Top Picks for Edinburgh Fringe 2026- Part 1: Theatre
- Lauren Hance
- Jul 17
- 9 min read
Edinburgh Fringe season is almost here, do you know what shows you are going to see? With over 3,500 shows this year, the task can get a little daunting. I’m a firm believer in taking a chance on a show you might not normally see. Let the artists flyer you and get to know them a bit; talking directly to artists is one of the most beautiful aspects of Fringe.
As of right now, I’ve received over 400 pitches to my inbox; that’s a lot of flyering. I’ve spent hours scouring the Fringe websites, looking at shows, trying not to miss someone. I try my best to suggest a variety of shows, at a variety of venues, and at varying levels of “clout” (if you will). While the buzziest shows at Fringe are usually a sure bet, there are dozens more that are just as good, out hustling to fill seats.
This week we will start with Theatre, with a few additional subcategories. And as always, I have some BONUS PICKS, which are shows that have been featured on the podcast or blog, so of course they are already my top picks. And it’s my blog, so I can do WTF I want. ;)
Next week we take a look at Comedy (but like theatre comedy….. I have opinions).
THEATRE
It’s no secret that I am a die-hard theatre girl. It’s a genre that fills a huge part of my fringe schedule. Narrowing down this section is like choosing my favorite child. Here are a few shows I think are worth your consideration this fringe season.
AMNESIA
Kelly, a dementia carer in Rhyl (and daughter of two Tom Jones tribute acts), is brilliant at her job. Whether it’s Edna, the serial biter, or Astrid who thinks her Nana is a bin, Kelly knows exactly what she’s doing. Proudly raised on Club Land, waltzers, and summer’s snogging scousers, she’s furious upon discovering her best friend is leaving for a city with a Pret. Concealing her own life-altering news, she spirals out of control and risks losing everything.
Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two
5 - 31 Aug
16:25
BADGERS
Something has taken root in this town. A recluse, a disappearance, a mysterious folk song. And then there's you, Meles — a podcaster with a dying mother and a stalling career — about to stumble into something unfathomable. Something that could change everything. But is it your story to tell? Badgers is a new folk play written by Malaika Kegode with music by Jakabol - the team behind 2024’s Outlier. A hybrid theatre piece blending spoken word and live music, exploring the art of letting go and the ethics of true crime.
Traverse Theatre
5 - 30 Aug
See website (80 mins)
GOODBYE DANDELION
Goodbye Dandelion is an invitation to start living. This is a story of an unlikely friendship with a 50-year age gap. Oh, and death! Told by real-life siblings (Maddie on the mic, Marcus on the keys) it follows 87-year-old Darcy’s last years on earth through the eyes of a new friend. Blending storytelling and live piano, this bold and witty new show tries to make sense of the un-make-sense-able and asks what’s stopping us from really living. From the team behind Fringe hit Pickle Jar.
Underbelly Cowgate, Belly Dancer
5 - 30 Aug.
16:10
LINUS KARP WAS HIT WITH AN UMBRELLA
From the creators of critically-acclaimed Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story and Gwyneth Goes Skiing comes a more personal and introspective new show from Awkward Prods. Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella takes a real-life homophobic attack in Soho, London as its starting point, exploring the emotional aftermath of hate crime, queer visibility and the uneasy search for closure, filtered through their distinctive blend of comedic performance, storytelling and theatrical invention. “Absurd, camp, chaotic, and hilarious” ★★★★★ Attitude (for Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story)
Underbelly Bristo Square (Friesian)
5th - 30th August
20:20
THE LAST MAD MAN
Equal parts delirious client pitch and heartwrenching tragedy, The Last Mad Man finds Steven a grizzled ad man, alone after society's collapse, who decides to do only the thing he knows how: rebrand the apocalypse. What do we call this new dystopia? What font should it be in? And who was responsible for the end of the world — did we really need that Amazon "vegan leather" harness for Pride Week? An ecological noir-cum-capitalist fever dream.
Assembly Roxy, Downstairs
5-30 Aug
12:50
YOU AND ME (AND WHOEVER COMES NEXT)
Keron Day is disabled. Dani is his Personal Assistant (not as fancy as it sounds). A touching and funny exploration of how care goes both ways with live music, inspired by a true story.
