Tag Archives: Edinburgh Fringe

Entertainment News, Global News, THE DEBUTANT

Street Level and Sold Out: The Edinburgh Dispatch We’re Watching

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Walking down the Royal Mile in August is a sensory assault unlike anywhere else on earth. The flyering is relentless, the smell of damp stone mixes with fried street food, and every basement, church hall, and pop-up tent is packed tight with artists gambling everything on a sixty-minute slot.

Out of the hundreds of productions currently carving up the Scottish capital, our current editorial spotlight is zeroing in on a select group of sharp, fearless pieces making genuine noise this season. This isn’t the whole Fringe, nobody can claim to see it all, but these are the curated shows driving our conversations right now.

The Highlights on Our Radar

An A to Z Guide to Dating (Grace O’Keefe / Underbelly Buttercup) Grace O’Keefe has taken an unhinged 1980s dating manual written by her own mother, a book once panned for setting feminism back decades, and turned it into a weaponized, wildly funny musical comedy. It’s smart, it’s self-aware, and it brilliantly skewers the performance of modern romance.

Copycat (Worklight Theatre / Pleasance Jack Dome)Fringe First winner Joe Sellman-Leava returns with a sharp, high-concept piece. Using innovative design and a whirlwind of impressions, Copycat explores the unsettling convergence of AI, rapid technological change, art, and the rise of authoritarianism through the lens of a teacher, student, and dictator.

Dracula: Lucy’s Dream (Plexus Polaire / Pleasance at EICC) If you want atmosphere, this is where you head. Shifting the gothic lens entirely onto Lucy, this piece uses life-sized puppetry and dark physical theatre to wade deep into the sensual, psychological undercurrents of Stoker’s text. It’s visually lush and delightfully unsettling.

Big Stuff (Matt Baram & Naomi Snieckus / Assembly Roxy) A masterclass in blending spontaneous improv with razor-sharp storytelling. It’s a show that dives headfirst into grief and the strange, lingering weight of the objects left behind after someone passes, inviting the room into something genuinely affecting.

Concerts of the Future (SensiLab / Summerhall)A boundary-pushing, immersive virtual reality experience that completely upends traditional concert hall barriers. Participants step right onto the stage alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 using futuristic “AirSticks”, requiring no prior musical experience whatsoever.

Father, Away She Goes (Electra Kolb / Zoo Playground) An absolute powerhouse of a tragicomedy. Kolb tracks a compulsive, fiercely ambitious art school hopeful whose lack of moral guardrails makes for deeply uncomfortable, magnetic viewing. It asks difficult questions about how society treats young women who refuse to play nice.

Furniture Boys (Emily Weitzman / Underbelly Jersey) Coming off a sold-out run at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse, Weitzman’s solo piece uses clowning, spoken word, and domestic absurdity (turning ex-boyfriends into literal furniture) to explore impermanence with surprising emotional heft.

Giraffe (Abigail Weinstock / Pleasance Courtyard)A sparkling, semi-autobiographical solo comedy that handles masking, neurodivergence, and the chaos of receiving a restraining order after being caught making clandestine recordings. It is a touching, deeply funny look at what it means to feel like a misfit trying to decode human communication.

Friendliest (Drew Lausch / Gilded Balloon Teviot) A dark, funny, and quietly devastating look at growing up queer in Fargo, North Dakota, where the creator invented a hometown superhero just to survive the isolation of small-town adolescence.

And that’s before even diving into the kinetic circus dynamics of Ockham’s Razor in Collaborator at the Pleasance, or the tightly coiled tension humming through the rest of the current dossier.

For any critics or culture writers looking to catch these specific runs or line up interviews while the chaos of August is still in full swing, press coordination is locked in with Chloe Nelkin Consulting (edinburgh@chloenelkinconsulting.com).

Entertainment News, THE DEBUTANT

Edinburgh Fringe with Spice

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LULA.XYZ ANNOUNCES“EDINBURGH FRINGE WITH SPICE”A DEDICATED BROCHURE AND MARKETING INITIATIVE FOR ALL ARTISTS OF COLOUR

Edinburgh Fringe with Spice is a brand new pilot initiative launched at Edinburgh Fringe 2025 to spotlight Global Majority and non-white artists at the festival. Spearheaded by LULA.XYZ, she will lead a series of programmes with the support from City of Edinburgh Council, Underbelly and Fringe of Colour.

‘Our aim is to increase diversity in audiences at the fringe. We want to make sure the communities we write about are in the room’ says LULA.XYZ.

The digital brochure is available online immediately with a printed version to be available on Thursday.

