ALL EVENTS Order by: Date / title

Tickets:   x = Preview     x = Two for One     x = On Sale     x = Free     x = Sold Out
Helen Milne Productions

Islander: A New Musical

Access: BSL Signed Performance 12/08. Captioned Performance 21/08.

Eilidh stares out to sea and dreams of a new life beyond her lonely island. Myth and reality collide when the tide washes a mysterious stranger onto her beach, changing her life forever.

_ Time: 10.00 (60 mins)

Kopergietery, KGbe, Arsenaal/Lazarus, Richard Jordan Productions, TRP, BiB, Summerhall

Buzz

In the overwhelming, desolate landscape of the Faroe Islands, a young person is found. Washed ashore. Adapted from Johan Harstad's acclaimed novel into a thrilling verbal, musical and visual experience by multiple Fringe First winners Kopergietery.

_ Time: 10.00 (70 mins)

Teuchter Company – Colin Bramwell

Umbrella Man

Audience participation, strong language/swearing. Access: relaxed performance 13/08

The story of a young man from the north of Scotland who tries to prove the Earth is flat: a tale of friendship, loss and conspiracy that will take you on a journey to the outer limits of common sense, and beyond.  

_ Time: 10.00 (60 mins)

Victor Esses and Ellie Keel Productions

Where to Belong

What makes a home for you? Victor Esses is Jewish-Lebanese, Brazilian and gay. Start your day with a tender exploration of how to find your place in a rich, complex world of identities. Emerge Performance Prize shortlisted.

_ Time: 10.10 (50 mins)

Chang Dance Theatre

Taiwan Season: Bout

Taiwan's award-winning Chang brothers (co-creators of Bon 4 Bon, a five-star hit at the 2018 Fringe) bounce back with a new trio that reveals fresh facets of their fraternal relationships and inherent conflicts of male bonding.

_ Time: 10.20 (40 mins)

Annie Cusick Wood, Honolulu Theatre Production supported by Catherine Wheels

Sparkle

Audience Participation. Access: BSL performance on 20/08. Relaxed performances on 07/08 & 14/08. Captioned Performances on 05/08, 14/08 & 23/08

Sparkle, who loves to dress in tutus, tiaras and sparkly dresses, finds on his first day of school that not everyone wants to let him shine. In this playful and poignant show, Sparkle discovers the joy of standing up for himself and being unique.  

_ Time: 10.20 (40 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

Daughterhood

Strong language/swearing, some references to sex. Access: all performances captioned.

By Charley Miles.
One sister stayed at home to care for Dad. The other set out to "make a difference". A beautiful, ferocious play from Charley Miles about the bonds that tie us and how we sometimes need to break them.

_ Time: 11.20, 14.15 (70 mins)

Will Pickvance

First Piano on the Moon

Access: Captioned performances on 07 & 14/08.

The concert on the Moon is about to start. But where's the pianist? Solos, storytelling and theatrics from creator of critically acclaimed Anatomy of the Piano.

_ Time: 11.30 (60 mins)

Cardboard Citizens

Bystanders

Access: Captioned Performances on 01/08, 03/08, 05/08 & 24/08

A Windrush generation boxer, a Polish migrant marked with a tattoo and a man with a bottle of gin and a television in his shopping trolley.  Playfully serious and seriously playful.Last seen at the Fringe with Cathy in 2017, Cardboard Citizens return with an eye opening collection of homeless histories. Are we mere bystanders?    

_ Time: 11.30 (60 mins)

Mandy Tootill

Twin Peaks

Nudity, strong language/swearing, references to breast cancer.

Twin Peaks is an honest and fearless account of being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30.  Faced with her own mortality, Mandy laughs into the cleavage of cancer.

_ Time: 11.30 (60 mins)

Reetta Honkakoski Company in association with From Start to Finnish

The Desk

One teacher. Five students. Five desks. A powerfully compelling show about dogma. Inspired by personal experience of a cult, this meticulous ensemble piece explores the seductive power of discipline, hierarchy and the search for an ultimate truth.

_ Time: 11.35 (60 mins)

Shinehouse Theatre

Taiwan Season: Fish

Access: Every performance will be BSL signed.

Sign language meets puppetry in this engaging, BSL-signed production based on Taiwanese author Huang Chunming's novel. Conflicts between a grandfather and grandson unfold in a touching, richly sensory experience aimed at, but not limited to, hearing-impaired audiences.

_ Time: 12.00 (40 mins)

Trick of the Light Theatre

Tröll

Access: Captioned performance on 06/08 & 07/08

From makers of The Bookbinder comes a lo-fi wi-fi fable in the vein of Stranger Things, combining storytelling, projection, and puppetry. 'Merging magic realism, sharp writing and brilliant performances' ★★★★★ - FringeFeed.com.au

_ Time: 12.05 (55 mins)

National Theatre Wales

Cotton Fingers

Scenes of a sexual nature, strong language/swearing, explores women's reproductive rights. Access: captioned on 07/08, 10/08, 14/08, 24/08.

Aoife's hungry and bored. Cillian makes a mean toastie. After boredom and hunger are satisfied in Cillian's bed, Aoife's life changes forever. As social and political upheaval grips her country, can Aoife regain control over her future?

_ Time: 12.15 (60 mins)

The Theatre Centre, CanadaHub

Sea Sick

The ocean contains the switch of life. Not land, not the atmosphere. The ocean. And that switch can be turned off... Acclaimed science journalist Alanna Mitchell performs her terrifying, laugh-out-loud and ultimately hopeful story about climate change.

_ Time: 12.30 (70 mins)

By Tim Cowbury, Directed by Mark Maughan, Producer: James Quaife

The Claim

Access: Captioned performances on 07/08, 14/08 & 21/08

A bold, imaginative response to the stories of those seeking refuge in the UK, The Claim asks what happens when your life is at stake and all you have to save it are your words.

