comedian of the Year winner and Some Laugh podcast host Marc Jennings returns with his most personal show to date.

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.

After a bad break-up from a six-year relationship, a plus-sized, gay, primary school teacher decides to sublet his flat to a buff Instagram model. Funny yet poignant, this solo-performed play tackles body image pressures, social media jealousy, and one man's journey to self-acceptance whilst navigating the toxic world of online dating. Fresh from its five-star, award-nominated run at VAULT Festival, Buff is a hilarious yet timely story about being plus-sized in the gay community. Starring Dublin-born actor and comedian Pearse Egan (In from the Side, Netflix).

Charlie has cystic fibrosis, a condition that causes a build-up of mucus. Lovely. But with a new girlfriend and a Wonder Drug called Kaftrio coming soon, what can stop him now? A rollicking course of intravenous antibiotics set to 80s bangers!

The premise of the show may have been one of the most unusual I’d ever encountered. Could it really be what it sounds like? Is there any way that’ll work? Short answers: yes and yes.

As the show begins, Brendan is breathing his last breath. Boom, goes his heart beat, boom, goes the rushing blood. The following hour of theatre explains how he got to this point, and how his life became intertwined with that of Fran. Fran, whose story is told in parallel, begins having a bad day at work, which quickly goes from bad to worse. Alongside all this, an onstage DJ plays ambient beats that shift with the story.

If you’re a Buffy fan, go and see this show – and you likely won’t need the rest of this review to convince you. Just go.

This perennial favourite seasons one of the bard’s most audience-pleasing works with irreverence, humour – and pastries!

These two dastardly doses of death and drama execute both victims and performances with panache.

Meet Daniel Valentine, the ultimate superfan whose life has been devoted to his two favourite things, Jesus... and Jane. Daniel's mother is a superfan too, but then one day her actions cause it all to go horribly wrong.

James has been touring his storytelling theatre shows for half his adult life. This year was different. Returning home after his first stint away he received a letter that exploded his life and the tour became a search: for the person who sent it, for a sense of home, and to maybe save a life.

For Charly, every day is the same. They used to be different, when there was Clo, but there isn't Clo anymore and she doesn't want to dwell on that. She just wants to chug coffee, blast Beastie Boys and deal drugs. Simple. But when Charly suffers a power cut, she's forced back into the real world; a world of knockoff Morrisseys, disapproving mothers and, ultimately, a world she has to navigate alone. Lady Dealer is a mile-a-minute poem play by Martha Watson Allpress about self-forgiveness, the exhaustion of trying, and mistaking self-destruction for self-preservation. It's also about weed.

Bed – A playful and poignant 'pocket-sprung' musical. Instead of a honeymoon, newly-weds Ben and Alice buy a luxury divan. Twenty years of marriage milestones in 60 minutes – love, betrayal, loss and dirty linen. We spend a third of our lives in bed.... If only beds could talk!

Mad Ron: Crime School had me laughing from start to finish and, even though it was mostly built on one-liners, flew by. I may not have learned a lot about how to commit crimes, but I certainly did have a fantastic night out!

Chloe Petts is here and she’s ready to be mean. Or is she? Chloe Petts: If You Can’t Say Anything Nice is the second show for Petts at the Fringe, and instead of playing it nice like she did in her debut hour, she’s here to be rude.

The Vaults Tour is an insightful look into the lives of those who had no choice but to live in the darkness, hiding in the South Bridge Vaults. I appreciated the serious and respectful tone taken when speaking of those less fortunate but also the humour that Sid was able to incorporate when appropriate.

The Cambridge Footlights prove why they are one of the most acclaimed comedy groups in the UK.

Walking into Stamptown Comedy Night, you know you’re in for something . . . special.  The concept is simple, even if the actual execution is anything but. Jack Tucker (real name: Zach Zucker, the creator of Stamptown) MCs as different performers do sketches or bits, making for a night of cabaret acts in various forms.

Museum Late: Fringe Friday is a great concept and it is great to see snippets of different Fringe shows while exploring the Museum of Scotland at night, but it is a bit disappointing in its lack of organisation and small range of activities.

Rosalie Minnitt’s Clementine is an exhilarating one woman theatrical comedy show presenting a debut character with influences from Jane Austen, Bridgerton and absurdist humour.

What’s it really like to play the bagpipes? Should you ever meet your heroes? Thunderstruck is a dazzling one-man show where David Colvin retells the tale of a young piper from Fife, from when he picked up his first chanter to stumbling across, Gordon Duncan, a bin man from Pitlochry who was also a fellow piper, and pioneer in stretching the rules on what you could play on a set of bagpipes, who leaves an impact on the young piper forever.

It’s shows like this that are the epitome of the Fringe for me. In a small room deep in the Assembly George Square Studios, sketch comedians and filmmakers Joe and Rory are up to all sorts of mischief under the guise of keeping television history alive in their show TELEVISION 1.

Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society presents Palindrome: The Musical, an original piece. This engaging musical comes with assured performances, varied songs and a life-affirming message.