The initiative has multiple elements designed to counter the negative bias of non-white stories and address the overwhelmingly white audience demographic of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, covered in both The Guardian and The Stage. With almost 4,000 shows programmed fewer than 10% centre Artists of Colour, according to the Fringe of Colour database. And ‘whilst it’s easy to complain, I chose to celebrate those of us who are here representing against all the odds’ LULX.XYZ adds.

LULA.XYZ is piloting the following actions for 2025:Edinburgh Fringe with Spice: A dedicated brochure of all shows by non-white artists, created with the support of the Fringe of Colour database. This has only been possible thanks to the support from The City of Edinburgh Council, Culture and Wellbeing Service, Diversity and Inclusion Fund

  • OommoO.xyz: A public facing centralised digital space where Global Majority Shows are spotlighted, and audience reviews drive discovery. Designed to widen the frame of feedback and capture what the press misses. Real, unfiltered feedback from the people who matter most, those who have paid to see the work.
  • 200 tickets have been bought for the global majority shows programmed by Underbelly to be distributed to new audiences. Providing active outreach at no cost to the artist (in partnership with Underbelly). Initially started by Fringe of Colour 2019, with LULA.XYZ picking up the baton in 2025.

Whilst there are a lot of initiatives actioned for the purpose of access and audience development to address some things, we believe outreach should not be the responsibility of the artists/companies.

Jodie Adams, senior programmer for Underbelly said:

“The Edinburgh Fringe With Spice Initiative is a crucial new scheme from pioneering artist LULA.XYZ, building on the work of Fringe of Colour to ensure Global Majority artists and audiences are giving visibility and support at what is still an overwhelmingly white festival. Underbelly are delighted to be presenting Lula’s shows and to be supporting this initiative by donating free tickets to community groups at no cost to the artists, enabling them to see shows by Performers of Colour that they may otherwise not have seen. By boosting visibility to the Edinburgh Fringe With Spice brochure and website wherever possible we are hoping to encourage everyone across the festival to check out and support the work of all these fantastic artists and help amplify their voices.“

LULA.XYZ said:

“As an artist, my work speaks to more than the usual theatre goer, it is a gateway for communities who traditionally think theatre is not for them. Knowing that, I do a lot of outreach to engage the communities I write about. For a lot of them, my work would have been their first theatre experience and as a byproduct of that, they want to see more but this environment has not been accessible. Audiences that want to engage with global majority stories can’t find us. There has been no easy way to navigate through it all. So I decided to do something about it.”

About LULA.XYZ

LULA.XYZ is an award winning  multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of theatre, music and technology. Described as ‘the future of new storytelling’ she received an Oram award and is gaining recognition for her innovation and cultural impact. 

Credits include: I AM – One of many, many of One (Summerhall, Underbelly), I AM – A Walking Universe (Summerhall, Underbelly), Punk Alley (Southbank Centre), Parakeet (Boundless Theatre), Rapunzel (Wicked Productions), Journeys Beyond (Eclipse Theatre).

She has created the audio/visual installation Everyone is a Storyteller (Upswing) and North Star Fading (Positive Negative) which was nominated for an Inspiration award. Her film credit is the title role of Semret (Cinedokki), winner of Best Narrative Feature Award at Montreal International Black Films Festival and official selection of Locarno Film Festival. 

Website: https://lula.xyz/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lula.xyz / @LULA.XYZ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lulamebrahtu/ 

ABOUT FRINGE OF COLOUR

Fringe of Colour was founded in 2018 in response to the scarcity of shows by People of Colour at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the disproportionate promotion and support they receive in comparison to productions by white performers.

LISTINGS FOR LULA.XYZ

I AM – One of many, many of One Iron Belly, Underbelly 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JX Preview 31st July 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23 August 2025

Tickets from £9 / £15 17:10pm – 18:10pm 60 mins Age 12+ (Guideline)

Event warnings: Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes http://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/

I AM – A Walking Universe Iron Belly, Underbelly 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JX

Preview 31st July 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24 August 2025 Tickets from £9 / £15 17:10pm – 18:10pm 60 mins Age 12+ (Guideline) Event warnings: Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes http://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/

The project began as a database of shows.

Website: https://www.fringeofcolour.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fringeofcolour

About Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world, and Underbelly is one of its largest venues. With over 160 shows, 2025 saw over 2500 performances take place across its 20 venues and 4 sites – George Square, Circus Hub, Cowgate and Bristol Square. Underbelly showcases the best international work of all genres, and there’s no better place to be in August.