_ Time: 12.50, 23.55 (65 mins)

Trevor Lock

Community Circle

A prayer group? A 12-step meeting? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? (Unless you go back the next day?) 'Blew me away. An absolute masterclass in comedy performance' (Scotsman). '100% gag-free. Clever without being a smartarse. Go' (Mirror).

_ Time: 13.00, 18.00 (60 mins)

DARKFIELD

Coma

Strong language/swearing, show takes place in the dark and in a confined space.

Imagine the moment of waking up is actually the moment when your dream begins. In light of this new and strange reality, how can we save you from the unspeakable horrors which lurk in the dark tunnels of your mind?

_ Time: 13.00, 13.30, 14.00, 14.30, 15.00, 15.30, 16.00, 16.30, 17.00, 17.30, 18.00, 18.30, 19.00, 19.30, 20.00, 20.30, 21.00, 21.30 (30 mins)

Demi Nandhra

Life is No Laughing Matter

Contains Distressing Themes, Strong Language/Swearing. Access: BSL signed performance 15/08

Life is No Laughing Matter's a performance about mental illness, suicide and radical cures attempts. Expect a selfish woman, her reluctant, shy doesn't-want-to-be-there partner, a f*ck ton of bananas, holy water and Yoko Ono.

_ Time: 13.00 (60 mins)

Chris Goode and Company

Narcolepsy - CANCELLED

This event has been cancelled.

Chris Goode's new solo show uses the life and death of River Phoenix to look back on the turbulent experience of queer life in the 90s, including the intense summer of his first Edinburgh Fringe, twenty-five years ago.

_ Time: 13.00 (70 mins)

Catherine Graindorge

Before the End

Catherine Graindorge – writer, violinist and actress – distils emotions with words, images and music to construct a moving story about the loss of her father. Acclaimed by press and audience in Belgium. Universal and emotional.

_ Time: 13.15 (60 mins)

National Theatre Wales

For All I Care

Contains strong language/swearing. Access: captioned on 07/08, 10/08, 14/08, 24/08.

Clara and Nyri. Two very different women. Two complicated lives. Both having a very bad day. Interweaving and unexpected connections collide in this fast-moving, touchingly funny one-woman show by Alan Harris.

_ Time: 13.30 (60 mins)

Cheryl Martin

Alaska

Access: Relaxed performances on 14/08, 15/08, 16/08, 17/08. This show contains distressing themes

Alaska is a funny, singing, dancing, magical trip to the moon: one woman's extraordinary story of surviving growing up with severe depression. A raw, powerful performance, with humour, heart, and soul, stunning vocals and beautiful imagery.

_ Time: 14.00 (50 mins)

SUPERFAN in association with Tron Theatre

Like Animals

Contains Strobe lighting. Access: Captioned performance 16/08

Inspired by true stories of animal language experiments. A funny and touching show about love and communication in human (and not-so-human) relationships, performed by a real couple.

_ Time: 14.15 (60 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

On the Other Hand, We're Happy

Audience Participation, Strong Language/Swearing, some references to drug use and sex. Access: All performances captioned.

By Daf James.
A single Dad meets his adopted daughter for the first time. Then he agrees to meet her birth mother. A tender, funny, hopeful play about being a mum when your name is Dad.

_ Time: 11.20, 14.15 (70 mins)

Jonny Donahoe

Jonny Donahoe: Forgiveness

This show contains Audience Participation and distressing Themes

Jonny Donahoe is the co-creator and performer of the international smash-hit Every Brilliant Thing. This is his first new solo show in five years. 'Painfully honest, funny, joyous – indeed, brilliant' (Guardian).

_ Time: 14.30 (60 mins)

Mr and Mrs Clark featuring Jonny Cotsen

Louder Is Not Always Clearer

Access: All shows use creative captioning, English and BSL to make the show fully accessible for deaf and hearing audiences.

Meet Jonny: teacher, father, artist. He loves music, festivals and nightclubs. He longs to sing. Jonny is deaf. This is a moving, funny story of disconnection, difference and desperation to belong. British Council Showcase.

_ Time: 14.30 (65 mins)

ARTICLE 11, CanadaHub

Deer Woman

Contains Distressing Themes, Scenes of Sexual Violence.

'My name is Lila and I am a proud Blackfoot woman. What I am doing is illegal.' So begins Deer Woman, a solo warrior-woman story of righteous vengeance created by ARTICLE 11, presented by Indigenous Contemporary Scene.

_ Time: 14.30 (90 mins)

Vacuum Theatre

Passengers

Contains Distressing Themes, Strong Language/Swearing. Access: BSL signed performance on 14/08.

Multi award-winning writer Kit Redstone ('multi-layered and gripping' Lyn Gardner on previous show Testosterone) and director Jessica Edwards explore the epic battles within the mind and the incredible power of the psyche to protect itself from pain.

_ Time: 14.30 (60 mins)

Cie No Way Back / Milan Emmanuel

FrontX

FrontX shows a range of international hip-hop street artists who combine exceptional energy and resilience. Their fascinating personal life stories are the main theme of the show. How do these atypical individuals transcend their difficulties through their artistic practice?

_ Time: 15.00 (60 mins)

China Plate, Cambridge Junction and The Yard Theatre

All of Me

Access: BSL signed performance 16/08. This show contains nudity and distressing themes.

An absurd exploration of wanting to live, wanting to die and what can happen if we sit together with the dark. Written and performed by Olivier Award nominee Caroline Horton, directed by Alex Swift (Mess).

_ Time: 15.10 (70 mins)

Summerhall Drinks Lab

Science of the Sesh 3.0

Standing only

Delve into the wonderful world of Science of the Sesh, with fun experiments, craft Scottish spirits and delicious cocktails, while learning about the science and history of your favourite drinks!

_ Time: 15.30, 20.30 (60 mins)

Rachael Young

Nightclubbing

Contains loud music, flashing lights but not strobe, and haze.

