Festival 2026 Week 3 by List Publishing Ltd

1931 AUGUST 2026 | WEEK 3 LIST.CO.UK/EDINBURGHFESTIVAL

FREE

San Francisco Ballet Elouise Eftos Antony Szmierek Sarah Hester Ross Anatomy Of Survival Charlotte Mclean Angels In America Elf Lyons Catherine Opie

The jazz icon who was born to be a star

Ca Camilla Ge George

2 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

FRONT & FEATURES

CONTENTS FESTIVAL 2026 | WEEK 3 | LIST.CO.UK/EDINBURGHFESTIVAL

Festival Diary The solar eclipse gets a critical drubbing

Tip Of The Issue Catriona Price recommends a cross-cultural collab

ART Emii Alrai Gracing Calton Hill with her Guardian

Jupiter Rising Sculpture park’s multi-artform knees up

BOOKS Luke Wright Pop poet gets reflective

Barrowland Gigs Author Alison Irvine picks her top five

CABARET

“

Ben Hart Magician goes mythological

Bernie Dieter Five stars for the sexiest cabaret in town

COMEDY

IT GAVE ME SO MUCH DOPAMINE AND SEROTONIN FELICITY WARD’S REACTION

Chris Cantrill Brilliantly mischievous tales of village life

Brendan Scannell Top rating for cathartic tragicomedy

Paul Currie Semi-naked, musical comedy magic

DANCE & CIRCUS

TO APPEARING ON DANCING WITH THE STARS

Tell Me Powerful circus-dance storytelling from Sadiq Ali

Border Bodies Samba party of self-expression

KIDS

PAGE 42

Vasthy And Friends Hyper-wholesome fun for the family

Boys Don’t Dance Uplifting celebration of disabled dancer

PICTURE: MATT STRONGE

MUSIC Hot Dub Time Machine Dancing through the decades

Woody Sez Thrilling take on the life of Mr Guthrie

THEATRE

Published in August 2026 by List Publishing Ltd 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh EH8 9SU Tel: 0131 623 3040 list.co.uk editor@list.co.uk

Extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication; however the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors it may contain.

©2026 List Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

Werewolf Fight for survival in clever whodunnit

Supposing Zinnie Harris’ impressive modern myth

Evita Too Riotous saga of the second Mrs Perón

recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of List Publishing Ltd. ISSN: 0959 - 1915

HOT SHOTS

Printed by Acorn Web Offset Ltd, W. Yorkshire

COVER PICTURE: BLAKE EIRMANN

The Bard, Binface and beautiful sounds

FESTIVAL DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL 14–30 August edinburghartfestival.com

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL 15–30 August edbookfest.co.uk

e m o c l e W We’ve now reached that spot in the Festival month where energy levels are being seriously sapped with second and possibly third winds being ritually summoned to get us powering through towards the home straight. This is also the moment when the awards rumour factory cranks into gear, with only the official announcement of longlists and shortlists scotching the gossip. Over the years, almost every category you can imagine has been honoured in some way or another with trinkets handed out for best Fringe poster, most hilarious joke and kindest taxi driver operating out of the Old Town. Ok, sure, one of those might not have been a real one . . . yet. Full transparency: this is where I big up our own awards, now in their third year. For 2026, more prizes will be dished out than there were in the first two years and some discussions in-house suggest we may well increase the number of gongs handed over in 2027. Not everyone is in favour of measuring cultural worth by such shiny things, but the breadth of talent around this city for these three-and-a-bit weeks is nothing short of phenomenal and it would feel like an oversight not to acknowledge that in some way other than with our print and online reviews. Talking of which, there are loads of shows and acts being judged on these pages and on our site. Go and have a read.

Brian Donaldson EDITOR

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 13–19 August edfilmfest.org

CONTRIBUTORS CEO Sheri Friers Editor Brian Donaldson

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 7–31 August edfringe.com

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 7–30 August eif.co.uk

Print & Digital Content Manager Murray Robertson

Marketing & Events Assistant Paighton Scott

Head Of Commercial Jayne Atkinson

Publishing Assistant Juliette Pepin

Online News Editor Kevin Fullerton

Writers Afreka Thomson, Allan Radcliffe, Ananya Patankar, Brian Donaldson, Claire Sawers, Danny Munro, Dominic Corr , Evie Glen, Fiona Shepherd, Gareth K Vile, Gary Sullivan, Greg Thomas, Isy Santini, James Macfarlane, Jay Richardson, Jess Ewing, Jo Laidlaw, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lucy Mills, Lucy Ribchester, Matthew Hayhurst, Megan Merino, Murray Robertson, Paul McLean, Rachel Morrell, Robyn Bell, Suzy Pope

Art Director Seonaid Rafferty

Business Development Manager Lachlan McMaster

Subeditor Paul McLean

Head Of Marketing & Events Leah Bauer

Advertorial Designer Bradley Southam

Marketing & Events Executive Eve Johnston

READ OUR FESTIVAL COVERAGE ONLINE

GET READY TO TAKE THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS. 7 - 29 AUGUST 2026 SCAN FOR TICKETS

TICKETS ON SALE NOW.

EDINTATTOO.CO.UK list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 5

FRONT

Diary

FRONT

Our resident columnist Kevin Fullerton has been watching a huge number of shows this Fringe and only one has asked him to avert his eyes

t’s no secret that the Fringe is a hotbed of social privilege, but few acts have had more leg-ups than Sun, a burning ball in the sky which, with the craven posturing of a Kardashian, has received the kind of exposure that a PR could only dream of. Afforded blanket coverage before the Festival even began, its one-off show, titled Solar Eclipse, was positioned by many as the highlight of this year. Sun’s self-promotion has always been shameless and there was little exception here. It teased Solar Eclipse aggressively with a series of record-breaking heatwaves and wildfires, the blackened ash of their aftermath apparently intended to symbolise the eclipse itself in a confusing and nonsensical ARGtype experience (Sun’s marketing team have a lot to answer for). When the night of the show came, there was an exodus from other venues that made the Oasis Effect look tame by comparison. Fringe officials have already raised questions with Edinburgh Council. Why was Solar Eclipse granted an outdoor performance licence when other performers can barely afford to rent a children’s tent for a venue? Why couldn’t the council have simply hired a warlock to place a hex on the sky and thus enshroud its entire city in darkness to stop this attention hog from performing? And why is Jack Whitehall here? That last one’s not relevant, I’m just venting. The performance itself was hardly worth the wait and was beset by technical hiccups and sightline issues for audience

members. Consisting of a glacial experimental dance between Sun and a character called Moon, proceedings were constantly interrupted by a heckler called Cloud, and Sun seemingly had no effective plan B to continue its show unhindered. Audiences deserved better than this, particularly when a performer has billions of years to rehearse. Officials at the Fringe Society, seemingly at the behest of Sun itself, insisted that no audience member look directly at the show, a diva-ish demand that not even Jack Whitehall could get away with. But a critic never looks away, and so I deemed it professional to stare directly at Solar Eclipse for the duration of its hour-long (and creakingly slow) performance. What I saw revealed to me the reasons why the Fringe Society was at pains to keep everyone from peering into Sun’s dead centre. Once my eyes adjusted to the shrill white light, I saw the faces of every Edinburgh Comedy Award winner from the past four decades, as well as award-winning theatre talent, clowns, street performers and spoken word pros. All of them had been sucked into the molten fires of Sun, itself desperate to consume them and receive a coveted five-star review. But, despite its best efforts, Sun can only ever be a onestar show. A pathetic display all around (and I’m blind now). Shamefaced, Sun released a statement declaring that its next performance would be in 2081. Let’s hope it’s learned a few new tricks by then.

In this weekly series, we ask Edinburgh Festival veterans which shows or performers have touched their hearts or pushed their buttons. This time around, author Peter Ross tells us which things . . .

Made me grateful: When Claude Berri’s Lucie Aubrac came to the Film Festival in 1997, I had the honour of interviewing the woman after whom the picture was named. Lucie Aubrac was a hero of the French Resistance, a real badass. By the time I met her, she was in her mid-80s. I didn’t do a good job of writing about her, but I have a keen sense of privilege (and almost disbelief) at having spent an hour in the life of this figure from history. Made me blush: I remember having my arse grabbed by Sean Hughes late one night at The Green Tree in the Cowgate. This was, I recall, his way of trying to persuade me to write about a particular comedian he rated. But it seems to me now a story of transience. Sean and the pub are both gone and the arse, frankly, is fading fast. n Peter Ross: Journeys In Ancient Britain And Ireland, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 24 August, 2pm.

festival insider 6 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: JACK ROSS

Made me full: One of the great revelations of the Edinburgh Festival, for me, was seeing the Russian clown troupe Derevo make their Fringe debut with Red Zone in a midnight show at the Pleasance. It was strange and wonderful and I gave it a five-star review. But not everyone liked it. They were interrupted one night by a very Edinburgh protest: an audience member throwing an entire salmon on stage. Waste not, want not, they cooked this and served it with icy vodka at an after-show party. That is the only time I have ever eaten a heckle.

weir d pic of the week We sadly now reach the grand finale of this three-part examination of The Worst Record Covers In The World exhibition, as curated by Steve Goldman. Here, he recalls how David Bowie made an awful creative decision in life that haunted fans after his death in 2016 David Bowie: Toy Toy was released posthumously and begs the question: ‘Who designed such a hideous piece of art to sully the name of David Bowie?’ Actually, the designer was . . . David Bowie. It was a photo he created for Lemon magazine in 2009, in which they wrote that it was ‘open to entertaining interpretations’. Such as: ‘Why is this image so shit?’ So, the question is, would he approve of the photo used for the cover of the album? That’s one for Bowie diehards to argue over. I just find it very funny.  The Worst Record Covers In The World will shock onlookers all day long at Assembly George Square Studios, until 31 August; see more devastation and despair at instagram.com/worstrecordcovers

FRONT

I’m excited to see Beyond Tradition at EIF: an electrifying trio of intercultural women, bringing together Yasamin Shahhosseini on oud, Farah Kaddour on buzuq and Senny Camara on kora. I love seeing exceptional female instrumentalists taking centre stage, particularly on instruments that have historically been dominated by men. It’s exactly the kind of bold, cross-cultural collaboration that inspires my work with Routes To Roots and I can’t wait to hear these three musicians together.  Beyond Tradition, 21 August, 7pm; Routes To Roots, 27 August, 8pm; both concerts at The Hub.

from the

PICTURE: SOMHAIRLE MACDONALD

Festival folk choose one show that is leaving them giddy with excitement. This time, we hear from violinist Catriona Price

festival archive

TIP OF THE WEE K

No matter who is wielding power over there, the UK seems inextricably linked with the USA. This year’s EIF has had a big American theme, and proving that the ‘special relationship’ was a major thing culturally back in 2011, we stuck a number of US comics on the cover for that season’s final Festival mag; including Kristen Schaal, back at the Fringe this year after a long lay-off. Other comedians featured include some who are still going Fringe-strong such as Nick Helm and David O’Doherty while sketchy team WitTank are sadly no longer with us (never quite took to that name). Bob Servant (Neil Forsyth’s non-couthy Dundonian creation) compiled a chaotic Q&A, we examined a stage version of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and gingerly took a seat at Simon Munnery’s conceptual restaurant (the concept being it didn’t serve food).  Head to list.co.uk/magazine-archive for our past issues.

Play List We’ve made it to the home straight of this year’s Festival. Join us in pushing through the final stretch with some meditative (and others less so) music by artists such as Camilla George, Floating Points, Radiohead, Bob Marley, Bad Bunny, Tom Waits and Madonna Scan and listen as you read:

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 7

8 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

CAMILLA GEORGE

“

My band won’t get in the car with me Camilla George has carved out a unique niche in the UK’s jazz renaissance with a heady brew of politics, afrofuturism and hip hop spliced through her music. She chats to Fiona Shepherd about childhood competitiveness, finding her musical tribe and taking control >>

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 9

CAMILLA DRAG IHSANE SPECIAL GEORGE XXX 10 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

CAMILLA IHSANE GEORGE

he first time Camilla George encountered a saxophone, it was bigger than she was, a seeming beast of a tenor sax discarded at her mum’s friend’s house after a break-up and just asking to be tamed. Like some Odyssean challenge, everyone else had tried and failed to get a note out it. Step up the small, plucky eight-year-old dwarfed by the instrument who nevertheless managed to make the thing sing. Her fate was sealed: she would play saxophone. At school, she was fobbed off with piano. Nice try. A mix of pester power, good fortune, raw talent and force of will led her to alto saxophone, the instrument of her dad’s favourite jazz musicians, Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean. ‘I’d be sitting on my dad’s knee and he’d be telling me about all these players,’ she recalls. Meanwhile, her mum was singing her to sleep with Beatles tunes. Her parents had seen Fela Kuti play in the 70s when they lived in Nigeria. George was three years old when her father was deported. ‘The idea for my parents was to live the African dream,’ she says. ‘That didn’t work out to plan so we ended up in Harlesden; quite the contrast.’ Later she discovered that her Grenadian grandfather played saxophone. ‘I suppose it’s in the genes,’ she says. At secondary school, she sharpened her skills. ‘I had lessons with another boy and we were very competitive which is another reason why I practiced. I wanted to be better than him every single lesson.’ That determination saw her through some discouraging times. ‘In London, you didn’t see black jazz musicians. All the concerts I was going to there was nobody that looked like me.’ There was a notable exception in Jazz Jamaica, the glorious jazz reggae fusion collective founded by Jazz Warriors bassist Gary Crosby. Aged 11, the bold George attended one of their shows with her mum and informed their saxophonists Denys Baptiste and Jason Yarde that she was going to grow up to be just like them. She was duly invited to the workshops run by Crosby’s hugely influential Tomorrow’s Warriors music education programme, an organisation he founded with his partner Janine Irons whose alumni is a roll call of the UK’s brightest young jazz things, from Soweto Kinch and Shabaka Hutchings to Ezra Collective and Nubya Garcia. ‘I joined that family,’ says George with pride. ‘It was creating a community of people that maybe didn’t feel comfortable going to the Ronnie Scott’s jam session at the time but were comfortable having a jam with Denys Baptiste and Soweto and Gary on a Friday evening at the Southbank Centre.’ George’s experience of more formal music education at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in Greenwich was not so happy. ‘I didn’t have a lot of confidence,’ she says. ‘It was a hard time because my dad passed away.’ Like many of her peers, she graduated with the technical and artistic skills to take her forward but not the practical knowledge to help her catch a break. Again, the inner bolshy eight-year-old took over. ‘I was knocking on doors and doors weren’t opening, so I learned how to do a lot of stuff myself,’ she says. ‘I made up an email address and pretended I had an agent to get gigs and look more professional. I learned how to book and advance gigs. On my first tour, I drove the bus, with some very hairy moments. My band won’t get in the car with me subsequently!’ George’s regular band features a number of her fellow Warriors, including guitarist Shirley Tetteh and trombonist Rosie Turton, as well as pianist Sarah Tandy. George was initially sceptical about the Warriors Collective initiative for female musicians, fearing tokenism. ‘There weren’t many women coming through but I found it worse being black and female; now I think it’s flipped and a big part of that was Tomorrow’s Warriors.’ Mindful of her eight-year-old self, George now tutors the next generation of budding saxophonists at two schools and through the Warriors’ outreach programme, seeking to keep access to music tuition as open as possible. ‘It’s important we have free programmes in schools because you have kids that really live for music but they have no outlet and their parents might not have the money to buy them an instrument or pay for the lessons but they’re all in the same space getting the same opportunities.’ As for George, she is set to shine at the International Festival, taking part in Catriona Price’s celebratory Routes To Roots collaboration with Argentinian outfit El Guapo. At her own concert, she’ll play with American drummer Rod Youngs, her original bassist buddy Daniel Casimir and Brit School graduate Renato Paris on piano and vocals, who George reckons sounds like ‘a little Donny Hathaway’. She hopes to preview some new music from an album she’s working on, following up 2017’s Isang, 2018’s The People Could Fly and 2022’s Ibio-Ibio. As with all her albums to date, George continues to immerse herself in her family’s Ibibio culture, drawing on their memories and her mother’s library of books for inspiration. While the music is still taking shape, George can say that ‘it’s more of a spiritual take on the culture, delving into the individual gods, but not in an overtly religious way. It’s a way of living life in these tricky times.’ Camilla George, 26 August, 8pm, and is part of Routes To Roots, 27 August, 8pm; both concerts at The Hub.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 11

ADVERTISING FEATURE

festival showcase

Whether you want to laugh or cry, sing and dance, or marvel at the wonders of the human body, you’ll always find the perfect show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Explore our showcase and get booking!

SEE YOU TOMORROW

SABOTAGE

COMEDY

THEATRE & DANCE

Greenside George Street Until 29 August (not 23), 11.25am instagram.com/seeyoutomorrowplay

TheSpace Triplex 24–28 August, 10.50pm sabotage.theplay

Space Symposium Hall Until 22 August, 4.10pm tickets.thespaceuk.com

Harrie’s workday ends like any other . . . until her journey home takes a sudden, unthinkable turn. In the following days, she’s swept into a system of police reports, questions and courtrooms demanding clarity from a memory that isn’t there. See You Tomorrow is not just a story about trauma; it’s a darkly comic odyssey through the absurd machinery of justice, where truth is slippery and certainty feels out of reach. When reality hits like a shower of shit, sometimes the only thing left to fight for is your version of the story — whether it can be proven or not.

‘Every now and again, Melbourne’s indie theatre scene throws up something destined for a bigger stage . . . the two-hander writhes with comedic life even as it probes loneliness and trauma . . . talent scouts and arts programmers should make a beeline for this very short season.’ AAAA Cameron Woodhead, The Age. Following critical acclaim in Melbourne, Sabotage makes its Edinburgh debut in August. This sharp, darkly comic new play strands two versions of the same traveller in an airport departure lounge, where delayed flights give way to a reckoning with identity, ambition and the baggage we carry through life.

Reaching The C is a witty and thoughtful show that uses personal experience to explore the way music can thread through life. It is a story about living and learning, unexpected paths and places, and finding your way through. The music is a mixture of folk, baroque, blues and improvisations, performed live on stage using just a bassoon and loop pedal. Reaching The C is written and performed by Ursula Leveaux, well-known to Edinburgh audiences as former principal bassoon of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Directed by Ben Wright, with original script development and direction by Rosemary Harris.

PINK DOLPHIN

SALT AND LIGHT

THEATRE & DANCE

Space Surgeons’ Hall 24–29 August, 9.45am edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ pink-dolphin

Palmerston Place Church 27 & 28 August, 6pm; 29 August, noon & 2.30pm lampscollective.com

Fiona’s boredom with life has sunk to new lows. Perhaps an attractive new-start at the office will be a good distraction. Pink Dolphin is a comic tale of overthinking and repressing what’s important. The show, created by Ashley McLean, demonstrates through comedy the everyday banality, as well as the highs, lows and uncertainties, of relationships. McLean previously wrote and starred in her Edinburgh Fringe debut, Unseen, which gained strong reviews. ‘Shows rare insight and integrity’ AAAA (All Edinburgh Theatre review, Unseen)

Lake Galilee, AD 30, and in the little fishing community of Capernaum, rumours of miracles and healings abound. Five members of one family struggle to make sense of the radical new teacher walking their shores. Who is this man? What is he? And what might it mean for them and their lives? Join us around the campfire for shanties, stories and spoken word – the tales of the first disciples. ‘Beautiful collection of stories, each one leading into the next in a way that was seamless and meaningful: outstanding!’ (Audience review, Spring Harvest).

12 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 ||list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

REACHING THE C THEATRE & DANCE

5 HEADLINERS FOR £10 COMEDY

Hoots @ The Apex, Hoots @ The Wee Red Bar and Just The Tonic The Caves| Until 31 August | Daily at 1.30pm, 3.50pm, 6pm & 7.30pm rgb.monster/headliners Five top-level stand-up comedians and strictly no picking on the audience! The biggest-selling line-up show at the festival, now with four daily performances and four different casts of headline-level acts. No MC asking you where you’re from, and no banter with the front row: stand-up comedy as it should be. A great way to have a giggle, many festival-goers use these shows as a way to discover new acts, all of which have solo shows in their own right.

celine kuklowky is...

BED THE LANDLADY COMEDY

Greenside George Street Until 29 August (not 23), 11pm instagram.com/brookeofmormon How can a world that makes such beautiful things be bad? What’s that word again? Oh! Capitalism! Brooke is an ex-Mormon fish out of water lookin’ at stuff. It’s fuckin’ neat, right? A stand-up comedy show with one of your favorite little fishies – only she’s not so little anymore! For the first time ever, Big Mermaid tells it all and asks, ‘was it all worth it?’. Through silly and insightful observations, Brooke takes you on a tan-gentile journey from naïve to jaded to hopeful.