About Underbelly Ltd

Underbelly is a UK-based live entertainment company. Their events and festivals division runs one of the largest operations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In October 2023, Underbelly established its first permanent venue with the Underbelly Boulevard theatre in the heart of Soho. Elsewhere, Underbelly also produces Christmas in Leicester Square, Skate West End in Hanover Square, West End Live in Trafalgar Square, and Pride in London for Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre.

Website: http://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underbellyedinburgh/ / @underbellyedinburghFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/underbellyedinburgh

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/UnderbellyLtd

About the City of Edinburgh Council

The City of Edinburgh Council is the second largest council in Scotland and the ninth largest in the UK, with a workforce of 19,000 employees and a budget of around £1bn for the financial year 2015/16.

The Council is committed to playing a dynamic role on the local, national and international stage. The Council has a strong commitment to corporate management, a willingness to innovate and a determination to set the highest standards.

The Council plays a central role in shaping the continued success of Edinburgh as a 21st century capital city. Our responsibilities are wide-ranging, from our superb schools through to social work, housing, economic development, parks and green spaces, culture and sport, festivals and events, roads and transport.

About Underbelly

Underbelly is a UK-based live entertainment company. Our events and festivals division operates one of the largest operations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With over 160 shows, 2024 saw over 280,000 tickets sold across its 21 venues and 4 sites – Bristo Square, George Square, Cowgate and Circus Hub.

Art, Global News, THE DEBUTANT

Step Into the “Dream Space” – Where Imagination Comes To Life At Edinburgh Festival Fringe!

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Edinburgh Fringe: Dream Space opens from 31 July at Assembly George Square – The Crate. It’s a non-verbal puppet theatre from Korea…full of imagination, emotion, and visual poetry.

Dream Space takes you to a magical world where the everyday turns into something amazing. With puppets, music, and movement, you’ll go on an exciting island adventure and meet a gentle, powerful whale.

This special show is for children aged 5 and up and mixes fun, wonder, and healing. Children will be inspired to dream, and adults may feel a bit of childhood joy return. As imagination and reality blend, the stage becomes a place where stories come to life. Come with us on a one-of-a-kind journey where dreams soar and anything can happen!

Dream Space was created by South Korean artist Jin-young Son and his team, SSAK. After witnessing the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy, Son wanted to bring hope and healing to family audiences. He uses puppets to bring people together through imagination, laughter, and comfort.

“An unforgettable journey through emotion and imagination. A rare gem in Korea’s contemporary theatre.” ★★★★★ Korea Theatre Festival

“Locally rooted, globally resonant. A poetic and powerful celebration of life through puppetry.” ★★★★★ Gangbuk Foundation for Arts & Culture

AWARDS

2024 Invitation Performance Appointment Certificate, Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games

2023 Korean Cheongchun Mic – Excellence in Performing Arts Award

2019 Certificate of Appreciation from Dobong-gu Mayor, Cultural City Dobong Planning Project

2018 Gold Prize, Incheon Children’s Theater Festival

Show Title: Dream Space

Venue: Assembly George Square, The Crate

Time: 13:25hrs

Dates: Thu 31 Jul – Sun 24 Aug 2025

Tickets: 31 Jul: £8.00 / 1-5, 8-10, 15-17, 22-24

Aug: £13.50 / 6-7, 12-14, 19-21 Aug: £12.50

Bookings: www.assemblyfestival.com or 0131 623 3030

Debutant Creatives, Entertainment News, Film, Global News, THE DEBUTANT

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Debut, Big Little Sister

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Big Little Sister: Holly Gifford’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival Debut

Holly Gifford’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival Debut, Big Little Sister, is a darkly funny and emotionally sharp solo play about growing up in someone else’s shadow — when that someone is your sibling
with disabilities.

Big Little Sister cuts through the cliches of “inspirational” sibling stories. Through surrealist storytelling, monologue, and multimedia, including dialogue voiced by her brother’s communication aid.
Supported by Keep It Fringe, this production is a tribute to the “glass children”— the term coined to represent ‘invisible’ siblings who grow up in the shadows of siblings with additional needs.

But what happens when this glass child cracks?
As the story unfolds, she begins to question what it means to speak on behalf of her brother. By using his literal voice, is she becoming the very filter she set out to challenge—the one that makes their lives palatable?

The show was born out of writer / performer Holly Gifford’s lived experience and desire to challenge those who benefit from the stereotypical, motivational ‘content’ we create around those with
disabilities. Equally, who are the beneficiaries of keeping these real stories silenced?

Big Little Sister is a tribute; to growing up alongside someone profoundly different, and to the defiant joy stitched in the seams of grief and guilt.