The winner of the Summerhall Mary Dick Award and supported by Keron's local theatre Hall for Cornwall, the play unpacks the complex relationship between a disabled person and their carer. Keron Day is an acclaimed disabled performer and activist, known for Kirkmoore (BBC) and Sex Education (Netflix). You and Me (and Whoever Comes Next) is his debut play. Alex Howarth is a former care worker, and the first director in history to have his work performed at the United Nations.
Old Lab at Summerhall
6 - 31 Aug
15:00
MULTI-MEDIA
These two shows have a video and media component that are sure to astound you and create an unforgettable experience. I’m a big fan of both of these artists and can’t wait to see the shows.
KEVIN!!!!!
In an inventively accurate live puppet parody of the quintessential 90s classic about leaving your kid alone at home, a five-person ensemble works in tandem to condense the full film into a high-energy hour of theatrical ingenuity. KEVIN!!!!! integrates green-screen projections and live-feed footage with intricate miniature sets and varying scales of puppetry – crafted from recycled materials – to manipulate cinematic perspective in real time. Comprising four actors and a live Foley artist, the production utilizes the entire theatre space as the McCallister house, moving through the audience to capture the action. Featuring a score of both live and recorded a cappella and choreographed physical theatre, the New York-based company, creators of acclaimed Fringe hits Hold on to Your Butts and Fly, You Fools!, delivers a performance that is both a technical feat of homemade craft and a nostalgic celebration of a festive classic.
Pleasance Courtyard, Forth
5 – 31 Aug 2026 (not 13 & 24),
13:20
MARK VIGEANT: OUT THERE
From comedian Mark Vigeant (whose last Fringe hour became a special on Dropout TV) comes a wildly inventive character-comedy hour. Meet Larry: a burnt-out engineer on a mission to gain fame by livestreaming a survival adventure from the Alaskan wilderness. Armed with a camera, unshakeable optimism and questionable survival skills, he livestreams his journey into the wild. But when the wilderness pushes back, his mission spirals into chaos. Blending live video, immersive tech and fearless clowning, OUT THERE is a hilarious, unpredictable descent into ambition, delusion and the things we do to prove our lives matter.
Downstairs at Assembly Roxy
5-30 Aug
17:20
Magic/Dance/Puppetry
I’m really excited about the shows in this section, and all for different reasons. Mystery, soul-touching, and visually stunning, these shows should deliver in the wow factor.
FAKE
It's pretty, but is it art? Through magic, comedy and storytelling, Chris Cook shares the story of a faker so skilled he had to forge his way to freedom, an artist so talented he may himself be a fraud, a magician whose promise conceals a lie, and a mysterious figure who may not even exist. A story only a magician could tell. Mervyn Stutter's Pick of the Fringe 2025. 'A masterclass in storytelling' ***** (Edinburgh-Reviews.co.uk). 'Fake is the show to see' ***** (WorldMagicReview.com).
The Den at Gilded Balloon Teviot
5-31 Aug
13:40
GLASS CHILD
Powerful, raw and emotional, Glass Child goes beyond fiction and theatre to showcase the extraordinary love of two siblings, Kayah, a young man with Down syndrome and his sister Maitreyah. Expressed through dance, theatre and storytelling Glass Child highlights their connection and how their lives have been affected by other people's perceptions. Maitreyah has watched Kayah be ridiculed or ignored without understanding why. By bravely sharing their own experience they ask the rest of us to look at how we meet others and why we search for difference when we share so much in common.
Old Lab at Summerhall
6-16 Aug
13:30
ITALO CALVINO'S INVISIBLE CITIES: A TOY THEATER ATLAS
Calvino’s stunning tale of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan springs to life in this toy theatre adaptation, with a cascade of trapdoors, surprises and reveals, using live projection, puppetry, paper mechanics and living sculpture.Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities is a conversation between Kublai Khan and his emissary Marco Polo. Even as the Khan feels his empire eroding beneath him, Marco Polo forms the slipping sands into the cities of the emperor's dreams, like Scheherazade in Arabian Nights. This adaptation in miniature casts a dreamlike spell over the audience as two performers manipulate tiny cameras on a small table, examining the jewelled facets of city life.Chicago collaborators Matthew Gawryk and Dan Kerr-Hobert are excited to present this European premiere of a show that has been stunning audiences in theatres and barns across the United States, including a sold out run at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.