MOST OF MY MOMS ARE GAY THEATRE & DANCE

Greenside George Street Until 29 August (not 23), 6.25pm mostofmymomsaregay.com Turkey-basted into existence, Most Of My Moms Are Gay follows Abby Goldfarb growing up in the shadow of an iconic lesbian upbringing while trying to figure out her own identity; and what the hell comes next. With 12 original songs, lots of moms (most of them gay), coming out as straight, gay divorce, and career heartbreak, it’s basically group therapy where only Goldfarb talks.

They’ve been a bed bed boy... CELINE KUKLOWSKY: Directed by Tonderai Munyevu BED BOY COMEDY

13:00 COORIE

18 - 31 AUG Gilded Balloon Patter House Until 31 August (not 26), 1pm instagram.com/celinekuk (NOT 26)

Nominated for Best Debut Show at Leicester Comedy Festival 2026, Bed Boy Celine Kuklowsky is existential, horizontal and probably fine. Not so much stand-up as liedown comedy, join Celine as they explore why their body, your body and the planet’s body all seem to be breaking at the same time. If this world makes you want to hide under the covers, this show is for you. Bed Boys of the world unite!

WISARD

ULYSSES OF SCRANTON THEATRE & DANCE

Bedlam Theatre Until 29 August (not 24 & 25), 11am newvintageensemble.com An ensemble of actors rehearse their new production of James Joyce’s Ulysses, but as they progress through the infamously ‘impossible to adapt’ work, they find the line between text and real life starts to dissolve. A theatrical remix layering in contemporary stories to produce a fast-paced, funny, and emotionally direct work. Knowledge of the original book is not essential for enjoyment! AAAAA UKTW AAAA The Real Chrisparkle

festival showcase

BOY

STAND UP FOR FREEDOM

COMEDY

Just The Tonic The Caves Until 30 August (not 18), 9.20pm jooby.nyc

COMEDY

Trouble with business? Love? Connecting to others? Are your plants dead? Is your life not what you hoped for? Visit your local wisard, Jooby. Join for a preternatural experience that bemuses and amuses the modern mind. A clown show that casts a spell on the audience and transforms them into wisards themselves. Through music, incantations, and laugh-out-loud physical prowess, the Cuban immigrant invites you to transcend this world’s woes. Bring your most loathed object and your most supple mind. The Wisard is here to open your eye. From UCB Improviser/Second City alum, Julian Hernandez.

Underbelly Bristo Square 21 & 22 August, 11.30pm underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/ event/stand-up-for-freedom Amnesty’s legendary late-night comedy gig is back at the Edinburgh Fringe! If you’ve ever looked at the news and thought, ‘this isn’t normal’, you’re not alone. Join hosts Deborah Frances-White (Fri) and Nish Kumar (Sat) with a stellar line-up of comedy talent, including Grace Campbell, Larry Dean, Rosie Jones, Emmanuel Sonubi, Abi Clarke and more for a jam-packed night. Celebrating Amnesty International’s 65th anniversary and a Fringe tradition spanning more than two decades, every ticket helps support the fight for human rights.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival| |19–31 5–12 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 13

DRAG ELOUISE IHSANE SPECIAL EFTOS XXX PICTURE: MATT FORD

Lap of the gods With the second instalment of her comedy trilogy, Elouise Eftos is finding mythological inspiration in Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. The Aussie comic chats to Jay Richardson about calling out toxic masculinity, the healing power of the dance floor and finding love elusive 14 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

ELOUISE IHSANE EFTOS PICTURES: ANDREW FRASER (UNLESS CREDITED OTHERWISE)

rue to type, Elouise Eftos greets me huskily. With afternoon fast approaching, the Australian comic, whose act flirtily affirms that you can be sexy and funny, isn’t long woken up. But it turns out she just hasn’t been disciplined enough in steaming her vocal chords; and she’s ‘having a bit too much fun’ with the friends she’s staying with in Edinburgh. A ‘perfectionist’ from her musical theatre training, she’s constantly tweaking and tightening up her camply chic show, Aphrodite, adding lines as ‘art imitates life’. Before her Fringe debut last year, the teasingly provocative Australia’s First Attractive Comedian, she’d had low expectations ‘because everyone told me how hard it would be’. Yet she justified her haughty onstage smoulder with a dream run, scooping an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination and booking an international tour.

But the 33-year-old also attracted an older British comedian and became, to her subsequent horror, a ‘trophy’ conquest for him. This year’s Festival may be defined by female comics exposing the toxicity of their male counterparts. ‘It’s at the centre of what people are talking about, calling out bad behaviour,’ Eftos acknowledges. Still, she’s trying hard to not make it ‘men are shit, fuck them all!’, she promises. ‘There are definitely moments of that. But I counterbalance it with my belief in men, that they can change. They can be shit regardless of occupation. Comedians just tend to have not been very cool in school, myself included. So they act out, ego takes over and they treat people as if they’re disposable.’ With so much discussion of the manosphere and seeming carte blanche for so many predators, Eftos believes ‘it’s really important we talk about this . . . but this has been talked about since ancient Greece.’ >> list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 15

DRAG ELOUISE SPECIAL EFTOS XXX PICTURES: ASHLEY MAR

Growing up second generation Greek-Macedonian in Perth, Australia, Eftos was routinely mocked for her background but belatedly connected with it through classical myth. ‘There was something about these powerful female goddesses in those books.’ Aphrodite charts the journey in female emancipation travelled by her grandmother and through to herself. Dancing from the age of three, Eftos graduated to musical theatre before becoming a showgirl, ‘where I found power and sexuality’. While studying acting, she MC’d in burlesque and hit upon the voice of her persona: ‘Very high status. But, and I hate to use this word, a bit more “bimbo”.’ She transitioned to the stand-up open mic circuit in 2017. There, she still dressed sexily. Then glamorously and outrageously sexily. ‘Because people freaked out, it made me want to do it more,’ she recalls. ‘I’d wear what I wore on a night out. And because these comedy clubs were cold, you could see my nipples. And that would freak people out more. The heels, the little dress; that’s where all the material came from.’ Debating with her goddess of love alter ego, Aphrodite shares the fact that Eftos has never been in love and perhaps doesn’t believe in the concept. Even so, it’s obvious to her ‘that if Aphrodite existed and were around today, she’d be in a discotheque’. Whereas Australia’s First Attractive Comedian channelled the 1960’s sex kitten allure of Raquel Welch and fembot pout of Barbarella, its follow-up conveys Mount Olympus to Studio 54, featuring the seductive disco of Donna Summer, Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass. Indeed, an early draft had Eftos denouncing Disco Demolition Day, the infamous 1979 incident when a Chicago DJ blew up a crate of records at a baseball game. ‘Which was so clearly about records with black people on the cover. About hate towards women, hate towards people of colour, hate towards gay people,’ she seethes. 16 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

‘With the rise of the manosphere, conservatism and this whole male loneliness epidemic bullshit, it feels as if it’s happening again. But everyone finding love on the dance floor, that’s what great music makes you feel. Donna Summer was all about women’s pleasure. Ring my bell. Men would wear these tight suits and they’d be dancing too. When I talk about men being scared to dance now, that was such a revelation for me because I’m just such a lover of it.’ Happily, the erstwhile dance teacher has found that Fringe audiences are feeling the vibe. ‘Men are coming up on stage to dance with me, which is cute. I didn’t only want to make this show more personal, allow myself to drop the armour a bit. I’m talking about men struggling. I’ve had lots of them messaging to say they feel the same way or want to be better. At the show, they’ve had the courage to dance. And I’ve had them crying. I need to believe that men can be better. Otherwise what a sad reality for straight women. Will I ever find love? Will this horrible epidemic of women being killed every day slow down, or what?’ Already plotting her next hour, the 1980s-set third show in the trilogy, which she speculates might be about performance and feature Scarface-era Al Pacino, Miami Vice and Wall Street on the metaphorical moodboard, Eftos has moved to London and wants to keep teaching dance alongside comedy. ‘I’m very soft and anxious and can be very sweet,’ she reflects. ‘I’m not like I am on stage all the time. I wish I was because I would be unstoppable.’ And although she’s yet to be set up with anyone off the back of Aphrodite, she has had audience members asking her out. ‘Shooting their shot, which is flattering and nice. They’re meeting my vulnerability with theirs.’ Elouise Eftos: Aphrodite, Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 8.10pm; Australia’s First Attractive Comedian, Gilded Balloon Museum, 22, 27 August, 10.30pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 17

ADVERTISING FEATURE

WITH

In February 1995, just in time for Valentine’s Day, The List launched a brand-new dating service in our Classified section called I Saw You. For almost a decade, it helped readers connect after spotting a potential love interest in a pub, club or elsewhere around Edinburgh and Glasgow. It even resulted in at least two marriages! In 1999, we took things analogue with the introduction of I Saw You post boxes at venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow. Readers could fill out a postcard, pop it in the box and hope that the apple of their eye would read it and get in touch. Fast forward to this year’s famous List Festival Party which kicked things off at the start of August, and I Saw You returned for one night only. Teaming up with Scottish eyewear brand IOLLA, we brought our iconic post boxes back for the evening, giving party guests the perfect chance to make a connection the old-fashioned way: by writing it down and hoping for the best. And, until the end of August, the I Saw You post boxes will be in IOLLA’s St James Quarter and Bruntsfield showrooms for visitors to post their own messages. Because sometimes you really do just have to put yourself out there.

I SAW YOU ON WEDNESDAY 5 AUGUST 2026

15% OFF AT

WITH CODE IOLLAISAWYOU. (OFFER ENDS: MONDAY, 31 AUGUST 2026 AT 18:59)

18 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

San Francisco Ballet is based in the heart of big tech territory, so it’s little wonder the themes of AI and its dangerous, alluring power have worked their way into the company’s latest piece. Lucy Ribchester chats to artistic director Tamara Rojo about Greek myths, tech ethics and rising threats to the creative industries >>

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

Dance with the devil

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 19

SANDRAG FRANCISCO IHSANE SPECIAL BALLET XXX

‘I

don’t think in Europe you can quite perceive what is happening here,’ says Tamara Rojo. The former Royal Ballet principal is speaking through the medium of tech (Zoom) from the capital of tech (San Francisco), where she has been helming San Francisco Ballet as artistic director since 2022. With the company based just north of Silicon Valley, it’s perhaps no surprise that the themes of big tech have been on her mind and fed into her creative output. ‘There is a real feeling of gold rush,’ Rojo says. ‘An incredible amount of talent is coming to the city to develop AI and we see it every day.’ San Francisco Ballet have their base in the city’s AI district of Hayes Valley (nicknamed Cerebral Valley), making the technology’s presence even more tangible. ‘You see these young, very smart, very prepared people that spend every day and every night going after this technology,’ she says. Mere Mortals is Rojo’s first commission for the company and the European premiere marks their return to the International Festival after more than two decades. High concept, with a large cast and a classical narrative, it reworks the story of Pandora and her infamous box (which contained all the world’s evils) for the AI age. Rojo wanted to create a piece that was relevant to society’s immediate concerns, but she was keen to find a way to approach the themes that wasn’t too on the nose. ‘There are a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of fear, very often justified. But I wanted to look at a story that addresses all these philosophical questions that is not in the present; when you are in the present, you are too embedded in the discussion. You need a little bit of distance.’ She was listening to a podcast by the British author Natalie Haynes, who reworks Greek myths from feminist perspectives, when the dots began to connect between the Pandora tale and AI. ‘I was listening and was like, my god, the Prometheus tale and the Pandora tale, they are actually about human ambition, about what is the price to pay for an individual’s ambition versus the consequences for the whole of humanity.’ Rojo brought composer Sam Shepherd (better known as Floating Points) onboard and approached the choreographer Aszure Barton, whom she describes as a ‘master’ at creating characters through dance. ‘I’ve known Aszure for many years,’ Rojo says. ‘I first saw her work in Canada and I was blown away by her choreographic skill and the ambiguity of her narrative, which I think for this theme was very necessary, because we were not trying to say this is good, this is bad. It’s far more complicated than that.’ For Rojo, there are no clear-cut villains or heroes in the AI story; not yet anyway. ‘Human curiosity, and even human ambition, is one of our best traits, but it can blow up in our faces. It can also be something that really harms others.’ She believes those working in tech don’t want to harm the creative industries (‘they consume art, they love music, they love theatre’). Indeed, she has been invited to speak about the arts by various tech companies who want to better understand the creative process. Yet alarm bells have been sounding across creative industries regarding the encroachment of AI. Books have been used without their authors’ permission to train chatbots and actors have been replaced by automated voices. Dance is inherently a live art form though, so does Rojo believe it is somewhat protected from AI? ‘The thing about dance is that we are the conglomeration of all the other arts. We are narrative. We are design. We are visuals. We are music and we are choreography, and potentially all those things can be done with AI.’ You can’t replace a dancer’s body with AI though, surely? ‘Have you seen the Abba musical in London?’ Rojo Voyage where the four band members are replaced asks, referring to Abba Voyage, by digital avatars. ‘For at least three years, people have been buying tickets to see something they know is not the real Abba, right?’ With this in mind, it may be surprising to learn that Mere Mortals hasn’t eschewed AI but has employed it in various ways throughout the production, from the marketing campaign to elements of the music. For Rojo, the key is to harness AI’s power ethically. ‘It is our own live musicians playing in the pit which you then hear repeated in an electronic machine. And so, we’re saying this can be a tool if you’re willing to be ethical about how you use it. Make sure that everybody is consenting for it to be used and they are being paid for their IP. I do think there is always hope, which is also what the ballet wants to say. The ballet starts and finishes with hope.’ Mere Mortals, Edinburgh Playhouse, 28–30 August, 8pm; 29 August, 3pm.

20 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

Only connect

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

Floating Points aka Sam Shepherd is set for his Edinburgh International Festival debut. Afreka Thomson tracks the story of how he went from youthful chorister to being on stage alongside San Francisco Ballet

here was a time when hearing Floating Points in Edinburgh meant squeezing onto the dance floor at Sneaky Pete’s, armed with a fiver and a rollie, ready to dance til morning. Now, the act also known as Sam Shepherd is bringing his glitchy electronic music (and hopefully some of those same fans) to the ballet. Swapping cigarettes for pirouettes and sticky dance floors for the orchestra pit, it’s quite the leap (or jeté), but Shepherd has always been good at blurring the line between nightclub and concert hall. His musical education began in rather traditional surroundings; he was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral before studying piano and composition at Chetham’s where he also discovered electronic music. The Mancunian producer, composer and DJ approaches his work with a scientific curiosity (a PhD in neuroscience and epigenetics may have something to do with it) and has even built his own sound system known as Sunflower. This is a man obsessed with sound, spending the past decade moving between electronic music, jazz and orchestral composition, never particularly interested in staying in one place for too long. Mere Mortals is Shepherd’s first full-length ballet score which he’ll be performing live alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as an old story about curiosity is updated into the new age of artificial intelligence. Shepherd’s score brings synths and electronics into conversation with a full orchestra, but the move into ballet feels less strange than it sounds. His tracks can be intricate and abstract, yet they rarely lose their pulse. As the curtain rises at the Festival Theatre, those Sneaky Pete’s regulars can take a well-earned break, trading pre-drinks for pre-theatre dinners and leaving the dancing to the professionals.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 21

★★★★★ The List

★★★★

The Herald The Scotsman Guardian Independent

Catherine Opie To Be Seen 8 August–1 November 2026 Friends and under 18s go free Royal Scottish Academy building, Edinburgh

Buy tickets now

In partnership with

Supported by

Friends

22 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

Catherine Opie, Divinity Fudge, 1997. Chromogenic print © Catherine Opie. Courtesy the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul, and Thomas Dane Gallery. National Galleries of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland (No.SC003728).

EMII ALRAI Yorkshire-based Alrai is known for weaving ancient myths and oral histories from her own Iraqi heritage into objects which imitate archaeological artefacts. Her Art Festival commission, Guardian, is an eye-catching, spectral-like sculpture atop Calton Hill which aims to simultaneously suggest ideas of deterioration and restoration. (Brian Donaldson)  Calton Hill, until 30 August.

ART list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 23

ART

ANNE HARDY: FEELINGS lllll Anne Hardy’s ‘active environment’ of sculpture partly consists of a large, floor-based rectangle of breeze blocks, upon and around which are deposited various found objects (and casts from those objects) that suggest the presence of waif-like, semi-human forms. The most striking of these is compiled from materials including a shop dummy’s hands, a raincoat and a kind of amphibian tail of flattened cans. These works were composed partly on a residency in Marfa, Texas, a place associated with minimalist sculptor Donald Judd. Some elements of the sculptural form, like the big flat concrete rectangle, seem to allude to Judd’s work. Collectively entitled Feelings, the whole thing might in part be an emotion and fantasy-led riposte to Judd’s cool formalism. There is nothing here to set the world on fire exactly (with feelings or anything else) though some of the small assemblages at the mezzanine gallery level have a rough-hewn charm, and the weather data-based soundtrack and dimming and rising lights add a nice twist of atmosphere. (Greg Thomas) n Talbot Rice Gallery, until 27 September.

JAMIE FITZPATRICK: MEMORIALS TO SAUSAGE POLITICS lllll A new Muriel Spark statue might be up in Edinburgh before this exhibition comes down; but there will still be more animal statues than monuments to women in the city. Edinburghbased artist Jamie Fitzpatrick had been curious about public statues even before the antiracist moment in 2020 when the Black Lives Matter movement prompted the toppling of Bristol slave owner Edward Colston’s bronze statue; but Fitzpatrick parked his ideas for fear of appearing to bandwagon-jump. He returns to his civic excavations with this solo show, exploring who we memorialise and how that reinforces social hierarchies. Taut horse buttocks are all round our nation’s capital and Fitzpatrick platforms their absurdity, alongside the pomposity of uniformed, kilted men (most of whom we’d struggle to name) perched on plinths, towering over lesser mortals. These sculptural works curve downwards menacingly, while looking as though they are on a shoogly peg. Monstrous teeth jut out from thick clay with rough features like Basquiat drawings and clownish goggle eyes give thousand-yard stares. The grotesque collection is a tactile smudge of chunky contours in caucasian-flesh pink and horse-manure brown, where ridiculous rows of white wig curls appear as though they could slide off the melting men any minute. Memorials To Sausage Politics is an irreverent take-down of colonial might. (Claire Sawers) n Edinburgh Printmakers, until 25 October.

CATHERINE OPIE: TO BE SEEN lllll The grand rooms of the Royal Scottish Academy are used to being adorned with portraits of people who, apparently, matter. Catherine Opie fills them generously, and spectacularly, with people who have spent their lives being told they don’t. Set against blood-red and royal-blue walls, these portraits are woven through pieces from the RSA’s historic collection, creating a conversation between traditional portraiture and people rarely afforded the same space. Opie is a queer American photographer who has spent decades documenting communities, families and outsiders. Her self-portrait, taken while breastfeeding her son at 40, sits beside a 16th-century ‘Madonna And Child’. The baby is pulling at her, the scars and marks on Opie’s body at odds with the staged Madonna. Yet a thread of tenderness connects the two. A small Picasso from the Blue Period introduces photographs from Opie’s Domestic series, and it’s a reminder that longing, loss and family don’t belong to one kind of person. There’s an athleticism running through the show too. A poignant series of American footballers (yep, the kind of guys who were probably beating up the queers at lunchtime) reveals another vulnerability. Photographed around the Iraq War, these men could be future soldiers. Elsewhere, women with playful facial hair stare into the camera with deliberate masculinity. Made in 1993, when her friends were dying of Aids, ‘Self Portrait/Cutting’ shows Opie with a child’s drawing etched into her skin. At its heart, the show is just people, photographed with remarkable intimacy. The ideas bubble away quietly, making the conversation between work and viewer all the more radical. Opie, with her indelible eye, puts people in the picture. (Afreka Thomson) n Royal Scottish Academy, until 1 November.

24 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

ART

HIGHLIGHTS

The annual celebration in Bonnington House Steadings has been curated by Sgàire Wood and features Desert Kingsnake, Plantainchipps, Junglehussi and Holly O’Brien for a multi-artform knees up. n Jupiter Artland, 22 August.

ART

EVA ROTHSCHILD

JUPITER RISING

The push and pull of power dynamics is at the centre of this Irish artist’s work and none more so than in The Void Presses The Wall where her urban sculptures are firmly part of the landscape. n Fruitmarket, until 11 October.

