Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Tim Biglowe: Plonka, The Pitch, Candace Bryan: Don’t Be Ridiculous Everybody Wants This, The Distance and Matt Forde: Project Holy Moly

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Tim Biglowe: Plonka, PBH’s Free Fringe @ Slow Progress Cafe.

4-starsTim Biglowe returns with a new show where he proves he is a plonka (his description, not mine!) Moving to Thailand to save on the rent, his parents cruising to the Caribbean for all the wrong reasons, and the benefits – or otherwise – of being a Dink, Plonka is packed with terrific new material, and several truly hilarious stories, all delivered with Tim’s trademark, laidback hippie style. He’s a relaxed, engaging, indeed supportive presence on stage, who sets up an easy rapport with the audience to the extent there’s often a bit of banter going on. A series of inventive comic scenarios, the show is loads of fun, and our full audience buzzed with enjoyment. Always remember – just because it looks like a reviewer and sounds like a reviewer… isn’t always a reviewer! Highly recommended! 4 stars.

The Pitch, Pleasance Courtyard.

4-starsSet in East Belfast, we meet football-mad Robbie, who spends all his spare time on the pitch. Deren is also football-mad, although it’s the Gaelic variety, and he would dearly love to play his game on Robbie’s pitch. Meanwhile, Robbie’s sister Melissa is planning some devious romantic subterfuge which Robbie fears might get in the way of her football practice. In Philip Catherwood’s play, the fight for the pitch becomes a metaphor for a move towards a united Ireland, and, as a structure, it works very well. Confident and engaging performances from the cast of three, James Grimm, Jake Douglas and Dion di Maio, including some very impressive ball control; one miskick and you could take the eye out of anyone in the front row. Believable characters, robustly written and with just the right level of humour. There’s an additional romantic aspect too, which is perhaps a slight distraction from the main thrust of the play, but overall it’s a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking piece, extremely well done. 4 stars.

Candace Bryan: Don’t Be Ridiculous, Everybody Wants This, Gilded Balloon Patter House.

3-starsAn intelligent, informative and thought-provoking hour of comedy from Candace Bryan, a woman with the heart of a Communist but the cheque book of a shopaholic. It’s such a shame that the likes of Jeff Bezos and Blackrock own so much of the shopping world, it really plays havoc with your sense of balance and decency. Candace is a sucker for an online promotion though; take her newly bought headgear, which has to be seen to be believed. She has a wry delivery style and some very esoteric comedy moments – I may have been the only one in the audience to get the Sylvia Plath joke. Karl Marx has something to say about it all, but even he can’t defeat the power of the online review. There were a few good laugh out loud lines, but most of the show progresses at the pace of a low-level chuckle and it could do with an occasional boost of energy. 3 stars.

The Distance, Summerhall.

I remember the appeal of cross-country running at school. No team members to let down (because I was rubbish at sport), no equipment needed; and you finished earlier than all the other sports and went home more quickly. The only downsides were the abuse of neighbourhood golfers and the dangers of the local dogs. Chris gets into running that way. But when schoolmaster Mr Gunter watches him run for the first time, he knows Chris will be a good lad. But life doesn’t always run to plan, and it will take more than just strength, discipline and aptitude for him to last The Distance. Ben Norris appears in his own exciting and honest play based on his own experiences, which charts Chris’ ups and downs, through school, training and university, but will his endeavours lead him on to the ultimate prize (which, apparently, is not the Commonwealth Games). A fantastic, athletic and very sweaty performance has you gripped from the very beginning; a tale of struggle, survival and the support of a loving mum. 5 stars.

Matt Forde: Project Holy Moly, Pleasance Courtyard.

