Edinburgh Festival

When perusing the shows at this year's Fringe, I saw one with a poster that made me stop and stare. A man wearing aviator glasses stood in front of a pink background, holding a bleeding heart in his hand. Who was this man? Jazz Emu? What kind of a name is that? I simply had to find out, so I booked a ticket to see the show.

When walking into the show, Beevers greets you, welcoming you to her mother’s funeral and thanking you for coming. The stage is covered in red wigs and has a box of flashy costumes. Beevers then goes onstage and lays out the situation - It is the night before her mother’s funeral, and she still hasn’t started writing her eulogy. What will she do?

Have you ever used a Ouija Board to communicate with spirits? Even though I am on the fence on whether or not spirits exist in this world, I try to keep an open mind and have gone on several adventures to try to find ghosts. When I saw the description of DARKFIELD’s show, Séance, I was immediately drawn to the concept.

Six years after debuting at the PBH Free Fringe, We Must Do This More returns to the Edinburgh Fringe, this time playing at the Royal Scot’s Club. The show is an autobiographical piece that explores the highs and lows of female friendship over a year in the life of one Mhairi McColl.

You have the opportunity to see two shows written and directed by Padraig Bond, on alternating days by coming along to The Climate Fables. On this particular day, Debating Extinction, a retelling of Rapunzel through a dystopian climate lens, was the show in question.

In this extraordinary immersive show for one participant at a time, you’ll find yourself a temp for Sarah Jane, an absent actuary. As you negotiate her tasks, understanding and mysteriously precarious position, you’re the main character of her story – but how good will you be at her job?

Aionos, as theatre, aims at something unique. It blends VR, streaming and in-person performances to open up the medium. Unlike in gaming, live performers take on avatars with which VR players can interact. Unlike in traditional shows, performers based anywhere can interact with audiences based anywhere simultaneously. It has potential to be extraordinary, but it’s also very much a work in slow progress.

Paul Merton needs no introduction. He's the star of Have I Got News For You, countless Radio 4 panel shows and other TV productions. His shows at the Fringe are the stuff of legend so to have him back with his brilliant Impro Chums - Suki Webster, Richard Vranch, Kirsty Newton and Mike McShane - is a gift for us all.

Full disclosure: I saw Solve Along A Murder She Wrote in London a number of years ago. As soon as I saw it was on at the Fringe I elbowed my way through the other BW reviewers, pushed a couple of them over, stepping over their bodies, shocked looks on their faces ignored, just so I could get to the front of the queue and see this show again. And it did not disappoint. 

In a world where social media stalks our every move, comment and click online to manipulate personal preferences, it seems pertinent to bring George Orwell's famous novel to the stage. Unfortunately, this production misses the mark.

Abbey Glover embraces her Fringe debut with a playful, poetic and poignant solo show exploring relatable topics through a refreshing new lens. 

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.