Edinburgh Festival

Captivating writing is matched by a tireless performance that transports you in time with a complex breakdown of drug abuse. He admits that he makes it sound too good for comfort: the chemsex, the dissociation from his problems, the unbridled fun of it. On the opposite side, he places the drug-induced psychosis that landed him in a psych ward, his erratic behaviour, and the continuous benders that followed. There isn’t any preachiness or superiority in his delivery. Breaking the Castle introduces a humble, charismatic performer whose lived experience makes him an emotionally intelligent and profound man.

The Edinburgh Fringe truly demonstrates that anything can be a musical. Whether it’s recent political events, or a modern cultural phenomenon, On Your Bike gives the humble delivery driver a moment in the spotlight. After winning a best musical award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2021, the show returns to Edinburgh for another spin – pun intended.

Fielding Edlow: Gaslighting Is My Love Language is a celebration of one woman’s independence but also a reflection on life choices and how to move forward after over a decade of a difficult marriage.

As someone who worked in an opera house in New York and volunteers with an opera house in London, I have had quite a bit of experience with the genre and several different shows. I decided to go to see A Comedy of Operas to see how they were able to combine opera, rock, and pop into a fun love story. 

What do bananas, parcels, and a tit on a stick have in common? They all play crucial roles in Olaf Falafel: Look What Fell Out of My Head.

If the show had simply been categorised as “Music” and not “Comedy,” I believe that I would have enjoyed it more, as I went in expecting more comedy than simply singing and playing instruments. There are some good jokes, but they tended to be few and far between the songs.

I’m sick of everyone moaning all the time, so I’ve written a show about how bloody great everything is. I haven’t actually written it at the time of going to print and in previous years I’ve made all sorts of promises in the blurb. Not going to fall into that trap again! But look, I’m going to put a real shift in for you guys, you’ll get value for money. I’m very good at stand-up, I’m actually one of the best at it. Seriously, Google me. I’ve been on telly in America.

There are rare occasions in the theatre when dance, film, music, adaptation, ensemble and puppetry combine to create magic. This is one of them. 

Ella Lovelady’s debut play End of the World really does include everything but the kitchen sink. There’s a fridge, a kettle, plenty of cupboards, a dining table, and more. This could be said of not only the set but the writing too - with everything from being a young carer to climate change to periods, this is a broad, ambitious new play tackling big ideas.

Following an NYC preview run, Midnight Building is a contemporary drama that is guaranteed to spark debate and make you question your morals. Watch as a selfish hero and a heartless lover battle for the ethical high ground.Think you're a good person? Think again.

Wake up to the World Premiere of this raw, funny, and poignant solo show from narcoleptic comedian Sarah Albritton, host of the podcast Sleeping with Sarah. Called 'vulnerable and honest' by the Chicago Tribune, Sarah sheds light on the challenges of living with a misunderstood disorder. Directed by Josh Sobel, this show explores diagnosis, medication side effects, and misconceptions of invisible disabilities. Sarah's personal journey of self-discovery is interwoven with humorous anecdotes from relationship fails to hypnagogic hallucinations to sleep paralysis, and, of course, falling asleep at the worst moments. Don't sleep on this!

'Queers in classrooms!' 'Perverts panicking parents!' – a new musical about pride, protest… and abseiling lesbians. Section 28: the landmark legislation that silenced a generation and offered a global blueprint for LGBTQ+ oppression.

Super feels just as artificial and hollow as the characters it is portraying.

Death Suits You is an entertaining scrutiny of humanity’s psychological avoidance yet behavioural sprint towards our end with strong theatrical and comedic elements at work. A must-see for musical theatre fans with a penchant for dark humour.

Kit Sinclair’s 30 and Out takes a more adult approach to coming out narratives - a real life story of discovering yourself aged thirty, the show dives headfirst into queer sex, the club scene, homophobia, and relationships in a high energy hour of cabaret-style theatre.

Unstuck With You is a poignant reflection on the significance of humanity in an empty and apathetic universe in which we take up an infinitesimal amount of space. An uplifting reminder of the importance of our everyday connections in a world tilted towards nihilism, it runs Aug 10-12 at Emerald Theatre.

With light and breezy writing, Jorgensen delivers an accurate analysis of what it feels like to try to find a partner in the 21st Century in 35 delightful minutes of Regency fun. It’s a quick glimpse into the horror of modern romance.

My Father’s Nose is a surprisingly heartwarming show about death and moving on. Douglas Walker’s comedy is shaped with hilarious non-humour and eccentric irony. His sorrow is mirrored by the stranger’s sympathy in a well-rounded journey into irrational fears and comical anecdotes. Walker offers a poetic view of life and dementia, comparing Alzheimer’s disease to a locked cupboard in an astonishing image. Everything is in there, his dad just can’t open it.

All in all, it’s not a great play, but it’s also not a particularly bad one either. It’s tentatively poetic but commonplace, with a dash of humdrum personal reflection in the mix. Jealousy, love, pain, bereavement, it’s a to-do list of life.

What seems like a silly little comedy about millennial dread at first becomes a pointedly anti-Tory invective in Louis Rembges’s Chatham House Rules. It’s a production for the chronically online, anti-Brexit internet addicts, and those who simply want to have a laugh before they’re thrown into a vortex of political revenge. The zillennial experience is summed up with funny videos that ease its constant doom. Full of viral references and deliciously cynical, the monologue deftly handles poetic interiority and iconic dark humour.

Box Tale Soup adapt MR James’s ghost story into a play that has the same dark feel of a Penny Dreadful episode. Elegantly directed by Adam Lenson and featuring impressive puppetry and stage tricks, it’s a production of outstanding craft and storytelling.

Zach Hawkins is incredible with Ryan’s exuberant resignation. He waltzes through the flowing stream of consciousness with ease, handling the final shift in tone with depth and reflection.

Sikisa: Hear Me Out a brilliant hour of comedy that will leave you in stitches and in awe of the incredible woman on stage. She’s funny, she’s witty, she’s talented, and she’s not ashamed to be herself - What more could one ask for?

Double Emmy Award winner and star of Smack The Pony is doing her first ever show. Like most working mums, since her children were born she didn't have a moment for herself. Now free, she has tried new hobbies, new places, even attempting to get fit. Difficult when your spirit animal is a sloth. With nowhere left to turn she went on the road as a stand-up. A show about family, marriage, and things that truly annoy her. It's a show for everyone, even those passive-aggressive school mums.

Nick Pupo: Addicted is a powerful story about one man’s struggle with addictions; a heartfelt reflection on mistakes from the past and looking towards the future, but rarely is it a comedy.