4-starsMatt Forde’s one of the best political satirists in the business and his shows always examine the current political scene and poke a little bit of fun at its most deserving bigwigs. This year he was somewhat sideswiped by the transformation of Keir Starmer into Andy Burnham, and if that political development adversely affected the content of this year’s show – you can more or less tell. Project Holy Moly is a relatively gentle survey of the state of the nation, and features some excellent impersonations – Ed Milliband, Angela Rayner, and above all Donald Trump; others – Badenoch, Farage, Anderson – fare less well. Matt goes personal with a fresh account of his latest problems stemming from his cancer surgery, which, despite the unfortunate circumstances, is extremely funny. Not quite firing on all comedy cylinders, even a slightly less-good-than-usual Matt Forde show is still very worthwhile catching. 4 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Dribble, The Jolly Fisherman, Bombs over Byker, Target Audience, and Max Fulham: Memory Foam

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Dribble, Underbelly Bristo Square.

An unexpectedly joyous start to the day. Whilst you’re queuing to get in, the six members of Cenica, part of the Sao Paolo Showcase, amble along outside the venue, recreating Brazil’s street music scene, and getting us all into the vibe. Once the show starts inside the venue, we see that Dribble is, on one hand, an examination of football in Brazil, but it quickly develops into something much more: a celebration of individualism, of equality, of those things that make life worth living. We see people’s own private stories, from the son whose father was dying while he was rehearsing the show, to the women who watch football together for different reasons, and the man who found the safety to come out and truly be himself. There’s a charmingly hilarious re-enactment of the first man (a Scot, Charles Miller) to bring football to Brazil, plenty of drink to keep us lubricated; and then the whole show culminates with going back outside to have a bit of a game of footie with the cast. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I didn’t expect any of that. The cast of six – Beta Cunha, Glauco Garcia, Fabiano Amigucci, Ícaro Negroni, Diego Guirado, and Márcia Morellio, do an amazing job of creating a combination of honesty, involvement, a sense of belonging and pure joy. One of those shows that the Fringe is made for. 5 stars.

The Jolly Fisherman, Underbelly Bristo Square.

4-starsBased on a true story, John Dinneen’s The Jolly Fisherman tells the story of Alan, whose dad and his mates drink daily in their local pub in Barking, and Amir, whose family move into a house on the same street. Alan and Amir become firm friends as boys, and go to the Jolly to play darts after school. Both boys influence each other with their own cultures – Amir learning about pub life and Alan experiencing Friday prayers. But the Jolly is to be closed – and rather than reopening as a reinvigorated pub, it becomes a mosque. Can their friendship survive a decade, or will suspicion and radicalisation change the way Alan thinks about Amir? Dinneen’s highly anticipated play poses some very challenging questions, and you almost dread finding out all the answers. Jonny Khan and Alex (Why I Stuck a Flare…) Hill are two outstanding actors who play the two boys-into-men with great understanding and true heart. Whilst the play itself may have the occasional lull and drop in energy, Khan and Hill always keep you totally engaged. And there’s a rivetingly exciting ending that you don’t know which way it will go until the final few seconds. 4 stars.

Bombs over Byker, Greenside @ Riddles Court.

4-starsRiver’s idle search for a job is upended when he joins his mother and sister to stay with his grandmother in Byker, Newcastle. A chance encounter with a dying pigeon leads him to meet local lads Shane and Crombie, whom he invites to a student party – a scenario which stirs within him an unexpected desire for criminal mischief. And once kindled, does that flame of criminality grow? Or can he pull himself and his friends back from the brink? Fresh from his excellent The Shadow Boxer last year, Lucas English returns with Bombs over Byker, an intense and intricate play that weighs the benefits of certain crimes over others, raising questions of morality, family loyalty and just how far you can endanger yourself and others for the greater good. Lucas is an excellent writer and storyteller, and this is a superb performance, clearly bringing together all the characters and voices in his tale, staging the play simply and effectively for a small acting space. Highly recommended! 4 stars.

Target Audience, Pleasance Courtyard.

