The last week of Edinburgh Fringe is upon us! So, here are some more shows we’ve got on our radar to try and catch before the festival is over.
If you haven’t already, check out our Fringe 2023 Week One blog, with our first-glimpse-at-the-programme recommendations of shows to see, plus some reflections on the festival, and an invitation to get together and think about change once all this year’s fun(?!) is over.
Join us for a facilitated meeting, online, on September 12th at 7pm, to think together about Edinburgh Fringe and its role within our sector, to consider what we want to be done differently in future, and concoct plans for how we might make that happen. Sign up to attend here.
Shows on our radar:
Break Up With Your Boyfriend 12:55 Pleasance Courtyard, until 28
Cassie is a hot mess. Jo is playing it cool. When a sleepover erupts with a phone-call break-up, two women get ready to light it up and burn it down.
Summer Camp for Broken People 13:30 Summerhall, until 27 (not 21)
This autobiographical one-woman show is an empowering memoir about how mental illness infects our lives and what it takes to fix a shattered spirit.
Cowboys and Lesbians 13:35 Pleasance Dome, until 27
Somewhere in America, sometime... A misunderstood teen girl is falling for a mysterious cowboy with a dark past. Meanwhile, in London... Nina and Noa are wasting their youth on flashcards and fantasies about their teachers.
Glass Ceiling Beneath The Stars 14:00 Pleasance Dome, until 27 (not 22)
1992. Hurricanes in Hawaii, riots in LA, the longest-running game of tennis at the US Open and NASA launches the Endeavour STS-47. Onboard are Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to go to space, and Jan Davis, the first woman to go to space with her husband.
Beasts (Why Girls Shouldn't Fear The Dark) 14:20 Zoo Playground, until 27 (not 21)
When Ruva experiences street harassment, her world is thrown into chaos and turmoil. Raging against the system and a society who won't take her seriously, Ruva turns into a Beast, searching for a way to empower herself and fight the creatures that lurk at night.
Bitter Lemons 14:20 Pleasance Courtyard, until 28
In the pressurised worlds of football and finance, two women carve their own path. After the loss of her dad, a goalkeeper prepares for the league final, while an ambitious banker battles her fears of being tokenised to secure a promotion
Juliana Heng: Walking On Spectrum 15:00 Strathmore Bar, until 27
Juliana Heng has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Having ASD does not make one immune to life challenges. A medley show that explores different ways to tell one's life story through stand-up comedy, spoken word, and storytelling.
All Aboard! at Termination Station 15:30 Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 (not 21)
Fringe debut from performer, writer and creative activist Lilly Burton. A comedy-cabaret about abortion, this is Lilly's story: a bracing, booming and brash autobiographical tale.
Godot Is A Woman 15:35 Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 (not 21)
Since Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot, he and his estate have notoriously challenged – often legally – non-male companies that wish to perform it. An interrogation of gender, authorial copyright and the cultural significance of Madonna's 1989 album Like a Prayer, Silent Faces return with their trademark style of playful, political, physical theatre.
Pretending To Fly 16:05 The Space Symposium Hall, until 26
Roommates Kaitlyn and Frances, months into the pandemic lockdowns, escape onto their rooftop, trying to hold the pieces of their friendship – and sanity – together, finding distraction in the tales of Carla Horowitz, a Women's Airforce Service Pilot during WWII.
Second Helping: 2 Dead Lovers, Dead Funny 16:15 CC Blooms, until 27
Accidental enemy of Mother Teresa. Two-time widow before age 40. Victim of an exploding knee replacement. Nonbinary comedian Kelli Dunham (the former Sister Mercy) is learning the limits of DIY-A (Do It Yourself Alone) approach to life.
Kill the Cop Inside Your Head 16:30 Summerhall, until 27 (not 21)
Spoken word and performance artist Subira Joy explores their experiences being targeted by the police as a Black, queer and trans person in the UK.
A Bit Too Much Hair 17:00 The Space Surgeons Hall, until 26 (not 21, 23, 25)
This gender euphoric cabaret is a musical paradise for thems, mens, femmes, and everyone in between.