ETCHINGROOM 1 Ukrainian duo Kristina Yarosh and Anna Khodkova, who work under the name Etchingroom1, created a mural in 2023, which taps into a long lineage of political murals as an expression of collective struggles. n Edinburgh Printmakers, until 25 October.

KATIE PATERSON

Approaching last-chance-to-see territory for Paterson’s sculptural installation which is comprised of nearly 200 amulets, each one created with materials sourced from fragile ecosystems. n Collective, until 6 September.

SADAO

HASEGAWA

Depicting hypermasculine forms, Hasegawa’s paintings blend eroticism with pan-Asian folklore and science fiction, imagining a universe where chiselled men encounter mythic creatures. n Custom Lane, until 30 August.

LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN Sound performance Zifzafa, named for an Arabic word describing a wind that shakes everything in its path, centres on the Israelioccupied Syrian Golan Heights, where 30 planned wind turbines will flood the region with a relentless mechanical roar. n Leith Theatre, 29 August.

PALESTINIAN SOUND ARCHIVE Join Mo’min Swaitat of Majazz Project and Palestinian Sound Archive for a collective listening session, exploring rare audio gleaned from across Palestine and the wider region. n Palestine Museum, 30 August.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 25

Hosted by

FRI 21 AUG 11.30PM

s-White

Deborah France

Ali Woods Emmanuel Sonubi Felicity Ward Alfie Dundas Ray Bradshaw Demi Adejuyigbe + MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED Hosted by

SAT 22 AUG 11.30PM Nish Kumar

Scan for tickets

Larry Dean Grace Campbell Rosie Jones Hasan Al-Habib Abi Clarke Kemah Bob Imogen Andrews + MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED BRISTO SQUARE

FRI 21 / SAT 22 AUG

11.30pm

underbellyedinburgh.co.uk | 0131 510 0395

2026

AWARDS FRIDAY 28 AUGUST | W HOTEL, EDINBURGH

26 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: ANTONIO OLMOS

BOOKS

FRANCIS SPUFFORD Nonesuch may be set in World War II London but Spufford’s latest novel is a far cry from your archetypal Blitz-spirit work. He blends fantasy with the historical realities of war as an unlikely heroine hops between time zones to prevent a potentially catastrophic assassination plot. (Brian Donaldson)

n Edinburgh Futures Institute, 20 August, 12.15pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 27

BOOKS

Evie Glen considers the career of former Aisle 16 poetry boyband member Luke Wright and sees an artist who has become more reflective in his later work

ince 2008, Luke Wright has been one of the biggest names in poetry, particularly the late naughties school of punk and pop poets fronted by John Cooper Clarke. In the spirit of the Beats, and a more popular precursor to contemporary slam poetry, Britain’s pop poets were rock and roll stars as much as they were writers. Their sound latched on to the tail-end of Britpop, a natural development from Damon Albarn’s popularisation of French literary references in guitar music. Wright has been writing and performing his poetry since he was 17; though, as he told the Poetry Non-Stop podcast in 2019, garnering attention so young forced him to develop in the public eye. Much of his earlier verse, he felt, bore the emulated traces of poets he admires: John Betjeman, Philip Larkin and Caroline Bird, among others. Reflecting now in middle age, he urged younger poets not to be so rash and to give their writing time to develop in private. Regardless, Wright has enjoyed the rarity of being a full-time writer for most of his adult life, producing 15 solo poetry shows, three plays, five collections and

Take a 28 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

BOOKS

six pamphlets. That career has been sustained in no small part by the inspiring community of writers, musicians and artists that surround him. His books quote praise from Cooper Clarke himself and Pete Doherty. Reaching the point in his career where reflection becomes a dominating force, Wright began writing his memoir in poetry. Later Life Letter muses on the effects of his own ‘later life letter’, a document written by a social worker to an adopted child which details their life from birth to adoption. Wright explores themes of identity, memory and belonging through the prism of his own life, one element of which is the complex experience of being raised in sheltered suburbia despite being born in a tower-block estate. At this event, Wright will perform some extracts from his memoir and chat to Emma Collins, director of Push The Boat Out poetry festival, about the process of its creation. Luke Wright: Later Life Letter, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 20 August, 6.15pm.

a letter list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 29

30 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

Alison Irvine, author of Barrowland, picks her five top shows at the celebrated Glasgow music venue

Can you name your top five Barrowland gigs? I recently put this to Facebook group, Barrowland Memories, and the responses were full of righteous angst: how on earth could we possibly choose? I didn’t go to the Barrowland Ballroom until 2006 when my Glaswegian boyfriend (now husband) took me on an early ‘things-you-must-do-in-Glasgow’ date, so there are two and a half decades’ worth of spectacular gigs that I can’t include (plus raising children and having a scant social life for 17 years has precluded many others). However, here are a few special nights I’ve clocked up . . .

Magic Numbers (December 2006)

My first time under the starry ceiling, jumping about on the maple-wood floor. It’s where it all began for me . . .

Exuberant. Exhilarating. Emotional. I don’t have enough superlatives. I was close enough to see the tears in the musicians’ eyes as they played. It was even more special because my friend from school, Nicola Kearey, was supporting The Pogues with her band Stick In The Wheel. Proud. Awestruck. Inspired.

Lucy Dacus (July 2025)

A personal one. I worked a shift behind the bar for research and my kids and husband were in the crowd. It was my youngest two daughters’ first time and it didn’t disappoint. I love seeing all the generations out together at Barrowland.

Self Esteem (September 2025)

What a performer and what an atmosphere. Self Esteem and her dancers were on point. Barrowland was full of love, fun and energy. I watched from behind the bar and wished I could have joined them. PICTURE: CHRIS LESLIE

Billy Bragg (October 2021) My first gig back after covid. Billy Bragg was sublime. You could hear a pin drop for ‘Tank Park Salute’ and the crowd raised the roof for ‘Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards’. There was sweat and tears. Fabulous.

The Pogues and guests (April 2025)

BOOKS

Top 5

Favourite Barrowland gigs

Edinburgh Futures Institute, 22 August, 8pm.

PROFILE

COLSON WHITEHEAD

PICTURE: MICHAEL LIONSTAR

Colson Whitehead likes to switch things up. From elevator inspectors and poker tables to zombies, slavery and Harlem’s criminal underworld, the two-time Pulitzer winner has rarely stayed in one literary lane for long. As he told The Guardian in 2011, he gets ‘sick of one style or voice’ once a book is finished, making each new project an antidote to the last. That restless instinct feels fitting for Cool Machine, the final book in his Harlem Trilogy. Set in the 1980s New York of Whitehead’s own youth, it follows furniture salesman and sometime fence Ray Carney through a city of hip hop, graffiti, widening inequality and dodgy dealings. Described as ‘pop-art Marxist noir’, with Whitehead’s New York both dangerous and strangely inviting, its streets are mapped, landmarks labelled and history brought vividly to life. The period is familiar territory in another sense. As a teenager, Whitehead listened to post punk and new wave, going to clubs such as CBGB and Irving Plaza to see bands including Sonic Youth and The Fall, music that he still listens to now. For Whitehead, the past is never quite finished. In Cool Machine, it comes alive through music, memory, crime and a city constantly remaking itself. (Ananya Patankar)  McEwan Hall, 21 August, 1pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 31

BOOKS

PATERSON JOSEPH & DAVID OLUSOGA

Black British history comes under the spotlight here as historian Olusoga and actor Joseph discuss some figures from the past who have been neglected and ignored.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 23 August, 10am.

HIGHLIGHTS

DARREN MCGARVEY

The writer and activist also known as Loki talks about his latest book, Trauma Industrial Complex, which considers how the cult of oversharing has become a tool of capitalism.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 20 August, 8.30pm.

ALI SMITH

A companion work to 2025’s Gliff, this year’s Glyph is just another piece of evidence to suggest that the Invernesian is Scotland’s greatest living author. She discusses how words can help us get through the dark days.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 29 August, 11.45am.

MATT HAIG

FATIMA BHUTTO & AYŞEGÜL SAVAŞ

We’d all love to go back and make amends to a person or relive an event to do it differently. Haig makes those things real in his literature and The Midnight Train is his latest heartbreaking/ cockle-warming tome.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 27 August, 6.45pm.

DAVID KEENAN

Weaver of hallucinatory narratives, the writer of This Is Memorial Device struck gold again this year with Boyhood, a story about Glasgow, grief, Greek and grit which we described in our review as a ‘a maximalist time-slipping odyssey’.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 21 August, 6.45pm.

32 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

JOHN GRISHAM Just the 500 million books sold, then, is it? The author of The Client and The Rainmaker chats with another crime writer who knows a thing or two about shifting units, our very own Ian Rankin.  McEwan Hall, 25 August, 7pm.

These writers are linked by major life developments and experiences which led to them renewing themselves afresh. In an event chaired by Octavia Bright, they share an honest discussion of the roads they had to take.  Edinburgh Futures Institute, 28 August, 3.15pm.

Lindsey Barlag Thornton

FLIGHTS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 33

34 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

CABARET THE KAYE HOLE The 2019 Fringe was the beginning of something big for Reuben Kaye, partly due to the start of his queer cabaret extravaganza, The Kaye Hole. Not even a stupid pandemic could fully stop this Australian giant in his tracks and he’s dominated the cabaret scene ever since 2023. ‘Carnage’, ‘hilarious’ and ‘filthy’ are just some of the words used to describe this wildly popular late-night affair. (Brian Donaldson) n Underbelly Bristo Square, 21–29 August, 11.30pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 35

CABARET

PICTURE: MATT CROCKETT

BEN HART: THE LABYRINTH lllll With magician Ben Hart, one thing is certain: if you think you know where his show is going, you’re wrong. Initially, The Labyrinth seems overly fond of its namesake. A disjointed sequence of mentalism, sleight of hand and shadow puppetry feels almost lost, threatening to disconnect the audience, struggling to reclaim those who drop off in its exploration of small choices and their eventual purpose. Pulling on Ariadne’s red thread, Hart draws from the Minotaur myth, reviving a few antiquated routines that, while impeccably executed and clad in seductive dressings, will feel familiar to magic veterans. Yet, for all the meandering set, the centre of this maze delivers a staggering, glorious reveal. Sown from the moment you enter the Palais Du Variété, the ultimate pay-off is a masterclass in narrative illusion, delivering some of the finest Fringe magic, even if the path to reach it strays into the dark. (Dominic Corr) n Assembly George Square Gardens, until 30 August, 6.20pm.

BERNIE DIETER’S CLUB KABARETT lllll PICTURE: CAM GRANT

As icebreakers go, climbing on top of the audience and offering your thigh up for anyone who fancies a squeeze is a pretty good one. This is how Bernie Dieter begins Club Kabarett, an evening of x-rated entertainment and joyous revelry centering on the need for human connection in an increasingly detatched and hostile world. The master of ceremonies presides over a menagerie of awe-inspiring acts. Trapeze artist Jarred Dewy performs feats of amazing strength, made all the more impressive for being done in ten-inch platform heels, while the impossibly flexible Soliana Ersie ties her body in boggling knots. The sexiest cabaret in town also boasts a tap-dancing striptease, flaming tits and the most shocking act ever performed on a birthday cake. Dieter herself presents three showstopping numbers, including an anarchic ode to alcohol and a powerfully raw rendition of Martha Wainwright’s ‘Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole’. With her rich voice and coos of ‘my darlings’, Dieter encourages everyone to let their freak flag fly in this Dionysian dedication to carnal pleasure and queer identity. Club Kabarett is one of the most earnest shows out there, challenging audiences to embrace sexuality, to connect with each other through speech, eye contact and touch. It’s more than just riotous fun (though it certainly is that: it’s a celebration of life. (Isy Santini) n Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, 7.20pm.

SALTY BRINE: HOW STRANGE IT IS

lllll

36 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: MATT CROCKETT

Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is a lo-fi indie rock album that had a negligible impact on the late 20th century’s alternative music scene but has since gained a significant cult recognition. Salty Brine is a charismatic performer who leads a solid band through a recreation of the recording, weaving in romantic reflections on spirituality, Anne Frank’s diary, human reproduction and his own youthful relationship that celebrates the beauty of this 1998 album and aspires to a secular sublime. Between full band renditions of the songs. Salty’s bricolage juxtaposes a poetic reading of Frank, concentrating on her tentative desire and development as a writer, with his early sexual experiences. While the elements combine towards an expansive declaration of the uniqueness of each life and the performance itself, How Strange It Is focuses on the detail of specific passages from the book and Salty’s diary to offer three strands of narrative that are tangentially related. References to Hanukkah, amazing sex with a Buddhist and the glorious abandon of first love slip between and inside the numbers, reaching out towards a romantic vision of a universe that finds meaning despite Salty’s refusal of god. Much depends on Neutral Milk Hotel’s compositions: like their surreal lyrics, the meaning of the performance remains vague and elusive. If all the parts don’t entirely coalesce, the meandering storytelling and drive of the music ensure that this is a heartwarming and engaging show with a sentimental compassion to find beauty through artistic expression. (Gareth K Vile) n Summerhall, until 30 August, 9.30pm.

could effortlessly steal a West End or Broadway spotlight The List

SKANK SINATRA’s brand-new show, How To Succeed In Show Business Without Really Trying, brings the Australian cabaret queen back to Assembly with original songs, Broadway classics and a glitter-soaked take on ambition, reinvention and the absurd theatre of success.

6-30 AUGUST (NOT 12, 18, 24) | 18:30 Assembly George Square: Underground

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 37

SARAH HESTER ROSS: SERVING CUNT CABARET

lllll

PICTURE: KIRK MOORE

The annals of cabaret are lined with talent, but decadent drag queen Skank Sinatra has only Liza Minnelli in her heart (with a little extra room for Kylie). Minnelli appears in voiceover (meticulously impersonated by Christine Pedi) during Sinatra’s costume changes, quizzing the drag queen on her desire for attention. It’s a neat little touch in a show packed with them, from the rapid-fire flutter of her eyelashes to the intricacy of her shimmering costumes. Sinatra is a portrait of glamour with an infinite supply of double entendres and a lust for Stanley Tucci that can’t be sated. There’s touching sincerity too, as she sideswipes satirically at South Africa (her place of birth), opines the cutthroat nature of fame and delivers a performance of genuine beauty in the closing act. If anything, Sinatra might suffer from being too interesting for her own good, exploring the various waypoints of her life without giving them enough room to breathe. Yet with great tunes, lithe crowd work and a stunning voice, this Martini-swilling scene-stealer has too much flair to ever bore. (Kevin Fullerton) n Assembly George Square Studios, until 30 August, 6.30pm.

PICTURE: FUDZ QAZI

SKANK SINATRA: HOW TO SUCCEED IN SHOW BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING lllll

Flippin heck, Sarah Hester Ross has got some set of pipes. She doesn’t so much enter the Gilded Balloon’s new Den space as explode into it, accompanied by a shower of feathers and C-bombs: subtle it ain’t, but hey, subtlety is seriously over-rated. This is an old-fashioned cabaret show in the best sense of the word; it’s simply staged, lots of audience interaction and all backed up by the kind of voice that could easily reach out and crush the back row at Carnegie Hall. And her crowd loves her for it. Aimed at the girls, the gays and the theys, if the title didn’t give it away the introduction of Ross’ witch-daemon Miss Andry more than nods towards a tone that is emphatically not for the lads. The lyrics to her mostly original songs are hilarious, particularly a little ditty built around the online abuse Ross gets and a song about being child-free: not nearly as divisive as it sounds once you’re through the video compilation that precedes it. Yet, just when you think you’ve got the show’s sequin-soaked measure, things take a turn. An a cappella version of ‘The Day The Nazi Died’ followed by ‘My Mother’s Savage Daughter’ nails Ross’ colours even more firmly to the political mast. It’s properly exhilarating to see someone stand so confidently in their power, as she takes us to church with a final audience singalong of ‘Stop Giving Men Microphones’: also available in sticker form for the podcasters in your life if you feel like serving some cunt of your own. (Jo Laidlaw) n Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 29 August, 4.20pm.

JAMES PHELAN: SHOWMAN lllll

38 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: MICHAEL WHARLEY

A magician never reveals his tricks, or so the old adage goes, but James Phelan throws out the rulebook with Showman. He centres the human mind in his latest offering, drawing on the power of imagination to wow his audience and, while it’s certainly an interesting angle for a magic show, the effect proves lacklustre. For his first trick, Phelan goes for the classic ‘pick a card, any card’ but with a twist. Where most magicians emphasise randomness, Phelan psychologically profiles each volunteer before successfully guessing their card. The trick is at once too mundane to be entertaining and too specific to feel authentic. He continues his foray into the human psyche with a hypnosis portion. You get the impression, though, that Phelan’s volunteers are going along with the supposed hypnosis more out of social awkwardness than suggestibility. There’s a distinct feeling too that the audience are applauding for the same reason. Showman isn’t a total dud. There are some great sleight-of-hand tricks as well as a truly impressive feat of mind-reading, but the hypnosis section coupled with quite a few technical stumbles and miscommunications result in an underwhelming show. (Isy Santini) n Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, 5.15pm.

CABARET

HIGHLIGHTS

CABARET

THERE WERE GODDESSES

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN HANDS Stuart Lightbody does tricks and tells an amazing story; that of the magician who was hired by the CIA while the Cold War was raging. n Voodoo Rooms, until 30 August, 2.45pm.

RashDash return for a pair of shows in the shed delivering a compilation of tunes from their anarchic back catalogue. n Shedinburgh, 28 & 29 August, 8.30pm.

DOOM AND GLITTER Mr Brake Down has competition this year with the Tom Waits war songs show but he still offers something vital for the hardcore fan. n Voodoo Rooms, until 22 August, 5.30pm; 23–30 August, 9pm.

HALF-TIME Featuring onscreen cameo appearances from Aidan Moffat and Gwenno, this is the tale of a man attempting to pursue an unlikely dream of pop stardom. n Braw Venues Grand Lodge, until 30 August, 7.30pm.

THE BED-IN With shades of John and Yoko, Belle de Beauvoir opens up her sleeping space for a communal gathering with music, games and confessions. n Fingers Piano Bar, 23–30 August, 10.10pm.

OIL & WHISKEY Composed by Kit Nolan, this acclaimed off-Broadway country rock musical has lessons for what you should not do when it comes to dealings with an ex. n The Street, 23–30 August, 7.45pm.

DIVAS: FROM STAGE TO SCREEN From Sabrina to Shirley (Bassey) and Cher to Carole (King), this diva-fuelled extravaganza is as close to a surefire hit for those who love this kind of thing. n Assembly Rooms, until 30 August, 9.45pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 39

40 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

COMEDY

PICTURE: MATT STRONGE

COMEDY

JACK ROOKE It’s now 11 years since Good Grief made its debut on British stages, including in a classic nook of Underbelly’s Cowgate venue. But now Jack Rooke is playing the big rooms, having created a beloved TV hit in Big Boys which developed the true story of him trying to cope with the loss of his father during his highly impressionable teenage years. An extra 15 minutes has been added here to include new material and this should be a treat for Rooke fans plus anyone who likes a sad story that never forgets to be extremely funny. (Brian Donaldson) n Underbelly Bristo Square, 27–29 August, 7pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 41

COMEDY PICTURE: MATT STRONGE

42 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

‘W

COMEDY

“

I’ve turned into a version of myself that never existed before

Self-confessed show pony Felicity Ward is back at the Fringe for the first time since 2018 and she’s got a lot to catch us up on: divorce, bisexuality and ADHD to name but three. The comic and actor tells Jay Richardson why she’s evangelical about the dating apps and how a stint on Australia’s version of Strictly rewired her brain

elcome to the Fuckzone!’ Felicity Ward’s war cry to her WhatsApp friendship group resounds whenever someone splits from their long-term partner. The Australian comic and actor separated from her husband three-and-a-half years ago but, for 12 months, she didn’t date anyone. ‘I didn’t know how much shame I was carrying about being over 40, divorced and a single mum,’ the London-based stand-up admits. Ward believes younger women are told these qualities mark them out as damaged goods. ‘I didn’t know I still carried that,’ she says. At her sister’s urging, she tried dating apps and discovered that not only were her goods still viable, but being an older woman was ‘actually something incredibly desirable to lots and lots of people’. Ward realised she was bisexual while still married but hadn’t acted upon it. In 50 dates over two years, she found herself dating women and non-binary people for the first time. ‘To meet all different types of people, all different genders from all over the world and realise you don’t want a relationship with any of them: what a gift! It was almost like an anthropological experiment,’ she reflects. Despite a reputation for ‘saying things others are too embarrassed to say’, she feels liberated by a recent official ADHD diagnosis after decades of having her compulsion to overshare attributed to the condition or to good old-fashioned cultural directness (‘Australians and Scots can both say “cunt” gently, lovingly, and it be received as such’). It’s all territory covered in the ironically titled I Wish I Could Come Out of My Shell, Ward’s first Fringe hour since her 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated show. Although she describes herself as ‘joyful by default . . . my perception of myself is I’m a happy person’, Ward has struggled with anxiety, depression and insomnia throughout her life. ‘From 2019, I was pretty sad most of the time. I got post-natal depression pretty badly. Covid was really hard. Then I was dealing with divorce and being a single mum.’

