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ARCADE is the latest immersive audio experience from Darkfield. Using the nostalgic aesthetic of 1980s video games, ARCADE's interactive narrative explores the evolving relationship between players and avatars. Over 30 minutes in a completely dark shipping container, this choose-your-own-path experience will fully immerse the players using 360 degree binaural sound, sensory effects and a bespoke Darkfield Arcade machine for each player. Players will be asked existential questions about free will and consciousness in a world where some may win and some may lose...
Summerhall Festival
The Terrace
B.L.I.P.S. is a wild ride of real-life circus psychosis, acrobatic madness, hula-hoop hope and radical resilience. Have you ever had insomnia? Thought you were telepathic? Or believed you were Jesus incarnate? Margot Mansfield has, and this is her story. At 19, she began experiencing Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms. B.L.I.P.S. is a touching retelling about the chaos of psychosis, told through beautiful imagery, physical feats, lip-sync, home videos and circus virtuosity. A peek through the beautiful lens of batshit crazy. Performed and co-written by award-winning Margot Mansfield. Directed and co-written by acclaimed, multi-award winning, circus luminary Jess Love.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
'Here we all are... sat together in one room. One room. One audience. One… beautiful nation'. From the creator of We Were Promised Honey! and Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist comes a new experiment in storytelling. It’s the story of a nation. It’s the story of a theatre. It’s the story of an audience. Outside there are people trying to get in. And in the middle of the room… apparently a show is taking place. ‘YESYESNONO make shows that feel completely different to anybody else’ (Exeunt). Off West End Award finalist, 2022. Best Production, Total Theatre Award.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
DEATH. It's coming for us all, so why don't we talk about it? Well, OIive is bloody well going to. Via an earth-shattering piece of serious journalism that'll be her ticket off the entertainment desk and into a Pulitzer Prize. But when Olive starts recruiting dying people to interview for her hot take on mortality... the last thing she expects is to become one of them. Based on real events, OUTPATIENT is the first solo show from Harriet Madeley: an interrogation of invincibility that will make you laugh... and so live longer.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Julieta tells the story of a woman – full of experiences and quirkiness – and the multiple layers that old age brings. Bursting with cheeky wit and a zest for life, Julieta shares her days with us and invites us into her home that has become her whole world. Through her daily routines we witness the different stages of life, and how our self-image warps accordingly. As her surroundings morph into a mirror house of memories, Julieta finds ways to adapt – and to bring us along.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
An ape named Red Peter is captured. In his quest to break out of his confinement, he learns to imitate humanity and contests identity based on outward appearance. Through his journey, Kafka's Ape questions the understanding of otherness. Miyambo has received multiple accolades for this powerful performance, including winner of Outstanding Performance Award at Prague Fringe Festival 2019, Best Satire Award at New York's United Solo Festival 2019, and the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, among others.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Winner of eight Australian Fringe Festival awards. Is art a joke? Sydney artist and comedian Sam Kissajukian examines 300 paintings created during a five-month long manic bipolar episode. An epic story exploring art, mental health and creativity.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Turn on the radio, have a cup of tea – and don't forget to take your pills! Get ready for an action-packed journey through the imagination of a playful, solitary old man as he discovers treasured memories of raising his late son. Mischievously recreating childlike memories with an undercurrent of grief, Old Man is a masterpiece of modern clowning, where the anguish of loss is beautifully juxtaposed with innocent joy. This show is non-verbal, and blends physical theatre, clowning and mime. Winner of the Brian's Life Award, Prague Fringe 2023. Directed by Oliver Fife-Nilsson, produced by Ellen Fife-Nilsson.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
1984 is a compelling physical theatre adaptation of George Orwell's classic, performed by Slavic actors. With inspiration from Nick Hern's adaptation, it delves into themes of surveillance and control, offering a haunting and immersive experience that challenges perceptions of truth and reality. Through expressive movement and visceral choreography, audiences are transported into Orwell's dystopian universe, feeling the oppressive atmosphere of Big Brother's world firsthand. This innovative fusion of physicality and narrative captivates spectators, leaving a lasting impact and sparking thought-provoking conversations about the state of our society and the dangers of unchecked power.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Ten years on from the play’s debut, a new production of the smash-hit comes to Roundabout, directed by Duncan Macmillan and performed by Jonny Donahoe. You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid. She finds it hard to be happy. So you make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. Ice cream. Water fights. Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV. The colour yellow. Rollercoasters. People falling over. Every Brilliant Thing is a play about depression and the lengths we will go for those we love.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A dog with a bird-killing problem. Two people stitching their relationship together. A house filled with taxidermy animals. When a young couple responds to a dog-sitting advert expecting a free holiday, they stumble into an unexpected tradition. Using cameras, puppets, and diorama sets, five performers weave together a live animation told from the perspective of a dog. A delicate, eerie, and amusing look at three lives, human and non-human, from emerging live-cinema company Buzzcut. 'Utterly spellbinding' (IsisMagazine.org.uk). 'Innovative and mesmerising' (DailyInfo.co.uk).
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
'If you follow someone down a path you don't recognise, you risk not being able to find your way back.' When Ouida was a child her father sleepwalked out of the house... never to return. Ouida suspected her imaginary friend "Burt" led him astray, but her family insisted he'd abandoned them and she must give up all notions of imaginary things. Years later, Ouida is a respected therapist debunking the irrational and fantastic... But what will you believe? This beautiful, darkly comic story about magic versus cynicism leaves audiences charmed – and just a little bit spooked.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Four performers mount four treadmills. What begins as a simple wager between performer and audience becomes a desperate attempt to complete a series of escalating tasks that confront the limitations of the performer's bodies, spirits and minds. This is not an endurance feat. Nor is it performance art. It is an unraveling realisation that the system we participate in is not designed for us. A delusional and physical celebration of our collective struggle to establish clear boundaries in our lives. 'One of the most frenetically uproarious shows you will ever experience' ***** (TimeOut).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Sparked by a conversation with a childhood friend that unearthed a long-forgotten obsession with football, Bryony wondered why all the girls she knew stopped playing football in their teens. It's 1998: Geri Halliwell is leaving the Spice Girls, David Beckham is wearing a sarong, and somewhere in England a 10-year-old Bryony is pretending to be Eric Cantona. An absurd and tongue-in-cheek ride through British adolescence set against a backdrop of 90s football and pop. Directed by Fringe First winner Ben Target and packed to the brim with playful audience interaction, 90s bangers, clown comedy and drag.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Join performance-maker and foodie Sean Wai Keung as he explores fortune cookies as well as his own mixed-race identity. Write your own fortunes as he bakes cookies live while exploring the history of this most enigmatic of after-meal snacks. An intimate performance for ten people maximum, you will have the opportunity to write fortunes for yourself or for someone else. Suitable for vegans.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Fern doesn't get invited to dinner parties anymore. They used to love her tales of the macabre. But now? The mask is slipping. Written by Amy Conway and directed by Beth Morton, Catafalque is a one woman eulogy to death through the lens of a civil celebrant. How do we grieve the ungrievable? How do you speak of death when no-one wants to look? A show about love, loss and a lifetime of secrets. Join Fern as she navigates the complexities of a grieving family and learns to tell the truth when it repels the bravest of us.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
How do we uncover our true colours in a world full of reasons to hide? A life-affirming, thought-provoking comedy about attempting to fit in everywhere yet belonging nowhere, from engineer, entrepreneur (Forbes 30 Under 30) and award-winning New York storyteller Narie Foster in her EdFringe debut. From corporate business to funny business, Thai-Canadian Foster takes us on a raw, honest and oftentimes hilarious exploration of freedom and self-acceptance, spanning stand-up and physical comedy, poignant storytelling, tolerable whiffs of motivational speech and the unconventional use of hula hoops. ‘Fascinating. Beautifully written. Naturally hilarious.’ **** (InReview)
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Every day a different unrehearsed performer takes to the stage, ready to receive instructions. Line-by-line a story unfolds, and a life unspools. A new show by makers of work.txt, ★★★★★ (The Guardian). Instructions is about AI, creativity and the dying days of capitalism, performed by a different actor every day. They are about to give the performance of a lifetime as the borders between reality and fiction begin to blur. By Nathan Ellis. Produced by SUBJECT OBJECT.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
‘What do you want me to say? That the world’s ending? Would that be helpful?’ The mushrooms are encroaching, fish are falling from the sky, and in a bell tower Clement and Aspinall are waiting for lightning to strike. Superstition says that the ringing of church bells can dispel a storm. When it feels like the apocalypse is here, anything is worth a shot. The Stage Producer of the Year Ellie Keel Productions, and award-winning Atticist, return to ROUNDABOUT with a debut play about being young at the end of the world. Finalist: The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2024.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A comedy drama… or "dramedy" about Ade, a successful writer, or so it seems. She has everything she has ever wanted; her career is flying, she's (kinda) moved out of her mum's house, her situationship isn't as complicated as she expected. Life is perfect?! But things don't always go how you plan, and Ade is about to find that out. Failure Project explores what it means to "fail" and if it is possible to recover?
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
For over 30 years Hegley has brought a show to the Fringe with a spattering of favourites, alongside new work, to present to festival-goers. This year 'the new' involves his teaching. And learning. There are interactions – audience participation if you prefer, but it is more audience collaboration. And drawings. Quite a lot of them horses – mouths both open and closed. Myths, moths, no mathematics. Audio and visual stimulation. Entertainment. And thought provocation. Devised for adults but not unsuitable for the odd nine-year-old. 'Awesomely mundane' (Independent). Image credit: Suzi Corker.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Addicted to any mobile devices or know others who are? If so, Wen-Jen Huang's restlessly swift, hot-wired dance quartet should produce jolts of recognition. Her dynamic new work is based upon the contemporary socio-cultural phenomenon of phubbing (paying more attention to one's mobile, etc. than to the people you're with). Guided by the choreographer's laser-like kinetic intelligence, the dancers slice and slide through space with a desperate, unpredictable energy. Fair warning: their self-absorbed, pressure-cooked state of being could be both exciting and distressing. European premiere.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
'“It's the Black Women Curse”. A poetic reflection of a harrowing true story. Godlike, A Walking Universe, with the power to create life. When the mind forgets but the body doesn’t, every traumatic event is etched into the fabric of DNA. Memories manifest themselves like a pollutant. AfroFuturism through an East African lens. Interweaving language, customs and music with wearable tech MiMu gloves, ethereal artist Lula Mebrahtu (aka LULA.XYZ) presents the spiritual successor to 2023’s OommoO - neither a musical or drama… It’s a new kind of storytelling!'
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
The Disappeared – A wild, fun and sexy burlesque cabaret that tells the true story of a queer Latinx voice robbed of their freedom and forced into exile during a government coup in South America. Experience first hand a final night of joy and freedom of expression, before the Chilean government regime change challenges the country's LGBTQIA+ community and robs them of their personal freedom and identity. Witness the last cry of hope from an oppressed community before joining the ranks of those who have been disappeared.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Mother is in prison. Daughter, from whom she has been estranged for 12 years, has come to visit. Closely watched by security personnel, they have 1 hour. As unreliable as she is charming, Mother recounts her version of events, knowing this is their last chance to reconnect. Along a blurry journey of sleep deprivation and abandoned love, we discover the true reason for her imprisonment and ask: how can you keep a hold of yourself when you're forced to get lost in your keeper? Nominated for 3 Off West End awards for best new play, best solo performance, and best lighting design. A new play from the writer of multi award-winning Bacon. 'Beautiful and devastating' ***** (Stage)
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
1968. Three thousand students occupy the London School of Economics, in the most significant act of protest in a generation. 2024. Two friends and flatmates try to work out what radical change means today, searching through archives, photos, and first-hand accounts. Following a sold-out Soho Theatre run, Lessons on Revolution comes to Summerhall. This five-star, 'compelling and galvanising' (James Graham) piece of documentary theatre takes you on a journey through global and personal history which asks: in a new age of inequality and injustice, how can the voices of the past give us hope?
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Part performance lecture, part auto-fictional gay memoir, discover this free-wheeling metatheatrical exploration of love through history, art, literature, music, and science by internationally acclaimed Franco-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco (Thebes Land). Sound clever? It is! Interweaving Sergio's first experiences of love with his boxing instructor, the story of Francis Bacon's doomed romance with George Dyer, and an eye-opening journey through the history of love, enjoy this life-affirming new work from one of international theatre's most unique voices. Performed by multi-award winning director, Daniel Goldman, don't miss this new 'collaboration to savour' by 'two masters of the form' (Lyn Gardner).
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Abigail’s mum is dead. But it turns out she can’t afford her to be. It’s £4000 for the funeral. Extra for flowers. Even more if you want sausage rolls. Then, when a theatre suddenly pulls out of Abigail’s new project, she is asked to write about something else. Something more raw, from her "unique working class lens". Yep. To afford the funeral, she has to write about her mum. With power and playfulness, Kelly Jones’s new play tackles the inequalities around death, and the cost of turning your loved ones into art.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A traveller arrives at a border with a stack of battered cases. From within them, whole worlds will emerge... Suitcase Show is an eclectic boxset of short stories. Dark, spiky, and comic, each one is told out of a suitcase. The staging is inventive, from lo-fi shadowplay to wireless projection, from dancing disembodied hands to narratives that crackle from a 70s stereo suitcase. Trick of the Light is an award-winning company from Aotearoa / New Zealand renowned for crafting inventive shows with engaging narratives. Past work includes The Road That Wasn't There, Tröll, and The Bookbinder.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Love at first sight is easy, letting it through the front door is a goddamn Odyssey. All he wants to do is let the perfect man in, but can he overcome his unhinged neighbour, a seductive cult, a self-obsessed vampire, and a cat intent on dragging him to hell? From Audible and the award-winning producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, I’m Almost There is New York favourite Todd Almond's rueful, hilarious and poignant modern love story in song about a man crossing a sea of doubts to find happiness… and good coffee. 'Roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating' (HollywoodReporter.com).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
1999. Lucy is in labour. She’s just been handed a document to sign and her sense of self is beginning to deteriorate. 2024. Claire is an art student. Her latest panic attack means her art course could be over. Oh, and she can't stop contemplating her own mortality. Misdiagnosis, mistreatment and misinformation were rife back then. And still are now... Claire and Lucy have OCD. But they don’t know that yet. From award-winning Almost Adult writer-performer Charlotte Anne-Tilley (*****, EdFestMag) and Destiny (****, Guardian) producer, Tom Bevan.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Nick Cassenbaum's two-hander comedy heist, directed by Emma Jude Harris, romps through 2018 Jewish Essex. Through madcap comedy and biting satire, this explosive tale blows the roof off what it means to be Jewish in the UK. Twins Dan and Lauren meet ex-gangster Malcolm Spivak at their grandfather's funeral. Malcolm, who's 'had enough', enlists the siblings in a ragtag Yiddishe plot to kidnap then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. REVENGE: After the Levoyah examines antisemitism in the diaspora, the dangers of collective hysteria, and how far one nonagenarian can throw a jar of chraine from a moving vehicle.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
As children they were evacuated from a war zone. Fifty years on, Barton and Andy are still trying to find out who they are. Precious Cargo is a powerful, timely new show about the life-long impact of the Vietnam war, by Australian writer-performer Barton Williams (Huynh van Cuong) and Hebridean composer Andy Yearley (Nguyen Tang). Drawing on interviews with Operation Babylift adoptees from across the world, it is a story about the chaos of conflict, childhood trauma, racism and a generation running out of time to find lost families. Directed by Fringe First winner Laura Cameron-Lewis.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
BirdWorld attend their inaugural Fringe run on the eve of releasing Nurture on Dugnad Records (Norway). With a set-up of cello, drums, kalimbas and percussion spanning alternative, electronic, Afro-Cuban and contemporary classical music, their field recordings form an integral part of their music, interweaving industrial and natural soundscapes. Highlights include a Union Chapel concert filmed and recorded by NTS Radio, an electronic film score commissioned by London Contemporary Orchestra and a performance at LSO St Luke’s Open Ear series recorded by BBC Radio 3. Nurture is a significant leap into a new intimate and lyrical musical realm.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Nominated for Best Production at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023, You're Needy (sounds frustrating) is a site-specific piece for one audience member about a woman's retreat from everyday life in pursuit of peace, solitude and "wellness". Carrie's moved into her bathroom. She's living on slim noodles and chopped parsley baths. Every week she's visited by a volunteer hired to help her reintegrate into society. This week, it's your turn. Take an ocean breath and snort a line of rock salt. It's time to peel off those cucumbers and take a long hard look at yourself.
