2026 reviews will be added here throughout the festival
Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Crown
Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Crown is an interesting original idea, combining a classic Sherlockian (literal) mystery box with an uncanny occult curse.
Although effective in their characterisation, the cast didn't seem fully confident with the material yet and there were a few fumbled lines and cues. With these minor issues smoothed over, however, this will be a great little play for anyone who is tempted by the idea of a bit of genre-bending intrigue
★ ★ ★ .5
Homunculus
Written by Santiago Mallan, Homunculus is a gloriously chaotic collision of old and new: a classic farce built on Elizabethan and Jacobean screwball mechanics, written in loose iambic verse and set in the present day. Mistaken identity and accidental alchemy combine with more than a dash of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to make a Frankenstein for the Jeremy Scott generation.
Homunculus is exactly the kind of weird, auteur insanity that the Fringe is for. It won’t be everyone’s jar of hex-goo, but if you like your comedy both cerebral and slapstick, please do not miss out on it while it’s here.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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
Pajama Talks
Pajama Talks is a warmly melancholic piece of theatre that follows best friends Abby and Nina as they revisit their childhood sleepovers, facing up to some difficult memories alongside the ‘fun’ ones.
A small, tender show that doesn't overreach itself, dealing with its subject matter with sensitivity and emotional intelligence.
★ ★ ★ ★
Girlbosses and Billionaires
The grind never stops even in space.
Girlbosses and Billionaires throws a vacuous influencer, a thinly veiled Katy Perry space-tourist, an aging actress named Edna, and a hapless nepo baby into a rocket and documents the farcical outcomes of girl power repackaged as a branded space mission.
Satirising surface-level takes on fourth-wave feminism and the ethics of influencer culture, the show does a great job of skewering social politics and celebrities as deep as a puddle without slipping into lecturing or losing sight of the laughs.
★ ★ ★ .5
Cabin
Cabin is a cleverly constructed piece of new writing giving a creepy and unique spin to the well-worn cabin-in-the-woods trope. I don’t want to say too much about the story as it will spoil it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was an original script given how tightly plotted it is, with some unexpected twists along the way.
Some additional lighting or sound effects could have helped enhance the atmosphere and sense of suspense, however the cast do well to convey the mounting paranoia and confusion, and this is a solid piece of theatre that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys horror and psychological thrillers.
★ ★ ★ ★
Sodom, The Quintessence of Debauchery
Based on the Restoration closet drama of the same name, Sodom, or The Quintessence of Debauchery is a frenzied farrago of filth and ‘fucking’.
The direction, staging and visuals are all fantastic and the cast superb. Unfortunately, the source material itself, while an interesting historical curio, was neither artistically nor comically engaging enough to hold my attention for the 50-minute runtime. Had this been a 15-20 minute sketch, it could have been magnificent, but as it was, I found myself surprisingly bored by the end despite the well-executed outrageousness on display.
★ ★ ★ ★
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.
The Last Girl There
The Last Girl There is an engaging piece of theatre based around an intriguing murder-mystery premise soaked in sisterhood, loyalty and buried resentments.
The script is well written and tightly constructed, meaning that although the eventual reveal is perhaps somewhat unsatisfying, the journey there remains enjoyable and worthwhile.
★ ★ ★ .5
Unexplained Live
I've been a listener of the Unexplained podcast for a while now, so I was excited to see how its fantastically unsettling, too-spooky-to-fall-asleep-to atmosphere would translate to the stage.
Richard MacLean Smith's storytelling is simple but hugely effective, and he makes clever use of lighting, sound and a few small props to build mood and tension without ever feeling overdone. Whether you’re already a fan of the podcast or coming to it completely fresh, this is a great example of classic storytelling done well: no unnecessary distraction, no irony, no forced humour. Just a well-told, eerie tale, delivered with real craft.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden is a quietly powerful piece of theatre, drawn from the wartime diary of Welsh paratrooper Neville Neads, who took part in the Arnhem drop during Operation Market Garden in 1944.
A thoughtful, sensitive production that trusts its material rather than hammering home its themes, showing a mature restraint that lets the story’s weight speak for itself.
★ ★ ★ ★
The Yellow Wallpaper
This darkly atmospheric dance thriller takes Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 story and turns its interior horror inside out through movement. The unnamed narrator, confined to a room after the birth of her baby and diagnosed with a “hysterical tendency”, becomes a study in claustrophobia. The piece builds a nightmarish atmosphere, switching between exhaustion, delirium and hysterical ecstasy as her grip on reality slips. Hauntingly staged, sharply danced, and quietly furious underneath: highly recommended.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Body I Left in Susquehanna National Forest
An enjoyable, unsettling piece of dark comedy springing from a deceptively simple setup. Two newlyweds are driving late at night on the way to their honeymoon when they hit a deer. Only, it’s not a deer. To say much more would spoil the surprises, but there were several for me - both in how the plot develops and in how the tone shifts throughout.
The comedy manages for the most part not to undercut the tension, but the show remains funny enough to enjoy in the moment and dark enough to think about on the walk home.
★ ★ ★ ★
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
Elba
Following his abdication in 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the small Mediterranean island of Elba, where he was made sovereign. This dynamic and engaging two-hander follows the former general and André Pons de l'Hérault, a French revolutionary turned administrator, living on Elba during these months.
Never boring, Elba races through its runtime, taking what could be a dry or uninviting subject matter and making it hugely entertaining while still remaining thoughtful and smart.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ .5
Film Noir Frog
A very silly show, with a very silly premise, Film Noir Frog is an entertaining, short, sharp blast of toad-ally ridiculous fun. If I said I was entirely able to follow the plot I would be lying, all I know is that it had a lot of laughs and somehow Dance Dance Revolution saved the day.
★ ★ ★ .5
exit strategy's How to Win a Gameshow
Part bleakly dystopian satire, part interactive improv comedy, any description I give of How to Win a Gameshow will fail to do it justice. There's dancing, there's singing, there's a very tantalising cash prize..
I'm loath to say much more for fear of spoiling it, but I can't recommend this show enough. Go for a shot at the money; stay for the hope of ever leaving.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Macbeth: Blood and Bluegrass
The ‘Scottish Play’ is a bit like Imagine - endlessly covered and often wildly reinterpreted. I might have said I never needed to see another; however, I love good music and I'm a sucker for a fresh take (hey, I once saw Dannii Minogue play Lady Macbeth at the Fringe and it wasn't half bad), so I couldn't resist the premise of a bluegrass reworking of the famously cursed tragedy.
An interesting spin on one of the most famous plays in history - If you fancy some cracking live music with a side of Shakespeare, you should certainly give it a go.
★ ★ ★ .5
Mark Vigeant: OUT THERE
I loved Mark’s previous Fringe outing The Best Man Show so much I saw it two years in a row, so I had high hopes for his latest expedition into the more rugged subject matter of outdoor adventuring. I’m glad to say I may have left the theatre a little soggy, but in no way disappointed.
If you like your comedy on the verge of a breakdown, this is one for you - just make sure you pick a big fern on the way in, you’ll thank me later.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Dear Michelle Kwan
As a former figure skater and survivor of Skate Camp, I was naturally drawn to the subject matter but I was not prepared for the bonkers, bedazzled spectacle that was about to unfold. If the Judy Blume-sounding title gives the impression of something sweet and reflective, this is in fact a wonderfully weird little show with a darkly comedic tone. Dear Michelle Kwan balances its girlish silliness with the spiralling horror hilariously and to great effect. Dear Edinburgh Fringe audiences, please go and see this!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
★ ★ ★ ★ .5