*The run of Nightclubbing has ended, but Rachael Young is performing another piece, OUT, in the same time slot.* Rachael Young and her badass band of superhumans embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in Nightclubbing; an explosive new performance bringing visceral live music and intergalactic visions to start a revolution.

_ Time: 15.45 (60 mins)

Dirty Protest

How to Be Brave

Strong Language/Swearing. Access: Captioned performances on 07/08, 14/08, 21/08

Siân Owen's one-woman play, produced by the company behind fringe hit Sugar Baby,  is about what we're made of and learning to be brave when your world’s falling apart.

_ Time: 15.45 (60 mins)

Claire Dowie and Colin Watkeys

When I Fall If I Fall

Leaping barriers of age, sexuality and gender, Gloria prepares to dance the Can-Can one last time. Written and performed by the pioneering Claire Dowie and directed by Colin Watkeys.

_ Time: 16.00 (60 mins)

Avalon and BBC Arts

Resurrecting Bobby Awl

Contains Distressing Themes. Access: Captioned performances on 15, 17 & 18/08

Introducing Bobby Awl: Edinburgh urchin, poor, half-starved, violent yet beloved. Bobby, once robbed of his place in Scottish mythology, here resurrected by Brian Catling, author of the Vorrh trilogy.

_ Time: 16.00 (60 mins)

Cumbernauld Theatre and Invited Guest

LipSync

A cast member of this performance has Cystic Fibrosis.

Two performers, one story, one life... One speaks the truth, one lies. Part-spoken, part-sung, intimate production. Previous Herald Angel winners: The Gardener.

_ Time: 16.05 (65 mins)

Nathaniel Hall presented by Dibby Theatre with Waterside Arts

First Time

Contains audience participation, strobe lighting, distressing themes & strong language/swearing. Access: BSL performance 23/08.

'Remember your first time? I can't forget mine...' HIV+ theatre-maker Nathaniel Hall presents a funny, frank autobiographical show about staying positive in a negative world.

_ Time: 16.15 (65 mins)

One Two One Two, Culture Ireland and Projects Arts Centre

Everything I Do

Everything I Do is the award-winning, music-driven theatre show about love, loss and floating in space. Performed by Zoe Ní Riordáin and directed by Maud Lee. Winner of Best Performer at Dublin Fringe Awards 2018.

_ Time: 16.30 (60 mins)

The Chop, CanadaHub

Pathetic Fallacy

Relaxed Performance on 14/08

A performer steps out of the show for personal reasons. Every day, a different stand-in takes on the central role to replace her. A live green screen is the backdrop for this show about the weather.

_ Time: 17.00 (60 mins)

Boundless Theatre and Boom Shakalaka Productions

Parakeet

Strobe Lighting, Strong Language/Swearing. Access: captioned performances on 07/08, 14/08 & 21/08.

A musical feast for the ears, eyes and heart, Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy’s new show lands from Margate. Find your flock, ruffle some feathers and discover empathy is the new punk.

_ Time: 17.05 (60 mins)

Anya Tate-Manning and Isobel MacKinnon with Zanetti Productions

My Best Dead Friend

December, 1998. Dunedin. Bottom of New Zealand, bottom of the world. High summer in a town where there isn't lots to do. A comedy about death, revolution, unfulfilled love, and a possum.

_ Time: 17.15 (60 mins)

Showroom

My Mum's a Twat

This show contains strong language/swearing

One girl's story about losing her mum to a cult. A funny, honest, teen-spirited and gangsta rap-fuelled survival guide to growing up with an actual twat for a mum. Written and performed by Anoushka Warden.

_ Time: 17.30 (70 mins)

Leyla Josephine

Daddy Drag

This show contains strong language/swearing. Access: BSL performances on the 10th & 17th August.

Daddy Drag is a show about dads, good dads, daft dads and dads who are not very good dads at all. How do the relationships with our fathers affect us for the rest of our lives?

_ Time: 17.45 (60 mins)

Matthew Hall

My Name Is Irrelevant

Strong Language/Swearing. Access: Captioned performances 07/08 & 14/08

A man gives a thought-provoking and humorous lecture about all the people he has met in his life, but as he delves deeper his mind begins to unravel.

_ Time: 17.45 (60 mins)

Shasha and Taylor Productions

Everything I See I Swallow

This show contains nudity, scenes of a sexual nature and strong language/swearing.

A compelling study of female empowerment and shifting generational attitudes to sex and feminism, fusing theatre, aerial performance and shibari – the erotic art of Japanese rope bondage. Provocative and unforgettable.

_ Time: 10.30, 18.00 (60 mins)

LUNG and The Lowry

Who Cares

This show contains distressing themes and strong language/swearing. Access: BSL Signed Performance on 15/08

A new documentary play by LUNG (Trojan Horse, E15, The 56 and Chilcot), Who Cares examines our failing care system, the impact of austerity and what happens when a child becomes the parent.

_ Time: 18.20 (75 mins)

Francesca Moody Productions

Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd

Strong Language/Swearing, language of a sexual nature. Access: Captioned performances on 10/08 & 15/08.

Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Richard Gadd has a chilling story to tell about obsession, delusion, and the terrifying ramifications of a fleeting mistake.   An unmissable debut play, directed by Olivier Award Winner Jon Brittain.

_ Time: 18.25, 22.35, 23.55 (65 mins)

Mercimax, Swiss Selection Edinburgh

8:8

Contains distressing themes.

Eight spectators. Eight ordinary people. But how ordinary are they really? What makes someone a suspect? Featuring original choreography and whispered secrets, this intimate play of appearance and reality challenges the judgements we make every day.

_ Time: 16.30, 17.15, 18.30, 19.15 (25 mins)

Tomson Highway, Patricia Cano, Marcus Ali, CanadaHub

Songs in the Key of Cree

Cree-Canadian playwright Tomson Highway is one of history's most important Canadians (Maclean's Magazine). Presented by Indigenous Contemporary Scene, he is accompanied by singer Patricia Cano and saxophonist Marcus Ali in this vivid compilation.