Acting was some consolation. She shot the Time Bandits remake with Lisa Kudrow (‘really fun to work with, unfucking believable’) and starred in Australia’s version of The Office, the first female iteration of the David Brent character worldwide. Leading an ensemble that also featured Steen Raskopoulos, ‘was the greatest job I will probably ever have in my life, being funny 12 hours a day for seven weeks.’ Frustratingly though, despite the challenging exposure the role brought, it didn’t lead to further work. When the show was cancelled after just one series, ‘my mental health was pretty shot and I was the saddest I’d been in years,’ Ward admits. But then came the call from Dancing With The Stars. Australia’s version of Strictly was demanding, involving learning five dances for nine episodes over 23 days, in a whirl of clothes fittings and spray tans. But Ward made it all the way to the final. ‘It gave me so much dopamine and serotonin, so much joy, because I’m a natural extrovert,’ she says. ‘I feed off other people’s energy; it genuinely gives me life. That combination of hard stuff and good stuff in the background felt like it was changing the way my brain processes information. And it wasn’t until I was about to fly back to the UK, I realised that for the first time in 13 years I was looking forward to coming back.’ Calling herself ‘evangelical’ about the apps, Ward nevertheless met someone nine months ago and ‘fell madly in love . . . I’m ADHD and chaos, he’s autistic and structured’. She stars in the upcoming Netflix animation Dad’s House, guests in Tom Basden’s BBC One sitcom Here We Go and, in her publicity shots, is trying to high kick the Las Vegas showgirl look back to ‘incredibly camp’ from Taylor Swift’s polished sexiness. ‘My bum cheeks were out!’ That reversion to type notwithstanding, Ward says, ‘between the dancing and dating, I’ve turned into a version of myself that never existed before’. Felicity Ward: I Wish I Could Come Out Of My Shell, Monkey Barrel Cabaret Voltaire, until 30 August, 3.50pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 43

COMEDY

DAN RATH: HELP ME PLEASE lllll Most comedians like to welcome their audience, get them comfortable and warm them up. Not Dan Rath. He goes out of his way to make the crowd feel as awkward as possible. Staring above our heads, he barely cracks so much as a wince. Justifying this risky, anti-comedy strategy is a sharp, neurodivergent mind jam-packed with quirky observational material, skewed with a nimble playfulness. There’s a real mixture of quality in Help Me Please, alongside a smattering of slightly edgy material that pushes the boundaries just a little. Few gags will tickle everyone but there’s always something new around the corner. ‘There’s no segues there,’ he remarks flatly as he handbrake-turns from one absurd subject to another. Much of the hour feels like workshopping, with Rath gauging the audience’s response to each joke and occasionally replying with sarcastic commentary. While most of his observations are coloured by a unique worldview, he occasionally taps into concerns with broader appeal. An extended diatribe about bank-card fraud protection is wonderfully twisty and performed with uncharacteristic zeal. Towards the end, Rath addresses the crowd directly with some of his trademark, deliberately stilted banter. In previous years, this gimmick has sparked a genuine frisson, but tonight’s audience is far too laid-back. Some even call out unsolicited remarks, prompting Rath to demonstrate his skill at dealing with oddballs and non sequiturs. This combative, deadpan style is certainly not for everyone, but fans of awkward comedy will find plenty to enjoy here. (Murray Robertson) n Monkey Barrel Cabaret Voltaire, until 30 August, 6.40pm.

ALFIE BROWN: THE ENTERTAINER lllll

SHE/THEY lllll From an unhinged Anglo-French sketch about the QVC shopping channel to existential crises during a smoke break, Bronwyn Farkas and Sophie Jean weave a bizarre and completely compelling comedy world between them. The opening sketch is strong, with two painfully Gen Z musicians never quite getting round to playing a song as they spend ten minutes being mindful, triggered and performing interactive ‘grounding exercises’ with the audience. Everything about these characters is so spot-on it feels like you already know them. Farkas and Jean show off their range, transforming into hilariously believable elderly New York women hanging out their underwear, trying to get their heads around transgender rights and polyamory. Every joke is bang on trend without feeling preachy. This is definitely comedy fit for 2026 with reply guys, AI and overbearing capitalism all getting called out. There’s a welcome touch of the surreal too, such as the QVC presenter who ‘became magnetic, but don’t ask me how or why’. Only the final sketch, about two smokers who don’t smoke, drags a little, while costume and scenery changes aren’t quite polished. The lasting impression is that She/They is hilarious, clever and definitely one to watch. (Suzy Pope) n Venue 13, until 28 August, 1.35pm.

44 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: JACK FINNIGAN

Having written a show about being cancelled, what’s left for Alfie Brown to say? That’s the quandary as he emerges on stage in a multi-coloured clown suit, decries a comedy circuit reduced to content farming on social media, and grows increasingly frustrated with the contradictions of leftist politics and venality of the right. We’re in comfortable Brown territory, then, which is to present a veneer of intelligent calm before frothing over into wild ranting. Where he changes in direction is in his commitment to giving common stand-up subject matter (parenting, dogs, Trump) the dark twist he’s known for. Big questions are floated: is the age of the hour-long Fringe show over when Instagram reels are a priority? Are reviewers redundant when no one reads anymore? But they’re tentpoles for an incredible array of jokes, told with a satisfying commitment to discomfort. If Brown truly is sick of the stand-up game, he’ll be sorely missed. (Kevin Fullerton) n Underbelly Cowgate, until 30 August, 5.50pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 45

ANNA LEONG BROPHY: BORN SEXY YESTERDAY lllll

COMEDY

After waiting for a packed audience to filter in, Anna Leong Brophy emerges from a bin bag turned egg sack. It’s one way to enter the world. Over the next hour, this inconsistent sci-fi parody examines what happens when a woman realises that, from this moment, her whole purpose is to fulfil male fantasies. The opening sees Brophy playing a newly born humanoid, immediately falling in love with an unwitting audience member, before jumping forward to mundane married life. She soon discovers that she’s a product, sending her down a rabbit hole of film-industry clichés, capitalism and the male gaze. Some familiar tropes are poked fun at along the way, from crypto to Tarantino, but Brophy is at her best when acting out the various two-dimensional female characters written by men. She’s a confident improviser but Born Sexy Yesterday leans too heavily on audience participation. Some set pieces, such as a sexist period-drama script duologue, run too long, to the detriment of the pacing. There’s a compelling idea at play in Brophy’s show: even after her character has seemingly been set free, she’s not entirely liberated. But the humour is sometimes at odds with the message at its heart. (Matthew Hayhurst) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 5.40pm.

PICTURE: YELLOW BELLY PICTURE: TRUDY STADE

JACK BROOKMYRE: IMPRESSIONABLE lllll Newcomer Jack Brookmyre may have done himself a disservice with the title of his Fringe debut, Impressionable. While the show’s bio describes Brookmyre as ‘Scottish comedy’s up-and-coming impressionist’, this promising hour reveals that the Glaswegian is far more than just an impersonator. Brookmyre, in his own words, looks like Harry Potter, ‘if he was a school shooter’. Drowning in a sleeveless denim jacket adorned with the badges of his favourite heavy metal bands, the 26-year-old holds the small stage at The Stand incredibly well, regaling the audience with irreverent takes on World War II and his casting as ‘a gawky wee guy’ in a recent Irn-Bru advert (Brookmyre’s scene did not make the final cut). Instantly endearing and clearly well-read, there are shades of Christopher MacarthurBoyd in Brookmyre’s performance. His parodies of politicians and celebrities are solid, though it’s his insightful exploration of communication in the fake news era that leaves a lasting impression. (Danny Munro) n The Stand 4, until 30 August, 6.55pm.

BRENDAN SCANNELL: THE ABYSS lllll How do you mourn someone who’s still alive? Brendan Scannell’s The Abyss starts off as a catty stand-up routine with an encompassing set-up about submersible-based water therapy. But it ends as a brilliantly cathartic monologue about the grief of caring for an immediate family member with severe mental health problems. By its climax, you just want to get out of your chair and hug him. You may well leave with goosebumps and moist eyes. Of course, there is potentially something deeply narcissistic about mining family tragedy for performance material. Scannell is aware of the threat and works something of the self-obsessed actor persona into his patter, staving off the inference by owning it. ‘I hate it when people make these sessions all about them,’ he tells his audience, who take on the role of therapy mates. Rehab, he tells us, was like having several months of stand-up practice. We can believe it. But really, he comes across as so sweet, vulnerable and loving towards his unwell sibling that it would somehow seem churlish to question his motives. The submersible trip down is, of course, a metaphor for all the shit Scannell is dredging up for us. As a device that places ‘slice-of-life’ stand-up comedy inside the shell of fiction, it also does interesting things to the format, which teeters somewhere between the two genres. This inventiveness might be the icing on top for those fatigued by standard Fringe comedy. (Greg Thomas) n Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 30 August, 9.20pm.

46 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

COMEDY

SAM MORRISON: DUCK lllll Did you know that ducks have spiral vaginas? That flatworms have both penises and lady parts, or that hyenas have protruding, eight-inch clitorises? Sam Morrison does. In his latest hour of bizarre stand-up, the LA-based comic turns to science in an attempt to answer some of the big questions that have been plaguing his mind. Morrison’s last show, Sugar Daddy, was critically acclaimed. Written after the passing of his partner, Morrison launched a full-scale investigation into the reasons behind his attraction to older men. In the years since his boyfriend’s death, Sam has been suffering from fairly severe panic attacks which, on top of ADHD and type 1 diabetes diagnoses, have left him looking to nature to learn why his brain works the way it does. It sounds like a pretty heavy outing, but the resulting show is far from it. Across a frenzied 60 minutes, Morrison reels off outlandish animal facts and regales the audience with anecdotes, all of which loosely support his theory that god is, in fact, a duck. This is not the show for anyone looking for snappy comedy from a wag who’s been on Live At The Apollo or Mock The Week. It’s meandering and at times vaguely shambolic. But Morrison’s innate sense of timing means the long-winded nature of the performance only adds to its humour. Duck feels impossible to look away from. (Danny Munro) n Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 31 August, 5.30pm.

CECILY HITCHCOCK: FAMILY RECIPE lllll Ever visited Cambourne, an identikit Blair-era New Town? For Cecily Hitchcock, it’s where she spent her formative years. Like her birthplace, her debut show is a little safe and a bit formulaic. Family Recipe finds her navigating a familiar strain of TikTok-inflected ‘Clapham girlie’ comedy, complete with crowd work and a vernacular that sometimes feels more suited to 60-second online clips than a full hour. The performance succeeds when Hitchcock gets specific. Her family’s penchant for grotesque 1970s cuisine, such as banana wrapped in ham, produces the evening’s biggest laughs, while her expressive impressions of her parents are sharply observed. She has an easy stage presence too, chatting to the audience like a group of mates. But the strongest material is spread thinly. Some jokes are over-explained and a few punchlines don’t quite earn their callbacks. Still, there’s enjoyable silliness here, culminating in Hitchcock dressed as Gordon Brown singing Cher’s ‘Believe’ to a life-sized cutout of Tony Blair. If she leaned into that absurdity and stripped back the borrowed persona, this could be an excellent show. (Matthew Hayhurst) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 8.10pm.

COCO THE TIME-TRAVELLING TART lllll

PICTURE: JENNIFER FORWARD-HAYTER

Coco The Time-Travelling Tart is so skyscraping of stature that in heels and blonde up-do, she barely squeezes under the roof of her compact Fringe venue. Like some crazed, sex-daft stick insect, Coco’s upper-class vowels can’t hide the fact she is no lady. The show’s concept (perhaps too strong a word) sees our loose-moralled heroine hurtling back through time by means of a magic taxi, in search of a precious piece of lost jewellery. We’re transported from ‘Edinblah’ in 2026 through multiple historic events and periods, among them ancient Greece and the French royal court. The whole affair has a flung-together panto charm, with entertainingly crappy props and a very game volunteer co-opted to be Coco’s slave boy (take a bow, Tom). A willing audience throw themselves into the chaos, playing everything from Sir Walter Raleigh to dance-crazed Titanic survivors. Not even a broken heel can stop Coco (the drag alter ego of Max Norman) who is up for just about anything, whether crawling on hands and knees through the crowd or noshing off everyone from Napoleon to Kneecap. It’s a pity then that, for some reason, she’s not mic’d up. Though audible in an admittedly small room, the sound is muffled, creating a needless barrier between spectator and performer. (Paul McLean) n Underbelly George Square, until 30 August, 9.45pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival |19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 47

Join us for Edinburgh Fringe Discover our All Day Set Menu 2 Courses 29.50 | 3 Courses 34.50 Daily 12pm - 4.45pm

Book Now

18 W Register St, Edinburgh EH2 2AA

@tatturestaurants | tattu.co.uk

A NIGHT OF COMEDY, VIOLINS & VIOLENCE

ARBIKIE H i g h l a n d E s ta te

RON PLACONE'S

*PA STA NO T ACT UAL LY INC LUD ED

AUGUST 6-30. 15:45 (3:45PM) WINNER

2026

INSPIRE SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD

THE LIST, ADELAIDE FRINGE ‘26 SYDNEY THEATRE REVIEWS ‘25 48 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

SCAN ME!

“We laughed & learned about the surprising link between the Italian resistance, pasta, & defeating fascism.”

CHRIS CANTRILL: REWILDING lllll

COMEDY

PICTURE: REBECCA NEED-MENEAR

‘I am overexcited,’ proclaims Chris Cantrill at the very start of Rewilding. It’s impossible to imagine him any other way. With his playful, expressive face and wonderfully ebullient voice, the comedian (and, as he cheekily alludes to at numerous points, Saturday Night Live UK writer) remains one of the Fringe’s most dependable entertainers. Cantrill is back in Edinburgh after a year off and he claims to be thoroughly enjoying his life in the quaint Northumberland village that he’s called home for six years. He paints a mischievous picture of the various characters that waft in and out of his day-to-day and he fills his stories with unexpected twists. He hangs the show around the history of a 200-year-old oak tree that has served as a sort of hub for the locale but, really, it’s an excuse for Cantrill to depict his awkward interactions with local folk in excruciating detail. Throughout the hour, Cantrill peppers in delightful flourishes. He’s a phenomenal gag writer and performer, ensuring that every precise line is brought vividly to life. Driven by a fully deserved confidence, his infectious joy proves that being ‘overexcited’ is a wonderful way to be. (Murray Robertson) n Monkey Barrel Tron, until 29 August, 12.10pm.

JUSTIN ELIZABETH SAYRE IS A 40-YEAR-OLD WOMAN lllll

PICTURE: AUSTIN RUFFER

Before Justin Elizabeth Sayre appears, the stage feels stark, shrouded in black curtains. Then our turn emerges in a multi-coloured satin matching set and their vivacious presence fills the space. Sayre launches into humorous stories of early queer awakenings, including anecdotes of trying on their grandmother’s mink coat while quite literally in the closet. Some references cater to a specific audience and may not land for everyone. Yet midway through, the tone softens into something more universal: the ache of being too much and yet somehow not enough. For Sayre, middle age is not a marker of being past your prime but an opportunity for unapologetic self-expression. Funny, personal and unexpectedly poignant, Sayre’s mission to ‘stand in the boldness of who I am’ becomes the show’s defining sentiment: a delightful rejection of the expectation that ageing means becoming smaller. (Jess Ewing) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 30 August, 6.10pm.

BEBE CAVE: SWOON lllll

PICTURE: SOPHIE HOLDEN

In this hat-based comedy, Bebe Cave satirises the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood, reimagined here as three wouldbe-hipster beanie wearers at a slam poetry night in Victorian London. It’s a story told through the eyes of their muses and those who wish they were: the beautifully feeble Elizabeth Siddal (inspiration for John Everett Millais’ ‘Ophelia’), Effy from teen TV drama Skins, and her fictional sister Bertrude, the poster child for Cadbury and cocaine toothache drops until puberty killed her modelling career. Lizzie is sick, she tells us in an inexplicably scouse accent, of being held in purgatory by every Pinterest save, tote bag print and pop-cultural reimagining of Ophelia. She sees through the Brotherhood’s pretensions, finding them as hollow as an Instagram poet, and tries to convince Bertrude that there’s more to life than the attentions of a man with a paintbrush. As if to exemplify life’s multitudes, Cave’s references range from the predictable (Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights) to the niche (George Sampson, the 14-year-old breakdancing winner of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008). The mixture is bizarre, yet astutely observed and breathlessly funny. ‘You wouldn’t want to get into an argument with her,’ one man say to his son after the show. It is an ironic, if oblivious, testament to the nuance, energy and relevance of Cave’s comedy. Now, as then, it is apparently easier to deem an intelligent woman mad than accept she has observed the world far clearer than most artsy men ever do. (Evie Glen) n Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 5.40pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 49

★★★★★ “IF YOU SEE ONLY ONE SHOW THIS FRINGE, SEE THIS!” -Hollywood Fringe 2026

Elevate your drink with functionality THE ONLY MINDFUL MIXER

40 % OFF

WITH CODE

SU M MER

18 CAL I V S ELT ZE R.C O M

50 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

LOW SUGAR

FRESH TASTE @I V.S ELT ZE R

y•c

e om d 5 STARS

y• c

omed

Elf Lyons isn’t clowning around with this latest show which links a Hollywood blockbuster to her own relationship woes. Robyn Bell witnesses an artist at the top of her game

COMEDY

review of the issue

Elf Lyons Is The Woman On The Edge, Pleasance Courtyard, until 31 August, 9.30pm.

PICTURE: RICHARD LAKOS

here will not be many break-up stories involving 1995 blockbuster Apollo 13 13,, a bouncy castle and a woman dressed as a horse but, then again, there aren’t many performers as wonderfully eccentric as Elf Lyons. This stand-up comedian and writer describes her new show as a ‘completely normal autobiographical and in no way complex’ comedy about love. And that’s exactly what you get in this wonderfully bizarre creation. The Woman On The Edge has Lyons turning the breakdown of her engagement into an hour of gloriously strange clowning, storytelling and controlled chaos. Instead of being told a story straight from A to B, we go on a wild journey through fragments of her love life, inner monologues, texts from men, songs, and some space facts thrown in for good measure. It feels unpredictable but never without purpose. Apollo 13 serves as an anchor amid the chaos, from the opening mission-control chatter to audio clips and metaphors woven through Lyons’ own life. The film becomes an unlikely but surprisingly effective metaphor running through it all. That mission never reached the moon, but its crew returned safely, asking the question: was it really a failure? Lyons asks something similar about relationships. If two people loved one another, shared a life and eventually separated, does the ending mean everything that came before was unsuccessful? Lyons’ storytelling is absurd, eccentric, silly and whimsical but, most importantly, intelligent. She switches between accents as seamlessly as she does her characters (a clown, a storyteller, a heartbroken almost-bride) with remarkable ease. There is a fearlessness to her performance. Lyons lays everything out, completely vulnerable to the audience and, in her own peculiar way, finds humour in even the most distressing parts of her story. Yet beneath the absurdity is something painfully sincere. There are glimpses of what the future once held for her: a wedding, a honeymoon and a life with the person she expected to grow old beside. When the silliness briefly falls away, the loss underneath it feels surprisingly raw. Heartbreak rarely follows a straight narrative which is why the chaos works so well here. Instead, Lyons makes memories, jokes, fantasies and moments of sadness collide as she attempts to make sense of what happened. Chaotic, clever and profoundly peculiar, The Woman On The Edge finds something unexpectedly hopeful among the wreckage. Sometimes things can end without having failed.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 51

COMEDY

HARRIET RICHARDSON: CREEP lllll

PICTURE: CHARLIE RALPH

The voiceover introducing Harriet Richardson to the stage sounds like comedian Catherine Bohart, and that’s definitely Stewart Lee posing next to her in a Polaroid we see during her show. Mancunian, London-based performance artist Richardson knows the frisson that brushes with fame can bring. Feeding off someone higher up the food chain appeals to her, a millennial Marina Abramovic´ admirer in leather jeans. This is why, after creepy messages slide into her DMs, she ends up online stalking a comedian from Taskmaster. Richardson explores self and society through durational works such as having 100 dates one Valentine’s Day, or going viral with a tattoo featuring the names of all her exes mums. Comedy is a new medium though, one which she playfully, skilfully blurs here into her work as a terminally online artist. She slays at screengrabs; she crushes the comments; she knows what we like to watch and she clicks replies we want to read. We live vicariously through her, ROFL as she forensically examines Raya and even eBay, trying to get close to her latest obsession. We take her side; she finds the funny in her search for validation, through boundary trampling and online trolls, zooming in on absurdities of modern masculinity. Her limerence puts her in the limelight more than her sleazy virtual beau (that seediness turns her on and maybe her next show can deep dive future therapy sessions). Watching her charm others (including a Reverend and virtual detective), she charms us too, especially as she exorcises personal demons and embraces fangirling herself by the end. (Claire Sawers) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 7pm.