Buccleuch Terrace
Meet Outside Tills Bookshop
Illuminate the Darkness is an experimental theatre that exposes the cultural stereotypes that are perpetuated by misinformation and ignorance that is associated with racism and sexism in America. Bea Conner-Pohl interviewed women of different races and ethnicities illustrating their plights, their tragedies, and their achievements. It focuses on how they address the cultural inequities that affected them through their own unique ways of humour, common sense, heart, and empowerment. This new performance utilizes storytelling, videos, and audience participation.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
This one's for the young hearts, the old hearts and the broken hearts. Story, science and a synth combine in an exhilarating performance that examines what happens in our bodies when we're bereft. From acclaimed New Zealand company EBKM (Yes Yes Yes), Heartbreak Hotel tracks a woman's broken heart in a wrenching and relatable journey that's studded with classic break-up songs and razor-sharp observations on the physiology of love. 'Fantastic. Karin McCracken is, quite simply, brilliant. She's hilarious, heartwarming and moving – often all at once' (TheatreView.org.nz).
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Jamie can’t swim. Bit awkward when you’re 30. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, Jamie is taking on her biggest fear, the ocean. With the help of a chipper swim instructor, a shady spiritual guide and one cathartic crab sandwich, she’s questioning, ‘how many lengths does it take to wash away regret?’ Brilliantly witty, deeply heartfelt, this play explores what lies beneath the surface of Black people’s relationship to water. Somebody Jones’ searing debut is 'funny with fear, liberating with grief' (FringeReview.co.uk) and impossible to walk away from unchanged.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Don Murphy is a proud Irish man, a hopeless ketamine addict and one of his generation’s greatest actors. He also happens to be a chicken. Across one fateful night, the feathered Oscar winner shares his star-studded story with an intimate audience - from getting his big break, to his first bird on bird sexual experience, to navigating life in the celebrity spotlight. But along the way Don will be confronted with some harsh truths about himself, chicken kind and humankind. Sell out run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023. Winner of Filipa Bragança award for best female identifying/ non-binary solo performer at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
FAMEHUNGRY is a helter-skelter nose-dive into the TikTok universe, the attention economy, and what it means to be an artist now. Fusing performance art and very real and very live TikTok Experiences, join award-winning performance artist Louise Orwin as she cosplays as a TikToker in a real-life experiment hunting for fame and fortune. Made in collaboration with an actual Famous TikToker, The Almighty Algorithm, and TikTok-Famous Faces, FAMEHUNGRY asks what the future looks like if all roads lead to TikTok. Praise for previous work: 'Like an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway devised by Marina Abramovic' (Guardian).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
A high-risk, high-return dance show. Witness every organ, nerve and muscle in the human body vibrating. Outrageous dancing, profit, loss, live music and the deconstruction of power at a price. It is time to calculate your net worth and maximise growth. The economy meets the human body in a tour-de-force danced and spoken by 42-year-old choreographer Sacha Copland with music played live by Tristan Carter. This is a show for lovers of the human body and accountants.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Gamble is a glittering, glamorous peek into the spectacular world of online gambling. A bittersweet multimedia show about addiction and its effect on families, friends and communities. There's a girl who used to think gambling was all about big wins at the village monthly bingo. A decade later, the gambling industry is all about online and is bigger than ever! Without realising it, it's made its way into the girl's home, her relationship, her joint account. BSL Interpreter: Amy Cheskin.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
A mother dies. A boy eats an ice lolly and freezes internally. A father cries yellow tears into snow. A lover cleans urine from his grandmother’s favourite carpet. Performer and bedroom foley artist Guy Woods tells the story of a cold boy’s adolescence. 'Beautifully written and performed', 'Excellent storytelling, so engaging and a great use of multimedia sound', 'Love the piss' (Audience Reviews from performance at the Tron Theatre, 2023). Puddles & Amazons is a queer coming-of-age story of grief, male tenderness and fluids. Featuring live audio mixing, mild audience interaction, and water. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Multi award-winning 'magnificent Fringe legends' (Time Out) Sh!t Theatre are back! And we're totally fine! Actually all things considered, we're OK. Feeling alright. Thriving, even? That's a bit far, but we have learnt some folk songs. We've got into folk recently and it's been really helpful. Come and sing some folk songs with us! A swift 60 minutes of classic folk followed by a singaround in the Summerhall bar. Because we need a drink, don't we? But we're doing OK. 'Few companies make shows that are so consistently, outrageously fun*' (Guardian). *fun not guaranteed
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
No one likes crusty knickers and a broken heart. But that’s just life, isn’t it? Three friends grow up under an ancient tree. They’re filthy, brutal and full of hope. By turns hysterical and poignant, Playfight is a searing probe of their inner lives as they hunt for love. Proper, ugly love. As their roots sink deeper, the branches stretch higher… so they decide to climb. Multi Fringe First-winning team Julia Grogan (Gunter), Theatre Uncut and Grace Dickson Productions present Playfight, shining a vivid light on adolescent desire in a landscape of rising sexual violence.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Jeanette Peh – a highly Westernised Singaporean junior college valedictorian – decides to abandon law school to follow her dreams of studying acting in London, where she will hopefully find her occidental soulmate. On arrival, however, she is dismayed to find that her teacher and classmates label her as just one of the "Asian students". Monsieur Laroche, her acting teacher, wants her to perform honestly by speaking in her native language. There's just one problem: Jeanette is beginning to realize she doesn't know what her native language is. In fact, she doesn't really know who she is at all.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
'A fierce 70 minutes of music and protest' (Scotsman). The story of two generations of women activists in the struggle for black liberation in America. One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur, the other a college student at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson in 2014. Against a stunning soundtrack of gospel and blues sung live, the show explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. Originally performed as Woke, written by Apphia Campbell, Fringe First Winner and creator of the hit show Black is the Colour of My Voice. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
We might swing by Satchmo’s, blow out of town on aeolian pipes, hammer blow, tapping toe, jam with the Lotos-Eaters. Then again, we might head somewhere entirely different. I can’t say exactly what notes I’m going to play. Not till the moment they spill out onto the piano keys, commit themselves to the past, the rear view mirror. Don’t look back. Decisions on the bonnet. I'll be your pilot, your tour guide. Piano solos, stories and the stuff of life.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
What would you do with an hour? What if it was your last hour ever? For James the answer is easy: he wants to tell you a story. A story full of laughter and music and joy. A story about living. The third and final part of a trilogy that began with Learning to Fly (***** (Guardian)) and Piece of Work (**** (Morning Star)) from the creator of the Songs of Friendship Trilogy (***** (Stage), ***** (ThreeWeeks), ***** (Skinny)).
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Smile while it burns. Stacey is a California weather girl. An oversexed and underpaid harbinger of our dying planet. But today, her regular routine of wildfires, prosecco and teeth whitening descends into a scorched earth catastrophe, before she discovers something that will save us all. A dizzying rampage into the soul of American strangeness. The award-winning producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer bring you a blistering dark comedy about wrecking the places we love. From Lucille Lortel Award-nominated Brian Watkins, creator of the hit Amazon series Outer Range, and Drama Desk-nominated director Tyne Rafaeli.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Written and performed by award-winning comedian, actor and writer Anna Morris, Son of a Bitch is a brutally honest and darkly funny monologue about a woman who is caught on camera calling her 4-year-old son a c*nt during an air-rage incident. When the video goes viral, Marnie's life violently unravels. Now the whole world knows her darkest secret, but what happened before someone pressed record and captured the worst 10 seconds of her life? This debut play is a bold one-woman piece about maternal ambivalence.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
In the wake of a relationship, a woman attempts to contain the overflow of her thoughts. But something's blocked, there are leaks to fix in her house, the holes just keep getting bigger and the water is rising. A captivating and comedic piece of magical realism about the things we lose and how we grieve them. Blending true stories with fiction, movement, text, comedy and live music. Based on interviews with people wondering: 'who am I in the wake of a loss?' Blurring imagination with reality by invoking a surreal, tender and humorous dreamscape.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Surrender yourself to a comedy-thriller experience inspired by the classic game of deception. What feels like a game by daylight takes on new life when plunged into the night. Created by one of New Zealand's most innovative theatre companies, Werewolf features chilling sound design and a unique immersive style; you can be a fly on the wall or take charge of the situation. However you decide to play it, you will become part of a community coming together to make it through the night. But what is hiding in the darkness that is making everyone so nervous?
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
'This company truly are the best at storytelling' ***** (ThreeWeeks). A lad heads off to kill a monster. To prove himself. To make history. A story about winning and what we lose on the way. An adrenaline-fuelled retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur through soaring live music and searing spoken word from the makers of ORPHEUS, HELIOS and THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS. One half of HALF MAN || HALF BULL, an epic theatrical double album. 'Incredibly powerful... Euphoric gig-theatre' **** (Stage).
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
A man in a battle with his identity, and on a journey through the depths of Black-British culture, class and belonging. What happens if you're not black enough for the ends, but too black for the rest of the world? Tones combines the gritty underground sounds of hip-hop, grime and drill with the melodrama of opera to present a piece of gig theatre like no other, as Jerome, aka The Professor, navigates his way through a treacherous path to self-discovery.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Take a step back in time to the lively 1920s at our hidden bar, nestled away from the hustle and bustle of Summerhall's courtyard. Behind the inconspicuous workshop door lies a clandestine entrance to our prohibition-era bar. Your host will greet you in authentic attire, setting the scene for a nostalgic experience complete with era-appropriate drinks and music. Enjoy an hour of pre-theatre drinks including two expertly crafted historical cocktails to kickstart your festival evening.
Summerhall Festival
Summerhall Distillery
Do you believe in true love? Meet Odette, a chain-smoking half-swan, half-ballerina stuck in limbo, looking for someone to give her an undying vow of love to free her. Come to a love story you will not forget, filled with pointe, comedy and heroes, where anyone can break her curse, maybe even you. Special thanks to the creative team of Mump and Smoot and Meegan Sweet. 'Deeply layered and confronting' ***** (List). 'Strikingly strong piece of theatre' (GlamAdelaide.com.au). 'Spot on comedy' (Apt613.ca).
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
A cocky gay clown in therapy. A clueless detective. An X-Factor sob story. Pop culture and queer drama drama drama collide against a rainbow backdrop. A surreal, fast-paced and darkly funny exploration of a queer relationship gone bad. Blending clowning, drag and a subversive take on the trauma-parading solo show, plewds is about the lengths we’ll go to avoid what’s right in front of us, in a story where the villains don’t look like villains. Being queer is the best, right? Mary Dick Award Winner 2024. Made with support from Camden People's Theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Nearing 40, painfully shy, and emerging from a toxic break-up, Leah forms a punk bank inspired by Lynn from Alan Partridge. As she takes to the stage with no musical ability, will this gig push Leah further over the edge, or help her regain her confidence and find the hope she needs to move on? A funny, farcical and poignant new play, exploring the impact of abusive behaviour, the power of friendship and how silliness can be healing. Lynn Faces is a new play by multi award-winning writer Laura Horton, following her Fringe First-winning show, Breathless.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Kit Bromovsky Productions present The Bookies. Two Edinburgh bookies feel the pressure of signing customers up for online betting accounts, signing their own jobs away in the process. They come up with a plan to fight back. But a mountaineer from Mount Everest gets in their way. 'Fast and witty production' **** (Scotsman). **** (TheWeeReview.co.uk). 'Sharp, cynical comedy' (Stage). 'Riotously funny play... well worth attending for a fun night out' (Skinny).
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Join Australian musical comedian Darby James for his multi-award-winning cabaret about the process of sperm donation. On this unforgettable voyage with all original songs, Darby clicks a Facebook ad and gets swept up on an hilarious, heartfelt adventure. As he navigates medical questionnaires, psychological evaluations and musings on potential parenthood, Darby finds himself stranded as a seaman in moral purgatory, facing the question: should we be having children? Winner of the Edinburgh Touring Award and Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023, and nominated for six Green Room Awards, Darby James dives headfirst into his international debut.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Two best mates. One HUGE party. Luton pinned by austerity. An evening of noughties bangers and shots of shitty gin mixed with the chaos of violence. A night to remember! Winners of the 2022 Untapped Award, Chalk Line presents The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return. Packed with swagger, it hurls at a rapid pace with linguistic vigour and unfolds in real time. It's a tapestry of violence and joy parading through Luton. 'This is theatre birthed out of exasperation' **** (Time Out, for Blanket Ban).
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
When tasked by her tech CEO fiancé to explain the four times she has cried in public since they started dating, overachieving journalist Anya Samuel can't help but bring her A-game. As she prepares a slide deck complete with animated infographics of her menstrual cycle, Anya is forced to confront harsh truths about who she really is and what she actually wants. Written with searing wit and insight by Amanda Chong, Psychobitch is a thought-provoking one-woman show boldly dissecting gender power dynamics and toxic relationships, while challenging us to examine the concessions we make in our search for love.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
'Incredibly powerful... Euphoric gig-theatre' **** (Stage). A boy falls out the sky.His dad built wings. To escape. A story about inventing a way out, and what happens when we fall. A heartrending retelling of Daedalus and Icarus through live music and spoken word from critically acclaimed Wright&Grainger (ORPHEUS, HELIOS, THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS), Oliver Tilney and Olivier Award-winning producer Molly Morris. One half of HALF MAN || HALF BULL, an epic theatrical double album told live on stage through soaring music and searing spoken word. 'Beautiful' ***** (List).
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Max and Stevie are just two wee guys trying to survive in an ordinary Scottish secondary school. But to survive, sometimes you need to hide. And there's no hiding when you're a VL. VL = Virgin Lips. It means you’ve never kissed a lassie, or a laddie. The longer you stay a VL, the more of a VL you become. The producers of Fleabag bring you another raucous and riotous comedy from the Fringe First Award-winning writers of Square Go, Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, about young boys trying to navigate love, romance, and status in the chaotic hormonal pressure cooker of a small-town school.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
For decades trans people have been using hyperpop to shatter standards of genre, gender and good taste. Right now, the only thing Saoirse wants to shatter is her own f*cking voice. Told through live vocal modulation and manipulation, this is a rip-roaring and unabashedly queer theatrical deep dive into trans identity and music. What it means to speak, sing and, for the audience (yes, you babe), to listen.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
'This is just the start. Of Everything. Of Us.' It's the late 90s. Charlie and Debs have perfected their Wannabe routine. They're drenched in Impulse Blue. And they're each other's everything. But as the world pulls them in different directions, their friendship begins to strain. It dies. Again and again and again. If a female friendship dies many deaths, how many can they survive? Spanning 25 years and the countless lifetimes of one friendship, this new romcom explores the heartbreak of platonic love. By Amy Powell Yeates. Directed by Claire O'Reilly.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Inside Chekhov's masterpiece, Olga, Masha, and Irina are trapped in a cycle of disappointed hopes, heartbreak, and inertia. But this time, it's going to be different. Looking for answers, this trio investigate the trope they have been written into, from Greek mythology to the Sugarbabes. Harnessing the raucous energy of girlhood and the wildness of three women on the brink, Sisters Three sets ablaze a construction of femininity drawn by men, to find hope in its ashes. TheatreGoose return to Summerhall following their OFFest-nominated and BBC Popcorn Award-longlisted debut Her Green Hell.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Ashtar is a Jerusalemite artist who humorously explores her life and spirituality. Navigating between Palestine and France, seeking equilibrium and comfort in both. Inspired by Jerusalem and cherished memories of her grandmother, she seeks a connection with the Divine. Ashtar practices yoga and meditation, and explores tarot reading on the internet. Her elastic body mirrors her dual life, between two countries, cultures, and languages, between solitude and togetherness. Sarcastically, she presents her beliefs. Over a ceremony, poetry blends with humour and subjectivity merges with the universal, embarking on a journey of balance and contradictions, showing the beauty of interconnectedness. This will be the company's first performance of this show in English.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Ezra Montefiore is the greatest spirit medium of all time. A master of the seance, levitation and telekinesis, he defies all scientific explanation. But when details of a clandestine affair with Prince Felix Yusupov reach the ears of Rasputin and Russia's Imperial Court he must fight not only for his reputation but also his life. From the makers of the sell-out smash hits Jew...ish and Man of 100 Faces comes an extraordinary story based on real historical events, told through dynamic physical theatre, multi-roling and stage illusion. Expect seances, spirit-possession and live levitation.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Fairy Sprinkles isn't your average fairy... In this award winning rock'n'roll monologue from Lucy Heffernan, all the glitzy hell of a kid's birthday party explodes out on stage to rip apart class, challenge traditional feminine behaviour and explore the impact of mental illness on family. Telling stories from Heffernan's time as a Party Fairy, and featuring five original rock songs – don't miss this intimate, funny and deeply moving work. Winner: 2023 Adelaide Fringe Weekly Award for Best Theatre / Physical Theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
In 1974, Jimmy Connors was the greatest tennis player on Earth. In 1991, he's getting annihilated at the US Open by his arch-nemesis' little brother. What happened next was one of the greatest comebacks in sport, when Jimmy, fuelled by ghosts of his turbulent past, winds back the clock to remind the world what happens when you rattle the cage of a geriatric tiger, one last time. Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Adam Riches (***** (Independent)) makes his Summerhall debut with this fast-paced, funny and intensely physical ride, deep inside the mind of an ageing, swaggering alpha. Directed by Tom Parry
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
This is Temi’s show. It’s all about her. Not you. Her. Temi got veeeery good at being everybody’s sassy best friend. Growing up a black girl in a white world shunts you into playing a side character in your own life. But now she’s stepping into her Main Character Energy and it’s your privilege and pleasure to give her all the attention she deserves. As self-aware as it is self-indulgent, this show is a high-energy cocktail of comedy, audience interaction and cabaret. An excuse to show Edinburgh how radiant Temi is.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
'Hilarious, moving, provocative... extraordinary' **** (List). Pick of the Week at Adelaide Fringe Festival, 2024. Welcome. Welcome to The Ceremony. You're welcome. Thank you. Exploring ritual and tradition in the modern world, The Ceremony is experimental and interactive – part sermon, part group therapy, part comedy show (not a cult). Shaped entirely with the audience, the show is completely different every night. What's going on? Where are we? Who are we? Does this have a meaning? What does meaning mean? Hmm. Join me. And let The Ceremony begin...