_ Time: 19.00 (60 mins)

Harry Josephine Giles, Rob Jones, Neil Simpson and Jamie Wardrop

Drone

Access: BSL performances 08/08 & 14/08. Relaxed performance 14/08. This show contains strobe lighting.

A live jam of music, video and poetry, Drone is part weapons system, part office worker, part background hum. Drone's bleak humour and tender fury asks how anxious people live as part of systems of such astonishing destruction.

_ Time: 19.10 (60 mins)

Harry Clayton-Wright

Sex Education

This show contains distressing themes, nudity and scenes of a sexual nature

One parent refuses to talk about sex. The other buys their child gay porn DVDs. Sex Education blends startling performance, moving storytelling, a no-holds-barred interview with Harry's mum and some good old-fashioned gay porn.

_ Time: 19.10 (60 mins)

Sarah-Jane Scott – Supported by Culture Ireland

Appropriate

Contains strong language/swearing.

Darkly comic tale of finding love in rural Ireland, a lifelong quest to settle down and a bride that flees her own reception. Can Sorcha ever go back?

_ Time: 19.15 (60 mins)

Louise Orwin

Oh Yes Oh No

This show contains scenes of a sexual nature, strobe lighting, strong language/swearing, flashing lights & descriptions of sexual violence.

This is a show about having sexual fantasies that don't align with your politics. Award-winning performance artist Louise Orwin presents a surreal joyride through female sexuality to uncover the power of asking for what you want.

_ Time: 19.20 (70 mins)

Groupwork

The Afflicted

Contains distressing themes and strobe lighting. Access: integrated captioning for all performances.

Inspired by real events and influenced by true crime podcasts and horror films, this dance-theatre piece explores what happens when a group of young women is stricken with a mysterious affliction that infects their bodies, minds, and souls.

_ Time: 19.30 (70 mins)

Middle Child

The Canary and the Crow

Contains Distressing Themes, Strong Language/Swearing. Access: Captioned performances on 07/08, 14/08 & 21/08

The award-winning Middle Child present The Canary and the Crow, brand new gig theatre about the journey of a working class black kid who is accepted to a prestigious grammar school.

_ Time: 19.50 (65 mins)

Soho Theatre in association with Show and Tell

Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum with Expats

Access: Captioned performance on 21/08

Celebrating their final year as Europeans, ‘the rising stars of performance art’ (Telegraph) Sh!t Theatre travelled to Malta and found mystery and murder in the fight to be European. ★★★★ - The Guardian, ★★★★ - The Sunday Times

_ Time: 20.05 (75 mins)

Anne Welenc, Swiss Selection Edinburgh

Traumgirl

Scenes of a Sexual Nature. Access: Captioned performance 17/08

Kim is an actress. She is also a sex worker, a bartender, German, Polish and more. Which identity is most important? Traumgirl explores female sex work and who pays the price. Performed in response to Daniel Hellmann's Traumboy.

_ Time: 20.10 (75 mins)

Unfolding Theatre

Hold On Let Go

Access: BSL signed performances on 22/08 & 23/08. Relaxed performance on 13/08. Captioned performances on 02/08, 08/08. 09/08 & 10/08

Last seen at Summerhall in 2016 with Putting The Band Back Together, Unfolding Theatre return with a new show about memory and what we pass on.

_ Time: 20.40 (60 mins)

Lewys Holt

Phrases

Access: All performances captioned.

Miscommunication and confusion are often things to be avoided, but what if you just lay into them? What if there's actually nothing else? Big questions. Existential meanderings. Don't worry. I have a PowerPoint.

_ Time: 20.45 (50 mins)

From Start to Finnish

Ejaculation – Discussions About Female Sexuality

Scenes of a Sexual Nature.

Is female ejaculation the last taboo? Performance about sexuality and desires, based on interviews with women from various backgrounds. Through a personal journey, the performance creates safe space for self-discovery and explores the collective.

_ Time: 20.55 (60 mins)

Rebecca Northan, Spontaneous Theatre, CanadaHub

Blind Date

Audience Participation, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Strong Language/Swearing

A sexy French clown goes on a blind date with a willing gentleman from the audience. Expect improv, naughty clowning, strong language, spiritual nudity and hilarity.  

_ Time: 21.00 (90 mins)

Tangram Theatre Company and James Rowland

James Rowland's Songs of Friendship

Audience Participation, Contains Distressing Themes, Nudity.

Experience James's joyous hymn to friendship in all its messy glory across three stories in one night. You'll laugh. You'll cry. A unique Edinburgh experience. 'A master storyteller' ★★★★ - WhatsOnStage.com

_ Time: 21.00 (240 mins)

Written and Performed by Laura Murphy, Directed by Ursula Martinez

Contra

This show contains distressing themes, nudity and strong language/swearing.

Fierce, witty and uncompromising – Contra draws from circus, stand-up and live art to interrogate personal, social and historical occupations of the female body: exploring, literally, where such bodies are positioned and how we're meant to look at them.

_ Time: 21.10 (60 mins)

Francesca Moody Productions

Square Go

Strobe Lighting. Access: Captioned performances on 10/08 & 15/08

The unmissable, Fringe-First-award-winning show from Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair returns. A raucous play about playground violence, myths of masculinity and the challenge to step up or run.

_ Time: 21.15 (60 mins)

Volcano Theatre

The Populars

Audience Participation, Involves Walking

A fun, provocative foursome raises the heat on the dance floor. They've questions for you, things on their minds, an awesome playlist... Expect sweat, sequins, and a playful take on what unites or divides us in uncertain times.

_ Time: 21.20 (60 mins)

Julia Croft and Nisha Madhan

Working On My Night Moves

Breaking the rules, the patriarchy and the time/space continuum. A search for a feminist futurism and a gesture toward the impossible. An ode to utopia. Or just some moves in the night.

