Cathy
Traverse, 7-30 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), various times
Scottish playwright Eilidh Loan follows the sell-out run of 2022 family tale Moorcroft with an original comedy about her grandmother, Cathy, and the unique way she faced the loss of her husband. Starring Elaine C. Smith.
Mayflies
Brown’s of Leith, 7-30 Aug (not 11, 18, 25), 16:00
Andrew O’Hagan’s beloved novel is adapted for the stage in a world-first, by the award-winning Grid Iron Theatre Company. Fittingly, the play is being performed in a former Leith metalworks, echoing the iconic venues of the Manchester music scene.
The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey
Summerhall, 6-30 Aug (not 17, 24), 10:30
A fabulistic take on the intense personal trauma of pregnancy loss, Maltese artists Angéle and Malcolm Galea fuse melancholy and whimsy with playful theatricality for a heartwrenching two-hander.
Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It
Summerhall, 6-30 Aug (not 18, 25), 21:10
When a neighbour’s dog is killed in Appalachia, two teen pranksters (Fringe First winners Xhloe and Natasha) contend with what’s really driving the superstition and paranoia in their remote community.
HAM
Summerhall, 6-30 Aug (not 18, 25), 19:30
Queer performance duo Hotter Project put Hamlet into the sausage-grinder for a retelling that pits a grief-stricken vegan against the meat-eaters of the world.
The Second Best School Shooting
Pleasance Courtyard, 5-30 Aug (not 12, 19, 26), 12:45
Matthew Lillard and Adam McKay are on production duties for this darkly comic new play about a real-life school shooting, which is written by a former US public school teacher.
Spin Cycle
Underbelly, 5-31 Aug (not 17), 14:25
The launderette is explored as a place of ephemeral, intimate connection in this new queer play from Ireland, which we’re told bears equal amounts of Charlie Kaufman as The L Word influence. Part of Culture Ireland’s showcase.
Adam Riches: The Captain
Summerhall, 6-31 Aug (not 17, 24), various times
Adam Riches served an ace with his 2024 Fringe show Jimmy, about US tennis champ Jimmy Connors. His new tale about the first man to swim the Channel is sure to make a splash.
Mohan: A Partition Story
Pleasance Courtyard, 18-31 Aug, 15:25
Storyteller and playwright Niall Moorjani won a Fringe First last year for Kanpur: 1857. This year, following more performances of Kanpur, they tell the story of their grandfather’s experience of Partition.
Blackbox
Underbelly Cowgate, 5-30 Aug (not 17), 12:40
Hip-hop theatre trailblazer Rickerby Hinds follows up last year’s Dreamscape with a piece of theatre disguised as a magic show, about enslaved American Henry ‘Box’ Brown’s daring escape by way of freight cargo.
CADEL: Lungs on Legs
Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 6-30 Aug (not 12, 19, 26), 17:55
One Australian’s uphill struggle to the top of the podium, based on the riveting true story of Cadel Evans, the first and only Australian to win the Tour de France.