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
The story of one of country music's most iconic voices: June Carter Cash. In this raw yet uplifting show, Charlene Boyd gets to grips with a life less ordinary. More than a simple biography, this play with songs sees Charlene explore her relationship with her musical heroine and their shared experience as performers and working mothers. A powerful, personal journey of discovery stretching across the Atlantic from the Appalachian Mountains to the Glasgow high-rise flats, their tale is one of empowerment, endurance and perseverance. Part of MadeInScotlandShowcase.com. Doors and bar open from 16:00.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Femmergy is an intersectional space to celebrate femme joy and art and have a good boogie. We work to platform DJs and artists from marginalised genders and prioritise inclusivity and safety. We are so excited to be collaborating again with Summerhall for the Fringe opening party after selling out last year! Get on your dancing shoes and come join us for your fave femme night somewhere different! Everyone is welcome! Line-up: Katelate Ria Potpurri (Annafleur + Philly)
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
They say you can get lost in a good book. But it's worse to get lost in a bad one... Trick of the Light's award-winning dark fairy tale returns to the Fringe to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a limited season in an atmospheric bookshop. The Bookbinder weaves shadow-play, paper art, puppetry and music in an inventive one-man performance for adults and children aged 8 and over. Winner of Best in Fringe Award (NZ Fringe), International Excellence Award (Sydney Fringe), and the Children's Theatre Award (Fringe World, Perth).
Buccleuch Terrace
Tills Bookshop
Scotland's longest-running, most beloved queer clubbing institution. Since 2010 Hot Mess has brought devoted crowds of dancers a playful taps-aff delight month after month. This Edinburgh festival special will be our biggest Hot Mess ever. Eschewing big-name guest DJs and performance acts, the party's success derives from ecstatic and arousing music played by resident Simonotron: tear-drenched orchestral disco, high-NRG classics and bleepy psychedelic techno. Offering dancefloor comfort and joy for people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities and ages, Hot Mess will blow your mind, give you little forehead kisses, and call you a good boy
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Hold on to your wigs because Q’iwa is bringing a night of ballroom culture you won’t forget! Vogue beats, international guests, performances from the hottest dancers plus a showcase from the local scene. Headlining our event, is the LEGENDARY Jay Jay Revlon! World renowned for their seamless mixes, full of rhythm and energy, he will have the dancefloor pulsating, making this night simply unmissable! As always, we have 3MR warming up and getting the party started and HUNTRESS is also on the bill. Baby this line-up is 10s across the board. We will have performances from the European Prince of Seduction Diesel, and transgender artist Ella, from the kiki house of Laveaux… and more surprise guests. Plus, dancers Kiki and Saigon Revlon will make sure to keep the temperature high all night. Giving you a taste of authentic ballroom culture – basically queer expression at its finest! Everyone is welcome, we operate a “no hate” and “yes love” policy. Just spectacular vibes all night, so come dressed to impress and see you on the dancefloor honey.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Do you know what happens to acrobats when they hit middle age? Neither do still hungry, but they're going to use every trick they have to try and figure it out. Packed full of love, laughter and lunacy, Show Pony by still hungry and Bryony Kimmings is a joyful scream into the face of the patriarchy that challenges us to question our prejudices towards age and femininity, on stage and off. By the makers of 2019's award-winning hit Raven (The Scotsman Fringe First, Three Weeks Editor's Award).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Two performers armed with a single scene – a customer orders a drink from a waiter. And then things go awry. Played again and again, the scene starts spinning out of control. Nightmarish spiral or grotesque farce? Roles flip back and forth. Who's serving and who's being served? Directed by Forced Entertainment’s artistic director Tim Etchells and created with the brilliant performance duo Bert and Nasi, L'Addition is a complex, hilarious and explosive performance. Presented as part of the Here & Now showcase which selects exceptional performance created in England ready for international distribution.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
'In the beginning, Katie and Body were best friends. In the beginning, Katie and Body were infinite with possibilities...' Katie's taken up synchronised swimming. She's buoyant and beautiful, but it's a lot harder than they thought. When the promise of campy fun and liberation fails to materialise, Katie feels further from her body than ever before. Join Katie and Body on their quest traversing forgiveness, beauty and whales as they ask: what does care look like for a fat body? Brand-new work from award-winning artist Katie Greenall produced by The Hale.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
The Hidden Garden. Growing up we lose the ability to live in connection with our mind. We become increasingly preoccupied by what is useful. The desire for power, control and perfection. Man becomes comparable to a supernatural creature. Obsessed, this creature sucks the life out of those who dare to confront it. Dreams, simple pleasures and poetry are suffocated. The Hidden Garden is a mysterious place where the real and the fantastic are intertwined. A choreography inspired by the gothic novel, fantasy literature and the modern customs of today's society.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Being different is a complicated business. It can be exciting, distressing, temporary, permanent, liberating, dangerous, painful, a cause for celebration. It's about bodies and language, memories and labels, perceptions and assumptions, acceptance and resistance. Join DAR, a queer, neurodivergent, curious, middle-aged Talking Heads fanatic, to consider some tricky questions around the subjects of difference, identity, positioning, labelling and belonging. A Brief History of Difference is an interactive theatre piece rooted in conversation, knowledge sharing, questioning, personal narrative and performance. A Brief History of Difference is a co-production between Das Clarks and The Riverfront, Newport, supported by Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International through the Wales in Edinburgh Fund. 20 August- pre-recorded Audio Description by Megan Brooks. 22 August- BSL interpretation by Claire Anderson.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I return as undead, washed-up drag queens when a powerful force opens the gates to the present. Together with Penthesilea and Valkyrie, they have lived in limbo for centuries, ruling over various sub- and parallel worlds. As they grapple with their shared history and enduring patriarchal power structures, the idea of a joint rule emerges. Moving between opera, drag and drama, Anne Welenc's directorial debut QUEENS plays with historical and pop cultural legacies in a bold and provocative exploration of gender, power and identity. For fans of dramatic queens, drag and absurd-comic musical theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
A vivid and unflinching adaptation of Amy Liptrot's wrenching personal memoir of addiction, powered by an extraordinary central performance from Saoirse Ronan. Addicted to hedonism, drink and drugs, a young woman must wrestle with recovery in the remote islands of Orkney whilst reckoning with her complex family history. Powered by a pounding soundtrack, a kinetic visual style and intricate narrative structure, this extraordinarily moving film is redemptive, cathartic and utterly riveting. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Raw, commanding and thoughtful Taiwanese drama about compassion and decency in the face of inequality and invisibility. An undocumented Thai careworker living in a remote region of Taiwan cares for the disabled and elderly, as he is forced to navigate their mutual lack of status and currency. This is a subtle and carefully painted portrait of disenfranchised people who are victims of a system that barely acknowledges them. Unflinching, deeply humane and beautifully shot, the film pulls no punches while retaining empathy and care for its subjects. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A profoundly moving meditation on ageing, loneliness and love in unexpected places. An elderly Iranian widow encounters a lonely taxi driver in Tehran, where female oppression and strict social structures are subverted as a delicate kinship blooms against the odds. This is a gorgeously constructed two-hander that offers a reflection on societal repression of both men and women, and a powerful note of hope that cuts through deep pain. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A cantor undergoing a crisis of faith runs into his high school music teacher who is intent on having a late life Bat Mitzvah in this sweet, melancholic comedy. Jason Schwartzman stars alongside Carol Kane as the unlikeliest of odd couples drawn together later in life. Beautifully shot and acted with offhand charm by a superb cast, this elegantly observed, often riotously funny film manages a delicate and moving balance between farce and love story. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Optimo returns to Summerhall, its Edinburgh Spiritual home for their first East Coast party of 2024. After a hectic summer touring schedule, JD Twitch and JG Wilkes are back at one of their favourite stops, at a time when the buzz is always off the scale. Expect a no holds barred four hours of dancefloor detonation and of course, as it is Optimo, be prepared to expect the unexpected...
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
A powerful account of the Kolbari covert goods traden between the Kurdish cities and towns of Iran and borders of Iraq. The film follows Hamid and Yasser over six years as they contend with the life threatening conditions they and their families have to face to survive. A rare insight into the plight of the Kurdish people, this is an elegant portrait of a marginalised people, where the palpable sense of risk and danger is contrasted with the gentle rhythms of family life under harsh conditions. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A richly poetic and moving film about a young person journeying to bury their lover in the heart of the Peruvian jungle. Slow revelations and reflections begin to paint a picture of the deceased and a life before as we learn of a troubling past haunted by intimidation and violence. Deliberately paced and defined by a unique visual and sonic style, this haunting and emotional film is an unforgettable sensory experience. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An intricately constructed, lyrical and heart-breaking film about two young men wrestling with their sexuality in the repressive English society of the 1920s. Told in elegant flashback, an institutionalised novelist recounts the story of his love affair with a friend, convinced their shared sexuality could be "cured". Visually striking, beautifully acted and defined by a haunting mix of romanticism and unflinching horror, this bold film bravely examines a shamefully neglected period in queer history. Cert: 18.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An intimate portrait of family bonds, rural life and the importance of human connection in the survival from grief. The Payne family lead an idyllic, off-the-grid lifestyle in the Norwegian wilderness. When a tragic event shatters their world, they are forced to give up their home for a less rural model of living. An ode to nature and resilience, this film is warm, potent and deeply moving. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Faerie Circle is an exciting new night to amplify the voices of divine feminine and queer performers, reclaiming fast and hard rhythms, providing a safe place to lose ourselves to the night. Featuring special guests, open decks, visual art, hardcore and faerie dust. 'Someone who violates a faerie perimeter becomes invisible to mortals outside and may find it impossible to leave the circle. The fairies force the mortal to dance until they collapse in ecstasy.'
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
With a career best performance from Colman Domingo, Sing Sing is a poignant drama that unfolds within the walls of the notorious prison in upstate New York. We meet wrongly imprisoned Divine G (Domingo), who discovers new purpose through a theatre program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts. Sing Sing is a story of resilience and the restorative impact of art, whilst offering us pieces of hope in even the darkest places. Featuring Paul Raci and a number of real-life, formerly incarcerated inmates who play versions of themselves, Sing Sing is one not to be missed. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A delicate portrait of a young Mexican boy, struggling to deal with the death of his parents, who wants to know what happens when we die. The boy forms an unlikely friendship with a local hermit whose inconceivable age and ailing health feeds his curiosity along with the world around him, which is full of mystery and intrigue. Beautifully shot and featuring a captivating, charismatic central performance, this is a deeply moving film about the circle of life, the human experience and the order of the natural world. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A bold short film programme highlighting pioneering work from Scotland and beyond. Ranging from themes of family trauma and gender identity to existentialist molluscs and werewolves, this year’s competition traverses documentary, stop-motion animation, comedy and drama all within a limited runtime. Launching the new Thelma Schoonmaker award, this is a bumper crop of world premieres showcasing talent at the cutting-edge of cinema. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Alice Lowe’s vibrant second feature offers a playful take on the romantic comedy with a reincarnation twist. Agnes chases her true love across the centuries, but can’t quite seem to get the happy ending she’s looking for. Her various unlucky deaths and a cast of offbeat side characters repeatedly get in her way. Packed with laughs and a host of familiar faces including Aneurin Barnard, Jacob Anderson, Nick Frost, Kate Dickie and Tanya Reynolds, this genre-defying romp is as emotionally insightful as it is entertaining. Cert: 15. Screens with Don't Hate Me (UK, 12min).