_ Time: 21.55 (60 mins)

Pickering's Gin, Summerhall Distillery

A Pickering's Gin Jolly

Involves Walking, Standing required for the entire show, and located in an alcohol production site.

Take a gin jolly with Pickering’s Gin in their home at Summerhall Distillery. Pickering’s and Tonic in hand, discover how the former kennels of the Royal (Dick) Vet School came to be Edinburgh’s first exclusive gin distillery in 150 years.

_ Time: 14.00, 16.00, 18.00 (75 mins)

Mats Staub, Swiss Selection Edinburgh

21: Memories of Growing Up

This is an installation - purchasing a ticket allows entry for a 2 hour slot

When did you turn 21? Featuring interviews with 200 people from around the world about becoming an adult, video installation 21 is an urgent reminder that we have more in common than sets us apart. 'Addictive' (Guardian).

_ Time: 10.00, 12.00, 14.00, 16.00 (120 mins)

Swallow the Sea Caravan Theatre

Swallow the Sea Caravan Theatre

Join us inside a converted 1970s caravan for puppetry, shadows, absurd object theatre and live soundscapes to get lost in. Escape into a wildly different world where no experience is ever the same.

_ Time: 11.00, 11.45, 12.30, 13.10, 13.55, 15.15, 15.55, 16.35, 17.15 (20 mins)

Eva O'Connor

Mustard

A one woman show about heartbreak, madness and how condiments are the ultimate coping mechanism from award-winning playwright & performer Eva O’Connor.

_ Time: 11.30 (55 mins)

Mechanimal

Vigil

One human. Twenty-six thousand animals. A wildly intimate, inter-species meditation on mass animal disappearance. From the 2018 Herald Angel award-winning Mechanimal.

_ Time: 13.00 (60 mins)

The Story of Books

Unicorns, Almost - An Audio Installation

Please note this event takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

An immersive audio experience and installation based on the play by Owen Sheers about the life and work of WW2 poet Keith Douglas.

_ Time: 13.15, 15.15, 17.15 (60 mins)

Creative Electric

The Happiness Project

Please note this performance takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

'At first you feel a winding pain... you get used to it, then you develop a liking to it...' The Happiness Project explores our need for non-sexual physical contact in our highly digital era.

_ Time: 14.20 (50 mins)

Meeting Place Theatre and Teresa and Andrzej Welminski Foundation

Limbo

Limbo is where art and theatre blur. Where memory, history and literature collide. Where the audience wait and judge, judge the waiting and wait for judgement.

_ Time: 14.30 (80 mins)

Indigenous Contemporary Scene

Native Girl Syndrome

Native Girl Syndrome is inspired by the experience of Lara Kramer's own grandmother’s migration from a remote Canadian First Nations community.

_ Time: 16.20 (60 mins)

Jennifer Irons

Yukon Ho! (Tall Tales from the Great White North)

Strong language/swearing.

Comic dance-theatre conceived and performed by Yukon born ‘Intrepid’ Jen.  This is the story of Jen’s life and survival in the remote wilds of the Yukon Territory, Northern Canada... and her ultimate escape.

_ Time: 17.30, 17.50 (60 mins)

ScotBeer Tours

Barney's Brewery Tour and Walkabout

Step behind the old horse stable doors and discover Summerhall's very own brewery: Barney's Beer.

_ Time: 11.30, 14.15, 18.00 (90 mins)

Sneaky Pete's

Free Love

Standing only. 27 stairs to venue.

Free Love is the latest manifestation of Scottish duo Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook (FKA Happy Meals) - a continuation and progression of their utopian dance pop experiments.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Palmer and Hall Music

Dead Equal

Contains Strobe lighting and loud gun noises. Please note this performance takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

A herstory about women warriors; weaving verbatim testimony of contemporary army servicewomen with the true story of Flora Sandes, heroine on the Allied front line in the First World War, set to music by Rose Miranda Hall.

_ Time: 19.00 (60 mins)

Kabosh

Green & Blue

Green & Blue explores the painful and humorous realities faced by the individuals who patrolled the Irish border during the height of the conflict. Written by Laurence McKeown.

_ Time: 19.00, 19.20 (60 mins)

Daniel Hellman, Swiss Selection Edinburgh

Traumboy

Audience Participation, Scenes of a Sexual Nature. Access: Captioned performance 18/08

Daniel is an artist. He is also a sex worker. Traumboy explores why he chose this profession and why having sex for money is still considered taboo. Where do your boundaries lie? Performed in response to Anne Welenc's Traumgirl.

_ Time: 20.10 (75 mins)

Lewys Holt

Footnotes

Footnotes is a parody of an academic lecture whose verbose and dense language is frequently derailed by footnotes that could entail any number of diversions including, but not limited to, dancing, oversharing, surreal narratives or flirting.

_ Time: 20.45 (50 mins)

The Whisper Theatre Collective

Wild Women and Oneironauts

Strobe lighting.

Double Bill. Wild Women - a hilarious, irreverent journey of feminine stories. Oneironauts - a sensorial journey into the mysteries of the dreamscape.

_ Time: 20.50 (85 mins)

Tangram Theatre Company and James Rowland

James Rowland's Team Viking

When Tom is diagnosed with cancer, he asks best mates James and Sarah to give him a viking burial. This is the hilarious heart-lifting story about them doing just that. 'Joyous' ★★★★★

_ Time: 21.00 (65 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here and Braw Gigs

Shoot Your Shot

Standing only

Queer stalwart' (Dazed and Confused), Shoot Your Shot will be throttling into Summerhall for their Fringe opening party! feat. Lezzer Quest, Cormac.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Paines Plough and Theatr Clwyd

Dexter and Winter's Detective Agency

Access: All performances are captioned.

By Nathan Bryon.
When Dexter’s mum is sent to jail for getting mixed up in a jewellery robbery, it’s up to Dexter and Winter to get her out. A madcap adventure by Nathan Bryon (CBeebies' Rastamouse).