4-stars£10,000 for a daily consultation rate? Novelist Tobias can’t believe his luck as he’s called into the creative room to smarten up the scripts of Citizen 54 and Thorns! Of course, the studio has to satisfy the needs of their stakeholders and their owners, and their owners’ owners… But Tobias has principles. Will he sell his soul to help write a script that goes totally against his beliefs? Dan Bishop’s Target Audience is a cleverly written and witty play that examines the ins and outs of a TV studio creative executive suite, and asks the question – what would we do when we’re truly Up Against It?! Excellent performances from the cast of four – Henry Calcutt, Rheana Kamalu, Molly Windust and James Coward, the show delivers laugh after laugh whilst successfully making some very difficult points. Very enjoyable. 4 stars.

Max Fulham: Memory Foam, Pleasance Dome.

We’ve all got attics with loads of cardboard boxes in them, and every few years we make a visit up there just to sort out what’s in those boxes. In Memory Foam, Max Fulham is back with another ecstatically funny hour of ventriloquism – yes, I know those two concepts don’t often go together – with not only three encounters with Grandad, but also a lovelorn puppet from a charity shop, his great-great-great-(and probably further back)-Grandad, talking works of art, and a very special guest who has a very well-known website. Max’s quick brain is at its devilish best when joshing with the audience, and he has the enviable gift of making literally nothing funny – you’ll see what I mean if you see his show and watch out for Islands in the Stream. Loved his show last year – this year he’s even funnier. Remember, you never know what could be in those cardboard boxes. It may be ventriloquism – but it’s not for kids. 5 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Mandy: Prince of Darkness, Just Blokes, Christian Dart: GUMSHOE!, January 6th The Musical, You Talkin’ to Us? and Robin Grainger: Lemonade

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Mandy: Prince of Darkness, Greenside @ George Street.

4-starsIf anyone has dominated the machinations of the Labour Party over the past forty years, it’s Peter Mandelson. Prince of Darkness, the Dark Prince, we all have our nickname for him; the Machiavellian powerhouse who worked tirelessly to influence Labour’s change of fortunes from the hard Left of the early 80s, to Blair and Brown, and of course his presence is very much felt even today, with his recent role as Ambassador to the United States. And not a thing has ever gone wrong in his glittering career, right? He’s always had immaculate judgment and never been involved in any scandals… oh wait… this is Lord Mandelson we’re talking about; and this show depicts him as an urbane, sincere servant of his country, his only flaw being his excessive humility. Of course, anything untoward has never been proved. Richard Stirling truly makes you think you’re in the room with Mandy himself, with a studied, controlled and thoroughly believable impersonation, with some nice moments of Blair and Brown chucked in for good measure. The show is a genuinely fascinating account of UK politics since the 1980s as seen from the Mandy perspective. A well-constructed narrative written by Stirling contributes to a compelling performance, and you can completely understand how this man could have wrapped political leaders around his little finger for decades. Quietly riveting and thoroughly entertaining. 4 stars.

Just Blokes, TheSpace on the Mile.

Mental health – especially for men – is one of the big, yet easily brushed under the carpet topics of our day, so Tori Kay’s Just Blokes is a welcome contribution to our understanding of the problem. Donny, Daniel, Kylie and Seb share a flat; all of them with their own problems and their own ways of dealing with them. Five minutes in these guys’ company and you quickly see just how easy it is for one person to be the target of bullying, under the guise of banter, by the rest of the group. But it isn’t always the most obvious person who suffers the most. The characterisations are recognisable, and the way they treat the women in their lives, sadly predictable. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, they say, and although this production is far from Hell, the good intentions don’t fully get realised in the writing or performances. Despite having the smallest roles, it’s the women in this production who stand out. The writing is a little clunky at times and the direction needs some fine tuning, but if this somehow helps someone to speak out and ask for help, that’s the best possible reaction to the play. 2 stars.

Christian Dart: GUMSHOE!, Gilded Balloon Teviot.