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An immersive documentary from acclaimed director Sophie Fiennes, looking behind the scenes of the acting process, from voice exercises to text analysis and the thrills of performance. In an old castle, theatre director Declan Donnellan leads a dozen young actors as they work on Shakespeare's Macbeth. His insights unlock their imagination and help them find their own way through this challenging text. Full of passionate and hard-working artists, this film is a celebration of artistic collaboration and reminds us of the enduring power of the Scottish Play. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brian De Palma's rock opera masterpiece. A Faustian tale of betrayal and obsession playing out in the gaudy halls of a concert hall, this deliriously entertaining musical features the legendary Paul Williams as cynical music producer Swan who tricks naive composer Winslow Leach (William Finley) into sacrificing his life's work. Featuring a knockout soundtrack, spectacular production design and De Palma's characteristic swagger and infectious joy in filmmaking, prepare for a sensory delight. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A middle-aged man builds a mobile religious shrine to make money in this darkly funny and moving exploration of consequences. Confronted by the success of this get-rich-quick scheme, a crisis of conscience forces our hero into a spiral of remorse and self-examination. Deceptively simple and superbly acted, this elegantly subversive film doubles as an intriguing window into the diasporic Iranian community in Montreal. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An insightful and moving documentary about a thirty-something man and his relationship with the life-size AI doll he lives with, who is animated through an app. The real focus of this beautiful film is his honest reflection and the complex personal history that has led him to develop this confined yet very real relationship with the doll. This is a clear-eyed, open-hearted and fascinating take on machine learning and AI, and the social implications for people who may seek safety and control over their circumstances in ways they cannot find elsewhere in life. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A modern re-imagining of classic fable Little Red Riding Hood, this tightly calibrated film explores trauma, grief and redemption in a dangerous world. A traumatised young girl is discovered in the woods by a social pariah dealing with his own demons, set against snowy Oregon landscapes reminiscent of The Shining. Restrained and understated, this is a dark psychological drama featuring strong performances in which gradual insights and twists pack an emotional punch. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A darkly comedic, subversive and uniquely realised road trip film about a monkey, a man and a dead man’s watch. A woman escaping a toxic relationship ends up on the road in a monkey suit with a man seeking retribution from his dead father. Written, produced and directed by Fringe stalwart Nina Conti, who also stars as a life-size iteration of her stand-up sidekick, this is fantastically absurd, original and funny. A natural, inventive extension of Conti's sell-out comedy act. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Two migrant workers find themselves thrown together in a quest to bury a body in this hypnotic and visually stunning drama. A fight over stolen property and a tragic death brings together two very different men for a hypnotic and moving odyssey across the Yorkshire landscape in search of a suitable burial place. Beautifully directed and performed and shot in stark black and white with a vivid sense of visual splendour, this humane and moving film packs quite the emotional punch. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A funny, touching exploration of fidelity, strength and the lengths we go to honour our commitments. When Gemma’s (BAFTA winner Aisling Bea) American fiancé (Emmy nominee Colin Hanks) dies shortly before their wedding day, she decides to marry him anyway, facing public opinion, legal challenges, and family objections. With funny and moving performances, Daniel Reisinger’s romantic comedy is an unconventional celebration of love ‘till death do us part’. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A stirring and powerful film about a young mother, recently released from prison and desperate to maintain custody of her two young children. Just when things appear to be at their darkest and most desperate for Molly (Posy Sterling), a chance encounter with an old school friend might be the start of a road towards a brighter future. Writer/Director Daisy-May Hudson brings wit, warmth and humanity to this beautiful story of individuals on the margins of society bonding in the face of unimaginable hardship. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A radical new animated vision of a dystopian future probes our fears about social control and liberation. Imagine a world in which difference is erased. This is a world where everyone wears a paper bag over their head. But when rumours spread of a place without masks, pressures mount towards revolution. Using jaw-dropping video game animation technology, Schirkoa is a unique and timely nightmare. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A tightly wound and exhilarating drama that examines the assumptions that adults make whilst trying to uncover the truth. When Elisabeth is called in to her sons’ school, she is shocked to discover that he has been accused of crossing boundaries with one of his classmates. Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) leads an ensemble cast in this claustrophobic chamber piece that won the Camera D'Or in Cannes. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Set on an ancient burial ground where the UK is now a crime scene, Refugee! tells the story of four characters in search of belonging. Under the rubble they find evidence of hope and humanity, as well as traces of violence and despair, and our own government’s complicity in war crimes. A live, immersive and community-based experience, with comedy, dance and music. This will be an archive for future generations; to collect, to document, we are all here as witnesses.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
249 is a Ramshackle Queer Party for All, flaunting exciting live-acts and DJs from Edinburgh's music scene. After tearing Summerhall a new one last year, this year's event is hotly-tipped for the prestigious "Best in Fringe for Queer Minge and a Dance Award 2024". Hosted by Alice Rabbit, Scotland's hardest drag queen, featuring live club anthems from local superstar Chloe Roze and hunners more. Line-up: Alice Rabbit Chloe Roze Maz and the Phantasms AAAHHHNNNDDDIII
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Have you seen Heat? Constantly judged by your more esteemed colleagues and friends for not watching a movie from 1995 at their convenience? Don’t know when you’ll next be able to commit to watching 3 hours of movie to silence them forever? With Heat on Repeat, drop in and get it done. Watch it once, three times, or three minutes at a random interval. Be the cool one at the dinner party for a change. You’re welcome. All proceeds go to the brand-new Summerhall Arts charity. #28 on 'The 100 Greatest Movies of the ’90’s' (Rolling Stone) #22 on 'The Greatest Crime Films of All Time' (The Guardian) Val Kilmer - Best Supporting Actor Nomination (The Saturn Awards)
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Local and international label LUCKYME return to their tradition of Edinburgh festival parties with a line-up befitting their extensive roster: joining the dots between club music, hip-hop, jazz and the undefinable space between. Previous festival guests include Ben UFO, Rustie, TNGHT, Eclair Fifi and Benji B.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Edinburgh Psych Fest, the sister festival to the UK’s leading Psychedelic music and arts festival Manchester Psych Fest, returns to Scotland’s capital on Sunday 1st September after the sell-out success of its inaugural year. The 2024 edition sees the expansion of the festival with the addition of two of the city’s much-loved venues The Caves & The Mash House alongside Summerhall & The Queen’s Hall promising another unforgettable day filled with mind-bending sounds, trippy visuals and a celebration of all things psychedelic. Current Line-Up Gruff Rhys | Pigs x7 | Temples | NewDad | Juniore | La Luz | The Bug Club | Lime Garden | The Wytches | Divorce | Cloth | Hotwax | Molly Payton | Holly Macve Melts | Helicon | Daiistar | Humour | Gurriers | Whitelands | Soapbox Loose Articles | TTSSFU | Hello Mary | Voka Gentle | Crush Of Souls Logan's Close | Shredd | The Wife Guy's Of Reddit | Nightshift | Puppy Teeth Bütter | Doom Scroller | Magpie Blue + DJs | Food & Drink | Merchandise Artwork by Thea Bryant - Instagram: @__bythea £20, £30 & £35 early bird tickets SOLD OUT. £40* Advance & £35* Under 24 tickets are on sale now LINE-UP SUBJECT TO CHANGE | VENUE CAPACITIES ARE BASED ON FIRST COME FIRST SERVE SO CUSTOMERS ARE ADVISED TO ARRIVE EARLY FOR SPECIFIC ACTS. Wristband collection from 11am.
Summerhall
Dissection Room & Main Hall
Edinburgh Ceilidh Club brings you the best regular ceilidhs with fantastic live bands. The bands all have a caller to teach the dances, so everyone is welcome - from complete beginners to experienced ceilidh dancers.
Summerhall
Main Hall
Josephine Sillars is a musician originally from the Highlands, making art-pop inspired by Fiona Apple and Bjork. Her music has been championed by BBC Introducing, BBC Radio Scotland, The Herald and more. In her only Scottish headline this year, this will be the first look at her debut album.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Scottish musicians Donald WG Lindsay and Alasdair Roberts have been friends for thirty years, since their teenage days. In these three decades, their careers in music have taken them down differing yet similarly unorthodox paths, and they’ve continued to make a lot of music together, usually informally. They’ve only rarely appeared together in concert, but in autumn 2024 they will remedy this state of affairs with their first duo tour.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Mercury and Brit nominated artist returns with his 9th album. Tom’s 9th studio album is an album of duets with some of his favourite French artists. McRae decided to collaborate on these 11 new songs with various artists as a way of acknowledging his deep love of French music, and deepen his relationship with mainland Europe, following Britain’s disastrous decision to leave the EU.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Andrew Wasylyk’s cinematic compositions have been nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award and been awarded BBC Radio 6 Music’s Gideon Coe’s Album of the Year. He has collaborated with former National Poet for Scotland, Liz Lochhead, and written soundtracks for Radio 4. Tommy Perman’s work as a musician and DJ has taken him across the world, with numerous record releases under his own name and with experimental group/arts collective FOUND, alongside visual works at the Sydney Opera House and National Museum of Scotland. An intimate, transcendental audio-visual performance by two artists at the height of their creativity.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
As Gum Takes Tooth, the duo of Thomas Fug and Jussi Brightmore plot an adventurous, idiosyncratic and wilfully unpredictable trajectory. Continuously exploring and mutating with an ever more nuanced approach while maintaining a staunch commitment to non-conformity, the band formed in East London in 2009 with wild gigs across the East London underground music and art scene. Early material coalesced primitive DIY Silver Apples electronics, blast beat mayhem, and experimental noise with explosive avant-punk energy.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Jadasea tours the UK in support of his new album Too Many Tears, out now via 10k. Jadasea is a crucial fixture in the local hip hop scene of South London – where he was born and raised. He first gained attention as a member of Sub Luna City, alongside his bandmates King Krule, Jesse James Solomon, Rago Foot, and Black Mack. Jadasea is an important bridge between London and New York City through his collaborations with rappers such as Wiki and MIKE (both of whom he has toured with).
Summerhall
The Old Lab
A re-imagining of teenage years in the 1980s, featuring stories by Ben Harrison and new interpretations of classic eighties songs by David Paul Jones. 'the atmosphere is one of almost liquid harmony and strength...a beautiful and intelligent hour of music theatre. **** The Scotsman, on Undertow Overflow, (prequel to Last Night…)
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Venue upgrade - all original tickets remain valid. Cosmo is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, live improviser, and field recordist. His music ranges widely from celebratory anthems to soulful elegies to riotous party numbers, to sparse electronic production, to haunting polyphonic songs that have grown out of field recordings of birds, whales, fish, frogs, and fungi, and more. Running through all his work is a belief that the living world is a noisy and musical place with the power to change how we think, feel, and imagine. Together with his human and non-human collaborators, Cosmo creates music that speaks to the urgency and possibility of our times
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Baby Bushka are 8 powerful women whose detailed, choreographed performance of Kate Bush’s music transcends the word “tribute” to create a wild joyous celebration that is simply unforgettable.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
An autobiographical performance of personal and political comedowns growing up in the aftermath of New Labour, scored by a live DJ. This is a show about late nights, early mornings, party politics and men who let you down. You know what they say, things can only get better…
Summerhall
TechCube 0
John Maus is a truly enigmatic musician. Broadly cut from the synth pop cloth, he’s fashioned the frosty minimalism of its fabric into a cloak of infinite meaning, genuine grace and absurdist humour over the course of three defining albums since 2006. His music is a highly mutable affair, whilst often described as retro-futurist on behalf of the 80’s drum machines and synth sounds employed, John’s music is more personal than the nostalgic re-tread implied. There’s a cinematic quality to his songs, with pathos conjured through propelling bass-lines, trailing arpeggios and of course his deeply resonant vocal.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Stuart Murdoch is a Scottish musician, composer, writer and filmmaker, and the lead singer and songwriter for the iconic Glasgow based band Belle and Sebastian.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
For the first time, Meteor Airlines is set to bring their unique sound to Scotland. This event is an exciting opportunity for Scotland’s audiences to experience the rich, culturally infused rock music of Meteor Airlines, a band that not only entertains but also educates and connects listeners to the Moroccan Amazigh culture
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Frankie Archer has exploded onto the electrofolk scene with music that transcends stereotypes using a combination of manipulated samples, synths, drum tracks and earthy Northumbrian fiddle and voice to capture her audience. Her aim? To shake up genres and traditions, challenge perspectives and call for a fairer future.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Celebrating Joni Mitchell: the 7-piece band Hejira performs the greatest works of the genius singer-songwriter. Fronted by the outstanding vocalist/guitarist Hattie Whitehead, this band fully captures the poetry, passion and beauty of Mitchell’s masterpieces.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Afro Celt Sound System are among the pioneers of the contemporary world music scene. Their ground-breaking fusion of African, Gaelic and Bhangra influenced sounds has won the hearts and minds of audiences since the group’s beginnings over 25 years ago. With album sales now topping more than one and a half million, two Grammy nominations to date and tours all around the world, they are the legendary afro-celtic band bringing spirits and music from different cultures together to a breath-taking show.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Los Bitchos is back and better than ever! Since the launch of their much-loved debut album, 'Let the Festivities Begin,' with City Slang in February 2022, the London-based, pan-continental female instrumental four-piece has captivated audiences worldwide. They've performed over 200 shows, including legendary appearances at Glastonbury, and supporting tours with King Gizzard, and a legendary stint to Australia. Their dynamic live presence remains unparalleled.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Beside Trawbreaga Bay, in Co. Donegal, in an old schoolhouse with a suitcase full of borrowed recording gear, Oisin Leech strums gently on an acoustic guitar and watches the tide pull the water away from this ancient inlet. The thickness of Oisin’s voice soothes the old world room as the sound waves bounce around to be captured in the land where his ancestors still live and still make music. This is a scene from the makings of acclaimed songwriter Oisin Leech’s new album, the Steve Gunn-produced Cold Sea, which is coming on Outside Music/ Tremone Records (out March 8th). While Leech may be a familiar name in some circles due to his two decade long career as one half of revered Irish folk duo The Lost Brothers, and from his brilliant radio show Caravan Radio, Cold Sea is his first solo offering. Recorded in Malin, in an old sea-facing schoolhouse that Leech and Gunn transformed into a working studio, the album features contributions from M. Ward, Dónal Lunny, Róisín McGrory and Tony Garnier, a long-time member of Bob Dylan’s touring band. In January 2024 Leech shared the second single from the record, a track called “Colour of the Rain.” The new track a follow up to last autumn’s debut solo single ‘October Sun’, which garnered widespread radio airplay from the likes of BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio Ulster, US Radio, RTE Radio 1 and Radio France.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Celebrating the high energy sounds of New Yorks ‘Studio 54’, 10-piece Discography perform classic and new arrangements of iconic floor fillers form the disco era. Featuring songs from legends; Chic, Nile Rodgers, Donna Summer, Bee Gees, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Grace Jones and many more.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Hailing from the vibrant music scene of Guinea, West Africa, Natu Camara has taken the world stage by storm with her powerful vocals and magnetic presence. Her presence and music resonate as a harmonious blend of legendary voices such as Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, and Tina Turner, emerging from the heart of West Africa as a dynamic singer and songwriter.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Jyoty’s journey into music is admirable. From managing the door of London’s Boiler Room to manning the decks at Jacquemus parties with Kaytranada, the Amsterdam-born DJ injects her garage-house mixes with a roster of R&B classics, Punjabi tunes and dancehall tracks. Jyoty hosts her own weekly show on Rinse FM and has provided workshops for fellow South Asian women wanting to break into the music industry.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
How do you anchor yourself when occupying multiple geographic identities at once? For Edwin Raphael, the Dubai-raised, Montreal-based songwriter, it requires an intentional and intensive form of world-building. By developing an unmistakable style of folk that merges Eastern scales with the Western pop canon, Raphael reimagines his music as a exploratory tool that allows him to construct an interior and sacred home to retreat into
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Independent from the jump and fueled at times by willpower and community alone, B. Dolan has expanded his creative influence beyond music into film, poetry, and songwriting over the past fifteen years. Known on stages around the world for his impassioned delivery, dynamic live performances, and dedication to challenging the norm, Dolan engages deeply in his craft while actively fostering a community among his fans and friends.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Immerse yourself in an enchanting world as the mesmerising quartet CALAN grace our stage with their unique brand of power-folk.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Project Smok is the neo-trad trio of Ali Levack, Ewan Baird and Pablo Lafuente, whose nonconformist and progressive Scottish traditional music has set them apart since their formation in 2017. Project Smok’s debut album has cemented their place as a young band at the forefront of the traditional music scene who have great intensions and crave innovation. They offer an unconventional, idiosyncratic, energetic synergism that defies expectation. Their second album ‘The Outset’ was released on 19th January 2024.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Pull the Rope, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine, casts the Eno Williams and Max Grunhard-led outfit in a new light. The hope, joy, and sexiness of their music remains, but, further honing the edge of their acclaimed 2022 album Electricity, the connection they aim to foster has shifted venues, from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club. The atmosphere has changed, but you’re still having the time of your life.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Deaf Club is a savage sound bath dripping with sardonicism: a blastbeat-centric hardcore punk assault channelling crust, thrash, and grind (un)sensibilities. Succinct pauses, surreal frequencies and effects, breakneck pace and sharply hurled vocals characterize the band’s aesthetic, which seems as though it is rooted in a sort of nasty-sound-meets-highbrow-message ethos.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
After their successful debut destruction of Summerhall in May, Edinburgh metallers Disposable return to the Old Lab to celebrate the release of their third full length album It's Blood That Trickles Down, a highly charged, confrontational cut of 15 tracks of finger pointing thrash. A trilogy of Edinburgh metal is completed by young buck thrashers Luxera and Penicuik hard hitters Hammer who are providing a ferocious warm-up before the main event. After proving last time that the Old Lab is the perfect environment for a big metal celebration – it's time to do it all again!
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Tujiko Noriko is a musician, singer, songwriter and filmmaker based in France. Shortly after her demo was discovered by Peter Rehberg and Christian Fennesz in 2000, she released her debut album "Shojo-Toshi" on the renowned Mego label (later Editions Mego). Tujiko has to date released over twenty critically acclaimed albums on the labels Editions Mego, FatCat, Room 40 and PAN. She has performed worldwide, including international festivals Sonar, Benicassim and Mutek. Austrian violinist, vocalist, sound artist and composer Mia Zabelka is at the forefront of international electro-acoustic performance art. She developed her unique musical language in a process she calls “automatic playing”, where the music grows out of her physical movement and finds its expression in her electric violin with electronic devices, alien objects, vocals, and/or the acoustic violin
Summerhall
The Old Lab
ARCADE is the latest immersive audio experience from Darkfield. Using the nostalgic aesthetic of 1980s video games, ARCADE's interactive narrative explores the evolving relationship between players and avatars. Over 30 minutes in a completely dark shipping container, this choose-your-own-path experience will fully immerse the players using 360 degree binaural sound, sensory effects and a bespoke Darkfield Arcade machine for each player. Players will be asked existential questions about free will and consciousness in a world where some may win and some may lose...
