Performers from all over the world will be putting on thought-provoking and sometimes shocking shows in Edinburgh next month. We’ve picked shows of all genres to interest everyone, from hardened theatre-goers to those who have never visited a theatre before.
5. Lear Alone
Using just King Lear’s lines from Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy to explore themes of loneliness, ageing and homelessness, Lear Alone is a study of one man's vulnerability as he confronts and negotiates a digital world. As Shakespeare’s King loses his power, his sanity and his home, so does the actor playing Lear as he tries to find his voice and his place in a world that is rendering him invisible. Lear Alone is the theatrical realisation of And Tomorrow Theatre Company’s five-part Arts Council-funded web series which was presented in partnership with CRISIS and which won the Off West End Award for Best Online Series 2022. The Space Triplex, Studio, 4 - 19 August (not 13), 3.05pm. Photo: Sarah Lawrie
6. The Society for New Cuisine
Taking a Buddhist allegory and turning it into a dark satirical fable, East-Asian writer and performer Chris Fung’s debut one man show addresses consumerism, existentialism and a need that can never be satisfied. When a man goes through a cataclysmic awakening, he takes stock of his life and finds himself wanting. Partly inspired by a real-life experience, partly inspired by the swathes of workers in the UK, USA and China who left well paid jobs during the pandemic,The Society for New Cuisine follows the character as he seeks to find new purpose and meaning. His journey sees him confront societal taboos and takes him to increasingly dark extremes until finally he is persuaded that he’ll find satisfaction in an irreversible, bloody decision. Underbelly Cowgate, Iron Belly, 3 – 27 August (not 14), 6.40pm. Photo: Annabelle Mastin-Lee (Mobius London)
7. Polko
By journalist turned playwright Angus Harrison, Polko is a dark memory play centred around three characters: one who’s returned home under a cloud of failure, one who never left home, and one who disappeared. Inspired by reports during lockdown of young people moving back to live with their parents, and it being the largest such migration since the Great Depression, the play is about being back where you started, and the refuge that memory can be when it seems like the future’s been cancelled. Polko is set entirely in the front-seats of a car parked in a hometown that Emma doesn’t remember, that Joe has been left behind in, and that the missing Polko has been seemingly driven from. ROUNDABOUT@ Summerhall, 2 - 27 August (not 8, 15 & 22) 11.50am. Photo: Annabelle Mastin-Lee (Mobius London)
8. Casting the Runes
With puppets, set and props made using recycled materials, Fringe stalwarts Box Tale Soup bring M.R. James’ chilling supernatural thriller back to life with their signature style of puppet-based literary adaptation. The two-hander pays homage to a writer considered the grandfather of British horror (inspiration for writers such as Susan Hill and Lovecraft), taking audiences on a ride through dark magic and intrigue, and further establishing the company as one of the go-to creators of classic Gothic theatre. Carefully crafted with tense original music, bespoke puppets, and a shape-shifting set, it follows the increasingly sinister haunting of an academic after he’s given some mysterious runes. Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Above, 2 - 27 August (not 16), 11:45am. Photo: Annabelle Mastin-Lee (Mobius London)