No police tactic is too excessive for Detective Gummo, as he solves a case of moyder in 1940s New Yoik. A delightful parody of those Philip Marlowe/Raymond Chandler movies, Christian Dart’s outrageously creative Gumshoe! returns for another year – an hour of pure comedy escapism. Given that it’s an intricately plotted one-man show, the element of improvisation within the play is truly impressive. He’s an extraordinarily quick thinker, bouncing off any and everything that the audience throws at him, which makes every performance different. The whole show is brilliantly self-deprecating, ridiculous and hilarious, with an amazing energy level and terrific physical comedy. You could get exhausted laughing – and if you sit in the front, you may well end up involved! A comedy masterclass. 5 stars.

January 6th the Musical, TheSpace Triplex.

4-starsWhat’s this? A musical about the insurrectionists at the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6th? Is that really suitable material for a musical? Of course not. But then this is not a musical about insurrectionists. It’s a show about two wannabe theatre stars who accidentally get caught up in the Capitol riots whilst preparing to break into the famous DC theatre scene on their birthday – yes, they share the same birthday. It’s an easy mistake to make. They’re innocent, naturally, although Patti Lupone calling for them to be blacklisted doesn’t help their career prospects. Jessie Ballard and Kiely Sugayan’s January 6th the Musical is a fresh, funny and energetic show, tinged with Fringe magic. The songs (not that there are many) are tuneful and singalong, the vibe is upbeat and frothy, and the performances are engaging, chirpy, and loads of fun. Its success lies in its charm, and the fact that it doesn’t try to overstretch itself and do too much. Bright, mischievous and thoroughly entertaining! 4 stars.

You Talkin’ to Us?, TheSpace on the Mile.

4-starsExploited by your boss? Forced to work 30 hours a week overtime? Miserably underpaid in poor work conditions? Then hire an out of work lawyer to unionise your workforce! But supposing your job is hard-nosed gangster? Or even soft-nosed? Authentically Productions’ You Talkin’ to Us? has a brilliant, ridiculous central premise and is wittily written by Daniel Sanchez O’Brien. Full of attack and performed with gusto by Arran Hogg, Liam Scobie, Kirsty MacVicar, Daniel John Doherty, and Callum Latham, it establishes a lovely sense of the ludicrous whilst just about hanging on by a toenail in reality. Kudos to Messrs Scobie and Latham for the most devastatingly effective stage punch too! My only criticism is that the voices were a little too loud for the small acting space, but otherwise I recommend it for a good laugh in an unexpected setting. 4 stars.

Robin Grainger: Lemonade, Assembly George Square.

It’s always a privilege to spend an hour in the company of comedy genius Robin Grainger. Having spent many previous shows covering trauma, his new show Lemonade takes all those earlier lemons and makes them into… well, lemonade. Concentrate on the good things in life is his message in this show. In true Grainger style, the show starts gently before building into a giant comedic frenzy – at one stage I was genuinely wiping away tears of laughter. Recollections of pets past and present, trips to the local swimming pool when he was a boy, love for his family and friends, and battles with his robot vacuum cleaner – all perfectly judged and expressed comedic nuggets. I loved how his French Bulldog only speaks in French – c’est bizarre. With his enthusiastic and ebullient stage presence, he always gets just the right level of self-deprecation; as a result, it’s very easy to identify with his stories and experiences. A visit to the Fringe is nothing without Robin Grainger! 5 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Annie Wobbler (Revisited), Parking Spot: The Musical!, Madeleine Brettingham: Legend, and Casey Filips: What a Character

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Annie Wobbler (Revisited), Pleasance Dome.

Nichola McAuliffe returns to the role that Arnold Wesker wrote for her 45 years ago. In an acting tour-de-force with the words of a most distinguished writer, five scenes portray three different Anna’s, at different stages of their lives. Ms McAuliffe has updated the text – sensitively and smartly – which serves most prominently to bring the young Anna of the first scene into the world of social media where her anxieties and class differences become even more apparent. Compactly but creatively staged, Nichola McAuliffe’s intelligent characterisations draw you in as you empathise with the various Anna’s – even the super-confident, hard-nosed version. But your heart truly goes out to the elderly, homeless Annie Wobbler at the end, a person whom we’ve all seen on the streets at some point, and to whom we’ve probably never given another thought. A stunning performance and a privilege to get so close to such a great actor. 5 stars.