Summerhall Festival
The Terrace
B.L.I.P.S. is a wild ride of real-life circus psychosis, acrobatic madness, hula-hoop hope and radical resilience. Have you ever had insomnia? Thought you were telepathic? Or believed you were Jesus incarnate? Margot Mansfield has, and this is her story. At 19, she began experiencing Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms. B.L.I.P.S. is a touching retelling about the chaos of psychosis, told through beautiful imagery, physical feats, lip-sync, home videos and circus virtuosity. A peek through the beautiful lens of batshit crazy. Performed and co-written by award-winning Margot Mansfield. Directed and co-written by acclaimed, multi-award winning, circus luminary Jess Love.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
'Here we all are... sat together in one room. One room. One audience. One… beautiful nation'. From the creator of We Were Promised Honey! and Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist comes a new experiment in storytelling. It’s the story of a nation. It’s the story of a theatre. It’s the story of an audience. Outside there are people trying to get in. And in the middle of the room… apparently a show is taking place. ‘YESYESNONO make shows that feel completely different to anybody else’ (Exeunt). Off West End Award finalist, 2022. Best Production, Total Theatre Award.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
DEATH. It's coming for us all, so why don't we talk about it? Well, OIive is bloody well going to. Via an earth-shattering piece of serious journalism that'll be her ticket off the entertainment desk and into a Pulitzer Prize. But when Olive starts recruiting dying people to interview for her hot take on mortality... the last thing she expects is to become one of them. Based on real events, OUTPATIENT is the first solo show from Harriet Madeley: an interrogation of invincibility that will make you laugh... and so live longer.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Julieta tells the story of a woman – full of experiences and quirkiness – and the multiple layers that old age brings. Bursting with cheeky wit and a zest for life, Julieta shares her days with us and invites us into her home that has become her whole world. Through her daily routines we witness the different stages of life, and how our self-image warps accordingly. As her surroundings morph into a mirror house of memories, Julieta finds ways to adapt – and to bring us along.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
An ape named Red Peter is captured. In his quest to break out of his confinement, he learns to imitate humanity and contests identity based on outward appearance. Through his journey, Kafka's Ape questions the understanding of otherness. Miyambo has received multiple accolades for this powerful performance, including winner of Outstanding Performance Award at Prague Fringe Festival 2019, Best Satire Award at New York's United Solo Festival 2019, and the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, among others.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Winner of eight Australian Fringe Festival awards. Is art a joke? Sydney artist and comedian Sam Kissajukian examines 300 paintings created during a five-month long manic bipolar episode. An epic story exploring art, mental health and creativity.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Turn on the radio, have a cup of tea – and don't forget to take your pills! Get ready for an action-packed journey through the imagination of a playful, solitary old man as he discovers treasured memories of raising his late son. Mischievously recreating childlike memories with an undercurrent of grief, Old Man is a masterpiece of modern clowning, where the anguish of loss is beautifully juxtaposed with innocent joy. This show is non-verbal, and blends physical theatre, clowning and mime. Winner of the Brian's Life Award, Prague Fringe 2023. Directed by Oliver Fife-Nilsson, produced by Ellen Fife-Nilsson.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
1984 is a compelling physical theatre adaptation of George Orwell's classic, performed by Slavic actors. With inspiration from Nick Hern's adaptation, it delves into themes of surveillance and control, offering a haunting and immersive experience that challenges perceptions of truth and reality. Through expressive movement and visceral choreography, audiences are transported into Orwell's dystopian universe, feeling the oppressive atmosphere of Big Brother's world firsthand. This innovative fusion of physicality and narrative captivates spectators, leaving a lasting impact and sparking thought-provoking conversations about the state of our society and the dangers of unchecked power.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Ten years on from the play’s debut, a new production of the smash-hit comes to Roundabout, directed by Duncan Macmillan and performed by Jonny Donahoe. You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid. She finds it hard to be happy. So you make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. Ice cream. Water fights. Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV. The colour yellow. Rollercoasters. People falling over. Every Brilliant Thing is a play about depression and the lengths we will go for those we love.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A dog with a bird-killing problem. Two people stitching their relationship together. A house filled with taxidermy animals. When a young couple responds to a dog-sitting advert expecting a free holiday, they stumble into an unexpected tradition. Using cameras, puppets, and diorama sets, five performers weave together a live animation told from the perspective of a dog. A delicate, eerie, and amusing look at three lives, human and non-human, from emerging live-cinema company Buzzcut. 'Utterly spellbinding' (IsisMagazine.org.uk). 'Innovative and mesmerising' (DailyInfo.co.uk).
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
'If you follow someone down a path you don't recognise, you risk not being able to find your way back.' When Ouida was a child her father sleepwalked out of the house... never to return. Ouida suspected her imaginary friend "Burt" led him astray, but her family insisted he'd abandoned them and she must give up all notions of imaginary things. Years later, Ouida is a respected therapist debunking the irrational and fantastic... But what will you believe? This beautiful, darkly comic story about magic versus cynicism leaves audiences charmed – and just a little bit spooked.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Four performers mount four treadmills. What begins as a simple wager between performer and audience becomes a desperate attempt to complete a series of escalating tasks that confront the limitations of the performer's bodies, spirits and minds. This is not an endurance feat. Nor is it performance art. It is an unraveling realisation that the system we participate in is not designed for us. A delusional and physical celebration of our collective struggle to establish clear boundaries in our lives. 'One of the most frenetically uproarious shows you will ever experience' ***** (TimeOut).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Sparked by a conversation with a childhood friend that unearthed a long-forgotten obsession with football, Bryony wondered why all the girls she knew stopped playing football in their teens. It's 1998: Geri Halliwell is leaving the Spice Girls, David Beckham is wearing a sarong, and somewhere in England a 10-year-old Bryony is pretending to be Eric Cantona. An absurd and tongue-in-cheek ride through British adolescence set against a backdrop of 90s football and pop. Directed by Fringe First winner Ben Target and packed to the brim with playful audience interaction, 90s bangers, clown comedy and drag.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Join performance-maker and foodie Sean Wai Keung as he explores fortune cookies as well as his own mixed-race identity. Write your own fortunes as he bakes cookies live while exploring the history of this most enigmatic of after-meal snacks. An intimate performance for ten people maximum, you will have the opportunity to write fortunes for yourself or for someone else. Suitable for vegans.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Fern doesn't get invited to dinner parties anymore. They used to love her tales of the macabre. But now? The mask is slipping. Written by Amy Conway and directed by Beth Morton, Catafalque is a one woman eulogy to death through the lens of a civil celebrant. How do we grieve the ungrievable? How do you speak of death when no-one wants to look? A show about love, loss and a lifetime of secrets. Join Fern as she navigates the complexities of a grieving family and learns to tell the truth when it repels the bravest of us.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
How do we uncover our true colours in a world full of reasons to hide? A life-affirming, thought-provoking comedy about attempting to fit in everywhere yet belonging nowhere, from engineer, entrepreneur (Forbes 30 Under 30) and award-winning New York storyteller Narie Foster in her EdFringe debut. From corporate business to funny business, Thai-Canadian Foster takes us on a raw, honest and oftentimes hilarious exploration of freedom and self-acceptance, spanning stand-up and physical comedy, poignant storytelling, tolerable whiffs of motivational speech and the unconventional use of hula hoops. ‘Fascinating. Beautifully written. Naturally hilarious.’ **** (InReview)
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Every day a different unrehearsed performer takes to the stage, ready to receive instructions. Line-by-line a story unfolds, and a life unspools. A new show by makers of work.txt, ★★★★★ (The Guardian). Instructions is about AI, creativity and the dying days of capitalism, performed by a different actor every day. They are about to give the performance of a lifetime as the borders between reality and fiction begin to blur. By Nathan Ellis. Produced by SUBJECT OBJECT.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
‘What do you want me to say? That the world’s ending? Would that be helpful?’ The mushrooms are encroaching, fish are falling from the sky, and in a bell tower Clement and Aspinall are waiting for lightning to strike. Superstition says that the ringing of church bells can dispel a storm. When it feels like the apocalypse is here, anything is worth a shot. The Stage Producer of the Year Ellie Keel Productions, and award-winning Atticist, return to ROUNDABOUT with a debut play about being young at the end of the world. Finalist: The Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2024.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A comedy drama… or "dramedy" about Ade, a successful writer, or so it seems. She has everything she has ever wanted; her career is flying, she's (kinda) moved out of her mum's house, her situationship isn't as complicated as she expected. Life is perfect?! But things don't always go how you plan, and Ade is about to find that out. Failure Project explores what it means to "fail" and if it is possible to recover?
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
For over 30 years Hegley has brought a show to the Fringe with a spattering of favourites, alongside new work, to present to festival-goers. This year 'the new' involves his teaching. And learning. There are interactions – audience participation if you prefer, but it is more audience collaboration. And drawings. Quite a lot of them horses – mouths both open and closed. Myths, moths, no mathematics. Audio and visual stimulation. Entertainment. And thought provocation. Devised for adults but not unsuitable for the odd nine-year-old. 'Awesomely mundane' (Independent). Image credit: Suzi Corker.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Addicted to any mobile devices or know others who are? If so, Wen-Jen Huang's restlessly swift, hot-wired dance quartet should produce jolts of recognition. Her dynamic new work is based upon the contemporary socio-cultural phenomenon of phubbing (paying more attention to one's mobile, etc. than to the people you're with). Guided by the choreographer's laser-like kinetic intelligence, the dancers slice and slide through space with a desperate, unpredictable energy. Fair warning: their self-absorbed, pressure-cooked state of being could be both exciting and distressing. European premiere.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
'“It's the Black Women Curse”. A poetic reflection of a harrowing true story. Godlike, A Walking Universe, with the power to create life. When the mind forgets but the body doesn’t, every traumatic event is etched into the fabric of DNA. Memories manifest themselves like a pollutant. AfroFuturism through an East African lens. Interweaving language, customs and music with wearable tech MiMu gloves, ethereal artist Lula Mebrahtu (aka LULA.XYZ) presents the spiritual successor to 2023’s OommoO - neither a musical or drama… It’s a new kind of storytelling!'
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
The Disappeared – A wild, fun and sexy burlesque cabaret that tells the true story of a queer Latinx voice robbed of their freedom and forced into exile during a government coup in South America. Experience first hand a final night of joy and freedom of expression, before the Chilean government regime change challenges the country's LGBTQIA+ community and robs them of their personal freedom and identity. Witness the last cry of hope from an oppressed community before joining the ranks of those who have been disappeared.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Mother is in prison. Daughter, from whom she has been estranged for 12 years, has come to visit. Closely watched by security personnel, they have 1 hour. As unreliable as she is charming, Mother recounts her version of events, knowing this is their last chance to reconnect. Along a blurry journey of sleep deprivation and abandoned love, we discover the true reason for her imprisonment and ask: how can you keep a hold of yourself when you're forced to get lost in your keeper? Nominated for 3 Off West End awards for best new play, best solo performance, and best lighting design. A new play from the writer of multi award-winning Bacon. 'Beautiful and devastating' ***** (Stage)
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
1968. Three thousand students occupy the London School of Economics, in the most significant act of protest in a generation. 2024. Two friends and flatmates try to work out what radical change means today, searching through archives, photos, and first-hand accounts. Following a sold-out Soho Theatre run, Lessons on Revolution comes to Summerhall. This five-star, 'compelling and galvanising' (James Graham) piece of documentary theatre takes you on a journey through global and personal history which asks: in a new age of inequality and injustice, how can the voices of the past give us hope?
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Part performance lecture, part auto-fictional gay memoir, discover this free-wheeling metatheatrical exploration of love through history, art, literature, music, and science by internationally acclaimed Franco-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco (Thebes Land). Sound clever? It is! Interweaving Sergio's first experiences of love with his boxing instructor, the story of Francis Bacon's doomed romance with George Dyer, and an eye-opening journey through the history of love, enjoy this life-affirming new work from one of international theatre's most unique voices. Performed by multi-award winning director, Daniel Goldman, don't miss this new 'collaboration to savour' by 'two masters of the form' (Lyn Gardner).
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Abigail’s mum is dead. But it turns out she can’t afford her to be. It’s £4000 for the funeral. Extra for flowers. Even more if you want sausage rolls. Then, when a theatre suddenly pulls out of Abigail’s new project, she is asked to write about something else. Something more raw, from her "unique working class lens". Yep. To afford the funeral, she has to write about her mum. With power and playfulness, Kelly Jones’s new play tackles the inequalities around death, and the cost of turning your loved ones into art.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
A traveller arrives at a border with a stack of battered cases. From within them, whole worlds will emerge... Suitcase Show is an eclectic boxset of short stories. Dark, spiky, and comic, each one is told out of a suitcase. The staging is inventive, from lo-fi shadowplay to wireless projection, from dancing disembodied hands to narratives that crackle from a 70s stereo suitcase. Trick of the Light is an award-winning company from Aotearoa / New Zealand renowned for crafting inventive shows with engaging narratives. Past work includes The Road That Wasn't There, Tröll, and The Bookbinder.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Love at first sight is easy, letting it through the front door is a goddamn Odyssey. All he wants to do is let the perfect man in, but can he overcome his unhinged neighbour, a seductive cult, a self-obsessed vampire, and a cat intent on dragging him to hell? From Audible and the award-winning producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, I’m Almost There is New York favourite Todd Almond's rueful, hilarious and poignant modern love story in song about a man crossing a sea of doubts to find happiness… and good coffee. 'Roof-raising, uplifting, and invigorating' (HollywoodReporter.com).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
1999. Lucy is in labour. She’s just been handed a document to sign and her sense of self is beginning to deteriorate. 2024. Claire is an art student. Her latest panic attack means her art course could be over. Oh, and she can't stop contemplating her own mortality. Misdiagnosis, mistreatment and misinformation were rife back then. And still are now... Claire and Lucy have OCD. But they don’t know that yet. From award-winning Almost Adult writer-performer Charlotte Anne-Tilley (*****, EdFestMag) and Destiny (****, Guardian) producer, Tom Bevan.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Nick Cassenbaum's two-hander comedy heist, directed by Emma Jude Harris, romps through 2018 Jewish Essex. Through madcap comedy and biting satire, this explosive tale blows the roof off what it means to be Jewish in the UK. Twins Dan and Lauren meet ex-gangster Malcolm Spivak at their grandfather's funeral. Malcolm, who's 'had enough', enlists the siblings in a ragtag Yiddishe plot to kidnap then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. REVENGE: After the Levoyah examines antisemitism in the diaspora, the dangers of collective hysteria, and how far one nonagenarian can throw a jar of chraine from a moving vehicle.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
As children they were evacuated from a war zone. Fifty years on, Barton and Andy are still trying to find out who they are. Precious Cargo is a powerful, timely new show about the life-long impact of the Vietnam war, by Australian writer-performer Barton Williams (Huynh van Cuong) and Hebridean composer Andy Yearley (Nguyen Tang). Drawing on interviews with Operation Babylift adoptees from across the world, it is a story about the chaos of conflict, childhood trauma, racism and a generation running out of time to find lost families. Directed by Fringe First winner Laura Cameron-Lewis.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
BirdWorld attend their inaugural Fringe run on the eve of releasing Nurture on Dugnad Records (Norway). With a set-up of cello, drums, kalimbas and percussion spanning alternative, electronic, Afro-Cuban and contemporary classical music, their field recordings form an integral part of their music, interweaving industrial and natural soundscapes. Highlights include a Union Chapel concert filmed and recorded by NTS Radio, an electronic film score commissioned by London Contemporary Orchestra and a performance at LSO St Luke’s Open Ear series recorded by BBC Radio 3. Nurture is a significant leap into a new intimate and lyrical musical realm.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Nominated for Best Production at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023, You're Needy (sounds frustrating) is a site-specific piece for one audience member about a woman's retreat from everyday life in pursuit of peace, solitude and "wellness". Carrie's moved into her bathroom. She's living on slim noodles and chopped parsley baths. Every week she's visited by a volunteer hired to help her reintegrate into society. This week, it's your turn. Take an ocean breath and snort a line of rock salt. It's time to peel off those cucumbers and take a long hard look at yourself.