Holly Gifford is a Bristol-made, London-based writer and performer. Gifford creates new work blending theatre, comedy, and multimedia to tell emotionally complex stories with a sprinkle of social commentary. Big Little Sister is her debut solo show. Gifford’s voice is honest, self-aware, and deeply compassionate.

Big Little Sister is directed by Scarlett Stitt, a London-based actor, writer, and theatre-maker known for her bold and dynamic work across film, television, and stage. At the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, she co-created and performed in Kissing A Fool, a queer clown-cabaret exploring George Michael’s journey through grief and creativity. The show later transferred to the Soho Theatre. Alongside Gifford, Stitt also runs and hosts drag cabaret nights at the Yard Theatre with their collective,
@haus0fintrusivethots.

Big Little Sister is produced in partnership with Stoke The Embers and Honey Theatre, and is supported by Collective Acting Studio, Soho Theatre Edinburgh Lab and was first developed with the National Youth Theatre.

Audience testimonials:

‘It was beautiful. As someone who’s sister is autistic, I could relate to a lot of the themes of siblings having to act as parents and the resentment that can build. This play navigated that experience with such thoughtfulness, that I was on the verge of tears by the end.’ – Jahrhys Greenidge

‘The truth, the originality, the story that’s what made it powerful. Holly brought realness. A raw, unfiltered connection. You felt her love for her brother in every word, every breath. There was no performance, only presence. She didn’t just tell a story she invited us into it. And we followed, willingly, because it was honest.’ – Michelle Hope

‘A beautiful, intimate and hilarious sharing of sibling love.’ – Tamara Davis

This intimate play invites audiences into a world of shared madness, lack of control, and abundant love.

Title: Big Little Sister
Venue: ZOO Playground (Playground 2) (Venue 186)
Tickets: Mon-Thu £12 (£11), Fri-Sat £13 (£12)
Previews: 1-3 Aug 2025 Dates: 5-24 Aug 2025 (not 11, 18)
Time: 10:35am (1h)
Guidance: 12+
Box Office: 0131 356 0349,
Website: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/big-little-sister
Instagram: @hollylarag
THE DEBUTANT

“Marcus Is Alive” at Hill Street Theatre!

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Marcus Freed‘s Play “Marcus Is Alive” at EdFringe: sold-out in Hollywood & loved by Emmy-winners!

A true story by Marcus Freed following his encounter of a hit-and-run, two brain surgeries, six failed proposals, a psychic, and a wayward rabbi.

“Marcus is alive, but the mystery is why, and why are any of us here?”, Marcus ponders

“Fleabag meets Fiddler on the Roof..opened to a sell-out crowd in Hollywood!“
 – Los Angeles Jewish Journal. 

“A charismatic performance. GO AND SEE THIS PLAY!” – 
North West End UK.

It’s loved by Emmy Winners like Ben Winston (Gavin & Stacey, The Late Late Show

and David Sacks (The Simpsons, Third Rock)

It’s on at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 24th August, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays showing at Hill Street Theatre.

MORE ON YOUTUBE

Full ‘Marcus Is Alive‘ playlist (behind the scenes, more testimonials & extras)

INCREDIBLE QUOTES FROM RESPECTED INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

“Marcus Is Alive is a heartwarming and witty show that tells the truth with humor, passion and insight. It is a valuable journey facing life, death and love. A captivating reminder of why we are here. Go see it!” – Jeremy Kagan, Emmy-winning director (“The Chosen”, “The West Wing”)

“Marcus gives Woody Allen a run for his money with his comic paranoia about death. Except in Marcus’s case it’s not paranoia.” – Gary Sinyor, award-winning director (“Leon the Pig Farmer”, “The Bachelor”)

“Inspiring, funny, incredibly entertaining. I loved it. Marcus comes alive, dies, comes back – and teaches us how to live. He’s a star!” – David Sacks, Emmy-winning writer (“The Simpsons”, “Third Rock from the Sun”)

“Beautifully written, beautifully performed. A really moving play. Spectacularly written. I truly recommend it…go and see this wonderful piece of theatre!” – Ben Winston, Emmy-winning producer (“The Late Late Show with James Corden”, “Gavin & Stacey”)

“It’s a fantastic piece. Marcus gives a truly impactful and versatile performance. As much as it’s powerful, personal and emotionally charged, it’s also philosophical, unexpectedly funny and ultimately life affirming. It’s well worth an hour of your time!” – Dean Craig, writer/director (“Death at a Funeral”, “Love Wedding Repeat”)

“A truly remarkable story of recovery and redemption. Marcus is clearly alive and doing very well indeed” – Ashley Blaker, award-winning comedian