With just over a month to go now until the start of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we’ve taken a look at the best theatre shows to check out in August.
The world’s largest arts festival has, as always, got hundreds of great theatrical treats to choose from, performing across the city in our theatres, function rooms, gym halls and even pubs.
Among the 42 theatre shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe we’ve highlighted are a great mix of returning shows, debuts and even some world premiere runs in Edinburgh.
Check out our galley below to help you choose which theatre shows you will be watching in Edinburgh this August.
1. Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas
This August sees the return of the much-loved Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas, presented by Gilded Balloon, a five-star, audience favourite hailed by critics and adored by Fringe-goers. Packed with razor-sharp wit, glorious harmonies and irreverent backstage tales, the show lifts the curtain on the lives, loves and legendary dressing rooms of Doris Day, Dolly Parton, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli and “the filthiest Julie Andrews ever to grace the boards”. Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas, at Gilded Balloon Patter House, 8pm, August 5-31, except 11, 18 and 25. | Gilded Balloon
2. Roleplay
An unflinching new play about sex, power, and the economics of attention, Roleplay is written and performed by award-winning creative Hannah Reilly, and directed by Paige Rattray. Bold, provocative and darkly funny, it premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, running at Summerhall from August 6-31. Roleplay follows a broke feminist podcaster who rebrands as a provocative ‘slutfluencer’ in pursuit of fame, only to lose herself in the performance. Hilarious, gripping and surreal, the show is a razor-sharp interrogation of modern sex, womanhood and the commodification of feminism in the age of the personal brand. Roleplay, at Summerhall, Tech Cube Zero, 6.50pm, August 7-31, not 11, 18 and 25. Age 18+. | Michelle Mangan PR
3. The Plot
The Plot, a high-stakes theatrical thriller where stories shape history and survival from The Stage Fringe Five writer-director Emma Howlett, running at the reconfigured Main Hall at Summerhall for Edinburgh Fringe. Set in the immediate aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, this ambitious new production blends courtroom drama, backstage theatre and epic tragicomedy into a fast-paced, imaginative exploration of power, truth and the stories we choose to tell. Part courtroom thriller, part breathless backstage drama, the production is driven by theatregoose’s signature style: highly physical, visually immersive and intellectually sharp, combining bold theatricality with urgent contemporary resonance. The Plot, Main Hall, Summerhall, 7.30pm, August 6-31, £18 / £20 + booking fee. | Submitted
4. Kirsty Mann: CORPSE
Following a Best Theatre win at Adelaide Fringe 2026, Kirsty Mann: CORPSE comes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for its fully-realised world premiere season. CORPSE is a gripping account of a haunting told by one comedian, based on a true story. The show blends comedy, campfire-style storytelling and horror. Described as "The Woman in Black meets Catherine Tate" (The Fourth Wall), you will laugh at the start, scream at the end, and leave wondering… do ghosts exist after all? A young couple buy their dream home at a suspiciously low price, brushing off warning signs in favour of optimism, until strange occurrences begin to escalate… Kirsty Mann: CORPSE, Summerhall, Red Lecture Theatre, August 6-31, not 17th and 24th, 3.15pm. | Jenny Forward-Hayter