For a fairly safe hour of classic observational stand-up delivered well, Gareth Mutch is your man. He’s got charm, presence and an easy manner that suits the comedy stage. Some of the material plays into the overdone: marriage makes you boring, women organise, men are children. Where Mutch shines is in delivering personal anecdotes, both unique and weird, rather than generalisations. Engaging tales of waxing off both his eyebrows in high school, his first date with his wife, and his dad’s relationship with Martin Lewis get the audience solidly on side for some good belly laughs. By the end of the set, he’s woven a web of in-jokes around the class implications of Giffgaff and self-deprecating callbacks to dodgy Spanish accents. He creates an undeniable feeling of camaraderie and everyone leaves smiling . . . and maybe thinking about changing their phone provider. (Suzy Pope) n The Stand, until 31 August, 4.20pm.

In perhaps the first ever comedy routine to introduce group breathing exercises throughout, Alexander Bennett presents a stand-up variety show with all the bells and whistles: an original song, magic tricks and a guided therapy session. Bennett’s self-deprecating, nihilistic humour is spread across dark storytelling and kitschy musical performance. But after musing on the potential social benefit of ‘therapy pubs’ and breaking into song about perverted pop-up ads, he tackles a series of more challenging subjects, including men’s mental health, chasing your dreams, the moral compass of a performer and a critique of social media’s vapid impact on comedy. Maybe that sounds like a lot to fit into one hour. Well, it should, because it is. Through prophetic statements that sharply cut through an otherwise light-hearted act, Bennett hops generously between loosely connected themes, failing to deliver any singular message to its full potential. While the stark switch-up between his raw confessions and an absurd song provides a good laugh, the emotional messaging lacks a steady through line, making the show’s pacing as anxious as he insists he is. Nevertheless, despite a chaotic delivery and the awkwardness of a magic trick that doesn’t land, his observations and timing hold everything together, keeping you engaged and laughing throughout. (Lucy Mills) n Banshee Labyrinth, until 30 August, 2.40pm.

52 THE LIST FESTIVAL |19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: OLLIE CRAIG

ALEXANDER BENNETT: ALL IT TAKES lllll

PICTURE: TRUDY STADE

GARETH MUTCH MEANS WELL lllll

VIGGO VENN: ONLY ONE lllll

COMEDY

PICTURE: DYLAN WOODLEY

Norway’s Viggo Venn plays a cockier, kinkier Mr Bean in this slice of audience-led clowning. An alumnus of Philippe Gaulier, Venn went on to win Britain’s Got Talent in 2023 by making a show of Simon Cowell’s capacity to embrace nonsense, and here, repetition beyond the point of reason is the root of his comedy. That winning performance was an extended Russian Doll bit whereby he rips off and unveils endless layers of hivis vests while dancing to Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’. That works well over six minutes; less so over 60. There is a loose narrative to Only One: Venn falls in love, gets married, has a child and then divorces. A mic’d up audience member forces Venn to improvise at their behest; a risk that places slightly too much faith in the directorial vision of the crowd. There is some humour in Venn’s attempts to stop the show from being derailed entirely, though that wears off by the 15th time he was stuck responding to the wails of an imagined baby. His high-energy clowning is entertaining for the most part, though loses steam and attention, coming to an end ten minutes short of its run time. (Evie Glen) n Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 8.10pm.

PICTURE: NIA VISSER

THE MR THING SHOW lllll As the audience enter The Mr Thing Show, there’s a button that says ‘DO NOT PRESS’. Maybe a little too intimidating for some but definitely not for others. Our emcee Tom Clarkson struts around, encouraging people to scan a QR code as they take their seats. It becomes clear that the real stars of the show will be the audience themselves. This hour is quite simply a celebration of silliness. Trying to get that all important phone call from the commissioners in Hollywood, the Mr Thing gang create a show that includes wacky games (the best being ‘You’ve Gotta That Face’) and uncovering some surprising hidden talents among the crowd. However, it’s the magical finale that has everyone on the edge of their seats. Featuring a live house band, banter with the hilarious Puppet Steve and some unexpected celebrity cameos, The Mr Thing Show is guaranteed to leave you smiling. (James Macfarlane) n Assembly George Square Gardens, until 30 August, 5.45pm.

Clowning shows at this year’s Fringe just got even more appealing, as New Zealand company Ratbags riff on the 2019 artwork ‘Comedian’ by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and the outlandish commodification of the art world. Even self-identified cultural luddites would instantly recognise Katie Burson and Georgie Llewellyn dressed as bananas and literally gaffer-taped to a wall, and realise that a whole bunch of fruit-flavoured hijinks are on the menu. This pair are horny, hungry and fully ripe for any manner of potassium-fuelled mischief. Once released from their sticky predicament, Burson and Llewellyn set about their secretive sojourns around the gallery, dodging the attentions of officious curator Bronwyn Ensor. Bumping and grinding with the fellow artworks and frequently enlisting help from the audience, the bananas use their outrageous antics to give Ensor the slip. On stage, the action is like a cross between Mr Bean and Night At The Museum: super silly with a childlike innocence (once they stop rutting each other), poking fun at what passes for artistic hoity-toity. Those forays into the crowd are where the show works beautifully. Both curator and bananas revel in manipulating and contorting the unwilling, knowing exactly how far to push the situation. There’s even time for an eye-watering real-life auction, flogging merch in a true case of life imitating art. Although the concept might begin to spoil slightly over the course of an hour, How To Art’s daft energy keeps things fresh. Best pick them up before they’re past their sell-by date. (Gary Sullivan) n Underbelly Cowgate, until 30 August, 9.40pm.

PICTURE: JAKE DENNIS

HOW TO ART lllll

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 53

ALEX HINES AND SARAH STAFFORD: BIRDS lllll

COMEDY

Birds is a neon pre-apocalyptic paradise in which comedians Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford absolutely smack the audience (and each other) in the face with surreal Aussie humour. Appearing on stage in hair and make-up that would unsettle the most outrageous of drag queens, it’s clear that there is no limit to the strange story that’s about to unfold. On a deserted beach, two kindred spirits meet and, in a haze of colourful kaftans and cigarette smoke, bond over a shared love of trash radio and spectacular trauma. With the undiluted awkwardness expected from shows such as Kath And Kim, Hines and Stafford take the joke to an extreme as fivetime divorcee Shayna, and mother of 12, Beverley, spill their secrets and singe in the sun together amid a few small distractions including houses falling into the sea, children drowning and their skin melting. This is a refreshing, unique and welcome take on absurd comedy that includes some incredibly clever one-liners. Despite a few small issues with timing, Birds leaves the audience shocked and in awe. (Rachel Morrell) n Assembly George Square, until 30 August, 7pm.

BILLY KIRKWOOD: MAYHEM lllll Looking like ‘a man who sells drugs to himself’ and ‘Susan Boyle doing stand-up’ (all his words), Billy Kirkwood bounces onto the stage. That pre-show self-introduction acts as a veiled threat that this hour could well be a lot to handle at this time of day, but the crowd is raring to go. With such incessant wackiness and chaos on stage, it takes a skilled comedian to know how to control their room. Kirkwood is that comedian. There’s a wide range of comedy on display during this hour including physical impressions, some prop fun and, the highlight, audience interaction. His material with the crowd flows so smoothly, you’d think it was a written part of the set. At the end, after an incredible big 90s finale, our act exclaims, ‘I’m Billy Kirkwood. This was mayhem!’ There’s unlikely to be a more apt sign-off at another Fringe show this year. (James Macfarlane) n The Beehive Inn, until 31 August, 3.15pm.

JOSEPH MORPURGO: HIGHLANDER 70 lllll

PICTURE: MICHAEL JULINGS

54 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

A word of warning for prospective audience members: Highlander 70 has nothing to do with the 1986 fantasy film or the four-cylinder Toyota SUV of the same name. It’s a show revolving around characters Joseph Morpurgo has cooked up from a school yearbook he found at a car boot sale a decade ago. Highlander is the inexplicable name of a Virginian high school; 70 is the year of the graduating class this show lovingly brings to life. The Pleasance Forth, with its semi-thrust school assembly hall feel, is the perfect setting to be immersed in Morpurgo’s bildungsroman. From the moment you step inside, you’re no longer a Fringe punter; you’re a Virginian adolescent belting out the old school song. As David Moon, a lovelorn, risk-averse graduand and the show’s protagonist, Morpurgo guides you through all the well-worn tropes of an American high school dramedy. Think John Hughes with additional whimsy. The hour’s charm comes from Morpurgo’s painstaking attention to detail. A key component is a screen constantly running through images from the Highlander 70 yearbook. Morpurgo blends wry observations with ingeniously concocted personas to bring each character to life. It’s an ultra-slick production and, by the end, you’re genuinely invested in these people and will likely want to spend hours on in-depth Google searches to discover what actually happened to them. Though there might not be quite as many laugh-out-loud moments as some shows at the Fringe, Morpurgo’s inimitable blend of songs, audience participation and storytelling make this one of its most unique hours. (Matthew Hayhurst) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 7pm.

FRANKIE THOMPSON: HORRIBLE THINGS lllll COMEDY

Swirling around the stage in a polka-dot flamenco dress, it’s Frankie Thompson’s face that you can’t stop looking at. It appears to be moulded from plasticine: stretching, squashing and rearranging itself with alarming speed, this is a performer who can communicate an entire joke with a raised eyebrow. In Horrible Things, Thompson deploys her wiggly face wonderfully, alongside avant-garde clowning, internetty little jingles and a disgusting foray into the mind of a nine-year-old Jacob Rees-Mogg. The show is a mix of sketch comedy, songs and PowerPoint presentations, all relying heavily on Thompson’s impressive ability to lip-sync herself (and her audience) into another dimension. And the horrible things? Men, duh. Recordings of Tory whips gossiping are genuinely hard to listen to, while a Sinatra concept album provides an unlikely exploration of male narcissism. The political stuff is packed with gags (and not just the joke variety) as Thompson spews out vile impression after vile impression. The men she selects from the audience are duly humiliated. One volunteer becomes the star of her ‘baby boy’ routine and, as he is dragged around the stage, you genuinely wonder if he is a plant. His daft expression so perfectly illustrates the theme of the show. But it’s Thompson’s clever direction and vision that means she somehow finds the perfect man for the job every night. The whole experience feels like being lost in a vortex of YouTube and Reddit: clever, weird and dripping with a gross-but-can’t-look-away feeling. And in this world, the gap between horrible and hilarious is very small indeed. (Afreka Thomson) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 8.45pm.

PICTURE: HOLLY REVELL

PAUL CURRIE: REMOVE YOUR SKIN PLEASE lllll

PICTURE: BRENT LEIDERITZ

Semi-naked and full of beans, Paul Currie doesn’t so much enter the stage as explode onto it. Much of tonight’s crowd seem to know what to expect and they lap it up as he repeatedly exclaims, ‘I’m Lemon Barnaby!’. Currie fills much of his show with musical comedy, usually changing a few lyrics of songs for daft effect. At one point, he sings over the theme tune to This Is Your Life with a hilariously candid account of his depression before moving on to an ingeniously simple visual gag about a tiny superhero. Throughout, Currie prowls the audience, cajoling compliance from nervous participants. As things wrap up, he almost breaks character to talk with genuine sincerity about how his father’s dementia has changed the dynamics of their relationship. It’s a sweet diversion before yet more silly songs. Currie possesses a childlike wonder and it’s a joy to spend an hour in his world. (Murray Robertson) n Laughing Horse The Counting House, until 30 August, 8.30pm.

PICTURE: SELA SHILONI

DEMI ADEJUYIGBE SELLS OUT lllll Magic tricks, monsters and mega-corporation robots all add to the fun in Demi Adejuyigbe Sells Out as the British-American comedian, whose writing credits include The Good Place and The Late Late Show, exposes all the ways in which he has sold his soul to the comedy scene. Before the show starts, we’re treated to a brilliant mash-up of hip hop, the SpongeBob SquarePants theme tune and lots more besides. Adejuyigbe takes the audience in with a not-so-seasonal song about Santa Claus that takes a dark yet tickling turn. Then the show becomes a soundtrack to brighten any mood as he uses his musical skills, whimsical silliness and unexpected twists to concoct a marvellous hour, including a moment in which he discards his comic hat to reveal the true motivations behind his performance, which adds a lovely personal touch. As well as veering more toward American sensibilities, there’s a slight lack of depth at play here that may leave fans of gallows humour a little wanting. But Adejuyigbe has accomplished comedic timing to match his instrumental prowess, and whether he is playing Dracula, Bond or himself, he proves himself to be a wonderful emerging talent on the Fringe scene. (Rachel Morrell) n Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 6.45pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 55

“A GENIUS, ZERO WASTE SET DESIGN.... [DREGS] TURNS MODERN SPIRITUAL PARALYSIS INTO HIGH-OCTANE CLOWNING” - Everything Theatre

WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Ella Talerico STARRING Vi To, Ivy Schenk, Thomas Rombach

Dregs two sticky, raunchy, hungry clowns search for meaning in a spiritual wasteland overflowing with the detritus of a wealthy, industrial economy… supper tonight? A plastic yellow duck and a barely-used bralette… yum!

BBISH!

COME SEE RU

Proud producers of The List Festival Party

Ready to make a scene? 56 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

COMEDY

HIGHLIGHTS

EPITHEMIOU The Sainsbury’s-bag obsessed gent is almost certainly telling more than asking with Can I Just Show You What I Got. Setting the world to rights, one weird opinion at a time. n Just The Tonic Nucleus, 28–30 August, 8.45pm.

COMEDY

GIANMARCO SORESI

ANGELOS

Another multi-show individual in town with the two we’re picking out being a one-off crowd work gig and a work-in-progress run about embracing your inner theatre kid. n Monkey Barrel, 25 August, 11.20pm; Underbelly Bristo Square, until 30 August, 7.40pm.

JILBERTO SOTO This Mexican-American is having serious daddy issues with his own one opting not to attend his boy’s wedding and the fact everyone keeps asking him when he’s having little ones. n Just The Tonic Caves, 20–30 August, 2.25pm.

CLAIRE HOOPER

CELINE KUKLOWSKY

Around 20 years ago, Australian Hooper performed an incredible, largely silent show about what life would be like if she permanently lost her voice (a real threat at the time). She’s back with Fun Show XX. n Assembly Roxy, 20–30 August, 6.10pm.

Bed Boy did roaring business at the Leicester Comedy Fest earlier this year and this reflection on the state of the universe should have Edinburgh crowds tucking in. n Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 31 August, 6.30pm.

LORNA ROSE TREEN

MARK NELSON

One of SNL UK’s many upcoming writerly talents has a few things on the go in the Fringe’s latter part such as these two, a work-in-progress and a compilation show, respectively. n Monkey Barrel, 26–30 August, 12.05pm; Pleasance Courtyard, until 23 August, 9.30pm.

As far as titles go, Seven Night Run is both factual and, well, it seems to just be factual. ‘The usual musings’ are to be expected. Wry, dry and a little bit caustic then? n The Stand 3, 24–30 August, 7.25pm; The Stand W Edinburgh, 29 & 30 August, 5.30pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 57

Edinburgh’s Biggest Venues. One Basket. Zero Faff.

Lowest Fees

Save up to £4 per transaction — even more on a typical festival visit

Exclusive Deals

2 for 1, 50% off, £5 tickets — offers you won’t find anywhere else

Book now at edfest.com Edinburgh’s major venues joint box office

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

August 2026

Two ways to get more from the festival

Festival membership club

Join

Love The Fringe Your inside track to the festival Free Tickets Members-only giveaways throughout August

Fringe Bar Discounts Exclusive deals at festival venues and bars

Insider Picks Curated recommendations before they sell out

Priority Access First in line for sold-out shows and events

Become a member

www.lovethefringe.com 58 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

From

per year

BALLET NIGHTS DANCE & CIRCUS

DANCE & CIRCUS

Created by the evening’s compere Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, this dance showcase is really making a name for itself and has its Edinburgh Fringe debut here, cramming in a lot over its 60-minute running time. There’ll be seven performances of ballet and contemporary from the likes of Sarah Chun (nominated for an Olivier in 2025 for her work in Three Short Ballets) and Scottish Ballet’s former member Amy McEntee. (Brian Donaldson) n Assembly Rooms, 24–30 August, 5.30pm.

PICTURE: DEBORAH JAFFE

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 59

All systems go

DANCE DANCE & CIRCUS

A simple coffee shop disagreement provided the spark for Anatomy Of Survival, a new dance show that asks us to consider the existence of other people’s realities. Kelly Apter discovers how its creators plan to take us inside our own nervous systems

espite the old adage, there aren’t really two sides to every story. As anyone foolish enough to scroll beneath a news article or social media post knows all too well, there are many, many more. It’s this central premise, that one event can be viewed multiple ways, which has given rise to Anatomy Of Survival, a thoughtprovoking, emotive and, dare we say, educational piece of dance theatre. Co-created by playwright Vivienne Franzmann and choreographer Frauke Requardt, the work was born out of an exchange Franzmann witnessed while queueing for coffee. A misunderstanding between another customer and the barista led to the former having a very public meltdown. A few days later, Franzmann and Requardt started work on an as yet undecided project, and the anecdote was relayed. ‘I told Frauke about the woman having a real go at the person serving her,’ recalls Franzmann, ‘and we both had totally different perspectives on it. Frauke is a somatic psychotherapist as well as a choreographer and was already really interested in the nervous system. Clearly the woman I’d seen was experiencing a dysregulated moment and we both thought this could turn into something.’ Franzmann went away and wrote over 40 possible eyewitness accounts of the coffee shop event

60 THE LIST FESTIVAL |19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

DANCE & CIRCUS

PICTURES: CAMILLA GREENWELL

(since whittled down to 22), some to be portrayed via dance and movement, some through text. All with the intent of showing just how varied our responses can be. ‘Often we can’t accept someone else’s viewpoint because we’re so fixed on our own reality,’ says Franzmann, ‘and I think that’s something that isn’t often acknowledged. Everything that’s happened to us, our histories, our traumas, our parents, our family, all of that adds up to how we experience the world. None of us can experience it in the same way, because we’re all completely unique. And that felt like an interesting thing to explore, the idea that other people’s realities exist as well as our own.’ Featuring two dancers, an actor and a drummer, Anatomy Of Survival takes a fascinating deep dive into our nervous systems. To that end, psychotherapist Frank Bock was brought in to teach everyone the neuroscience behind how our brains function during times of stress. Much of which Franzmann used for the opening salvo (a short lesson in the

nervous system which she describes as ‘fun, offbeat and interesting’), so we’re ‘preloaded’ with that information before the show moves into the coffee shop debacle. That such a seemingly innocuous act, walking into a café, should lead to all this seems serendipitous. But as Franzmann notes, whether she knew it or not, her own brain was on the lookout. ‘When you’re a writer, things ping around you all the time,’ she says. ‘If you’re about to start a creative project, then your antenna is up. So you’re always stumbling across things that might work, it’s just a matter of whether it comes to fruition. We were looking for something where text and dance could sit together in a way that wasn’t jarring, and this felt like such an interesting idea to pursue, the ancient system inside of us that we’re all still relying on to help us survive.’ Anatomy Of Survival, Assembly Dance Base, 25–29 August, 7.45pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 61

loverly! This

Christmas

A PITLOCHRY FESTIVAL THEATRE PRODUCTION OF

will

LERNER AND LOEWE’S

MY FAIR LADY BOOK AND LYRICS BY

MUSIC BY

ALAN JAY LERNER FREDERICK LOEWE

DIRECTED BY

MARIA FRIEDMAN

ADAPTED FROM GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’S PLAY ORIGINAL PRODUCTION DIRECTED AND GABRIEL PASCAL’S MOTION PICTURE “PYGMALION” AND STAGED BY MOSS HART

Scottish Charity no.SC013055

PERFORMED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL

62 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

loverley!