_ Time: 11.20 (50 mins)

MILKE and Dee & Cornelius

SHIT

This show contains themes of sexual abuse as well as nudity and strong language/swearing.

Shit is an award-winning, compelling, raw and powerful play which examines the intersections of class and misogyny. It is provocative, tragic, heartbreaking, bracing and bitterly funny.

_ Time: 16.50 (60 mins)

Phosphoros Theatre

Pizza Shop Heroes

Access: Captioned performances on 07 & 08/08.

Performed by four former child-refugees from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Albania. Having told their stories repeatedly in the asylum system, they're now reclaiming them. A unique exploration of masculinity and forced migration. Powerful, celebratory, authentic.

_ Time: 17.40 (60 mins)

Spitfire Company

Miss AmeriKa

In a collage of music, text, photography and animation, Miss AmeriKa tells the story of a New York misfit's experience of immigration, loneliness and dislocation.

_ Time: 18.45 (55 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Brighde Chaimbeul & Aidan O'Rourke

Unreserved seating. Please contact venue with any access requirements.

Winner of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, and 2017 Scots Trad Music Awards ‘Up and Coming’ nominee, Skye musician and piper Brìghde Chaimbeul is one of Scotland’s fastest rising stars.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Tangram Theatre Company and James Rowland

James Rowland's A Hundred Different Words for Love

Access: All performances are relaxed.

Five years ago, James met the love of his life. Two years later, they broke up. A story about love, words and the word love. 'Stunning' ★★★★★ - The Reviews Hub

_ Time: 21.00 (70 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Rhythm Machine

Standing only

Rhythm Machine is a night of dance music and performance art. Each week in August DJ's Yves, William Francis and special guests play unboundaried dance music across genres.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Daniel Kitson

Daniel Kitson: Shenanigan

Something new, vaguely experimental, unfinished and frankly, quite unlikely to ever be finished, by Daniel Kitson.

_ Time: 22.35 (90 mins)

Alpo Aaltokoski Company in association with From Start to Finnish

Ali and Alpo

A beautiful wordless dialogue between Iraqi traditional music and Finnish contemporary dance. The piece touchingly draws out the human experience and the consequences of an increasingly restrictive asylum policy.

_ Time: 13.05 (40 mins)

Sparklab Productions

The Ladies Room, by Gemma Bedeau

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

How do you stay friends when people change? Join Amy, Becca and Keisha in Gemma Bedeau's The Ladies Room on a girls' night out. Alcohol, resentments and revelations lead to a confrontation that cannot be ignored.

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Andrew Wasylyk: The Paralian

Unreserved seating. Please contact venue with any access requirements.

Scottish writer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk brings his acclaimed new record The Paralian to Edinburgh. Conceptualised as part of an extended residency at arts centre and historic house Hospitalfield, The Paralian was released in April to rave reviews.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

White Crane Productions

The Unreturn of Lydia Osborn

Created in the mountains of Georgia, and inspired by Mary Oliver's powerful poem 'The Lost Children', The Unreturn of Lydia Osborn weaves fiction and reality to create a collage of powerful original theatrical stories of loss, escape, rupture and joy.

_ Time: 20.30 (60 mins)

Clout Theatre / Performance Infinity

Feast

A show about food. From primitive struggle, through baroque excess to technological perversion, how has our relationship with nourishment changed throughout history? This one-woman show employs physical theatre, clowning and multimedia to delve into consumerism's excesses and extremes.

_ Time: 20.30, 22.20 (60 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Siobhan Wilson

Standing only

Edinburgh songwriter Siobhan Wilson plays a hometown show, bringing songs from her new record The Departure. 'Magical, beautiful, haunting' - BBC Music

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Fringe University

University Professors at the Fringe Networking Event

Free (unticketed)

Fringe University believes that the Edinburgh Fringe makes an excellent classroom. Come meet and network with other university professors from around the world planning to, or already using, the Fringe for educational purposes.

_ Time: 11.00 (90 mins)

Cade & MacAskill in association with Take Me Somewhere

MOOT MOOT

Access: BSL signed performance 11/08

Two of Scotland's finest live artists spew out their dark, humorous take on modern communication as doppelganger DJs Barry and Barry, trapped in a surreal phone-in talk show.

_ Time: 13.30 (60 mins)

BBC

A Khoisan Woman, by Zodwa Nyoni

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

Saartjie Baartman is the proud embodiment of the Khoisan women. But in London 1810, she is the Hottentot Venus, alluring and primitive. A powerful story of race and sexual commodification.

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Emma Pollock

Unreserved seating. Please contact venue with any access requirements.

Scottish singer-songwriter and Chemikal Underground co-founder Emma Pollock made her name in indie pop outfit The Delgados and is known for her unique brand of lavishly lyrical songwriting, all elevated by the honeyed liquid clarity of her voice.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Tangram Theatre Company and James Rowland

James Rowland's Revelations

Contains Distressing Themes, Nudity.

Two years ago James' best friends, Sarah and Emma, asked him for his sperm. A storytelling show about trying to do the right thing. 'Flooded with love' ★★★★ - The Stage

_ Time: 21.00 (70 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Soulsville

Standing only. 27 stairs to venue.
_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

432 Presents

Niteworks

Standing only

Niteworks blur the lines between Scottish traditional, folk and Gaelic music with contemporary electronica, creating a unique and exhilarating sound.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here and Braw Gigs

Optimo (Espacio)

Standing only

Renowned for their visionary and exploratory musical approach during DJ sets, as well as throwing some of the best parties on the planet, the legendary duo of JD Twitch and JG Wilkes return to Summerhall with another Optimo (Espacio).

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Naked Productions

Pass, by Kate O’Donnell

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

A mother and daughter's relationship through transition... A funny, compassionate and modern drama about family relationships from award-winning performer and writer, Kate O'Donnell.

