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.
5. We Had Fun
We Had Fun is a sharp, dark, distinctly un-romantic comedy exploring the murkiest areas of modern dating in the age of #MeToo, cancel culture and the so-called “post-truth” era. As Oscar and Ela piece together their hazy, conflicting memories of what really happened (re-hashing the night’s events through innovative physical theatre), the audience is forced to confront their own biases and assumptions about who to believe and why. Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-nominated Carrie-Anne Ingrouille (SIX the Musical), the play has been described as a “fascinating exploration” (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times) of consent and sexual politics. We Had Fun, at Old Lab at Summerhal, August 6-31, not 18th or 25th, 6pm. | Submitted
6. HOLE!
HOLE! is a new two-hander musical comedy written and performed by off-Broadway darlings, Jake Brasch (The Reservoir, Atlantic Theater Company) and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper (Derangements, Clubbed Thumb). This musical epic follows a strict religious sect in Nebraska who, after an apocalyptic event known as ‘The Great Sucking,’ are the only humans left on earth. But when two of these young fanatics are sent on the journey of a lifetime, they discover the true meaning of love, life, and most importantly…HOLE! HOLE!, at Underbelly Cowbarn, 9.30pm, August 5-30. Tickets from £11. Go to https://underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/events/event/hole-26. | Multitude Media
7. For Dolores
The Four Time Fringe First and Olivier award-winning Irish theatre company Fishamble return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a brand new gripping play 'For Dolores', written by Fringe First award-winning playwright and performer Eva O’Connor (Mustard, Chicken, Horse Play) and directed by Fishamble Artistic Director Jim Culleton (Silent, Maz and Bricks, Heaven). Friends Réaltín and Mo, one Irish and one Scottish, partied, played and blazed their way through the Edinburgh student dream, which started with a chance meeting in a university lift. Now, a few years down the line, the pair reflect on the complicated, all-consuming carnage of their ‘friendship’. Set across Edinburgh, Ireland and Glasgow each woman navigates and recounts how controlling relationships, addiction and the past have shaped and changed their relationship. For Dolores, at Traverse Theatre, August 6-30, not 10,17,24. Time: Various Times. | Storytelling PR
8. Book of Shadows
Award-winning Japanese company Mochinosha / Book of Shadowz return to the Underbelly and the Edinburgh Fringe with the premiere of their brand-new shadow puppet show, Book of Shadows - a hilarious occult mystery for grown-ups. Teenage sceptic Vi is forced to live with her grandmother, who claims to be the 200-year-old mystic and spiritual guru Madam Blavatsky. When Vi's friends begin to disappear, she reluctantly teams up with Granny to uncover a conspiracy of séances, unhinged cultists and suspiciously interested government agents. A visually stunning dark comedy based on a possibly true story, Book of Shadows dives into the mysterious world of the occult and mysticism where audiences can draw their own conclusions as to what to believe. Book of Shadows, at Underbelly Cowgate, Big Belly, August 5-30, not 19th, 6.35pm. | Submitted