Buccleuch Terrace
Meet Outside Tills Bookshop
Illuminate the Darkness is an experimental theatre that exposes the cultural stereotypes that are perpetuated by misinformation and ignorance that is associated with racism and sexism in America. Bea Conner-Pohl interviewed women of different races and ethnicities illustrating their plights, their tragedies, and their achievements. It focuses on how they address the cultural inequities that affected them through their own unique ways of humour, common sense, heart, and empowerment. This new performance utilizes storytelling, videos, and audience participation.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
This one's for the young hearts, the old hearts and the broken hearts. Story, science and a synth combine in an exhilarating performance that examines what happens in our bodies when we're bereft. From acclaimed New Zealand company EBKM (Yes Yes Yes), Heartbreak Hotel tracks a woman's broken heart in a wrenching and relatable journey that's studded with classic break-up songs and razor-sharp observations on the physiology of love. 'Fantastic. Karin McCracken is, quite simply, brilliant. She's hilarious, heartwarming and moving – often all at once' (TheatreView.org.nz).
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Jamie can’t swim. Bit awkward when you’re 30. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, Jamie is taking on her biggest fear, the ocean. With the help of a chipper swim instructor, a shady spiritual guide and one cathartic crab sandwich, she’s questioning, ‘how many lengths does it take to wash away regret?’ Brilliantly witty, deeply heartfelt, this play explores what lies beneath the surface of Black people’s relationship to water. Somebody Jones’ searing debut is 'funny with fear, liberating with grief' (FringeReview.co.uk) and impossible to walk away from unchanged.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Don Murphy is a proud Irish man, a hopeless ketamine addict and one of his generation’s greatest actors. He also happens to be a chicken. Across one fateful night, the feathered Oscar winner shares his star-studded story with an intimate audience - from getting his big break, to his first bird on bird sexual experience, to navigating life in the celebrity spotlight. But along the way Don will be confronted with some harsh truths about himself, chicken kind and humankind. Sell out run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023. Winner of Filipa Bragança award for best female identifying/ non-binary solo performer at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
FAMEHUNGRY is a helter-skelter nose-dive into the TikTok universe, the attention economy, and what it means to be an artist now. Fusing performance art and very real and very live TikTok Experiences, join award-winning performance artist Louise Orwin as she cosplays as a TikToker in a real-life experiment hunting for fame and fortune. Made in collaboration with an actual Famous TikToker, The Almighty Algorithm, and TikTok-Famous Faces, FAMEHUNGRY asks what the future looks like if all roads lead to TikTok. Praise for previous work: 'Like an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway devised by Marina Abramovic' (Guardian).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
A high-risk, high-return dance show. Witness every organ, nerve and muscle in the human body vibrating. Outrageous dancing, profit, loss, live music and the deconstruction of power at a price. It is time to calculate your net worth and maximise growth. The economy meets the human body in a tour-de-force danced and spoken by 42-year-old choreographer Sacha Copland with music played live by Tristan Carter. This is a show for lovers of the human body and accountants.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Gamble is a glittering, glamorous peek into the spectacular world of online gambling. A bittersweet multimedia show about addiction and its effect on families, friends and communities. There's a girl who used to think gambling was all about big wins at the village monthly bingo. A decade later, the gambling industry is all about online and is bigger than ever! Without realising it, it's made its way into the girl's home, her relationship, her joint account. BSL Interpreter: Amy Cheskin.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
A mother dies. A boy eats an ice lolly and freezes internally. A father cries yellow tears into snow. A lover cleans urine from his grandmother’s favourite carpet. Performer and bedroom foley artist Guy Woods tells the story of a cold boy’s adolescence. 'Beautifully written and performed', 'Excellent storytelling, so engaging and a great use of multimedia sound', 'Love the piss' (Audience Reviews from performance at the Tron Theatre, 2023). Puddles & Amazons is a queer coming-of-age story of grief, male tenderness and fluids. Featuring live audio mixing, mild audience interaction, and water. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Multi award-winning 'magnificent Fringe legends' (Time Out) Sh!t Theatre are back! And we're totally fine! Actually all things considered, we're OK. Feeling alright. Thriving, even? That's a bit far, but we have learnt some folk songs. We've got into folk recently and it's been really helpful. Come and sing some folk songs with us! A swift 60 minutes of classic folk followed by a singaround in the Summerhall bar. Because we need a drink, don't we? But we're doing OK. 'Few companies make shows that are so consistently, outrageously fun*' (Guardian). *fun not guaranteed
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
No one likes crusty knickers and a broken heart. But that’s just life, isn’t it? Three friends grow up under an ancient tree. They’re filthy, brutal and full of hope. By turns hysterical and poignant, Playfight is a searing probe of their inner lives as they hunt for love. Proper, ugly love. As their roots sink deeper, the branches stretch higher… so they decide to climb. Multi Fringe First-winning team Julia Grogan (Gunter), Theatre Uncut and Grace Dickson Productions present Playfight, shining a vivid light on adolescent desire in a landscape of rising sexual violence.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Jeanette Peh – a highly Westernised Singaporean junior college valedictorian – decides to abandon law school to follow her dreams of studying acting in London, where she will hopefully find her occidental soulmate. On arrival, however, she is dismayed to find that her teacher and classmates label her as just one of the "Asian students". Monsieur Laroche, her acting teacher, wants her to perform honestly by speaking in her native language. There's just one problem: Jeanette is beginning to realize she doesn't know what her native language is. In fact, she doesn't really know who she is at all.
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
'A fierce 70 minutes of music and protest' (Scotsman). The story of two generations of women activists in the struggle for black liberation in America. One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur, the other a college student at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson in 2014. Against a stunning soundtrack of gospel and blues sung live, the show explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. Originally performed as Woke, written by Apphia Campbell, Fringe First Winner and creator of the hit show Black is the Colour of My Voice. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
We might swing by Satchmo’s, blow out of town on aeolian pipes, hammer blow, tapping toe, jam with the Lotos-Eaters. Then again, we might head somewhere entirely different. I can’t say exactly what notes I’m going to play. Not till the moment they spill out onto the piano keys, commit themselves to the past, the rear view mirror. Don’t look back. Decisions on the bonnet. I'll be your pilot, your tour guide. Piano solos, stories and the stuff of life.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
What would you do with an hour? What if it was your last hour ever? For James the answer is easy: he wants to tell you a story. A story full of laughter and music and joy. A story about living. The third and final part of a trilogy that began with Learning to Fly (***** (Guardian)) and Piece of Work (**** (Morning Star)) from the creator of the Songs of Friendship Trilogy (***** (Stage), ***** (ThreeWeeks), ***** (Skinny)).
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Smile while it burns. Stacey is a California weather girl. An oversexed and underpaid harbinger of our dying planet. But today, her regular routine of wildfires, prosecco and teeth whitening descends into a scorched earth catastrophe, before she discovers something that will save us all. A dizzying rampage into the soul of American strangeness. The award-winning producers of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer bring you a blistering dark comedy about wrecking the places we love. From Lucille Lortel Award-nominated Brian Watkins, creator of the hit Amazon series Outer Range, and Drama Desk-nominated director Tyne Rafaeli.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Written and performed by award-winning comedian, actor and writer Anna Morris, Son of a Bitch is a brutally honest and darkly funny monologue about a woman who is caught on camera calling her 4-year-old son a c*nt during an air-rage incident. When the video goes viral, Marnie's life violently unravels. Now the whole world knows her darkest secret, but what happened before someone pressed record and captured the worst 10 seconds of her life? This debut play is a bold one-woman piece about maternal ambivalence.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
In the wake of a relationship, a woman attempts to contain the overflow of her thoughts. But something's blocked, there are leaks to fix in her house, the holes just keep getting bigger and the water is rising. A captivating and comedic piece of magical realism about the things we lose and how we grieve them. Blending true stories with fiction, movement, text, comedy and live music. Based on interviews with people wondering: 'who am I in the wake of a loss?' Blurring imagination with reality by invoking a surreal, tender and humorous dreamscape.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Surrender yourself to a comedy-thriller experience inspired by the classic game of deception. What feels like a game by daylight takes on new life when plunged into the night. Created by one of New Zealand's most innovative theatre companies, Werewolf features chilling sound design and a unique immersive style; you can be a fly on the wall or take charge of the situation. However you decide to play it, you will become part of a community coming together to make it through the night. But what is hiding in the darkness that is making everyone so nervous?
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
'This company truly are the best at storytelling' ***** (ThreeWeeks). A lad heads off to kill a monster. To prove himself. To make history. A story about winning and what we lose on the way. An adrenaline-fuelled retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur through soaring live music and searing spoken word from the makers of ORPHEUS, HELIOS and THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS. One half of HALF MAN || HALF BULL, an epic theatrical double album. 'Incredibly powerful... Euphoric gig-theatre' **** (Stage).
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
A man in a battle with his identity, and on a journey through the depths of Black-British culture, class and belonging. What happens if you're not black enough for the ends, but too black for the rest of the world? Tones combines the gritty underground sounds of hip-hop, grime and drill with the melodrama of opera to present a piece of gig theatre like no other, as Jerome, aka The Professor, navigates his way through a treacherous path to self-discovery.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
Take a step back in time to the lively 1920s at our hidden bar, nestled away from the hustle and bustle of Summerhall's courtyard. Behind the inconspicuous workshop door lies a clandestine entrance to our prohibition-era bar. Your host will greet you in authentic attire, setting the scene for a nostalgic experience complete with era-appropriate drinks and music. Enjoy an hour of pre-theatre drinks including two expertly crafted historical cocktails to kickstart your festival evening.
Summerhall Festival
Summerhall Distillery
Do you believe in true love? Meet Odette, a chain-smoking half-swan, half-ballerina stuck in limbo, looking for someone to give her an undying vow of love to free her. Come to a love story you will not forget, filled with pointe, comedy and heroes, where anyone can break her curse, maybe even you. Special thanks to the creative team of Mump and Smoot and Meegan Sweet. 'Deeply layered and confronting' ***** (List). 'Strikingly strong piece of theatre' (GlamAdelaide.com.au). 'Spot on comedy' (Apt613.ca).
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
A cocky gay clown in therapy. A clueless detective. An X-Factor sob story. Pop culture and queer drama drama drama collide against a rainbow backdrop. A surreal, fast-paced and darkly funny exploration of a queer relationship gone bad. Blending clowning, drag and a subversive take on the trauma-parading solo show, plewds is about the lengths we’ll go to avoid what’s right in front of us, in a story where the villains don’t look like villains. Being queer is the best, right? Mary Dick Award Winner 2024. Made with support from Camden People's Theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Nearing 40, painfully shy, and emerging from a toxic break-up, Leah forms a punk bank inspired by Lynn from Alan Partridge. As she takes to the stage with no musical ability, will this gig push Leah further over the edge, or help her regain her confidence and find the hope she needs to move on? A funny, farcical and poignant new play, exploring the impact of abusive behaviour, the power of friendship and how silliness can be healing. Lynn Faces is a new play by multi award-winning writer Laura Horton, following her Fringe First-winning show, Breathless.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Kit Bromovsky Productions present The Bookies. Two Edinburgh bookies feel the pressure of signing customers up for online betting accounts, signing their own jobs away in the process. They come up with a plan to fight back. But a mountaineer from Mount Everest gets in their way. 'Fast and witty production' **** (Scotsman). **** (TheWeeReview.co.uk). 'Sharp, cynical comedy' (Stage). 'Riotously funny play... well worth attending for a fun night out' (Skinny).
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
Join Australian musical comedian Darby James for his multi-award-winning cabaret about the process of sperm donation. On this unforgettable voyage with all original songs, Darby clicks a Facebook ad and gets swept up on an hilarious, heartfelt adventure. As he navigates medical questionnaires, psychological evaluations and musings on potential parenthood, Darby finds himself stranded as a seaman in moral purgatory, facing the question: should we be having children? Winner of the Edinburgh Touring Award and Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2023, and nominated for six Green Room Awards, Darby James dives headfirst into his international debut.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Two best mates. One HUGE party. Luton pinned by austerity. An evening of noughties bangers and shots of shitty gin mixed with the chaos of violence. A night to remember! Winners of the 2022 Untapped Award, Chalk Line presents The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return. Packed with swagger, it hurls at a rapid pace with linguistic vigour and unfolds in real time. It's a tapestry of violence and joy parading through Luton. 'This is theatre birthed out of exasperation' **** (Time Out, for Blanket Ban).
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
When tasked by her tech CEO fiancé to explain the four times she has cried in public since they started dating, overachieving journalist Anya Samuel can't help but bring her A-game. As she prepares a slide deck complete with animated infographics of her menstrual cycle, Anya is forced to confront harsh truths about who she really is and what she actually wants. Written with searing wit and insight by Amanda Chong, Psychobitch is a thought-provoking one-woman show boldly dissecting gender power dynamics and toxic relationships, while challenging us to examine the concessions we make in our search for love.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
'Incredibly powerful... Euphoric gig-theatre' **** (Stage). A boy falls out the sky.His dad built wings. To escape. A story about inventing a way out, and what happens when we fall. A heartrending retelling of Daedalus and Icarus through live music and spoken word from critically acclaimed Wright&Grainger (ORPHEUS, HELIOS, THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS), Oliver Tilney and Olivier Award-winning producer Molly Morris. One half of HALF MAN || HALF BULL, an epic theatrical double album told live on stage through soaring music and searing spoken word. 'Beautiful' ***** (List).
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Max and Stevie are just two wee guys trying to survive in an ordinary Scottish secondary school. But to survive, sometimes you need to hide. And there's no hiding when you're a VL. VL = Virgin Lips. It means you’ve never kissed a lassie, or a laddie. The longer you stay a VL, the more of a VL you become. The producers of Fleabag bring you another raucous and riotous comedy from the Fringe First Award-winning writers of Square Go, Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, about young boys trying to navigate love, romance, and status in the chaotic hormonal pressure cooker of a small-town school.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
For decades trans people have been using hyperpop to shatter standards of genre, gender and good taste. Right now, the only thing Saoirse wants to shatter is her own f*cking voice. Told through live vocal modulation and manipulation, this is a rip-roaring and unabashedly queer theatrical deep dive into trans identity and music. What it means to speak, sing and, for the audience (yes, you babe), to listen.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
'This is just the start. Of Everything. Of Us.' It's the late 90s. Charlie and Debs have perfected their Wannabe routine. They're drenched in Impulse Blue. And they're each other's everything. But as the world pulls them in different directions, their friendship begins to strain. It dies. Again and again and again. If a female friendship dies many deaths, how many can they survive? Spanning 25 years and the countless lifetimes of one friendship, this new romcom explores the heartbreak of platonic love. By Amy Powell Yeates. Directed by Claire O'Reilly.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
Inside Chekhov's masterpiece, Olga, Masha, and Irina are trapped in a cycle of disappointed hopes, heartbreak, and inertia. But this time, it's going to be different. Looking for answers, this trio investigate the trope they have been written into, from Greek mythology to the Sugarbabes. Harnessing the raucous energy of girlhood and the wildness of three women on the brink, Sisters Three sets ablaze a construction of femininity drawn by men, to find hope in its ashes. TheatreGoose return to Summerhall following their OFFest-nominated and BBC Popcorn Award-longlisted debut Her Green Hell.
Summerhall Festival
Anatomy Lecture Theatre
Ashtar is a Jerusalemite artist who humorously explores her life and spirituality. Navigating between Palestine and France, seeking equilibrium and comfort in both. Inspired by Jerusalem and cherished memories of her grandmother, she seeks a connection with the Divine. Ashtar practices yoga and meditation, and explores tarot reading on the internet. Her elastic body mirrors her dual life, between two countries, cultures, and languages, between solitude and togetherness. Sarcastically, she presents her beliefs. Over a ceremony, poetry blends with humour and subjectivity merges with the universal, embarking on a journey of balance and contradictions, showing the beauty of interconnectedness. This will be the company's first performance of this show in English.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Ezra Montefiore is the greatest spirit medium of all time. A master of the seance, levitation and telekinesis, he defies all scientific explanation. But when details of a clandestine affair with Prince Felix Yusupov reach the ears of Rasputin and Russia's Imperial Court he must fight not only for his reputation but also his life. From the makers of the sell-out smash hits Jew...ish and Man of 100 Faces comes an extraordinary story based on real historical events, told through dynamic physical theatre, multi-roling and stage illusion. Expect seances, spirit-possession and live levitation.