C ARTS | C venues | C alto, Quaker Meeting House
5-30 Aug (not 17)
19:30
MUSIC
I surprised myself with this category. It’s rare that I see a music show, but these shows sure caught my attention. So put them on your radar and get ready to tap your feet and “boot scoot” your way to the theatre.
OIL & WHISKY
The Last Five Years’ meets Nashville Honky Tonk; Oil & Whiskey is a dramedy about two ex-lovers who meet for a drink and relive their entire relationship over a couple of rounds of whiskey. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and by the end you will remember why: you don’t text your ex. At the forefront of the recent Americana resurgence in Edinburgh and NYC, this toe-stomping musical written in Nashville, Tennessee, will immerse audiences in an authentic country rock cabaret concert akin to an evening at the Grand Ole Opry.
The Nightclub at PBH's Free Fringe
23 - 30 Aug
19:45
PASCOL
Pascol is a live vocal performance where six singers transform audience members’ personal stories, memories and emotions into improvised vocal compositions. Nothing is pre-written, nothing is repeated, and each show is shaped by the people in the room. At a time when so much of our connection is filtered through screens, algorithms and constant digital noise, Pascol offers something very simple but increasingly rare: a room of people listening to one another. The performance creates a space for shared attention, collective imagination and human presence, using only voices and bodies
theSpace @ Niddry St, Upper Theatre, Venue 9
24–29 Aug
21:15 PM
QUENTIN BLAKE'S MRS ARMITAGE ON WHEELS
Mrs Armitage is a brilliant and eccentric inventor whose wild and wonderful creations are always remarkably useful. When she and her faithful dog Breakspear set off on a quiet bike ride to visit cousin Angela, she can't stop thinking of ways to improve her bike. But after adding horns, snack trays, umbrellas, a dog bed and even a sail, will she ever get there? Featuring puppetry and live music, this brand-new musical adaptation of the award-winning BBC animated series Quentin Blake's Box of Treasures celebrates the power of imagination and the importance of community.
Gordon Aikman Theatre at Assembly George Square
6-30 Aug
11:00
UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Identical twin sisters and influencers Carine and Frances Gilbert (@thegilberttwins, 3M+ followers) return to their musical theatre roots with this loud, ridiculous, and ultimately heartfelt musical comedy that explores sisterhood, coping with online pressure, and the search for your own voice when your identity has always been written for two.
Underbelly Bristo Square, Dairy Room
5 Aug - 30 Aug
21:20
EDINBURGH FRINGE BONUS PICKS
It’s difficult not to be biased when choosing shows. I usually love most of the shows I see (maybe it’s because of my good taste?). And when I feature an artist on the podcast or blog, I become a big fan. Like I said earlier, getting to know the artists is a gift from the Fringe experience, and gives an additional point of connection to draw you in. I’ve seen (and reviewed) almost all of the shows listed below, and gotten to know the artists a bit. They are all phenomenal humans and artists, and their shows are all worth an hour of your time (or two, if you do some recon and listen to the podcast before the Fringe).
Lubna Kerr & Ihsan Kerr, are the most amazing and kind mother/son duo presenting the mind-bending A Better Memory. Alone, produced by Alchemy Theatre featuring Courtney Bassett, was one of my favorite shows of the fest last year. You will not find an actor working harder than Connor Delves in Cadel: Lungs on Legs. Treat yourself to being feet away from a master cellist in Karen Hall’s Delusions and Grandeur. DUST will appeal to many folks, but particularly the locals, as it focuses on the coal mining community of Yorkshire and the Lofthouse Colliery disaster of 1973. I came for the hair, and I stayed for the heart-touching story of My Grandpa Doesn’t Follow Me On Instagram. Nesting caught my eye with its cheeky image and focus on end-of-life dilemmas. Smile: The Charlie Chaplin Story got to me at the core as I reflected on Chaplin's life and legacy in contrast to the events happening in my home country (again); it’s good fun, too! I’m always down for a good thriller/mystery, and The Night Ali Died is sure to deliver.
Get to know these shows more on YouTube and our blog. Reviews can be found on Instagram and the blog.
And if you are looking for a few more shows to consider, watch our World Fringe Day episode featuring 32 artists! There is something for everybody!
Happy Fringe Friends!
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