Lucy & Friends 17:20 Pleasance Courtyard, 22 & 23
Lucy McCormick is back with her most ambitious medium-concept catastrophic show yet. Join Lucy as she unveils her ensemble cabaret tent spectacular… Unfortunately, she has no friends, no money, and no tent. Still, there’ll be pole dancing, variety acts, strip routines and some quick reworking of social policy.
Troll 17:50 Underbelly Cowgate (until 27)
A two-troll clown show about friendship, scape(goat)ing and being misunderstood. Fed up with years of misrepresentation, villainisation and exclusion, two trolls find themselves in a theatre, ready and desperate to tell their side of the story and the truth about those three goats.
Sunanda Loves Britney 20:20 Blundagardens, until 27
Sunanda, loves Britney (Spears, duh), but it took them till 30 to realise they never wanted to be Britney so much as do Britney. What comes next is a shit-storm of family drama, confusion, blonde girl addiction and lesbian-ing™ for this queer Indian kid raised in Thailand in the 90s.
Sophia Cleary: It Gets Worse 20:55 Assembly George Square, until 27
It Gets Worse is a raw, comedic exploration about the horrors of being in relationships, specifically with oneself. Inspired by her journey as a child actor, mall goth, birth doula, private investigator and waiter, Cleary tells the story of her realization that she is all that and more (gay).
Woodhill 20:55 Summerhall, until 27 (not 21)
A call to arms about the crisis facing prisons. Gut-punching choreography and unflinching beats shine a light on the hidden story of HMP Woodhill.
Zoë Coombs Marr: The Opener 21:20 Pleasance Courtyard, until 27
We regret to inform you that Dave is back. After entering a coma in 2016, now he's woke and asking the big questions, like... 'anyone here from out of town?!'
The Last Show Before We Die 21:40 Summerhall, until 27 (not 22)
Ell and Mary have been dead for three years, but now they’ve come back to
life (and the stage) with one question on their minds:
how do you know when it’s the end?
Healing King Herod 21:40 Underbelly Cowgate, until 27 (not 21)
King Herod, famed for his Massacre of the Innocents, now leads a self-development pyramid scheme. Ancient soldiers become modern clients in an interactive, drag-clown therapy session.
Cara Connors: Straight For Pay 21:55 Pleasance Courtyard, until 27
Cara Connors’ solo show explores her journey of leaving her marriage, embracing her sexuality and occasional feral existence as a queer, millennial comedian, chasing her dreams while making up for lost time.
Alice Cockayne: I Showered Before I Came 22:00 Underbelly Bristo Sq, until 27
It's kind of clown. Kind of not. Stupid. Important. Unhinged. Chaotic. Outrageous. Messy. Gritty. Real-life drama. Never been done before.
Slash 22:15 Summerhall until 27 (not 21)
Incorporating fan-fictional pairings such as Lennon/McCartney and Sherlock/Watson, interspersed with meta commentary by infamous second-wave feminists (Camile Paglia, Andrea Dworkin) and mashed up 80s punk songs, The Blond and The Dark Haired One guide the audience through an infernal fantasia of perverted intertextuality.
Oasissy: Don’t Look Back In Anger, Babes 22:40 Blundagardens, 21 - 25
Slip'n'slide inside a rock’n’roll fantasy party of joy, chaos and catharsis as genderqueer drag-clowns Oasissy invite you into their madferrit, monobrowed imagination. Join the iconic comedy-duo as they look sideways, frontways, left and right ways in anger… but never back, babes.
Asexuality! 23:00 Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, until 27 (not 25)
Asexuality! is an autobiographical musical comedy about Rebecca' McGlynn's pre-transition life. The story follows Robert, an asexual man navigating a hypersexual world. Through music and comedy, he explores sex, romance, love, loss… and, eventually, her true gender identity.
A Terrible Show for Terrible People 23:10 Underbelly Cowgate, until 27 (not 21)
Bonnie He’s raunchy, absurdist physical comedy with two spoken words. For perverts, feminists and your mom (not mutually exclusive)
That’s all for now!
Don't forget to check out our previous blog post if you're still looking for shows to see in Edinburgh.
Let us know if you enjoyed any of the shows we recommended. We really appreciate hearing what you thought 💗
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Here's the meeting link to come together, share your feelings and plot for change, at the beginning of September.