Edinburgh Festival

‘My name is mandla. It means power. I gave it to myself’ – mandla rae has a selective memory and they are scrambling to piece together their life. Through the exploration of mandla’s fragmented asylum and migration memories, as british as a watermelon asks questions about belonging, trauma and forgiveness. Told through an unflinching autofiction narrative weaving poetry and storytelling set within a chaotically colourful, sensory performance space and imagined entirely for the camera with film maker Graham Clayton-Chance; join mandla as they rise from the dead and reclaim their misplaced power.

“I wish Justine would leave me alone, so I could imagine being with her.” Anna has the perfect girlfriend, job and family- in her head. If you can dream it, why do you need to achieve it? When Justine crashes into Anna’s life and her fantasies, she has to make an unsettling choice. In this darkly comic, queer audio play, you share Anna’s headphones to plummet into the power and pain of imagination.

A hell of a lot can happen in the time you await the results of a pregnancy test. This is the story of a woman staring down the barrel of motherhood, torn between her own ambivalence... and an uncontrollable urge to push. Award-winning Popelei burst out of isolation and onto your screens with their darkly comic theatre production, reimagined for film. Blistering honesty, exhilarating choreography, and one extremely knocked-up performer.

A referential piece of immersive digital theatre set in a flat that's been possessed – Poltergeist style – by the ghost of pop-cultural masculinities. The Gash gals find themselves stuck, forced to encounter chit-chatting desk lamps, harmonising closet drawers, a TV that plays nothing but romcoms, a werewolf singing classic rock and way too many Rick and Morty references (one). In this macho world, they grapple with romance, bisexuality, their fears of men and how they'll connect with other people once they finally escape.

Melissa Center is... Marrying Jake Gyllenhaal. No really – she is! What starts out as her Jewish mom's pesky fantasy (and mild-to-moderate... OK, major obsession) turns into a full-on mission as Melissa, single, struggling and *cough* *cough* approaching 40, searches for love (and Jake Gyllenhaal). There will be Jewish moms (or just the one). There will be bad dates. There will be music. There will be stalking. There will be laughter... and some tears. There will be a wedding. There will be Jake. (And, in some way shape or form, Melissa Center will do them all).

A comedy about four working-class friends, Nick, Dan, Michelle and Lucy. Nick is not a fan of Christmas due to family issues but his partner Lucy is leaving the country shortly, so he is trying to make it a good night for her sake. They have a movie night in during a snowstorm but are stuck watching Freeview so they struggle to find something Christmassy to watch. They get into the holiday spirit by talking about past Christmases, favourite films and presents. They have a good vent about relationships and the fear of life after uni.

BWW reviewer Natalie O'Donoghue reflects on reviewing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and on how to improve in coming years.

Like Animals, from real life couple Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon, is an exploration into what it is to love. It is a charming two-handler, mixing stories from their own relationship with historic experiments with animals. In particular, our attempts to teach animals how to speak.

The Afflicted, from new Scottish theatre collective Groupwork uses dance, physical theatre and multimedia to tell the story of the Hope River Girls. It is inspired by real-life events taking place in Le Roy, New York, when many girls at the same High School became suddenly afflicted with tics a?" twitching and stuttering uncontrollably without any cause. Media descended on the town as more girls became afflicted, and doctors came up with competing diagnoses. In the end, was it all just a case of mass hysteria?

Knot explores intimacy in relationships, not just romantic, through showstopping and emotional acrobatics and dance.

In a city where rising accommodation prices and cost of living push both visiting artists and locals out of its festivals, Scottee's Class could not be more pertinent, and that is exactly why it needs to be presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Described as 'a multimedia clown show', beep boop is a comic examination of technology's place in our lives.   Taking aim at phone addiction, the performative nature of social media and the perils of online dating, it asks, in a world where technology has brought us closer together, why do we still feel so lonely?

Welcome to the monthly meeting of the Chicken Appreciation Society.   Over the course of the next fifty minutes, ardent poultry fans like yourself will enjoy chicken impressions, informative lectures, beauty pageants and even interpretive dance; all in celebration of our feathered friends. 

Ali Alawad had his visa application rejected two weeks before Ali and Alpo was due to premiere in Finland. Alpo Aaltokoski had to continue alone, with just a projection for company.

Reeta Honkakoski spent time in a cult in the UK. The Desk is an allegory, alluding to that time. It's a hypnotic watch, if intentionally repetitive.

One parent refuses to talk about sex. The other buys their child gay porn DVDs. Sex Education blends startling performance, moving storytelling, a no-holds-barred interview with Harry's mum and some good old-fashioned gay porn that his dad bought when he was 14. A show for anyone who's wondered why they want what they want. Delivered with the candour and charm that have made him an acclaimed international touring success.

This is a show about dads. Good dads, daft dads, dads who wear slogan t-shirts, dads that put on barbecues, dads that tell dad jokes, dads that are bad at dancing. This is a show about dads who are absent and dads who are not very good dads at all. Daddy Drag asks us to consider how the relationships with our fathers affect us for the rest of our lives. Leyla Josephine attempts to understand what it means to be a father through her witty performance style, drag costumes and complex but unconditional love for her dad.

A new play about consent within a relationship. A young couple at university have fallen in love. They listen to each other. They respect each other. But everything changes after a drunken evening with their friends. On this night, when he takes off her underwear and his boxers, she says, 'No'. But he doesn't stop. She struggles to assimilate the rape for what it was, because how could it be rape? He loves her. He couldn't have done that. Endless Second explores how two people deal with a trauma that fundamentally alters the nature of their relationship.

The Claim by Tim Cowbury, directed by Mark Maughan. A comically absurd and quietly shattering journey to the heart of our tolerant and fair society. Serge stands before us. He has a performance to give. But why is he here? What is he claiming has happened to him? And what has Willy Wonka got to do with it? A bold, imaginative response to the stories of those seeking refuge in the UK, The Claim asks what happens when your life is at stake and all you have to save it are your words.

Person of interest on Mock The Week, People Just Do Nothing and The Bugle squats and delivers a show about the extreme sport of womanhood. Birthing her vision of the future before your eyes, how she hopes it will be... free from class war, poverty and consent issues. Also dragging the overdue spectre of what it is more likely to be: t-shirt feminism, Jordan Peterson and corporate wokeness from her loins. All without an epidural.

Brister has it all: a wife, kids, a house and a job she loves (sometimes) so what the hell is she moaning about? Join Jen as she takes an irreverent look at the often controversial subject of 'privilege'. Who has it? Who doesn't? And why does no one like to admit they have any?

1969 at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow, three women are murdered by an Old Testament-quoting serial killer, nicknamed Bible John. He's never been caught. 2019, four women bound by their obsession with true crime want to change that. Immersing themselves in the world of Bible John and his victims, they try to solve the case, once and for all. A riotous, furious, joyful exploration of violence, gender and one of Scotland's darkest mysteries.

Two friends, Ed and Sarah, travel to the small squalid bedsit where Ed's father passed away a few days earlier. As they wade through the debris, the fragments of one lost life begin to coalesce, just as another starts to show signs of cracking. Will we be remembered for anything more than the mess we leave behind? Either way, the carpet is beyond saving. A brand-new play, based on an actual afternoon.

A gripping electric thriller, exploring the far-reaching, unexpected and devastating effect childhood bullying can wreak. Gasp-inducing moments between former schoolmates twist and turn in this tense, often darkly comedic, and ultimately shocking female two-hander.

We are thrilled to announce the winners in our third annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival Awards, celebrating the best of the 2019 Festival!