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Rachel Sermanni - So It Turns Album Launch

Standing only

Rachel Sermanni returns with her new record So It Turns, a collection of songs inspired by her time studying & volunteering at a Buddhist monastery.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Ben Walters

Dr Duckie’s Homemade Mutant Hope Machines

Free (ticketed)

Utopia ain’t gonna build itself. This call to arms, based on doctoral research with queer performance collective Duckie, proposes new ways of thinking, feeling and acting to make better worlds, right here, right now.

_ Time: 14.00 (90 mins)

432 Presents

Bodega

Standing only. 27 stairs to venue.

New York's art rockers Bodega come to Summerhall this August for the Festival. 'Riot grrrl rant meets deadpan satire' ★★★★ - The Observer.

_ Time: 19.30 (210 mins)

Rachel Mars

Your Sexts Are Shit: Older Better Letters

Access:. Relaxed performances 20/08, 21/08, 22/08. This show contains strong language/swearing.

Total Theatre Award-winning Rachel Mars returns with a gloriously intimate, funny new show, unearthing the filthy letters that make sexts ashamed.

_ Time: 11.30 (60 mins)

Catherine Hoffmann

Cyst-er Act

Contains nudity, strobe lighting & strong language/swearing

Cyst-er Act. A messy live art musical about the bloody realms of the womb. What's it like to have your fallopian tube hacked off or to birth a 10lb cyst? Find out through gospel, death metal and punk.

_ Time: 12.05 (55 mins)

The Story of Books

Unicorns, Almost

Please note this performance takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

'Wonderful' (Margaret Atwood). Unicorns, Almost is a play by Owen Sheers about the life and work of WWII poet Keith Douglas. A one-man show in an immersive space with accompanying exhibition. Produced by The Story of Books.

_ Time: 13.15 (60 mins)

Everwitch

Bomb Happy

Please note this performance takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

A verbatim play about ordinary young men in extraordinary times. Bomb Happy evocatively brings to life the powerful testimonies of five Normandy Veterans, inexperienced young conscripts, who find themselves part of one of the most dangerous operations of World War II.

_ Time: 14.20, 15.40 (70 mins)

People Zoo Productions

Men Chase Women Choose

Scenes of a Sexual Nature.

Men Chase Women Choose is an informative and uproarious feminist romp that features fruit flies, film, physical theatre and a flute solo.

_ Time: 14.30 (60 mins)

Rachael Young

Out

This show contains strong language/swearing, loud music, haze, flashing lights and citrus fruit.

Challenging homophobia and transphobia within our communities, Out is a conversation between two bodies; a live art/dance performance, reclaiming dancehall and celebrating queerness amongst the bittersweet scent of oranges. Performed with marikiscrycrycry.

_ Time: 15.45 (60 mins)

Indigenous Contemporary Scene

This Time It Will Be Different

This Time It Will Be Different denounces the Canadian government's discourse on Indigenous people and takes a critical look at the national reconciliation industry.

_ Time: 16.00 (60 mins)

The Shift Theatre

Hallowed Ground

Contains themes associated with war and death. Please note this performance takes place off-site at Hepburn House Reserve Centre, 89 East Claremont Street, EH7 4HU (Venue 210).

From Serbian snowfields to deserts in Afghanistan, four women unite across a century.

_ Time: 17.20 (60 mins)

Ridiculusmus

Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!

Access: Captioned performance on 25/08

Comedy duo Ridiculusmus reclaims humankind's last taboo from imminent eradication in a paper-fine portrait of a timeless trio: cursed to eternal life without eternal youth. Part of British Council Showcase 2019.

_ Time: 17.40 (60 mins)

Naked Productions

The Grape That Rolled Under the Fridge, by Matilda Ibini

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

An Afrofuturist tale about identity, familial relationships and the ever encroaching surveillance state, by award-winning writer Matilda Ibini.

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here & Cryptic

Kathryn Joseph - From When I Wake

Unreserved seating. Please contact venue with any access requirements.

An intimate and provocative live performance that 'evolves into a hypnotic whirlwind of warring emotions' (Herald), Cryptic's critically acclaimed, poignant staging of award-winning singer Kathryn Joseph's second album returns by popular demand. www.madeinscotlandshowcase.com

_ Time: 20.00 (60 mins)

Emma Frankland

Hearty

Contains Distressing Themes

Bearing sharp knives and shooting fireballs into the air, Emma Frankland (double Fringe First award-winner) tackles the current fascination with transgender lives and interrogates the controversial bio-technology of HRT. It's messy, it's on fire and it's politically charged.

_ Time: 21.10 (60 mins)

Temple Independent Theatre Company (Egypt)

Before the Revolution

Contains Distressing Themes. Performed in Arabic with English surtitles.

By mixing fiction and non-fiction, this performance transports the audience to the moment before the inevitable eruption, allowing them to understand and feel the causes that led to the revolution, within a specifically designed visual and soundscape.

_ Time: 21.50 (40 mins)

Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas

The End

In this new piece, Bert and Nasi dance the end of their relationship, imagining what a future without each other might look like.

_ Time: 11.30 (55 mins)

Naked Productions

Out of Your Mind, by Naomi Sheldon

Three students, one underground tunnel and some very scary sounds... An exploration of what happens to the mind in an age of surveillance. What is the mind capable of when all you have is your imagination?

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Created and Hosted by Jo Fong and Sonia Hughes

Neither Here Nor There

Access: Involves Walking. Relaxed performance on 21/08

Funny, intimate, political, a bit livid, powerful, powerless and patient. Sonia and Jo host a series of conversations that happen over 6 minutes. They have questions about how it’s all going.