Summerhall Festival
Demonstration Room
Fairy Sprinkles isn't your average fairy... In this award winning rock'n'roll monologue from Lucy Heffernan, all the glitzy hell of a kid's birthday party explodes out on stage to rip apart class, challenge traditional feminine behaviour and explore the impact of mental illness on family. Telling stories from Heffernan's time as a Party Fairy, and featuring five original rock songs – don't miss this intimate, funny and deeply moving work. Winner: 2023 Adelaide Fringe Weekly Award for Best Theatre / Physical Theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Cairns Lecture Theatre
In 1974, Jimmy Connors was the greatest tennis player on Earth. In 1991, he's getting annihilated at the US Open by his arch-nemesis' little brother. What happened next was one of the greatest comebacks in sport, when Jimmy, fuelled by ghosts of his turbulent past, winds back the clock to remind the world what happens when you rattle the cage of a geriatric tiger, one last time. Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Adam Riches (***** (Independent)) makes his Summerhall debut with this fast-paced, funny and intensely physical ride, deep inside the mind of an ageing, swaggering alpha. Directed by Tom Parry
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
This is Temi’s show. It’s all about her. Not you. Her. Temi got veeeery good at being everybody’s sassy best friend. Growing up a black girl in a white world shunts you into playing a side character in your own life. But now she’s stepping into her Main Character Energy and it’s your privilege and pleasure to give her all the attention she deserves. As self-aware as it is self-indulgent, this show is a high-energy cocktail of comedy, audience interaction and cabaret. An excuse to show Edinburgh how radiant Temi is.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
'Hilarious, moving, provocative... extraordinary' **** (List). Pick of the Week at Adelaide Fringe Festival, 2024. Welcome. Welcome to The Ceremony. You're welcome. Thank you. Exploring ritual and tradition in the modern world, The Ceremony is experimental and interactive – part sermon, part group therapy, part comedy show (not a cult). Shaped entirely with the audience, the show is completely different every night. What's going on? Where are we? Who are we? Does this have a meaning? What does meaning mean? Hmm. Join me. And let The Ceremony begin...
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
The story of one of country music's most iconic voices: June Carter Cash. In this raw yet uplifting show, Charlene Boyd gets to grips with a life less ordinary. More than a simple biography, this play with songs sees Charlene explore her relationship with her musical heroine and their shared experience as performers and working mothers. A powerful, personal journey of discovery stretching across the Atlantic from the Appalachian Mountains to the Glasgow high-rise flats, their tale is one of empowerment, endurance and perseverance. Part of MadeInScotlandShowcase.com. Doors and bar open from 16:00.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Femmergy is an intersectional space to celebrate femme joy and art and have a good boogie. We work to platform DJs and artists from marginalised genders and prioritise inclusivity and safety. We are so excited to be collaborating again with Summerhall for the Fringe opening party after selling out last year! Get on your dancing shoes and come join us for your fave femme night somewhere different! Everyone is welcome! Line-up: Katelate Ria Potpurri (Annafleur + Philly)
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
They say you can get lost in a good book. But it's worse to get lost in a bad one... Trick of the Light's award-winning dark fairy tale returns to the Fringe to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a limited season in an atmospheric bookshop. The Bookbinder weaves shadow-play, paper art, puppetry and music in an inventive one-man performance for adults and children aged 8 and over. Winner of Best in Fringe Award (NZ Fringe), International Excellence Award (Sydney Fringe), and the Children's Theatre Award (Fringe World, Perth).
Buccleuch Terrace
Tills Bookshop
Scotland's longest-running, most beloved queer clubbing institution. Since 2010 Hot Mess has brought devoted crowds of dancers a playful taps-aff delight month after month. This Edinburgh festival special will be our biggest Hot Mess ever. Eschewing big-name guest DJs and performance acts, the party's success derives from ecstatic and arousing music played by resident Simonotron: tear-drenched orchestral disco, high-NRG classics and bleepy psychedelic techno. Offering dancefloor comfort and joy for people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities and ages, Hot Mess will blow your mind, give you little forehead kisses, and call you a good boy
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Hold on to your wigs because Q’iwa is bringing a night of ballroom culture you won’t forget! Vogue beats, international guests, performances from the hottest dancers plus a showcase from the local scene. Headlining our event, is the LEGENDARY Jay Jay Revlon! World renowned for their seamless mixes, full of rhythm and energy, he will have the dancefloor pulsating, making this night simply unmissable! As always, we have 3MR warming up and getting the party started and HUNTRESS is also on the bill. Baby this line-up is 10s across the board. We will have performances from the European Prince of Seduction Diesel, and transgender artist Ella, from the kiki house of Laveaux… and more surprise guests. Plus, dancers Kiki and Saigon Revlon will make sure to keep the temperature high all night. Giving you a taste of authentic ballroom culture – basically queer expression at its finest! Everyone is welcome, we operate a “no hate” and “yes love” policy. Just spectacular vibes all night, so come dressed to impress and see you on the dancefloor honey.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Do you know what happens to acrobats when they hit middle age? Neither do still hungry, but they're going to use every trick they have to try and figure it out. Packed full of love, laughter and lunacy, Show Pony by still hungry and Bryony Kimmings is a joyful scream into the face of the patriarchy that challenges us to question our prejudices towards age and femininity, on stage and off. By the makers of 2019's award-winning hit Raven (The Scotsman Fringe First, Three Weeks Editor's Award).
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
Two performers armed with a single scene – a customer orders a drink from a waiter. And then things go awry. Played again and again, the scene starts spinning out of control. Nightmarish spiral or grotesque farce? Roles flip back and forth. Who's serving and who's being served? Directed by Forced Entertainment’s artistic director Tim Etchells and created with the brilliant performance duo Bert and Nasi, L'Addition is a complex, hilarious and explosive performance. Presented as part of the Here & Now showcase which selects exceptional performance created in England ready for international distribution.
Summerhall Festival
Old Lab
'In the beginning, Katie and Body were best friends. In the beginning, Katie and Body were infinite with possibilities...' Katie's taken up synchronised swimming. She's buoyant and beautiful, but it's a lot harder than they thought. When the promise of campy fun and liberation fails to materialise, Katie feels further from her body than ever before. Join Katie and Body on their quest traversing forgiveness, beauty and whales as they ask: what does care look like for a fat body? Brand-new work from award-winning artist Katie Greenall produced by The Hale.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
The Hidden Garden. Growing up we lose the ability to live in connection with our mind. We become increasingly preoccupied by what is useful. The desire for power, control and perfection. Man becomes comparable to a supernatural creature. Obsessed, this creature sucks the life out of those who dare to confront it. Dreams, simple pleasures and poetry are suffocated. The Hidden Garden is a mysterious place where the real and the fantastic are intertwined. A choreography inspired by the gothic novel, fantasy literature and the modern customs of today's society.
Summerhall Festival
TechCube 0
Being different is a complicated business. It can be exciting, distressing, temporary, permanent, liberating, dangerous, painful, a cause for celebration. It's about bodies and language, memories and labels, perceptions and assumptions, acceptance and resistance. Join DAR, a queer, neurodivergent, curious, middle-aged Talking Heads fanatic, to consider some tricky questions around the subjects of difference, identity, positioning, labelling and belonging. A Brief History of Difference is an interactive theatre piece rooted in conversation, knowledge sharing, questioning, personal narrative and performance. A Brief History of Difference is a co-production between Das Clarks and The Riverfront, Newport, supported by Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International through the Wales in Edinburgh Fund. 20 August- pre-recorded Audio Description by Megan Brooks. 22 August- BSL interpretation by Claire Anderson.
Summerhall Festival
Former Womens Locker Room
Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I return as undead, washed-up drag queens when a powerful force opens the gates to the present. Together with Penthesilea and Valkyrie, they have lived in limbo for centuries, ruling over various sub- and parallel worlds. As they grapple with their shared history and enduring patriarchal power structures, the idea of a joint rule emerges. Moving between opera, drag and drama, Anne Welenc's directorial debut QUEENS plays with historical and pop cultural legacies in a bold and provocative exploration of gender, power and identity. For fans of dramatic queens, drag and absurd-comic musical theatre.
Summerhall Festival
Main Hall
A vivid and unflinching adaptation of Amy Liptrot's wrenching personal memoir of addiction, powered by an extraordinary central performance from Saoirse Ronan. Addicted to hedonism, drink and drugs, a young woman must wrestle with recovery in the remote islands of Orkney whilst reckoning with her complex family history. Powered by a pounding soundtrack, a kinetic visual style and intricate narrative structure, this extraordinarily moving film is redemptive, cathartic and utterly riveting. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Raw, commanding and thoughtful Taiwanese drama about compassion and decency in the face of inequality and invisibility. An undocumented Thai careworker living in a remote region of Taiwan cares for the disabled and elderly, as he is forced to navigate their mutual lack of status and currency. This is a subtle and carefully painted portrait of disenfranchised people who are victims of a system that barely acknowledges them. Unflinching, deeply humane and beautifully shot, the film pulls no punches while retaining empathy and care for its subjects. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A profoundly moving meditation on ageing, loneliness and love in unexpected places. An elderly Iranian widow encounters a lonely taxi driver in Tehran, where female oppression and strict social structures are subverted as a delicate kinship blooms against the odds. This is a gorgeously constructed two-hander that offers a reflection on societal repression of both men and women, and a powerful note of hope that cuts through deep pain. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A cantor undergoing a crisis of faith runs into his high school music teacher who is intent on having a late life Bat Mitzvah in this sweet, melancholic comedy. Jason Schwartzman stars alongside Carol Kane as the unlikeliest of odd couples drawn together later in life. Beautifully shot and acted with offhand charm by a superb cast, this elegantly observed, often riotously funny film manages a delicate and moving balance between farce and love story. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Optimo returns to Summerhall, its Edinburgh Spiritual home for their first East Coast party of 2024. After a hectic summer touring schedule, JD Twitch and JG Wilkes are back at one of their favourite stops, at a time when the buzz is always off the scale. Expect a no holds barred four hours of dancefloor detonation and of course, as it is Optimo, be prepared to expect the unexpected...
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
A powerful account of the Kolbari covert goods traden between the Kurdish cities and towns of Iran and borders of Iraq. The film follows Hamid and Yasser over six years as they contend with the life threatening conditions they and their families have to face to survive. A rare insight into the plight of the Kurdish people, this is an elegant portrait of a marginalised people, where the palpable sense of risk and danger is contrasted with the gentle rhythms of family life under harsh conditions. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A richly poetic and moving film about a young person journeying to bury their lover in the heart of the Peruvian jungle. Slow revelations and reflections begin to paint a picture of the deceased and a life before as we learn of a troubling past haunted by intimidation and violence. Deliberately paced and defined by a unique visual and sonic style, this haunting and emotional film is an unforgettable sensory experience. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An intricately constructed, lyrical and heart-breaking film about two young men wrestling with their sexuality in the repressive English society of the 1920s. Told in elegant flashback, an institutionalised novelist recounts the story of his love affair with a friend, convinced their shared sexuality could be "cured". Visually striking, beautifully acted and defined by a haunting mix of romanticism and unflinching horror, this bold film bravely examines a shamefully neglected period in queer history. Cert: 18.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An intimate portrait of family bonds, rural life and the importance of human connection in the survival from grief. The Payne family lead an idyllic, off-the-grid lifestyle in the Norwegian wilderness. When a tragic event shatters their world, they are forced to give up their home for a less rural model of living. An ode to nature and resilience, this film is warm, potent and deeply moving. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Faerie Circle is an exciting new night to amplify the voices of divine feminine and queer performers, reclaiming fast and hard rhythms, providing a safe place to lose ourselves to the night. Featuring special guests, open decks, visual art, hardcore and faerie dust. 'Someone who violates a faerie perimeter becomes invisible to mortals outside and may find it impossible to leave the circle. The fairies force the mortal to dance until they collapse in ecstasy.'
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
With a career best performance from Colman Domingo, Sing Sing is a poignant drama that unfolds within the walls of the notorious prison in upstate New York. We meet wrongly imprisoned Divine G (Domingo), who discovers new purpose through a theatre program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts. Sing Sing is a story of resilience and the restorative impact of art, whilst offering us pieces of hope in even the darkest places. Featuring Paul Raci and a number of real-life, formerly incarcerated inmates who play versions of themselves, Sing Sing is one not to be missed. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A delicate portrait of a young Mexican boy, struggling to deal with the death of his parents, who wants to know what happens when we die. The boy forms an unlikely friendship with a local hermit whose inconceivable age and ailing health feeds his curiosity along with the world around him, which is full of mystery and intrigue. Beautifully shot and featuring a captivating, charismatic central performance, this is a deeply moving film about the circle of life, the human experience and the order of the natural world. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A bold short film programme highlighting pioneering work from Scotland and beyond. Ranging from themes of family trauma and gender identity to existentialist molluscs and werewolves, this year’s competition traverses documentary, stop-motion animation, comedy and drama all within a limited runtime. Launching the new Thelma Schoonmaker award, this is a bumper crop of world premieres showcasing talent at the cutting-edge of cinema. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Alice Lowe’s vibrant second feature offers a playful take on the romantic comedy with a reincarnation twist. Agnes chases her true love across the centuries, but can’t quite seem to get the happy ending she’s looking for. Her various unlucky deaths and a cast of offbeat side characters repeatedly get in her way. Packed with laughs and a host of familiar faces including Aneurin Barnard, Jacob Anderson, Nick Frost, Kate Dickie and Tanya Reynolds, this genre-defying romp is as emotionally insightful as it is entertaining. Cert: 15. Screens with Don't Hate Me (UK, 12min).
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An immersive documentary from acclaimed director Sophie Fiennes, looking behind the scenes of the acting process, from voice exercises to text analysis and the thrills of performance. In an old castle, theatre director Declan Donnellan leads a dozen young actors as they work on Shakespeare's Macbeth. His insights unlock their imagination and help them find their own way through this challenging text. Full of passionate and hard-working artists, this film is a celebration of artistic collaboration and reminds us of the enduring power of the Scottish Play. Cert: 12A.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brian De Palma's rock opera masterpiece. A Faustian tale of betrayal and obsession playing out in the gaudy halls of a concert hall, this deliriously entertaining musical features the legendary Paul Williams as cynical music producer Swan who tricks naive composer Winslow Leach (William Finley) into sacrificing his life's work. Featuring a knockout soundtrack, spectacular production design and De Palma's characteristic swagger and infectious joy in filmmaking, prepare for a sensory delight. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A middle-aged man builds a mobile religious shrine to make money in this darkly funny and moving exploration of consequences. Confronted by the success of this get-rich-quick scheme, a crisis of conscience forces our hero into a spiral of remorse and self-examination. Deceptively simple and superbly acted, this elegantly subversive film doubles as an intriguing window into the diasporic Iranian community in Montreal. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
An insightful and moving documentary about a thirty-something man and his relationship with the life-size AI doll he lives with, who is animated through an app. The real focus of this beautiful film is his honest reflection and the complex personal history that has led him to develop this confined yet very real relationship with the doll. This is a clear-eyed, open-hearted and fascinating take on machine learning and AI, and the social implications for people who may seek safety and control over their circumstances in ways they cannot find elsewhere in life. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A modern re-imagining of classic fable Little Red Riding Hood, this tightly calibrated film explores trauma, grief and redemption in a dangerous world. A traumatised young girl is discovered in the woods by a social pariah dealing with his own demons, set against snowy Oregon landscapes reminiscent of The Shining. Restrained and understated, this is a dark psychological drama featuring strong performances in which gradual insights and twists pack an emotional punch. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A darkly comedic, subversive and uniquely realised road trip film about a monkey, a man and a dead man’s watch. A woman escaping a toxic relationship ends up on the road in a monkey suit with a man seeking retribution from his dead father. Written, produced and directed by Fringe stalwart Nina Conti, who also stars as a life-size iteration of her stand-up sidekick, this is fantastically absurd, original and funny. A natural, inventive extension of Conti's sell-out comedy act. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Two migrant workers find themselves thrown together in a quest to bury a body in this hypnotic and visually stunning drama. A fight over stolen property and a tragic death brings together two very different men for a hypnotic and moving odyssey across the Yorkshire landscape in search of a suitable burial place. Beautifully directed and performed and shot in stark black and white with a vivid sense of visual splendour, this humane and moving film packs quite the emotional punch. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A funny, touching exploration of fidelity, strength and the lengths we go to honour our commitments. When Gemma’s (BAFTA winner Aisling Bea) American fiancé (Emmy nominee Colin Hanks) dies shortly before their wedding day, she decides to marry him anyway, facing public opinion, legal challenges, and family objections. With funny and moving performances, Daniel Reisinger’s romantic comedy is an unconventional celebration of love ‘till death do us part’. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A stirring and powerful film about a young mother, recently released from prison and desperate to maintain custody of her two young children. Just when things appear to be at their darkest and most desperate for Molly (Posy Sterling), a chance encounter with an old school friend might be the start of a road towards a brighter future. Writer/Director Daisy-May Hudson brings wit, warmth and humanity to this beautiful story of individuals on the margins of society bonding in the face of unimaginable hardship. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A radical new animated vision of a dystopian future probes our fears about social control and liberation. Imagine a world in which difference is erased. This is a world where everyone wears a paper bag over their head. But when rumours spread of a place without masks, pressures mount towards revolution. Using jaw-dropping video game animation technology, Schirkoa is a unique and timely nightmare. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
A tightly wound and exhilarating drama that examines the assumptions that adults make whilst trying to uncover the truth. When Elisabeth is called in to her sons’ school, she is shocked to discover that he has been accused of crossing boundaries with one of his classmates. Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) leads an ensemble cast in this claustrophobic chamber piece that won the Camera D'Or in Cannes. Cert: 15.