Parking Spot: The Musical!, Greenside @ George Street.

Will’s bought a car! Hurrah!! Now, where to park it? Trouble is, in Jersey City parking spots are as rare as an admission of guilt by President Trump. Retired resident Dale has his own spot, and when he dies, it comes up for grabs. But Will’s not the only local who needs a parking space and what once was neighbourly banter quickly turns into ruthless rivalry. Louis Armistead, Erick Eiser and Dash Hammerstein’s light-hearted musical has an entertaining premise but sadly, doesn’t go anywhere. It starts very promisingly with a jolly, upbeat, wittily written number, but after that everything becomes rather samey, and, I’m afraid, a bit boring. Performances are lively but patchy, with some performers’ voices too soft and others a little out of key. A nice idea that unfortunately fades away. 2 stars.

Madeleine Brettingham: Legend, Gilded Balloon Teviot.4-starsMadeleine Brettingham is a Legend; not surprising really, she takes after her dad and he was a Legend too. That’s the basis of her excellent hour of comedy, a female geezer whose ideal man would be on the beta spectrum. We hear about her childhood and growing up with just a single dad who, let’s face it, liked a drink; but, nevertheless, she went to Cambridge, even if she had to attend the May Ball in an unconventional manner. Very confident, with a fluid, punchy delivery, the show is packed with cleverly constructed material, including the assumptions that undertakers always make, and a spectacular ending that only a Legend would dare devise. Madeleine Brettingham is happy to tread a dangerous path between the merely comic and the comically tasteless, but if it all seems a bit much, just remember her dad would have loved it. Great crowd work; and very funny. 4 stars.

Casey Filips: What a Character, Assembly George Square.

Hot on the heels of his brilliant Virtuoso show last year, Casey Filips returns in What a Character – something of a misnomer as he introduces us to four of them, each of whom loves a spot of audience participation. Casey is a complete master of character comedy, improvising and clowning around with whatever the audience feeds him, making you laugh uncontrollably not only at the silliest of concepts, but also with admiration for his extraordinary timing, a brilliant gift for comedy callbacks, and the kind of expressive face that dares you not to giggle at it. I won’t spoil any of the surprises as to the nature of these four characters, suffice to say it’s all incredibly creative and you’ll continue laughing long into the night with the memories of it all. Simply hysterical. 5 stars.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Ulysses of Scranton, The BBC’s First Homosexual, Olivia Raine Atwood: Oops, Brick, Bilal Zafar: Rubicon, Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You, and Sodom, The Quintessence of Debauchery

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Ulysses of Scranton, Bedlam Theatre.

4-starsI suspect I’m not the only person who attempted to read James Joyce’s Ulysses, got as far as page 434 and thought – do you know what? Life is too short. I put it down and have never picked it up again. That was 48 years ago! Can Scranton Fringe Festival’s Ulysses of Scranton do everyone a huge favour and allow them to bypass the original? Not really – but I don’t suppose that was their intention anyway. The entertaining and thoroughly meta premise is that Scranton Theatre of Pennsylvania are putting on a one-hour abridgment of Joyce’s masterpiece but they’ve only got one hour till curtain up, so we’re watching their last-minute rehearsal. So not only are they encapsulating Ulysses, they’re also showing the nooks and crannies of the rehearsal process, the tensions and alliances between individual cast members, and those oh so important artistic differences. At times it reminded me of A Chorus Line (bear with me), with a disembodied voice barking instructions, and delving into cast members’ own backstories and relationships. It’s very inventive and often very funny, acted beautifully by the cast of five, with some thoroughly entertaining characterisations. I wondered if it would make me want to revisit the book all over again? Probably not! But this is a very entertaining and creative way to spend a morning.

The BBC’s First Homosexual, Assembly George Square.