STARRING

ALAN CUMMING 21 NOV-31 DEC BOOK

NOW

PITLOCHRYFESTIVALTHEATRE.COM

DANCE & CIRCUS

‘Before the clash, there is a prayer.’ Hirakuza is as much an introduction to the centuries-old traditions surrounding sumo technique as it is a display of extraordinary strength. The host and wrestlers take us through rituals and techniques that make up Japan’s oldest combat sport, from shiko legstomping and the purification of the ring to the various offensive, defensive and grappling forms. It is fascinating without ever feeling like a history lesson, helped enormously by an enthusiastic host who has the audience cheering, chanting and clapping. And then come the matches. They may be short but they’re remarkably intense. Bodies collide with astonishing force as the wrestlers attempt to push, throw or manoeuvre one another from the ring, demonstrating how much technique sits behind all that power. The wrestlers are formidable, commanding the stage without saying much at all. But as the show goes on, their sillier side emerges. Vibrant, energetic and genuinely informative, Hirakuza strikes the perfect balance between respecting the sumo’s traditions and making them accessible. Enormous fun and an unexpectedly brilliant family show. (Robyn Bell) n Underbelly George Square, until 31 August, 6pm.

PICTURE: HIRAKUZA

THE SUMO SHOW: HIRAKUZA lllll

TELL ME lllll

PICTURE: ALBERTO SANTOS BELLIDO

Sadiq Ali is rapidly carving out his own genre of circus-dance-storytelling. Like his previous autobiographical show, The Chosen Haram, which grappled with growing up queer and Muslim, Tell Me draws on Ali’s experience of being diagnosed HIV positive. It’s performed by a trio of dancer-acrobats (including Ali) and loosely tells the tale of two characters’ diagnoses, as they try to reconcile living their lives with the threat that now exists inside them. As in The Chosen Haram, the piece oscillates between following the characters’ stories and riffing on themes. The circus skills are used to brilliant effect, placing the performers within a hair’s breadth of danger (as they leap onto Chinese poles or hang suspended from chains) but also showing their incredible vitality and resilience. A striking scarlet set and a score that blends 80s disco with soaring choral music make it visually and aurally arresting as well as moving. (Lucy Ribchester) n Summerhall, until 31 August, 7pm.

THE PALESTINIAN CIRCUS: STEP AND A HALF lllll At the end of this impressive show from West Bank-based Palestinian Circus, the cheering crowd rises to its feet, chanting ‘Free Palestine’. The atmosphere is turbo-charged with warm goodwill towards this non-profit company, who have been teaching circus skills to children and adults in occupied Palestine since 2006. The ensemble of eight performers are dressed in denim with keffiyeh and tatreez embroidery patches. There is much graceful shape-making: up and down aerial silks and a Chinese pole, through the air in weightless backflips and handsprings, round in circles on the human-sized Cyr wheel. Many of these acrobatic skills have been performed at the Fringe before, in this same giant tent, but there is a gentle elegance to the staging, with circus artistry woven around traditional music and dance. The title nods to dabke, the joyous Levantine folk line dance, and the skipping, stomping dance step wahda w nos (‘one and a half’ in Arabic). The show beams collective strength and solidarity, from the trusting teamwork of the counterweight on the scaffolding, silently lowering and raising the flying trapeze artist, right through to the voiceover messages of resistance: ‘We will continue to exist.’ A dignified display of soft power. (Claire Sawers) n Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, 2.05pm

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 63

e•d

DANCE & CIRCUS

review of the issue

PICTURE: BRIAN HARTLEY

anc

e•d

anc 5 STARS

Lucy Ribchester finds Not For Glory’s dissection and unravelling of traditional dance to be an empowering reclamation of the form

hortbread has never seemed so sinister. ‘You can eat it,’ Charlotte Mclean growls at an audience member in the second row, as they gingerly fumble with the packet. We’re at a menacing approximation of a Burns Supper and Mclean is brandishing a Highland dancing sword, waving it at an imaginary haggis. ‘Isn’t she a beauty?’ she bellows, before lancing its imaginary sonsie face in a bloodbath of Macbeth-red lighting. We are a strange people, the Scots, with our strange culture and strange traditions. Mclean has been more exposed to some of these traditions than most, having grown up a competitive Highland dancer, before training at London Contemporary Dance School. She is joined for this madcap rummage through the proverbial shortbread tin by Irish and contemporary dancer Jack Anderson and award-winning composer, piper and fiddler Malin Lewis. Together they pick their way through a tartan chaos of surreal vignettes, a punk-flavoured queer love letter to the Celtic arts. The opening sequence sees a Highland Fling segue into a rave, stag fingers morphing into raised peace signs, accompanied by flashing neon-pink lighting, pipes and techno beats. After the Burns Supper, there’s an increasingly bizarre series of announcements during a

64 THE LIST FESTIVAL |19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

Highland dancing contest. Anderson flicks, kicks and stamps around the stage in a traditional Irish dance, then much later repeats a similar pattern of movement but slowed down, divested of his plaid and frills (all the costumes, by Cleo Rose McCabe, are gorgeous). This time he looks almost ethereal; he’s vulnerable and uncanny, as he’s followed around by Lewis playing gentle fiddle. In one hauntingly beautiful section, Lewis drags their pipes across the stage towards them on a silver rope, like a fisher reeling in a strange selkie. The tone is always shifting from playfulness to send-up to reverence, and the team have a canny sense of when to make the change. It’s not a damning or a deconstruction of Scottish culture but a conversation with it. There is as much beauty in a well-timed pas de basque as there is misogyny baked into the history of Highland dance. The themes always feel tangible but the humour stops the piece from ever feeling like an academic exercise. Later all three performers tell us how, when and why they became enmeshed with their chosen disciplines; what confused them, what they felt oppressed by and what they love about them now. It’s a sensitive, empowering reclamation. You could even say glorious. Not For Glory, Assembly Dance Base, until 23 August, 7.45pm.

DANCE & CIRCUS

GLOB lllll

PICTURE: ALEX GUILLAUME

Clowning is surely one of the undersung marvels of the circus world. It’s easy to gawp in awe at human towers and balletic aerials, but clowns still carry around the residue of being perceived as filler, the light relief between shows. Acts such as Les Foutoukours remind you just how intricate, demanding, precise and tender the art of clowning can be. This Quebec duo feel like descendants of Slava, the Russian clown whose elegant 1990s Snowshow became an international hit. While Glob is smaller and gentler than Snowshow, its wintery warm heart, tactile costumes and wordless slapstick cocoon you in a similar world. The stage is festooned with frosty branches and glowing moonlike orbs. Through two puffs of smoke emerge Rémi Jacques and Jean-Félix Bélanger, in larger-than-life white feathery suits. They could have stepped straight out of a stop-motion animation, so detailed and strange are their movements, their rippling caterpillar feet and angled backs. They draw humour from small social interactions; a rejected handshake, a misfired hug. How strange we humans are in our rituals, they seem to say. But there is also a childlike awe and mischief to their antics that any parent will recognise. They take delight in a freshly discovered piano and sabotage each other’s tap dancing. Glob is a slow burner but, with its sweetly flawed characters and graceful beauty, it offers an escape from the real world into a comfortingly, clownishly surreal one instead. (Lucy Ribchester) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 30 August, 3pm.

PICTURE: ANNI CAMERON

SUPERBOWL SALSA llll The ultimate afternoon pick-me-up, Superbowl Salsa is a treat for the senses. Combining live renditions of famous Latin American songs with the history of salsa, bachata and reggaeton, plus the high-octane antics of performers who have actually appeared at the Super Bowl, makes for a lively and accessible glimpse of Colombian sunshine at the top of The Mound. Ranging across the invention of fast-paced salsa caleña in hotel lobbies, the love story of world champion dancers and Bad Bunny’s recent headline-grabbing half-time performance, the cast’s showmanship, vocals, incredible athleticism and eagerness to share their culture are impressive. As dancers in tiny sparkling costumes are flipped and flung across the stage, it’s easy to imagine them lighting up the crowd in a Super Bowl stadium. As a celebration of artists including Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and many others, there’s a potentially huge audience for the show. Despite a glitchy AI background and a bit of audible backstage chatter, we’re transported by a vibrant hour of dance theatre that ends with a delightful invitation to join the company on stage. Catch this spectacular piece of entertainment now before it moves to much larger venues. (Rachel Morrell) n Assembly Hall, until 30 August, 2pm.

BORDER BODIES lllll

PICTURE: JOÃO BENZ

The movement starts almost imperceptibly in this piece from Brazilian company TF Cia de Dança and choreographer Igor Gasparini. At first, it’s the merest shimmer of a shoulder, a turn of the neck. Nine performers are scattered in a loose nebula, just close enough to touch each other. Carlos Ranoya’s score rumbles into being and slowly they start to stir, with mechanical ripples and whiplash twists. Soon they are pulsing like one giant, intricate organism. With the dancers dressed in various flavours of street casuals, all in their own particular style, Gasparini’s piece is both a celebration of individuals and a hymn to the magic of bodies in harmony. The ensemble’s focus is awesome, especially when the pace slows and each stretch or bend is eked out: it’s as if we are watching energy explode in slow motion. The performance crescendoes in a euphoric, cathartic samba party of self-expression. (Lucy Ribchester) n Assembly Dance Base, until 30 August, 5.15pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 65

66 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

DANCE & CIRCUS

EXXY

The incomparable Dan Daw returns to the EIF with another bold dance theatre piece, this time about the notion of placing value on yourself when the rest of society refuses to do so. n King’s Theatre, 23 August, 7.30pm.

DANCE & CIRCUS

HIGHLIGHTS POLES

Choreographed by Corpo Máquina’s Guilherme Miotto and performed by Dutch pole dancing champion Yvonne Smik, this tender piece takes place on a spider-like structure. n Assembly Dance Base, until 30 August, 12.45pm.

FORGIVE ME

From Tamsin Shasha comes this work about intergenerational neurodiversity featuring a hyperactive mother and an autistic son. n Summerhall, until 31 August, 1.20pm.

HAM SANDWICHES & DISCIPLINE

CANDYMAN Subtitled ‘A Creamylicious Burlesque Comedy’, Iceland’s Saint Edgar serves up a mixed slice of burlesque, comedy and dance to investigate identity and liberation. n C Aquila, 24–30 August, 8.35pm.

Dance, disco, comedy and sport all merge in this camply humorous affair about growing up in Ireland from NAF Dance. n Assembly George Square Studios, 19–31 August, noon.

PACE

From Sweden comes Below Zero and their intimate portrayal of a relationship in flux, all set to a Scandinavian soundscape. n Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, 11.10am.

WHEN PROPHECY FAILS

Choreographed and co-directed by Vicki Manderson, Scottish ensemble Groupwork combine visuals with movement to explore what happens when facts clash against belief. n Studio Theatre, 27–30 August, times vary.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 67

HEIMER

KIDS

From London’s Roarrr Theatre comes this touching tale of a grandfather and grandson navigating the stormy seas of the ocean so beloved by them both, as dementia starts to take hold. Through puppetry and original music, this is a piece that will delight and enchant anyone from aged three and beyond. (Brian Donaldson) n Space Surgeons’ Hall, 20–23 August, 11am.

68 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

VASTHY AND FRIENDS: SING, DANCE, PLAY! lllll

KIDS

Vasthy (it rhymes with frosty) and friends have the slightly slowed-down, hyperwholesome energy of the great children’s entertainers of our time. They slide on stage and introduce themselves with enormous smiles and gentle voices, every syllable delivered with an earnestness that’s surely impossible to achieve without being American. The show is a musical, but the format feels more like an episode of Ms Rachel, with songs and little lessons interspersed with audience participation. Vasthy, our host and hero, is an energetic New Yorker with incredible trousers, accompanied by friends who all have their own little stories to tell. Rather than dragging children onstage or demanding participation, they ask questions and make suggestions, giving everyone plenty of opportunity to join in (even if that means simply waddling around aimlessly on stage, as my two-year-old companion does for most of the hour). There’s dancing, singing, impressive high kicks (well, one) and the chance to learn new words from Haiti, India and Spain, plus a sprinkle of ASL. Kids’ shows can drag but this one flies by. Towards the end, Tony on keys brings the house down with a joyous ‘La Bamba’, which, obviously, we all love. We boogie out the door, not overstimulated but definitely ready for a nap. (Afreka Thomson) n Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 31 August, 10.30am.

ROMEO AND JULIET FOR BAIRNS lllll Brooke Dunbar is an utterly charming storyteller. You get the impression she could find ways to pepper any tale with interesting, tactile, sensory props, little songs and sparkly diversions. That said, Romeo And Juliet is not an easy choice for a baby story (although Dunbar has also performed Macbeth For Bairns in previous years). At first glance, it’s a cosy yarn about two young people who fall in love. Dunbar introduces the tale with a smorgasbord of toys, while the audience of babies and tots sit on cushions, within touching distance of everything: fans with silk tails, ringing bowls and cuddly pizza slices. But as the story unfolds you gradually wonder how Dunbar is going to tackle its darker material. The ending inevitably has to be glossed over and, despite the lovely sensory creativity, the source material feels just too complex and violent for the story itself to land with meaning. (Lucy Ribchester) n Scottish Storytelling Centre, until 23 August, times vary.

SEEDHEART lllll SeedHeart is an intricately designed blend of puppetry and shadow theatre exploring how the Earth came to look the way it is today. Grey finds a seed fallen from the sky, plants it and watches as an enormous tree springs to life. More seeds follow, transforming the landscape into a lush, thriving forest. But then one tree is removed to make room for a house. Then another, and another. Soon factories and skyscrapers spring up. There is incredible attention to detail as the tiny world evolves before us, literally unfolding from inside a suitcase. The world is expanding but so are the noises, pollution and fumes. The accompanying soundtrack grows louder and more overwhelming as the landscape becomes increasingly industrialised, until pollution hangs in the air and a monster made of fumes appears. Despite tackling deforestation and pollution, SeedHeart never feels like a lecture. Its environmental message is instead woven into an imaginative, beautifully crafted little world. By the end, nature is thriving once more with lush forests, greenery and wildlife. There is something wonderfully whimsical about SeedHeart. Beautifully crafted and bursting with imagination, the intricate puppetry and clever shadow work are a joy to watch, while its humour and playfulness keep younger audience members engaged. Charming, inventive and full of heart, it’s a little piece of theatrical magic that can be enjoyed by the whole family. (Robyn Bell) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 31 August, 11.10am.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 69

KIDS

BOYS DON’T DANCE lllll

SHHH! (A WORDLESS COMEDY) lllll This family friendly clown show, which originated at the Lang Spot arts centre in Vietnam, may indeed be wordless but it is far from silent comedy. There is plenty of noise here, from sound effects made by the trio onstage to animal noises and lip-synching, not to mention the growling babytalk used by the performers to communicate with each other (think the Teletubbies crossed with Mr Bean). There is a loose narrative framework to proceedings involving a daydreaming schoolgirl, who conjures up scenarios to distract from taking an exam in a stultifying classroom. In truth, this is a pretext for stringing together set-ups, ranging from fairly standard roleplaying exercises, some anarchic pratfalling and horseplay, and a few vignettes that are genuinely enchanting. The use of mime, in particular, is so precise that we end up buying into whatever is being suggested onstage; whenever the audience is called upon to catch an imaginary ball or put invisible coins into an invisible hat, we do so without hesitation. Young children, seated on a mat at the front of the stage, appear especially rapt, and while not every element is perfectly executed, this energetic, playful show is perhaps the very definition of good, clean fun. (Allan Radcliffe) n Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 31 August, 11.20am.

THE SEND BUBBLE SHOW lllll Bubbles. Such a simple concept, yet one almost guaranteed to bring smiles and lift the mood of any room, for kids and adults alike. The Send Bubble Show is an interactive and neurodiversity-led performance that turns something wonderfully straightforward into 35 minutes of pure joy. Our host Ray has impressive bubble skills and, perhaps more importantly, an ability to win over even the grumpiest of kids. The show starts off strong with music and hundreds of tiny bubbles filling the room, immediately sending little hands reaching into the air to pop, burst and clap them away. Ray makes sure everyone gets a chance to join in, moving around the room so no child is left out and even inviting them to get involved in some of his more impressive tricks. There is nothing quite like bubbles to bring out the inner child in all of us. (Robyn Bell) n Just The Tonic Caves, until 23 August, 11.45am.

70 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

For over two decades, Marc Brew has been dancing, choreographing and running his own company. It’s a career that seemed wholly possible when he first graduated from dance school, but less so after Brew was in a life-altering car accident aged 20, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. And yet he did it anyway, going on to make highly acclaimed work and helping to redefine the disabled dance genre. This inspiring, moving, but above all fun new show captures all of this. Inclusive to its very core, from the pre-show warnings to the audio description and sign language, Brew has worked hard to make everyone feel welcome. But while it’s his life story being played out on stage, he’s not the one doing it. Performer Ross Malloy captures the vibrancy of Brew’s younger self, obsessed with his BMX bike and any popular culture (especially dance) he can find on TV. Wheeling across the stage, or revelling in dressing up, he’s a bundle of joy, only becoming quashed when he’s told ‘boys don’t dance’. Wheelchair user Piotr Iwanicki plays Brew post-accident, and when the two performers come together, it’s at turns deeply moving and wonderfully optimistic. Although designed for family audiences, with animated projections and an onstage ramp for dynamic action with both the BMX and wheelchair, in truth this is a show for any age. And you won’t be alone in having a happy tear in your eye by the end. (Kelly Apter) n Assembly Dance Base, until 23 August, 1.15pm.

KIDS

HIGHLIGHTS

TWEEDY

KIDS

After the huge glories of his Massive Circus, Tweedy now delivers a Massive Solo Show in which he faces off with silly props and has an unusual AI encounter. n Underbelly George Square, until 30 August, 10.15am.

BRRR

PICTURE: RERE CHANG

From Hayley Earlam comes an immersive journey into winter involving dance, video, sound and oodles of the white stuff. Aimed at audiences with complex needs. n Nicolson Square, until 22 August, 10.30am, 1pm.

OWL AT HOME

Based on Arnold Lobel’s illustrated book, this features Owl who lives in a very cosy home but whose day goes a little haywire when all he wanted was a quiet time. n Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 30 August, 10.30am.

FROGS IN BOGS

THE GREATEST MAGIC SHOW Now in its seventh year, this stirring affair from Sam & Justin is a blast full of dazzling tricks, a specific kind of humour and free wands. n Assembly George Square Gardens, until 31 August, 11.45am.

Superhero frog plumbers (yes, they exist) Turner and Constable must crack a contamination crime and defeat the nasty Cwac-Ty-Bach in this fun amphibian comedy. n Pleasance Courtyard, until 31 August, 1.30pm.

FRANKIE MONROE Not a man especially known for his patience, this could go either way as the Sudocrem-encrusted northerner puts a show on specifically aimed at babies. Tagline: ‘this will only ever happen one time’. n Monkey Barrel, 24 August, noon.

