Edinburgh Festival

In Loop, three generations of the same family are all united by their love of the music of their own time, but often struggle to relate to one another. Music is the the way a generation defines itself, but the hits of one decade are so often dismissed as incomprehensible rubbish by those still obsessed by the music of their own heyday, drawing this theatrical compilation album into a metaphor for an inter-generational failure to connect.

Rik Carranza is a devoted Trekkie, but it wasn't always a badge he wore with pride. In Still A Fan, a work that's more storytelling with jokes than a conventional stand-up show, Carranza takes us through his life so far, from growing up mixed-raced in Scotland, through bullying, depression, a suicide attempt and attempts to be 'normal', before finding happiness in being able to be his nerdy self.

Critically acclaimed musicians Novasound collaborate with playwright and performer Belle Jones to present Closed Doors - a story told through music. Three diverse artists combine spoken word, rhythm and an exhilarating live score to create this dynamic piece of theatrical storytelling. Inspired by the reality of a multicultural neighbourhood in Glasgow, Closed Doors refuses to recognise genre boundaries as it tackles questions of identity, community and isolation with rigour and heart.

Larry Dean came to my attention earlier this year after catching him on BBC One's Live at the Apollo and the new Comedy Central show, Roast Battle. He is definitely a rising star and one of Scotland's fastest-growing comedians.

American Idiot is an adaption of the hit Green Day album of the same name. The musical follows three boys, Johnny, Will and Tunny, in their struggle to find meaning in a broken world.

The show pieces together Alexandra and Kate Donnachie's sometimes heartbreaking but often hilarious memories of growing up together and managing their close bond when older sister, Alexandra, developed a severe eating disorder. When Alexandra (finally) decided to ask Kate what that time was like for her, she began cooking up ideas for this autobiographical show - albeit before Kate agreed to be in it. This is a performance that recalls on touching memories, shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes and melts Mars bars to bring to stage a story about living with an eating disorder.

A kick. A scream. A tantrum. With a disabled sister, what's allowed? What's forbidden? Dangerous Giant Animals is a darkly comedic show about finding your voice amid your sister's screams. Funny and daring, this new one-woman play explores how surreal, challenging, and remarkable disability in a family can be. Featuring divas and dinosaurs, this is a middle child story about growing up too soon alongside a sister who never will.

BWW caught up with Bowjangles to chat about bringing Excalibow to the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

BWW catches up with John Pendal to chat about bringing We Are Family to the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

BWW catches up with George Rigden to chat about bringing George-ous to the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

BWW catches up with Bread and Geller to chat about bringing Prime Time to the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

BWW catches up with Shit-Faced Shakespeare to chat about performing Hamlet at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Drowsy Chaperone will speak to any musical theatre fan who finds escapism in showtunes. A charming, heart-warming and frequently hilarious show, it features an ageing, reclusive theatre aficionado, who is dealing with feeling blue by listening to his favourite musical, a typical 1920s romantic comedy, all the while keeping up a wry running commentary to the audience.

Famed British sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke once coined the adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.  It is at this intersection that The Extinction Event resides, one of two Fringe shows from The Sorcerers For The Extinction of Death And Associates, with this show something of a sequel to The Vanishing Man, also at the Pleasance Courtyard.

A celebration of Heaven and Hell and everything in between! Cirque Alfonse, the creators that brought you the five-star, Fringe 2015 sell-out hit Barbu, return with a brand-new show. Daring, raucous, eccentric and downright fun, Tabarnak combines edge-of-your-seat circus with crazy cabaret acts and a heart-thumping live score.

Production costs, accommodation costs, leaflet printing, advertising, travel, food, drink, living costs. Edinburgh is horrifically expensive. So many working-class souls who would dare to take the next step find the door closed, find themselves priced out of opportunity. It leaves them stuck looking at the Fringe from a distance. 

A rowdy piece of popular theatre written by Morna Pearson and accompanied by an exceptionally catchy original pop-punk score by Jonny Hardie, Let's Inherit The Earth flits between scenes on the theme of climate change, how it is driven by capitalism and how it is further exploited by that very same capitalism.

It's hard keeping it together when your whole life is falling apart. But the pressures of teaching, Tinder and outrageous Irish best mates are a lot to juggle, especially when you're stumbling through the maze of trying to be a grown-up. Stranger danger, heartbreak and piña coladas are on the syllabus in the hilarious debut play Pickle Jar, written and performed by Maddie Rice, the critically acclaimed star of the smash-hit Fleabag UK and international tour.

Yasmin feels different, she feels weird. She longs to be normal like everyone else but that's proving difficult... Based on the writer's experiences, WEIRD explores the highs and lows of what it is like for a sufferer, and a sufferer's family, to live in the shadows of obsessive compulsive disorder. Moving one-woman play about the effects of one person's mental health on a whole family. Sell-out Arcola show, winner of Slam-Soaps 2018.

'Looking out over the country, this country, where I was born and raised, I wonder what's going to become of us. Because this can't be the future, can it? Everyone just... changing the rules?' Roger thinks the world's gone mad. He hates his job, his ex-wife torments him and to top it all, his girlfriend just discovered feminism. Roger's about to lose his shit. Until he discovers Angry Alan: online activist and 'voice of reason'... A darkly comic new play about masculinity in crisis from award-winning Penelope Skinner performed by Donald Sage Mackay.

Locked in his bathroom during a tragic third date, Willy Hudson asks: are you a top or a bottom? Bottom is about bums, Beyonce and burnt fish fingers. Join Willy for a queer coming-of-age remix, as he questions if 'bottom' in the bedroom means 'bottom' in life - and whether Beyonce can help put his love on top.

My best friends, Sarah and Emma, asked me for my sperm. This is the tale of what happened after I gave it to them. A storytelling show about love, faith and trying to do the right thing. Made with Daniel Goldman and set in the same universe as Team Viking and A Hundred Different Words for Love.

As one-liner comics go, you'd be hard pushed to find anyone as close to the top of their game as Gary Delaney. Building his following from regular appearances on BBC's Mock The Week, his show has become a beg, steal or borrow ticket at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe and it's easy to see why.

Juxtaposed against the classic folk melody, upbeat dance numbers feel out of place; perhaps some more traditional folk songs could have helped keep this bus on the right route.

Intertwining music with her stories of family, friends and showbiz, this really is a great mix of song and story.