_ Time: 19.15 (90 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Balearico Nudissimo

Summerhall presents 'Balearico Nudissimo', a night of sun touched sensitive soul, Euro-pop and Reggae-Not Reggae. Music supplied by Andrea Montalto

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

432 Presents

Tom McGuire and The Brassholes

Standing only

Tom McGuire & The Brassholes are an eclectic modern-soul-funk 8 piece band from Glasgow. Taking inspiration from classic 70s funk and soul as well as the likes of modern funk purveyors Vulfpeck and Snarky Puppy.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Start to End Perform Taylor Swift's 1989

Standing only

Some of Scotland’s leading young musicians come together as Start to End. Experience a live band’s interpretation of Taylor Swift’s 2014 breakthrough album ‘1989’

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

BBC

Questions for Quiz Shows, by Thomas Pickles

Strong Language/Swearing. Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

Cora is at the festival, living with Anabelle and her two children. When Cora returns from seeing her ex-boyfriend perform, she is no longer just a lodger.

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

World Headquarters & Nat Turner Live

100% Soul with the Voices of Virtue Gospel Choir Live

Standing only

Experience Motown and soul classics all performed live by the outstanding, full 16-piece Voices of Virtue Gospel Choir band and horn section.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Incinerator Artist Party

Standing only

Heat will rise for one night only (for a second time…) to ignite The Dissection Room with fed-after-midnight electro disco, homegrown in Summerhall’s last industrial graveyard. Featuring: MISS WORLD, The Royal Dick, Gnomatron, Dozen Draft.

_ Time: 23.00 (240 mins)

Tim Etchells and Forced Entertainment

To Move In Time

Imagine you can travel through time. What would you do? A tangled, contradictory stream of consciousness performed by Tyrone Huggins, shifting from the everyday to the fantastical; comic, absurd and melancholic.

_ Time: 16.05 (60 mins)

BBC

BBC Virtual Reality Experience

Come and try a range of the latest BBC virtual reality experiences – from incredible explorations across the planet to journeys into time and space.

_ Time: 16.30, 17.00, 17.30, 18.00, 18.30, 19.00 (30 mins)

BBC

Garlands, by Satinder Chohan

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

It's Khush's wedding day but she's confronted by a group of men objecting to her marriage as a Sikh with a non-Sikh in the Gurdwara. Can she persuade them to back down, to salvage her wedding and her faith?

_ Time: 18.00 (30 mins)

Just Club

Standing Too Close On Our Own In The Dark

A gig-theatre event which is as vibrant and hopeful as it is melancholic - a romantic tragedy which sees its performer labour over a journal of original poetry and comedic monologue with encouragement from a live band.

_ Time: 22.35 (50 mins)

Sean Mahoney

Back of the Head with a Brick

Contains distressing themes.

Sean Mahoney returns to the Fringe after last year's critically acclaimed run with Until You Hear That Bell. A story about finding love.

_ Time: 11.30 (60 mins)

Natasha Dodsworth

My Uncomfortable Wardrobe

Contains nudity.

This one-woman show takes an honest, funny and revealing look at the everyday pressure of women squeezing themselves into uncomfortable outfits and situations and the marks this leaves behind.

_ Time: 14.30 (50 mins)

Indigenous Contemporary Scene

Miijin Ki (Eating Land)

Presented by Indigenous Contemporary Scene, Miijin Ki is a new work from Lara Kramer. Witness four bodies navigating colonial values of land ownership.

_ Time: 16.00 (60 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here

Peter Broderick sings the songs of Arthur Russell

Standing only

A celebration of the music of the great experimental cellist & songwriter Arthur Russell. This performance follows on from an acclaimed show at Celtic Connections, featuring Peter Broderick and a live band made up of members of Scottish acts C Duncan, Admiral Fallow, Monoganon, Yous and WOLF.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Keisha Thompson

Man on the Moon

Contains strong language/swearing, haze, references to domestic abuse and infrequent flashing lights. Access: BSL signed performance 23/08.

Part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2019 and presented by Contact and STUN. The award-winning Man on the Moon journeys through space and time to explore the impact of mental health on family dynamics.

_ Time: 19.10 (75 mins)

Karl Jay-Lewin and Matteo Fargion

Extremely Pedestrian Chorales

Extremely Pedestrian Chorales celebrates the commonplace experience and movement language of the pedestrian as an act of beauty, meaning and gentle comedy.

_ Time: 20.30 (55 mins)

BBC

Uncensored, by Frances Poet

Audio of this performance will be recorded for broadcast.

When a teenage tech genius has a racist word shouted at her, she decides to delete the word from the entire internet. It's a sensation. But what will she delete next? And where will it end?

_ Time: 18.00 (60 mins)

Indigenous Contemporary Scene, CanadaHub

Kanata Cabaret Hour

Kanata Cabaret Hour: a radical offering of dance, music, and live art from uniquely Indigenous and Scottish perspectives. This isn’t your coloniser’s cabaret, it's self-determined Indigenous badassery!

_ Time: 19.00 (60 mins)

NEHH & 432 Present

Grandmaster Flash - Hip Hop People, Places and Things - CANCELLED

This performance has been cancelled

With access to archival master recordings, images, and videos from the vaults of the major record labels, Grandmaster Flash’s live show is a celebration of Hip Hop’s most formative decade.

_ Time: 19.30 (180 mins)

Poor Michelle Productions

VIOLET by Bebe Sanders

Violet is a new play about human connection and inter-generational friendships. It quietly explores themes of mental health, dementia, and loneliness without forgetting the often funny and absurd moments of ordinary life.

_ Time: 22.35 (50 mins)

Nothing Ever Happens Here and Braw Gigs

Dylan Carlson (Earth)

Standing only

Carlson’s musical explorations can be traced back to his pioneering work with the minimalist ensemble Earth—from the groundbreaking drone metal of Earth 2 to the ominous instrumental twang of Hex. His solo work under drcarlsonalbion veered into English folklore.

_ Time: 19.00 (180 mins)

Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas

One

Taking as its point of departure the polarisation of politics today, One begins amid the ruins of an unresolved conflict. Nasi’s on a ladder. He’s not coming down any time soon. It’s time for Bert’s solo career to begin.

_ Time: 22.00 (65 mins)