SPLASH TEST DUMMIES An aquatic adventure like few others as the Dummies throw out some stunt work, acrobatics, juggling and side-splitting slapstick larks. n Underbelly Circus Hub, until 29 August, times vary.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival||19–31 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 71

MON 24 AUG

FRI 21 AUG

BIFFY CLYRO

NOTHING BUT THIEVES

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE SELF ESTEEM JACOB ALON

SWIM SCHOOL

TUE 25 AUG

SAT 22 AUG HEATHER ON THE HILL

NATHAN EVANS SAINT PHNX BAND AND THE

CIAN DUCROT SKERRYVORE BROOKE COMBE CAMMY BARNES

LORDE

ZARA LARSSON AUDREY HOBERT ALESSI ROSE

THU 27 AUG

ALL DAY EVENT | DOORS OPEN 12PM

DEFTONES

ACOUSTIC SESSIONS, WHISKY TASTINGS, CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES + MORE

ECCA VANDAL

ROSE BETTS

NATI

ONLY LIMITED VIP TICKETS REMAINING

SUN 23 AUG

SLOWDIVE

JUST MUSTARD

SOLD OUT

SAT 29 AUG

THE PRODIGY

THE CURE

MOGWAI

IDLES

SOLD OUT

CARL COX

DAVID RODIGAN ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U

SCARLXRD

TICKETS

ARCADIA BUG

SMMRSESSIONS.COM

21 - 29 AUGUST 2026 ROYAL HIGHLAND SHOWGROUNDS EDINBURGH

DIRECT BUS/TRAM FROM EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW TO VENUE + CAR PARKING 72 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

HOT DUB TIME MACHINE

MUSIC

You may well forget where you are and imagine it’s a New Year party in (plucking out a place) Melbourne, say, than a night at the tail end of Edinburgh’s Fringe. Transporting audiences to other lands, times and headspaces is what Tom Lowndes has been doing for 15 years and for this House Party, he’ll be joyfully spinning tunes from 1970 to yesterday. (Brian Donaldson) n Assembly Hall, 20–30 August, 11pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 73

MUSIC

Antony Szmierek is Edinburgh bound with his distinctive fusion of spoken word, indie, alternative and dance music as part of La Belle Angele’s Fringe line-up. He chats to Fiona Shepherd about channeling poetry through music, being inspired by a stuffed heron and loving the quiet life

et Mancunian ex-teacher Antony Szmierek count the ways in which he has bucked the odds to become a full-time musician. ‘From a working-class background, not knowing anybody in music, can’t play an instrument . . . it’s so unlikely,’ he reckons. ‘There was no music GCSE at my school. I had no opportunity to do that when I was younger, but music has always been the answer for me.’ Two fates converged when Szmierek left teaching just before covid hit. ‘As soon as everything stopped and I couldn’t distract myself with other things, my response was “I need to make something”. I was turning 30 basically. I had a feeling I was supposed to be doing something else.’ Szmierek was already a regular on the Manchester performance poetry scene so started setting his poems to music, with a little help from his brother and now bandmate, Martin. He first came to wider attention with his track ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Fallacy’ and 2025 debut album Service Station At The End Of The Universe and describes his Streets-adjacent blend of spoken word, indie, alternative and dance music as ‘very much a distilled version of my personality’. He’s now moved on from Douglas Adams puns to release follow-up album, Decoding Birdsong. ‘It’s about luck and loneliness and me dealing with the changes in my life,’ he says. ‘I always start talking about it as if it’s a Bob Dylan record because I think of the lyrics first but it’s a big dancey euphoric thing. Electronic music has always been an escape for me. It calms my brain down. It seems to me like the perfect delivery system for poetry and big ideas and sad lyrics.’ Rather than its character-driven predecessor, the album makes use of leitmotifs, not least the cover star. ‘It’s a taxidermy heron that we found on eBay which is about a hundred years old. It’s mentioned in four of the songs. I think of albums as novels really, a complete story: beginning, middle and end.’ Szmierek has written two actual novels, one of them ‘really long and quite bad’, the other, called The Hypocrite, about a protagonist who witnesses a suicide on Arthur’s Seat and lives with the guilt of not reporting the death. It was written, mostly in Dirty Dick’s on Rose Street, he says, during one of Szmierek’s periodic creative field trips to Edinburgh. His next visit to the city will be to front his own show as part of La Belle Angele’s propitious programme of Fringe gigs. Having experienced a quick dose of last year’s Fringe as a punter, Szmierek is ready to dive in, safe in the knowledge that he has a West Country haven to return to, having moved to Bristol earlier this year. ‘I find it peaceful,’ he says. ‘I’ve been to the parties in London, I’ve dipped into all of that, but I just want a more manageable version of my life. I’d rather look at the herons on the water these days.’ Antony Szmierek, La Belle Angele, 26 August, 7pm.

Home bird 74 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

THE REAL KYLE MCCARREN lllll

MUSIC

PICTURE: NATALIE POWERS

‘Hello, my name is Andy, and I need to sing this song,’ implores writer and performer Andy Roninson in this charming musical’s quiet opening number. His desire to tell the world about his real-life former bandmate and best friend Kyle McCarren (names have been changed) feels like personal catharsis. Co-creator Sean McVerry joins Roninson’s pared-back piano with Nick Drake-esque guitar twangle and the show kicks off in earnest. McVerry plays Kyle with an enthralling level of snark and sarcasm, and we quickly fall for him, arseholery and all. Roninson frequently addresses the audience, acting as narrator. ‘I can’t sing,’ he confesses at the beginning, which turns out isn’t entirely true. While Roninson’s voice wavers through quiet, talkative ballads, a chorus of note-perfect performers pull off the complex notes. Jaygee Macapugay almost steals the show as Kyle’s ballsy mother, belting out tunes and shouting out comedy lines with perfect timing. Just as the set dips with one too many low-key, emotional numbers, we’re ripped out of grief with a banging 80s-style dance anthem set at a rooftop party in Brooklyn, powered by the strength and charisma of Vincent Jamal Hooper as pretentious English hipster Liam. Roninson’s personal need to tell this story is felt throughout and it’s a privilege to listen. (Suzy Pope) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 30 August, 1.50pm.

TOM WAITS WAR SONGS lllll Full disclosure: this review comes from a fully clued-up Tom Waits obsessive, the kind of man who wants ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head’ played at his funeral (just as the casket is going down; there won’t be a dry eye in the house). So, loving Tom Waits War Songs was almost a foregone conclusion, but the weight of its success can’t be quantified in fandom alone. It’s a lesson in how to give the old growler’s back catalogue a contemporary, accessible flair. Threading together songs of war, soldiers and homecomings to create a collage of shellshocked men, an animated backdrop helps bolster the feeling of an unofficial concept album. The full-band arrangements are bracingly urgent, particularly on the apocalyptic ‘Hell Broke Luce’ and the heartbreaking ‘Boots On The Ground’, which now draws direct comparisons with the horrors of ICE’s descent on contemporary America. Lead performer Michelle McGregor is the centrepiece, her powerful vocals teasing out supple melodies that Waits himself often seemed intent on hiding, embodying his theatrical pizzazz without ever feeling like a tribute act. One for Waits fans, or for the Waits curious. (Kevin Fullerton) n Just The Tonic Subway, until 30 August, 12.30pm.

WOODY SEZ lllll That time-worn phrase, ‘legends are made, not born’, could well have been written specifically for Woody Guthrie, one of folk music’s most celebrated figures and an icon of the protest movement. In Woody Sez, we chart his journey from itinerant musician, through crushing poverty and personal tragedy, to national acclaim and an enduring legacy. This production, revisiting the Fringe 20 years after its inception, reminds us that great performances can create experiences that linger. Even those with only a passing familiarity with Guthrie’s music and story will find plenty to enjoy here, such is the sheer joy of the musicianship and vocal talent in the room. Woody is vividly brought to life by the show’s writer and fulcrum, David M Lutken, giving the part enough irascible sass to colour Guthrie’s stoic self-determination and reveal a character who is flawed but never descends into self-pity. The supporting cast (Nyssa Grant, Raquel Chavez and David Finch) fill out Woody’s story with an endless roster of companions and family members, creating snapshots from his life, like an ever-shifting photo album. But it’s the inventive use of those songs and the thrilling, unamplified playing that set this production apart. An entire symphony of instruments is woven into each of the show’s vignettes, with the quartet of performers taking equal turns at musical virtuosity. Recurring motifs, including ‘The Ballad Of Tom Joad’ and ‘Bound For Glory’, alongside huge, energetic hoedowns topped off with Guthrie’s legendary ‘This Land Is Your Land’, hold the story together like musical glue. Woody Sez is a sweet and soaring call to arms. (Gary Sullivan) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 30 August, 5.30pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 75

MUSIC

HIGHLIGHTS

MUSIC

PASCOL

Five vocalists transform stories shared in the room into improvised compositions using only voice and physical expression. Unique certainly. n Space Niddry Street, 24–29 August, 9.15pm.

ENDOMETRIOSIS: THE MUSICAL This musical from Ripped Nylons features one woman’s ghastly journey through the healthcare system as she attempts to get treatment for an illness few there understand and even less seem to be bothered about. n Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 31 August, 4pm.

THIS IS THE KIT

Paris/Bristol singer songwriter Kate Stables brings us more of the Kit live experience and that alt-folk vibe last heard on album in 2023’s Careful Of Your Keepers. n La Belle Angele, 25 August, 7pm.

KNIGHT’S DREAM

VERDI’S A MASKED BALL

Inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this new musical has an underpaid and overworked bartender finding himself in a twisted love-triangle game while a new ‘drug’ is doing the rounds. n Space Niddry Street, until 22 August, 8.50pm.

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS The Geordie metallers released their fifth album last year with Death Hilarious being dubbed by Metal Sucks as ‘pure sludge’ (a good thing, we think) which continued their worshipping at the Black Sabbath altar. n La Belle Angele, 20 August, 7pm.

76 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

COLIN CURRIE GROUP The iconic work of Steve Reich is put under the microscope and onto the stage by Currie’s gang, including ‘Clapping Music’, ‘Radio Rewrite’ and a couple of world premieres. n Usher Hall, 28 August, 7pm.

Zurich Opera lay on Verdi’s classic work that’s rammed full of desire, politics and treachery, a piece so controversial that he had to relocate the setting from Sweden to Boston. n Festival Theatre, 26 & 27, 29 August, 7pm; 30 August, 2pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 77

78 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

ARCANA

THEATRE

From Scotland-based French-Cameroonian musician and director Fay Guiffo comes this immersive and highly visual production which combines movement, cinematic music and live virtuoso violin playing. A story about finding your voice and following your path, the titular character is trapped by her emperor father’s expectations and her own compelling desire to find herself. Will she get there before a reign of silence descends? (Brian Donaldson) n Assembly Roxy, until 31 August, 10am.

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 79

THE ONLY MAN WHO WON'T FUCK ME lllll THEATRE

Catherine Taaffe’s monologue character Kat directly addresses the audience with a cool acceptance of her life’s sexual misadventures. Presenting herself as honest, open and in control, Kat struggles not so much with her sex work as her desires for boxer Logan, who needs a little more to consummate their relationship. This solo show, despite a clear narrative line that allows Kat to leap across events and moods without confusing the story, never quite settles on a particular tone. Some of her adventures in sex work are funny, especially when she becomes a pimp for her own sugar daddy, while others betray a seedier and harsher environment. The romantic comedy of her frustrated passion shifts into a bleaker atmosphere, with the hints of sexual violence from one former client gradually becoming more real and immediate. At this point, it appears the plot is veering into a dark morality tale, a reflection on the power of patriarchy and the entitlement of cis males. However, when Logan arrives to rescue her and finally acknowledges that he is her boyfriend, Kat snaps back into a confident and confessional mode, concluding the hour with a cheeky and triumphant quip. The tonal inconsistency doesn’t undermine the excellence of Taaffe’s performance but it does leave the show feeling uneven. The routines that lean into stand-up comedy don’t mesh with the more intense moments, while the threat of an unknown stalker undermines the overall relaxed and witty storytelling. (Gareth K Vile) n Zoo Playground, until 30 August, 9.50pm.

PICTURE: MINDY TUCKER

‘It costs something to make a meaningful noise’ is the affirmation that never left Maggie and Paul, a couple of godparents finding out that meaningful love also costs something; in their case, confronting a past that’s easier to ignore. Insecurely ambitious in their pursuit of validation, Maggie and Paul (Claire Dargo and Scott Fletcher) meet as teenagers at the behest of their abusive choir master. They are each other’s first love, though second to the attachment that ties them irrevocably to their teacher. Later, when they are confronted with him in a chance meeting, amid the mundanities of middle age and the unfulfilled dreams of their younger selves, a troubling nostalgia threatens their future. Overtone is a kind of Marriage Story that questions what it takes to devote yourself to someone else when that devotion is riddled with the doubt from a life trailed by the spectre of abuse. Quick and surprising moments of humour grant the play some lightness that translates to faith in Maggie and Paul’s relationship. They know all there is to know about communication strategies and attachment styles, though less about how to to be honest with themselves. In this desperate and moving hour, they begin to learn. (Evie Glen) n Pleasance Dome, until 30 August, 2.40pm

PICTURE: EMILIE KRAUSE

80 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: GERAINT LEWIS

OVERTONE lllll

LIONS lllll Dad is dead, so what now? This madcap and meditative two-hander smashes together Python levels of silliness with a time-tripping detective story, all in service of the central question: what does it mean to be a good father? Turns out, getting to the answer means discovering uncomfortable truths. Performers Scott R Sheppard and Alice Yorke, moustachioed within an inch of their lives, barrel into action at breakneck speed, flitting between slapstick, skits and big buddy-movie energy. The production’s clever sound design anchors a first half of whirlwind hits and misses, before a handbrake turn in tone begins to unpick the existential message lurking at the play’s core. Lions transition from absurdist to elegiac seems like an odd fit, all that manic energy replaced by a treatise on grief and the minutiae of a man’s life. Even so, the tenderness expressed when packing away those feelings and possessions feels like a significant win. (Gary Sullivan) n Summerhall, until 30 August, 7.30pm.

THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR lllll

THEATRE

PICTURE: MANDEE JOHNSON

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s means slowly becoming the parent to the person who once looked after you. The Woman In The Mirror captures that reversal with warmth, humour and incredible honesty. Based on Dayna Steele’s experience caring for her own mother, the play charts the gradual shift from sticky notes around the house to missed appointments, anger and eventually full-time care. But there are moments of wonderful humour among it all, via hidden walkers, endless phone calls and flashes of the woman her mother used to be. Steele is an incredible storyteller and the chemistry between the performers is so natural, capturing the familiarity and complexity of a mother-daughter bond. Funny, frustrating and painfully honest, it understands the realities of care-giving: you can be exhausted, irate and start to lose hope without loving someone any less. Stories like Steele’s deserve to be told, not kept behind closed doors. (Robyn Bell) n Zoo Southside, until 30 August, 3.15pm.

WEREWOLF lllll

PICTURE: LEWIS FERRIS

This is not a review, it’s a tale of survival. Thanks to the emergence of a new deadly virus, the team at performance company Binge Culture has been forced to transform Summerhall into an airlocked safehouse for the duration of August. You can enter, though there are no guarantees you’ll get out. Werewolf begins the moment the audience walks through the plastic curtains that separate Safehouse No 656 from the outside world. Roaming around the room is a trio of cautious wardens (Stella Reid, Joel Baxendale and Hannah Kelly) who take a headcount as they usher unsuspecting civilians to their seats. On each seat sits a unique card, written on it a small piece of information that will help the newly formed community establish the facts surrounding the disease that is transforming innocent humans into werewolves. It may sound like hard work, but Werewolf twists and turns with a velocity that makes it difficult not to get invested in this pantomime-inspired whodunnit story. With everybody made to feel included without anyone having to do much, the witty Kiwi trio execute crowd participation perfectly, crafting a clever show that will appeal to Fringe-goers of all ages. (Danny Munro) n Summerhall, until 31 August, 9pm.

MAYFLIES lllll

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLOVIC

A Grid Iron adaptation of an Andrew O’Hagan novel is destined to come freighted with expectations. Ben Harrison’s warehouse production leans into its classy trappings, with 360-degree seating and colossal digital projections. Harrison keeps the novel’s first-person narration, delivered by Jimmy (Matthew Pidgeon) who weaves like a ghost in and around his past, observing his younger self (Kieran Devine) and best friend Tully (Jude Bain as a younger man, Graham Mackay-Bruce in middle age) as they dive headfirst into adulthood. O’Hagan says in the programme notes that he always thought Mayflies would lend itself to theatre. However, the play’s first half seems to have more kinship with cinema. There is a voiceover-like quality to the narration, as the younger actors lope slo-mo around the stage in hedonistic montages, intercepted by snatches of 80s hits. The star of the show here is the language and its wisdom. You almost want to pause the action to linger over lines like, ‘there are things you know at 18 that you will never know again’. Then the guillotine of the present slams into Jimmy’s memories and, from here, the drama begins to tighten its knots. Now we have conflict, as Anna (an outstanding Lucianne McEvoy), Tully’s fiancée (then wife), becomes a lone voice of opposition to a seismic decision he makes. Theatrical novel adaptations are a strange beast. But it’s a pleasure to see a vast, life-spanning story with a huge, beating heart unfold in flesh and blood before you. (Lucy Ribchester) n Browns Of Leith, until 30 August, 4pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 81

82 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

CATHY  THEATRE

Despite an excellent cast and an unsurprisingly powerful performance from Elaine C Smith, Cathy is an oddly unambitious offering from the Traverse. With a narrative that explores the grief of a family after the death of a beloved husband, father and grandfather, it touches on depression and the different ways three generations of women deal with mourning, without hitting the potential drama of domestic dysfunction. Beginning in the aftermath of Tommy’s funeral, it concentrates on Cathy’s mourning: she is briefly suicidal and simmering tensions with her daughter explode. The writing excels in the caustic Glaswegian banter, with Smith capturing Cathy’s vulnerability and her sharp tongue. The characters of the family are established deftly through their relationships to each other, and the sense of a woman struggling with the modern age is depicted sympathetically. Unfortunately, the hour and ten minutes running time seems to prevent the play from exploiting scenarios. Cathy’s daughter is on medication to combat mental ill-health, while her granddaughter is pregnant. But Cathy’s struggles with being a widow and her religious dark night of the soul are all too quickly resolved and a feelgood finale abruptly resolves the tension. Well written, well performed and well directed, Cathy is homely rather than arresting. (Gareth K Vile)  Traverse Theatre, until 30 August, times vary.

PATIENT 13 

PICTURE: DAVID HAVERTY

There’s no doubt that Gail Thomas is a talented storyteller. She’s captivating, with facial expressions made for great comic delivery. However, for all its vulnerability and courage, Patient 13 feels more like a series of entertaining anecdotes recounted down the pub than polished theatre. It’s surprisingly funny for a show predominantly about cancer treatment, with a few genuinely laugh-out-loud moments and gasps as Thomas recounts the reactions of unsupportive boyfriend Wes to her diagnosis and symptoms. This doesn’t feel like a passive watch (Thomas gets out into the audience, looking members dead in the eye) but some of the bigger punchlines get lost as she delivers them to the back of the room. Patient 13 straddles the boundary of comedy and theatre without quite hitting its mark: not quite funny enough to be stand-up, but not structured enough to feel completely like a one-woman theatre show. (Suzy Pope)  Zoo Playground, until 30 August, 2.20pm.

BIGFOOT RIPPED MY DOG IN HALF I SAW IT 

PICTURE: JENNY FORWARD-HAYTER

Something monstrous stalks a smalltown Appalachian community in this soapy, schlocky slab of physical theatre. Xhloe (Rice) and Natasha (Roland) are on the hunt for the titular cryptid, gathering evidence from paranoid townsfolk and uncovering something even more dastardly than the spectre of Sasquatch. There’s plenty to get your teeth into. Rice and Roland construct a multi-layered narrative using whipsmart lyrical rhythm, uncanny characterisation and seamless energy. Manipulating entrails and building the mystery with a megamix of set pieces, every person they inhabit comes fully formed and ready to crank the paranoia to fever pitch. It’s a dizzying achievement. This could have been played as a straightforward creature feature, relying on that genre’s B-movie bants for easy gags. But what takes Bigfoot into rarefied air is the slow reveal of another Yeti in the room. The inclusion of a political subplot, aimed at the continuing climate of administrative baitand-switch, sharpens the claws of this production and shines a light on the murky world of industrial-scale corruption. Rice and Roland have created a show that fizzes with originality, and the hype roar of this sold-out run is sure to tear through Soho Theatre on its future rampage through London. There’s definitely something in the air. (Gary Sullivan)  Summerhall, until 30 August, 9.10pm. list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 83

THEATRE

e •t

e• t

a he t r 4 STARS

PICTURES: JESS SHURTE

a he t r

eif review of the issue

Depicting mid-80s America at the height of the Aids crisis, Kelly Apter is captivated by Internationaal Theater Amsterdam’s rich and expansive production of Angels In America

hat so bare a stage could be home to such a rich tapestry of ideas, relationships and theatrical constructs is part of the wonder of Angels In America. Just one table adorns the space, home to two record turntables, and an expansive video backdrop transports us to New York’s Grand Central Station, a building exterior or the sea, among other places. But essentially, the actors are on their own with virtually no props (they mime taking phone calls) and little to indicate one scene ending and another beginning. Much of this is how writer Tony Kushner wanted it but director Ivo van Hove gives the play an even more open and expansive feel in this Internationaal Theater Amsterdam production. At four hours 55 minutes (including a 45-minute interval), it’s surprising to learn that van Hove actually chipped away at Kushner’s original text. But as Angels In America started life as two individual plays, the length makes sense. Kushner also had a lot to say about life in mid-1980s America, a time when President Reagan’s politics and the rising Aids crisis were in direct conflict. Although the play is set in 1985/86, premiered in 1991 and we’re now watching it in 2026, little (aside from advances in HIV medication) feels different. The stories that play out could be happening now: one couple struggles to navigate illness; another is unable to

84 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

keep their marriage afloat in the face of secrets and lies; and a right-wing lawyer manipulates the lives of others while his own true self goes unacknowledged. Sexuality, race, religion and political machinations are woven throughout, some explicit, others less obvious. So rich in metaphor and symbolism is Kushner’s text that not everything is easy to grasp, especially in the mouths of the more complex characters (we’re looking at you, The Angel). Even then, as we drift in and out of dreams, drug-fuelled hallucinations and visions, it’s still possible to get the gist; thanks in no small part to the excellent eight-strong cast, unflinching in their commitment. In particular, Hans Kesting as the loathsome Roy Cohn (based on the real-life Republican lawyer, firmly in the closet and insistent he’s dying of liver cancer, not Aids), Marieke Heebink as the Mormon mother and myriad other characters, and Jesse Mensah as best friend and nurse Belize, are all endlessly watchable. Only the constant flicking between fast-paced translation and the action onstage inhibits full emotional absorption in an otherwise captivating production. Angels In America, King’s Theatre, 19 August, 6pm; 20 August, 1pm.