Hard-fought-for freedoms can never be taken for granted. It’s extraordinary to think that, as recently as the 1950s, it was deemed impossible even to mention the word homosexuality on the BBC. The BBC’s First Homosexual – a very tongue-in-cheek and inspired title – follows the necessarily tentative steps toward making a serious, respectable radio documentary where society’s great and good could expound on their theories as to why what they would see as this warped perversion could start gaining traction amongst the people – the weak-willed ones, no doubt. Such a documentary was recorded in 1954 – but not broadcast until 1957, and even then in a heavily censored format. The story of the documentary is interspersed with one young man’s own story, an assistant in ready-mades at a Manchester branch of Burton’s tailors, who slowly starts to understand his own sexuality through a series of unintentional, and then very much intentional, encounters; the two stories play alongside each other until they dovetail together at the end. Dr Stephen M Hornby’s remarkable play is elegantly structured, wittily written and provides a fascinating insight into a sad, repressed time. The cast of three – Max Lohan, Andrew Pollard and Jolyon Benson – take on a raft of brilliant characterisations and bring out both the hilarity and tragedy of the subject. A slick, brisk, tight presentation of an important play that reminds us that we must never stop fighting to keep all those hard-won freedoms.

Olivia Raine Atwood: Oops, Gilded Balloon Teviot.

4-starsOlivia Raine Attwood’s Oops is the lively, hilarious and very relatable tale of how she became a full-time matchmaker, a career path which rose organically out of High School Olivia’s despair that she would never be the object of anyone’s desire. We learn of the vicious clique of girls who made her life a misery, of the boys she longed for; and, on a different track, we also discover the perils of running across the Williamsburg Bridge at an inappropriate moment. Olivia has a brilliant delivery of her smartly structured and worded material, and it’s a very engaging and indeed energetic hour that draws you into her world and – whether it’s all true or not – you believe every word. A fun, light-hearted hour packed with laughs.

Brick, C Arts C Venues C Aurora.

3-starsNoah Xavier performs their own play, Brick, which concerns James, detained after throwing a brick at a police officer during a protest. When you’re caught up in the excitement of a protest, with its goading and galvanising atmosphere all around you, it’s easy to lose one’s head and do something you regret later. These things happen. Being in a cell, with just a comatose room-mate for company, gives James a chance to, if not cool down, then at least reflect on the reason he went to the march, his wider family circumstances that have shaped his attitudes and beliefs, and the state of the nation – indeed, the world – as a whole, where institutional failures are constantly making life worse for everyone, except those who have a financial interest in continuing those institutional failures. As the play moves to its conclusion, you realise that the narrative has subtly changed, and we’re no longer talking about a one-off march, and that the water and inhaler he requests take on a greater significance – I won’t spoil the surprise. Noah acts with huge conviction and heart, and it’s a bold piece of work, created by a new voice with huge potential. Personally, I feel it would be even better if the opening scenes were cut shorter, with less attention to humour, progressing more rapidly to the essence and meat of the play – that would give it a much greater impact. Nevertheless, there is something that everyone will recognise in this play – especially if you’ve ever wanted to fight to change the world for the better.

Bilal Zafar: Rubicon, Underbelly Bristo Square.

3-starsWhy is it called Rubicon? It isn’t anything to do with crossing a mythical river, that’s for sure. Bilal Zafar presents a varied and perhaps uneven hour, where he takes us through his career to date, acts out a scene from a film with a member of the audience, discusses how he teased Harrods by offering to buy some of their vastly expensive Christofle ornaments, and plays a round of Who Wants to be a Millionaire with another member of the audience – on this occasion, that was me. I think I won, but I’m not entirely sure. The show didn’t seem to flow entirely to plan, and he sometimes came across as a little ill at ease. Where his fluidity absolutely took off was with his account of his new job as a teaching assistant, which created a very warm-hearted and cute section of his material. There were plenty of laughs and a rewardingly clever closing sequence that wrapped up all the threads in the show that you didn’t even realise were threads. Maybe we were a rather unresponsive audience, but I did come away from the show feeling that something just hadn’t quite clicked.

Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You, Pleasance Courtyard.

4-starsSami Abu Wardeh comes on stage, all guns blazing, full of attitude and funny noises; and he instantly makes his mark with loads of energy and plenty of attacking material. He concentrates at length on his unusual childhood: born in Kuwait to Irish and Palestinian parents, where he lived till he was 4, which was when Saddam Hussein decided to make Kuwait not such a safe place to be. The family moved to a council estate in London, where, as a 5-year-old, he schooled the local racist kid in how to be racist properly. He stopped being a poor kid in London when the family moved again, when he became a poor kid in Dubai. He has some great material about how to break down the police through the subtle art of clowning and offers a new perspective on just how unsafe it is to live in Battersea. Politically, sometimes he takes his material where angels fear to tread, and I hope he has a good coping mechanism if audiences take umbrage! But he is clearly a naturally very funny person, and this is an hour of good, solid comedy.

Sodom, The Quintessence of Debauchery, TheSpace @ Surgeons’Hall.

4-starsA rare opportunity to see the first play to be banned in Britain under the Theatres Act of 1737. Allegedly written by Sir John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and privately performed at the Court of King Charles II in or around 1678, it’s a satire, dealing with the corruption and vice of the monarch, and, unsurprisingly, Charles II didn’t appreciate it. It was published in Antwerp as no one in England dared touch it; nevertheless, any published copies were seized, book dealers who sold it were prosecuted, and when it finally made its way to the Examiner of Plays in 1737, it was summarily dismissed. Today it appears as a period piece, and very much an oddity; the premise being that King Bolloxion has decreed that buggery is now not only legalised but encouraged. For this play to work, it must come across as crude, filthy and playful as possible, and Nikita Matthews’ production pretty much achieves that. There’s no expense spared on the costumes and make-up to recreate the Restoration era, plus there are live musicians and a plethora of dildos, and what more do you need at 11.30pm at night? It’s a shame that the play itself is not better; that’s no one’s fault but there are good reasons why this play never sees the light of day and it’s not just its subject matter. But the very spirited cast give their all, and there are several laugh out loud moments – perhaps the best being the unexpected musical interlude that cocks its hat to the musical Annie. The team deserve all the stars in the world for pluck!

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Reformer, Dinner with the Wolves, Lear’s Fool, Kwami Odoom and Jack Henry: Support Group, HR The Musical, and Bachelors of Fine Arts

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Reformer, Greenside @ George Street.

3-starsWhere would Lottie be without her regular Reformer class? It’s all part of her strict weekly self-care schedule, because it’s essential – of course – to stave off Alzheimer’s when you’re in your early twenties. When newcomer Sophie arrives in class late, with neither water nor the essential grippy socks, and takes the bed next to Lottie, will the regular attendee help out the newbie, on a friendly, girl-to-girl basis? Eddie Thornton’s Reformer takes place in a brutally pretentious fitness studio, where no one dare question the disembodied voice of the instructor (scarily intoned by Emma Kowalchuk) – a perfect setting for an exploration of competitiveness, one-upmanship (one-upwomanship?) and where the phrase “comparisons are odious” feels right at home. Entertainingly written and performed by Eddie Thornton herself as Lottie and Anna Glendenning as Sophie, there’s lots of relatable material here about what constitutes friendship – particularly that special brand of gym-friendship – but also wider issues such as fitness obsession and body positivity. If you’ve ever attended a Reformer class, several moments will make you shudder!

Dinner with the Wolves, Greenside @ George Street.

