2026 reviews will be added here throughout the festival
Girlz
There has been something of a glut of post-SIX girl-group musicals at this year's Fringe, and Girlz certainly arrives with all the ingredients you'd expec. Unfortunately, while the production is polished and the cast are consistently good, I found the writing and music frustratingly familiar, and rarely as engaging as the concept suggests.
Girlz trades heavily on the audience's affection for pop and girl groups, with obvious nods towards the likes of the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and Little Mix, yet seems to regard much of that music with a degree of disdain. There's nothing wrong with eviscerating the vapidity of the pop machine but Girlz seems caught between wanting to celebrate pop and sneer at it, and never quite commits convincingly to either.
★ ★ ★
Bachelors of Fine Arts
My Bachelor of Fine Arts was in visual art, not theatre, but it was its own particular kind of hell at times, so I could relate to much of the material in this blackly hilarious musical about trying to get an education in the face of faculty failings and spiralling social chaos.
Crammed full of songs with witty, whip-smart lyrics and catchy chorus hooks I can’t imagine anyone not having a good time watching this show. I’m sorry if Johansen and McCarthy did have to go through such an absolutely shit time to find inspiration for the material, but out of a load of bitter lemons, they definitely made some great-tasting lemonade.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ .5
Carrie: The Musical
As both a fan of the original Stephen King novel and the 1976 movie, I was keen to experience this musical adaptation. Unfortunately, my seat meant I was unable to see much of the show, and for that reason I don’t feel I can give a balanced account or a fair rating.
That said, from what I could see and hear, this seemed to be a competent and well-produced staging of the material, and it certainly seemed like a show that most fans of musical theatre would enjoy.
Parking Spot: The Musical!
Parking Spot: The Musical! takes a wonderfully petty premise - five Jersey City neighbours scheming over one open parking space - and mines it for a lot of laughs.
Some of the more American-centric gags didn’t land with the Scottish/international audience, but the broader threads (marriage, friendship, the insufferability of trying to park in a modern city) are things most can relate to, and this is a fun little show filled with quirky characters, catchy original music and dayglo road-safe fabrics.
★ ★ ★ .5
Spraywatch: A Beautiful Rescue
“HAIR! TEETH! TITS! FACE!”
If you haven't had this sung to you by the cast of Spraywatch: A Beautiful Rescue, while thrusting their fanny-packs and making increasingly uncomfortable eye contact, then you haven’t really experienced the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe yet. Smart, sexy and thoroughly good fun - make sure you (slow-mo) run, don’t walk, to get your ticket for this before it sells out.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bliss
When I saw the poster for Bliss my first thought was ‘the inevitable SIX rip-off’ but the short Instagram trailer I watched hooked my interest with some solid-sounding tunes so I was keen to see the show for myself. And yes, the comparisons do extend further than the flyer, with the opening number bearing more than a passing nod to the Ex-Wives; however, from that point on it very much becomes its own thing.
★ ★ ★★