LIST.CO.UK Scotland’s definitive guide to arts & culture, helping people get a life since 1985.

DISCOVER WHAT’S ON

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR INBOX Whether you’re looking for something to eat or something to do, we’ve got you covered.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 85

THEATRE

JERK OFF! lllll

PICTURE: MADISON SWART

Nadia P Manzoor has made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t need a supporting cast or a room full of props to get her point across. Thirteen years after debuting internationally acclaimed one-woman, 18-character play Burq Off!, Manzoor arrives in Edinburgh with its newly devised sequel. Jerk Off! picks up where its predecessor left off, with the untimely passing of Manzoor’s mother. Against a stripped-back set lined with a small collection of family heirlooms, Manzoor makes her great affection for her late mother clear, before taking us Stateside, where we learn of the inspiration behind the show’s title. In her 20s and at a loss in the wake of her mum’s passing, Manzoor fled London for Boston, where she fell in love with two things: hip-hop dancing and her hip-hop instructor, Miguel. Manzoor recounts her relationship with the Bronx-born dance teacher with startling honesty, unravelling the thread between his abuse and her discovery of mistreatment that had been taking place in her own immediate family. Such is Manzoor’s command of the stage that the 80-minute runtime flies by. Small details, like Manzoor’s parents referring to her vagina as her ‘shame shame’, paint a colourful picture of British-Pakistani life, endearing the audience closer to the thoroughly engaging Manzoor. (Danny Munro) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 30 August, 11.35am.

GIRAFFE lllll

We’ve arrived at a state in society where we require new myths to warn us of danger. New stories are needed to prevent children from polluting the planet, to support basic rights, and generally to act before requiring a push. And where better to look for a new heroine than to the tales of ancient Greece. Celebrated playwright Zinnie Harris’ Supposing is the perfect vehicle for the powerhouse that is Nicole Cooper, here portraying Sally, the next in a long line of women who struggle to be believed. After falling into a (literal) hole, she begins to hear a Grecian chorus and foresees violent incidents that she can, hopefully, prevent. Struggling to be believed, Sally plummets into a new (metaphorical) hole, one of selfdoubt and mental exhaustion; the chorus is growing louder and the planet is breaking apart further while her husband Rich (carried with charm by Richard Conlon) dismisses her visions. With minimal set dressing and atmospheric protrusions thanks to Lizzie Powell’s lighting, Cooper commands the script in a brutally contemporary and raw performance which pursues effective authenticity rather than sentimentality. A modernday myth brought to life, Supposing is layered with impressive writing and a compelling performance at its helm. (Dominic Corr) n Traverse Theatre, until 30 August, times vary.

86 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

PICTURE: MIHAELA BODLVIC

SUPPOSING lllll

PICTURE: ANDREW PERRY

Eliana has always felt different and not just because her arms are so freakishly long that she could hide her newly acquired restraining order in the loft without using the ladder. Convincing a court (and therefore a crowd) that you are normal is always a cracking premise for a play and this semi-autobiographical comedy by Abigail Weinstock (Such Brave Girls) is a lot of fun. Eliana rattles through her childhood and beyond, exploring the consequences of never quite understanding yourself and the power of a mean comment from someone who should know better. Weinstock is both likeable and relatable, although it would be interesting to see her move beyond the self-effacing note she strikes for most of the performance. The writing successfully balances comedy, jeopardy and emotion, and Weinstock does a great job building empathy and getting the audience on her side. (Jo Laidlaw) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 31 August, 1.45pm.

KRAPP’S LAST TAPE lllll

THEATRE

Despite the confines placed on his work by Samuel Beckett’s estate, there is always room for manoeuvre. Which is why Krapp’s Last Tape has come in at anything between 30 and 60 minutes over the years (43 here), depending on who plays him. Those pauses make all the difference and this production leans into them reasonably heavily. In fact, the show opens with two minutes of silence, as actor David Westhead stares aimlessly at the audience. It’s these moments of quiet, the facial responses to what he’s hearing on tape and the tragic memories of former romances that make Krapp’s Last Tape what it is; not all of which is captured here. There are myriad approaches to be taken with this devastating tale of love lost and chances squandered, and Westhead (in conjunction with director, and acting royalty, Stockard Channing) have chosen a very deliberate, outward-looking route. So while he is undeniably a fine actor, Westhead plays Krapp to the crowd, rather than as an inner monologue we’re merely observing. Which buys him some laughs, but other than the poignant moment when he hugs the tape recorder in place of the woman he once held, Westhead is never sufficiently lost inside himself to take us there too. (Kelly Apter) n Assembly Roxy, until 31 August, 1.25pm.

PICTURE: ALFRED WESTHEAD PICTURE: MAX BENEDICT

BOTTOMING FOR JESUS lllll Michael R Speciàle grew up with a hole in his soul. At age 15, he filled that gap with Jesus. After converting 150 people to the Mormon church in Paraguay, Speciàle realised he may not have been on the right path and came out as gay, aged 23. Bottoming For Jesus is a whirlwind ride, blending comedy, cabaret and sermons. It’s touchingly poignant and occasionally very funny. For a fairly bombastic show, Speciàle’s writing is nuanced and unflinchingly honest; he’s unafraid to state his conflicting views on the church, rather than writing it off entirely. A couple of non-original songs are slightly self-indulgent but the performance blends imaginative set design with innovative set pieces, like getting the audience to rip up paper copies of Speciàle’s angst-ridden teenage emails to use as confetti. Bottoming For Jesus is a ritualistic cleansing of the soul. Or possibly hole. (Matthew Hayhurst) n Zoo Southside, until 30 August, 10.40pm.

ADAM RICHES: THE CAPTAIN lllll Acclaimed character comedian Adam Riches returns to the Fringe with a slightly more serious piece than you might expect. It follows the true story of Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel unaided, in 1875. Part Victorian lecture (Summerhall’s Anatomy Theatre is the perfect backdrop) and part eulogy, we’re drawn into a world of grim determination, unthinkable feats and deep courage. Really drawn in. Ten minutes into the show, Riches has the audience copying his swimming strokes, with coffee cups knocked off tables and faces getting whacked by a wayward front crawl. Riches plays Webb’s backer, swimming teacher Fred Beckwith. To say this is an intense performance would be an understatement. Riches builds an enthralling narrative around Webb, Beckwith and JB Johnson (Webb’s rival), all without props, music or tech. Just a blackboard, chalk and an unmoving body beneath a sheet on a gurney. The build-up to the denouement is subtle until it’s upon the room like a wave. Once Webb is crossing the Channel, affectionately known as ‘Old Channy’, we’re chanting along, cultlike, with Riches’ commands. The room is rooting for Webb as if we’re actually witnessing him conquer jellyfish, freezing water, a storm and miles of sea, rather than watching a lone man in a lecture theatre tell an epic story. It’s sometimes hard to know what’s comedy and what is simply part of history, so convincing is Riches’ performance. There are moments of Boosh-like surrealism and turns of phrase that elicit somewhat unsure laughter. In the end, Webb and Beckwith’s story is enough. We don’t need the big laughs. (Suzy Pope) n Summerhall, until 31 August, 11.45am; 25 August, 7pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 87

Forged in Coal. Burnished in Light.

Ass Brass Presents

Putting the in

A 20-year coming-out story:

A musical comedy with songs, scary soap ladies, and an ass-to-brass

portrayal of toxic power stations and bands through the digital revolution.

Get your tickets today! Suitable for 14+

fourheadeddragon.co.uk

88 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

four.h.dragon

LAST LAUGH lllll

THEATRE

A semi-scripted, semi-improvisational, post-apocalyptic hour of dodgy British accents, monologues and a cobbled-together love story referencing Carl Sagan and Wall-E, all in the middle of an alien invasion. Ooh, and horny puppets. Sounds simple, right? Alice (Pimprenelle Noël) and Bee (Lydia Sims) are two friends in a breathless race against time to gift the world ‘one last improv show’ before Earth is, presumably, blasted into the cosmos. What may have sounded good on the page has a helluva hard time translating onto the stage in any coherent or meaningful way. This is the worst of all worlds: each element is left underexplored before something new barges into the limelight, leaving the plot frustratingly out of sight. It’s a bit like watching the action unfold through the wrong end of a telescope. Noël and Sims are engaging and talented in equal measure, but Last Laugh may end up being truer than they hoped for. (Gary Sullivan) n Zoo Playground, until 30 August, 9pm.

JULIUS CAESAR VARIETY SHOW lllll

PICTURE: SIMON LAZEWSKI

We are in a Dublin theatre, watching three disparate wannabes audition for a low-budget Julius Caesar. This might be the starting point for a sitcom were it not for the chanting of protesters outside, the mob having got wind that the condemned building is to be turned into housing for refugees. You’d have thought the creative space would be a cocoon of safety, but the show’s ‘maverick’ (read, monstrous) director (played by Ultan Pringle) has a working method that involves literally setting his actors at each other’s throats, unleashing their own latent racism and misogyny. The playwright and director Joy Nesbitt raises an interesting idea here about the abuses and prejudice that can hide in plain sight in a liberal, arty milieu, but the execution is too much on the nose. The notion that nasty power dynamics should no longer be tolerated in a rehearsal room is by now incontrovertible, and simply depicting bad behaviour from the getgo leaves the material looking crass and gratuitous rather than subtle and suspenseful. There are some amusing flourishes, courtesy of the deadpan piano accompanist Conrad Jones Brangan, but the play’s final descent into melodramatic bloodletting is totally cringeworthy. (Allan Radcliffe) n Summerhall, until 31 August, 4.45pm.

THE UNDERSTUDY lllll

PICTURE: MOUK MEDIA

At a global event where individual acts could blow £15,000 to perform in a B&Q shed for a month, The Understudy will resonate with many at the Fringe. It follows a twentysomething actor languishing as a ‘covid understudy’ for a theatre in Melbourne, quietly waiting for her shot onstage while suffering from a severe case of toxic positivity. Soon, her stuttering career gets the better of her, spiralling her dissatisfaction into a version of madness. Meanwhile, always one step ahead of her, a doppelganger appears to be taking over her life. If a one-woman show is ultimately a vehicle for the range of an actor’s talents, then Eva Seymour has crafted an ideal format to test herself, with a story that balances tragicomedy and a bracing sense of manic desperation. In a deftly written script, her journey through the exploitative world of the arts (unpaid work, cash-strapped institutions, a shift pattern that destroys personal relationships . . . you get the gist) transforms into a universal idea about the nature of trying to succeed in a modern, post-lockdown landscape. With its constant references to manifesting and the undercurrent of male entitlement that lurks behind the theatre curtain, it’s training a good-humoured eye on an individualistic world that has severed the line between the personal and the professional. An absurdist bent keeps the pace brisk, but it’s Seymour’s ability to career between scenes with a near-athletic dynamism that fills each plot beat with a sense of buoyancy and urgency. (Kevin Fullerton) n Assembly George Square, until 30 August, 12.15pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 89

15:00 06 - 30 AUG ASSEMBLY ROXY: UPSTAIRS

90 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

THEATRE

This may not have been the Mrs Perón musical you were looking for but it’s the one we deserve. Leave it to Fringe mainstays Sh!t Theatre (the formidable duo of Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole) to deliver a masterclass in historical storytelling with absurd cabaret and a soupçon of biographical realism. In Evita Too, the pair bring their signature DIY, delightfully chaotic aesthetic to an extraordinary forgotten chapter of global politics: the bizarre saga of Isabel Perón, the world’s first female president, overshadowed by her husband’s first wife, Eva Perón, the woman seared into history by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita. What makes the production so relentlessly sharp is its indirect method of storytelling. By chasing the echoes of a leader history chose to forget, Biscuit and Mothersole end up unpicking how cultural mythology is constructed, weaponised and marketed by men. It is a distinctly feminist piece of work, yet it eschews belabouring in favour of satirical subversion, biting wit and sheer cabaret-infused anarchy. Told through a messy collage of homemade video projections, catch-and-release audience interaction and gloriously eccentric musical numbers, the show retains an unpolished Fringe spirit. The comedic timing between the two remains immaculate, effortlessly steering the room through deadpan delivery and dark political absurdity. Evita Too is an absolute riot; a wonderfully unhinged, fiercely able treat that proves you can tackle systemic erasure and historical revisionism best when you take off your kit, rollerblade, ambush audiences with puppets and submit to pure Fringe carnage. (Dominic Corr) n Zoo Southside, until 30 August, 6.25pm.

PICTURE: ALI WRIGHT

EVITA TOO lllll

SHOTGUNNED lllll Director Matt Anderson took Shotgunned to the Fringe in 2024 and sold out the whole run. Returning this year as part of the Made In Scotland showcase, this homegrown two-hander offers a thorough dissection of the before, during and after stages of a turbulent relationship. Roz (Lorna Panton) and Dylan (Fraser Allan Hogg) first meet at a party. Roz, switched on and driven, is in an unsatisfying situationship, while the gormless Dylan has been freshly dumped. The pair step outside for a smoke, attempting to flirt as they stumble their way through awkward small talk. What starts with the swapping of phone numbers soon blossoms into a relationship, and Panton and Allan Hogg are entirely believable as a young couple looking to make things work, while struggling against the realities of adulthood. Shotgunned is well paced, making good use of a contorted timeline that jumps between stages of Roz and Dylan’s relationship. Perhaps avoid booking a show immediately after this one though; you may wish to take half an hour to sit in a pub, nurse a half pint and think about your ex. (Danny Munro) n Assembly George Square Studios, until 30 August, 3.10pm.

SPINQUEEN™ lllll

PICTURE: DREW WALLER

The unholy mash-up of female rage, satire and body horror is evolving into its own genre. This one-woman show, from New York-born writer-performer Megan Tomei, reverberates with the same unnerving humour as Coralie Fargeat’s film The Substance. We’re here for a spin class led by perky power woman Meg (thankfully the only one who actually cycles), and we’re not only going to burn calories but build some Frankenstein’s monster version of our best selves. ‘I only stop if Beyoncé texts me!’ Meg yells. The writing is at its best in this first part, a riffing, looping howl of torturous, motivational platitudes. Tomei has a fabulous ear for satirical one-liners so close to the bone you suspect if the wrong marketeer sat in the front row some of them could, terrifyingly, be greenlit: ‘Hunger is your body asking how serious you are about success.’ She walks a knife edge between manic energy and plain mania, sometimes letting slip the vulnerability behind the mask. ‘Good enough just doesn’t feel safe!’ she cries. The tonal shift in the final section shows a softer, rawer side to the character, opting for a concrete explanation for Meg’s breakdown. It’s powerful but does slightly unpick the complexity Tomei has dug into through her satire. (Lucy Ribchester) n Greenside George Street, until 29 August, 7.35pm.

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 91

THEATRE TRANSMISSION THEATRE

Drag act Nelly Kelly plays Big Jimmy, a symbol of the new right’s anti-trans rhetoric and someone who wants to ‘make Scotland cis again’. n Summerhall, until 23 August, 7.15pm.

HIGHLIGHTS

HARIBO KIMCHI

South Korean theatre maker Jaha Koo invites you into his late-night snack bar to chat cuisine, cultural assimilation and curious customers. n Studio Theatre, 20–24 August, 8pm; 22 August, 2pm.

THE RED HOURGLASS Seems a while since Alan Bissett was ‘just’ an author behind his desk writing away. This reinvention as playwright/ performer suits him and here he is in surreal mode playing five non-human characters. n The Stand 2, until 29 August, 12.20pm.

CLOWN SHOW

REACHING THE C Written and performed by Ursula Leveaux, this is a story about the unexpected paths life can take and how you have to somehow navigate it all. Sometimes music can help. n Space Symposium Hall, until 22 August, 4.10pm.

Geoff Sobelle is back at the EIF for a satirical analysis of modern America as a destabilised travelling circus with, presumably, a total clown in charge. n King’s Theatre, 27–29 August, 8pm; 29 August, 2pm; 30 August, 3pm.

INVASION

Colonial trauma is at the core of this piece from Philippine Theatre UK as they tackle wartime atrocities, the action moving from 1940s Manila to 2020s Oxford. n Space Venue 45, 24–28 August, 8.40pm.

92 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

KINDER

One of the hands-down 100% success stories from last year’s Fringe with Ryan Stewart returning as Goody Prostate, a drag artist about to launch into a library reading hour while also confronting memories from the past. n Underbelly Cowgate, until 30 August, 2pm.

Debra Tammer - Extraordinary Alien - EdFringe - A5.pdf 2 12/08/2026 11:35:56

MORE THAN SHOWS – EXPERIENCES THAT BRING US TOGETHER // SUMMERHALL Main Hall

// SUMMERHALL Dissection Room

GOOD ENOUGH?

LAUGHING OUT LONELY

(LOL)

danishedfringe.com

CMY

// ZOO Main House

M.I.S.

// SUMMERHALL Anatomy Lecture Theatre

OUR OTHER ORGAN

ALL NIGHT LONG

"EE BY GUM MEETS OI VEH UNMISSABLE! A GLORIOUS ONE OFF STRUTTING HER STUFF, DEBRA TAMMER IS AS SHE IS – EXTRAORDINARY"

REVIEWSGATE

“DEBRA TAMMER IS A TERRIFIC PERFORMER. HER COMIC TIMING IS EXQUISITE, HER IMPRESSIONS ARE WITTY AND HER PRESENCE IS CHARISMATIC.”

THE LONDON GRIP EMBASSY OF DENMARK London

2:30PM | 24 - 30TH AUGUST SHANGHAI AT LE MONDE HOTEL

‘SLY HUMOUR AND SHARP OBSERVATION’ THE SCOTSMAN ON GEOFF SOBELLE

CLOWN SHOW

KING’S THEATRE 27–30 AUG BSL 29 AUG AD 30 AUG BOOK NOW | EIF.CO.UK Supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown

GEOFF SOBELLE

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 93

FRONT BACK

PICTURE: HOLLY REVELL

1 2

1 2 3

festival hot shots Hamlet has had a bit of a resurgence this year with two big screen affairs: Hamnet was followed by Riz Ahmed starring in a contemporary version of the play. And the Fringe is having its slice, too, with Ham (Summerhall, until 30 August), a ‘kinky eco-hijacking’ of Shakespeare’s finest in which a vegan seeks revenge for a pig’s death. At the tender age of seven, Senny Camara (The Hub, 21 August) fell for the kora, the West African harp-like string instrument which has found its way into the talented hands of such pioneers as Toumani Diabaté, Ballaké Sissoko and Seckou Keita. For this EIF gig with her ensemble, there’s no fixed programme, just the sound of joy. Having helped no end in trashing the reputation of Reform’s leader in Clacton, Count Binface (Pleasance Dome, 26 August) is now aiming to bestow a little bit of credibility upon the Fringe with his Face Of The Establishment show. But will we discover what really is on the agenda for this anonymous hero of the people?

94 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival

so this is what Scotland tastes like

Tripadvisor Traveller Rating 4,507 reviews

Book now at JohnnieWalkerExperience.com 145 Princes street PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival | 19–31 August 2026 | THE LIST FESTIVAL 95

202104 - JWE TheList Ad A4 v1 GF.indd 1

28/07/2026 16:26

96 THE LIST FESTIVAL | 19–31 August 2026 | list.co.uk/edinburgh-festival