EIFF @ Summerhall
Red Lecture Theatre
Set on an ancient burial ground where the UK is now a crime scene, Refugee! tells the story of four characters in search of belonging. Under the rubble they find evidence of hope and humanity, as well as traces of violence and despair, and our own government’s complicity in war crimes. A live, immersive and community-based experience, with comedy, dance and music. This will be an archive for future generations; to collect, to document, we are all here as witnesses.
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout
249 is a Ramshackle Queer Party for All, flaunting exciting live-acts and DJs from Edinburgh's music scene. After tearing Summerhall a new one last year, this year's event is hotly-tipped for the prestigious "Best in Fringe for Queer Minge and a Dance Award 2024". Hosted by Alice Rabbit, Scotland's hardest drag queen, featuring live club anthems from local superstar Chloe Roze and hunners more. Line-up: Alice Rabbit Chloe Roze Maz and the Phantasms AAAHHHNNNDDDIII
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Have you seen Heat? Constantly judged by your more esteemed colleagues and friends for not watching a movie from 1995 at their convenience? Don’t know when you’ll next be able to commit to watching 3 hours of movie to silence them forever? With Heat on Repeat, drop in and get it done. Watch it once, three times, or three minutes at a random interval. Be the cool one at the dinner party for a change. You’re welcome. All proceeds go to the brand-new Summerhall Arts charity. #28 on 'The 100 Greatest Movies of the ’90’s' (Rolling Stone) #22 on 'The Greatest Crime Films of All Time' (The Guardian) Val Kilmer - Best Supporting Actor Nomination (The Saturn Awards)
Summerhall Festival
Red Lecture Theatre
Local and international label LUCKYME return to their tradition of Edinburgh festival parties with a line-up befitting their extensive roster: joining the dots between club music, hip-hop, jazz and the undefinable space between. Previous festival guests include Ben UFO, Rustie, TNGHT, Eclair Fifi and Benji B.
Summerhall Festival
The Dissection Room
Edinburgh Psych Fest, the sister festival to the UK’s leading Psychedelic music and arts festival Manchester Psych Fest, returns to Scotland’s capital on Sunday 1st September after the sell-out success of its inaugural year. The 2024 edition sees the expansion of the festival with the addition of two of the city’s much-loved venues The Caves & The Mash House alongside Summerhall & The Queen’s Hall promising another unforgettable day filled with mind-bending sounds, trippy visuals and a celebration of all things psychedelic. Current Line-Up Gruff Rhys | Pigs x7 | Temples | NewDad | Juniore | La Luz | The Bug Club | Lime Garden | The Wytches | Divorce | Cloth | Hotwax | Molly Payton | Holly Macve Melts | Helicon | Daiistar | Humour | Gurriers | Whitelands | Soapbox Loose Articles | TTSSFU | Hello Mary | Voka Gentle | Crush Of Souls Logan's Close | Shredd | The Wife Guy's Of Reddit | Nightshift | Puppy Teeth Bütter | Doom Scroller | Magpie Blue + DJs | Food & Drink | Merchandise Artwork by Thea Bryant - Instagram: @__bythea £20, £30 & £35 early bird tickets SOLD OUT. £40* Advance & £35* Under 24 tickets are on sale now LINE-UP SUBJECT TO CHANGE | VENUE CAPACITIES ARE BASED ON FIRST COME FIRST SERVE SO CUSTOMERS ARE ADVISED TO ARRIVE EARLY FOR SPECIFIC ACTS. Wristband collection from 11am.
Summerhall
Dissection Room & Main Hall
Edinburgh Ceilidh Club brings you the best regular ceilidhs with fantastic live bands. The bands all have a caller to teach the dances, so everyone is welcome - from complete beginners to experienced ceilidh dancers.
Summerhall
Main Hall
Josephine Sillars is a musician originally from the Highlands, making art-pop inspired by Fiona Apple and Bjork. Her music has been championed by BBC Introducing, BBC Radio Scotland, The Herald and more. In her only Scottish headline this year, this will be the first look at her debut album.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Scottish musicians Donald WG Lindsay and Alasdair Roberts have been friends for thirty years, since their teenage days. In these three decades, their careers in music have taken them down differing yet similarly unorthodox paths, and they’ve continued to make a lot of music together, usually informally. They’ve only rarely appeared together in concert, but in autumn 2024 they will remedy this state of affairs with their first duo tour.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Mercury and Brit nominated artist returns with his 9th album. Tom’s 9th studio album is an album of duets with some of his favourite French artists. McRae decided to collaborate on these 11 new songs with various artists as a way of acknowledging his deep love of French music, and deepen his relationship with mainland Europe, following Britain’s disastrous decision to leave the EU.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Andrew Wasylyk’s cinematic compositions have been nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award and been awarded BBC Radio 6 Music’s Gideon Coe’s Album of the Year. He has collaborated with former National Poet for Scotland, Liz Lochhead, and written soundtracks for Radio 4. Tommy Perman’s work as a musician and DJ has taken him across the world, with numerous record releases under his own name and with experimental group/arts collective FOUND, alongside visual works at the Sydney Opera House and National Museum of Scotland. An intimate, transcendental audio-visual performance by two artists at the height of their creativity.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
As Gum Takes Tooth, the duo of Thomas Fug and Jussi Brightmore plot an adventurous, idiosyncratic and wilfully unpredictable trajectory. Continuously exploring and mutating with an ever more nuanced approach while maintaining a staunch commitment to non-conformity, the band formed in East London in 2009 with wild gigs across the East London underground music and art scene. Early material coalesced primitive DIY Silver Apples electronics, blast beat mayhem, and experimental noise with explosive avant-punk energy.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Jadasea tours the UK in support of his new album Too Many Tears, out now via 10k. Jadasea is a crucial fixture in the local hip hop scene of South London – where he was born and raised. He first gained attention as a member of Sub Luna City, alongside his bandmates King Krule, Jesse James Solomon, Rago Foot, and Black Mack. Jadasea is an important bridge between London and New York City through his collaborations with rappers such as Wiki and MIKE (both of whom he has toured with).
Summerhall
The Old Lab
A re-imagining of teenage years in the 1980s, featuring stories by Ben Harrison and new interpretations of classic eighties songs by David Paul Jones. 'the atmosphere is one of almost liquid harmony and strength...a beautiful and intelligent hour of music theatre. **** The Scotsman, on Undertow Overflow, (prequel to Last Night…)
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Venue upgrade - all original tickets remain valid. Cosmo is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, live improviser, and field recordist. His music ranges widely from celebratory anthems to soulful elegies to riotous party numbers, to sparse electronic production, to haunting polyphonic songs that have grown out of field recordings of birds, whales, fish, frogs, and fungi, and more. Running through all his work is a belief that the living world is a noisy and musical place with the power to change how we think, feel, and imagine. Together with his human and non-human collaborators, Cosmo creates music that speaks to the urgency and possibility of our times
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Baby Bushka are 8 powerful women whose detailed, choreographed performance of Kate Bush’s music transcends the word “tribute” to create a wild joyous celebration that is simply unforgettable.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
An autobiographical performance of personal and political comedowns growing up in the aftermath of New Labour, scored by a live DJ. This is a show about late nights, early mornings, party politics and men who let you down. You know what they say, things can only get better…
Summerhall
TechCube 0
John Maus is a truly enigmatic musician. Broadly cut from the synth pop cloth, he’s fashioned the frosty minimalism of its fabric into a cloak of infinite meaning, genuine grace and absurdist humour over the course of three defining albums since 2006. His music is a highly mutable affair, whilst often described as retro-futurist on behalf of the 80’s drum machines and synth sounds employed, John’s music is more personal than the nostalgic re-tread implied. There’s a cinematic quality to his songs, with pathos conjured through propelling bass-lines, trailing arpeggios and of course his deeply resonant vocal.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Stuart Murdoch is a Scottish musician, composer, writer and filmmaker, and the lead singer and songwriter for the iconic Glasgow based band Belle and Sebastian.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
For the first time, Meteor Airlines is set to bring their unique sound to Scotland. This event is an exciting opportunity for Scotland’s audiences to experience the rich, culturally infused rock music of Meteor Airlines, a band that not only entertains but also educates and connects listeners to the Moroccan Amazigh culture
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Frankie Archer has exploded onto the electrofolk scene with music that transcends stereotypes using a combination of manipulated samples, synths, drum tracks and earthy Northumbrian fiddle and voice to capture her audience. Her aim? To shake up genres and traditions, challenge perspectives and call for a fairer future.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Celebrating Joni Mitchell: the 7-piece band Hejira performs the greatest works of the genius singer-songwriter. Fronted by the outstanding vocalist/guitarist Hattie Whitehead, this band fully captures the poetry, passion and beauty of Mitchell’s masterpieces.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Afro Celt Sound System are among the pioneers of the contemporary world music scene. Their ground-breaking fusion of African, Gaelic and Bhangra influenced sounds has won the hearts and minds of audiences since the group’s beginnings over 25 years ago. With album sales now topping more than one and a half million, two Grammy nominations to date and tours all around the world, they are the legendary afro-celtic band bringing spirits and music from different cultures together to a breath-taking show.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Los Bitchos is back and better than ever! Since the launch of their much-loved debut album, 'Let the Festivities Begin,' with City Slang in February 2022, the London-based, pan-continental female instrumental four-piece has captivated audiences worldwide. They've performed over 200 shows, including legendary appearances at Glastonbury, and supporting tours with King Gizzard, and a legendary stint to Australia. Their dynamic live presence remains unparalleled.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Beside Trawbreaga Bay, in Co. Donegal, in an old schoolhouse with a suitcase full of borrowed recording gear, Oisin Leech strums gently on an acoustic guitar and watches the tide pull the water away from this ancient inlet. The thickness of Oisin’s voice soothes the old world room as the sound waves bounce around to be captured in the land where his ancestors still live and still make music. This is a scene from the makings of acclaimed songwriter Oisin Leech’s new album, the Steve Gunn-produced Cold Sea, which is coming on Outside Music/ Tremone Records (out March 8th). While Leech may be a familiar name in some circles due to his two decade long career as one half of revered Irish folk duo The Lost Brothers, and from his brilliant radio show Caravan Radio, Cold Sea is his first solo offering. Recorded in Malin, in an old sea-facing schoolhouse that Leech and Gunn transformed into a working studio, the album features contributions from M. Ward, Dónal Lunny, Róisín McGrory and Tony Garnier, a long-time member of Bob Dylan’s touring band. In January 2024 Leech shared the second single from the record, a track called “Colour of the Rain.” The new track a follow up to last autumn’s debut solo single ‘October Sun’, which garnered widespread radio airplay from the likes of BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio Ulster, US Radio, RTE Radio 1 and Radio France.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Celebrating the high energy sounds of New Yorks ‘Studio 54’, 10-piece Discography perform classic and new arrangements of iconic floor fillers form the disco era. Featuring songs from legends; Chic, Nile Rodgers, Donna Summer, Bee Gees, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Grace Jones and many more.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Hailing from the vibrant music scene of Guinea, West Africa, Natu Camara has taken the world stage by storm with her powerful vocals and magnetic presence. Her presence and music resonate as a harmonious blend of legendary voices such as Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Tracy Chapman, and Tina Turner, emerging from the heart of West Africa as a dynamic singer and songwriter.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Jyoty’s journey into music is admirable. From managing the door of London’s Boiler Room to manning the decks at Jacquemus parties with Kaytranada, the Amsterdam-born DJ injects her garage-house mixes with a roster of R&B classics, Punjabi tunes and dancehall tracks. Jyoty hosts her own weekly show on Rinse FM and has provided workshops for fellow South Asian women wanting to break into the music industry.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
How do you anchor yourself when occupying multiple geographic identities at once? For Edwin Raphael, the Dubai-raised, Montreal-based songwriter, it requires an intentional and intensive form of world-building. By developing an unmistakable style of folk that merges Eastern scales with the Western pop canon, Raphael reimagines his music as a exploratory tool that allows him to construct an interior and sacred home to retreat into
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Independent from the jump and fueled at times by willpower and community alone, B. Dolan has expanded his creative influence beyond music into film, poetry, and songwriting over the past fifteen years. Known on stages around the world for his impassioned delivery, dynamic live performances, and dedication to challenging the norm, Dolan engages deeply in his craft while actively fostering a community among his fans and friends.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Immerse yourself in an enchanting world as the mesmerising quartet CALAN grace our stage with their unique brand of power-folk.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Project Smok is the neo-trad trio of Ali Levack, Ewan Baird and Pablo Lafuente, whose nonconformist and progressive Scottish traditional music has set them apart since their formation in 2017. Project Smok’s debut album has cemented their place as a young band at the forefront of the traditional music scene who have great intensions and crave innovation. They offer an unconventional, idiosyncratic, energetic synergism that defies expectation. Their second album ‘The Outset’ was released on 19th January 2024.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Pull the Rope, the new record by Ibibio Sound Machine, casts the Eno Williams and Max Grunhard-led outfit in a new light. The hope, joy, and sexiness of their music remains, but, further honing the edge of their acclaimed 2022 album Electricity, the connection they aim to foster has shifted venues, from the sunny buoyancy of a sunlit festival to a sweat-soaked, all-night dance club. The atmosphere has changed, but you’re still having the time of your life.
Summerhall
Dissection Room
Deaf Club is a savage sound bath dripping with sardonicism: a blastbeat-centric hardcore punk assault channelling crust, thrash, and grind (un)sensibilities. Succinct pauses, surreal frequencies and effects, breakneck pace and sharply hurled vocals characterize the band’s aesthetic, which seems as though it is rooted in a sort of nasty-sound-meets-highbrow-message ethos.
Summerhall
The Old Lab
After their successful debut destruction of Summerhall in May, Edinburgh metallers Disposable return to the Old Lab to celebrate the release of their third full length album It's Blood That Trickles Down, a highly charged, confrontational cut of 15 tracks of finger pointing thrash. A trilogy of Edinburgh metal is completed by young buck thrashers Luxera and Penicuik hard hitters Hammer who are providing a ferocious warm-up before the main event. After proving last time that the Old Lab is the perfect environment for a big metal celebration – it's time to do it all again!
Summerhall
The Old Lab
Tujiko Noriko is a musician, singer, songwriter and filmmaker based in France. Shortly after her demo was discovered by Peter Rehberg and Christian Fennesz in 2000, she released her debut album "Shojo-Toshi" on the renowned Mego label (later Editions Mego). Tujiko has to date released over twenty critically acclaimed albums on the labels Editions Mego, FatCat, Room 40 and PAN. She has performed worldwide, including international festivals Sonar, Benicassim and Mutek. Austrian violinist, vocalist, sound artist and composer Mia Zabelka is at the forefront of international electro-acoustic performance art. She developed her unique musical language in a process she calls “automatic playing”, where the music grows out of her physical movement and finds its expression in her electric violin with electronic devices, alien objects, vocals, and/or the acoustic violin
Summerhall
The Old Lab