We’ve picked out 17 great theatre, circus and cabaret shows to catch in Edinburgh next month, including Cyrano, starring Edinburgh-born David Tarkenter, and a virtual reality musical.
There is also an interesting Fringe show by American singer Victoria Mature, who pays tribute to her late father, the original Hollywood hunk Victor Mature in an intimate cabaret performance.
While, eight world-class acrobats investigate physical skill; how we obtain it, how we perfect it, and how it can transform our lives, in thrilling circus show Ten Thousand Hours.
And, the Olivier Award-winning West End hit ‘Showstopper! The Improvised Musical’ is back for a 15th year. 18 stand-up comedy shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024.
1. Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
The Olivier Award-winning West End hit ‘Showstopper! The Improvised Musical’ is back for a 15th year. The show is returning to its home at The Grand in the Pleasance Courtyard for the month of August at a new time of 5.30pm. Last year’s run was in the Top 3 best reviewed show of the entire Fringe! Musical comedy at its finest, the show comes direct from its West End residency at the Cambridge Theatre and a nationwide tour. Every night is opening night for the hottest new musical in town; there's just one problem – the writer hasn't written a note and needs your help. ‘Showstopper!’ is completely improvised and genuinely entirely different every night. Tickets £22.50, https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/showstopper-the-improvised-musical?day=06-08-2024. | Ray Burmiston
2. Non-Player Character: A Virtual Reality Musical
A boundary pushing fusion of immersive, improvised theatre and video games where no two performances are the same; this virtual reality musical invites the audience to influence the narrative through on stage and spectator participation. Award-winning actor and creator Brendan Bradley portrays a non-playable character (NPC) of a fictitious videogame who is joined on-stage by four ‘Players’ wearing VR headsets, along with seated spectators and audiences watching from home through a livestream who assist in creating the story via a mobile web app. After the hero dies, participants travel through the five levels of the game’s open-world setting that represent the five stages of processing grief, set to a soundtrack of original songs inspired by hit Broadway numbers, pop music, and the chiptune musical style found in video games, along with improvised music reflecting the evolving narrative from an onstage musician. Non-Player Character: A Virtual Reality Musical, at Imaginex at YOTEL Edinburgh, August 2-26, 9pm. Tickets £15, https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/non-player-character-live-virtual-reality-musical?day=05-08-2024. Digital live stream tickets available for every performance. | Mobius
3. Ten Thousand Hours
Following the hit sell-out sensations Macro and The Pulse at the Edinburgh International Festival, and Fringe-favourite smash-hit A Simple Space, the circus legends that are Gravity & Other Myths return with their critically acclaimed, brand-new show Ten Thousand Hours. This is an ode to the countless hours needed to achieve great things. Eight world-class acrobats investigate physical skill; how we obtain it, how we perfect it, and how it can transform our lives. Through highlighting the nuance of high-level acrobatics, audiences experience a heightened appreciation of the countless hours required to master the skills they are witnessing. Ten Thousand Hours is a revelry of the distinct physical language that defines GOM and a celebration of the pursuit of mastery. Ten Thousand Hours at Assembly Hall , August 1-24, except 12th and 19th, 11.40am. Tickets £15, https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ten-thousand-hours?day=08-08-2024. | Simon McClure
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4. Cyrano
Traverse 1, perhaps the most sought-after new writing stage to perform on in the entire Edinburgh Festival Fringe, will play host to some of theatreland’s finest UK talent this August in Virginia Gay’s Cyrano. Included in that line up is Edinburgh born David Tarkenter (pictured left) fresh from The Motive And The Cue with the National Theatre on London’s West End. His other West End credits including The Red Barn and Endgame starring Daniel Radcliffe and Allan Cumming. Tarkenter will take to the stage alongside Cyrano playwright Virginia Gay (right), who will appear as the show’s eponymous hero, and ITV’s Ridley actress Jessica Whitehurst as love interest Roxanne. Cyrano is a big-hearted, irreverent rom-com for our times. A joyous, gender-flipped retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac, packed with music, wit and aching romance. A love letter to hope, to overcoming loneliness, to language and desire; to the irrepressible magic of theatre. Cyrano, by Virginia Gay after Edmond Rostand, 1-25 August (not Mondays) Traverse 1, 10am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm. Tickets £23, https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/cyrano?day=06-08-2024. | Sally Flegg