What happens in Cabourg, stays in Cabourg… right? 20 years ago best friends Arthur and Jesse and their mates took a hedonistic holiday to remember. Six of them went out – only five came back. Today, Arthur’s returning home from a long spell abroad, and his wife Emma is hosting a dinner party with her sister Hannah, old friend Fred, and Hannah’s new partner Rob. They all can’t wait to see Arthur again. But families and friends all have secrets, and, boy, do this lot have secrets! Bread and Butter Productions’ thoroughly engrossing and entertaining new play tells a compelling story with believable characters and well-judged humour. It’s niftily staged, written and directed by Polly Hoban and Jake Butterworth, and boasts a terrific ensemble cast of Eloise Webb as Emily, Claudia Pope as Hannah, Joe Kelly as Rob, Jack Symonds as Fred, Amir Wilson as Arthur and Jake Butterworth as Jesse. Although you never guess the twist to the plot, it’s been hiding in plain sight all along. A very impressive show!

Lear’s Fool, Greenside @ George Street.

The Fool famously falls out of King Lear in the middle and there’s neither sight nor sound of him again until we hear that he has been hanged. What might have happened to him in the meantime? David Henry Wilson’s beautifully succinct and creative play was first produced in 1995 and reimagines an incarcerated Fool guarded by a soft-hearted, cowardly soldier answerable to a ruthless Captain. It’s a gripping little play, using both Shakespeare’s words (not just from Lear) alongside new text, and it provides a fully reasonable account of the Fool’s imprisonment, filling in the gap until Lear movingly cradles Cordelia in his arms (and cries Howl five times). Liz Carruthers directs a superb cast of professional actors, including a very amusingly precious guard played by Sam Stopford and a grimly sneaky captain played by John Kay Steel. Jill Riddiford gives an excellent performance as the Fool, a very credible mixture of world-weary cheekiness and cynicism. If you know your Shakespeare, you’ll marvel at how well this accompanies the original King Lear.

Kwami Odoom and Jack Henry:Support Group, Gilded Balloon Patter House.

4-starsWelcome to Kwami Odoom and Jack Henry’s Support Group, where you can bring your problems and our hosts will do their best to solve them (in a limited time span at the end of the show, that is). Before then, there are two stand-up sets from Jack and Kwami, whose different styles and personalities complement each other excellently, creating an hour of great fun. Jack takes us through the trauma (such as it was) of coming out and how come his bodycount has doubled in the past year; and Kwami shares his concerns of recently becoming a parent and how his competitive urge won’t be assuaged until his daughter is at least 18 years old. They create a warm and inclusive atmosphere in their venue and set up superb rapport with the audience. It’s also very very funny! A terrific option for some afternoon comedy – and you never know, they may even solve your burning issues!

HR The Musical, Gilded Balloon Patter House.

4-starsWe’ve all had those emails. Just need to nudge you… and I don’t seem to have received… Awww; where would we be without HR? In a much happier place, if Amy Mansfield’s hilarious part-musical part-sketch show HR The Musical is to be believed. Satirising this most ridiculous of professions through mickey-taking pastiches and even a spot of Latin plainsong, Mika Austin, Amy Mansfield and Jessical Robinson take us through the slings and arrows of outrageous Personnel issues (oops, sorry, I said the P word). It’s an inspired idea and a very funny show; given its sketch nature, as you would expect some scenes work better than others, but the performances are all superb, both vocally (brilliant harmonies!) and in terms of physical comedy. Don’t forget to sing along to the company-mandated motivational song(s), although I wouldn’t bother asking about the menopause training.

Bachelors of Fine Arts, TheSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall.

4-starsDrawing on their not entirely happy experiences as students at New York’s prestigious, elite and awfully expensive REDACTED College, Holly and Rory take us through the series of ghastly training sessions and dubious people that they encountered on the greasy pole to become Bachelors of Fine Arts – and let me tell you, you’ll be singing that title song for ages after the show. Yes, this is no mere spoken memoir, but a musical, with several extremely catchy songs that Holly and Rory – that’s Hope Johansen and Riley Elton McCarthy – perform with terrific voices and stunning harmonies. Essentially, it’s a story of survival and triumph, but there’s a lot of heartache and hardship along the way – and some fascinating exposés about what really goes on in a posh drama school. It did feel perhaps a little uneven at times – having gone in and out of musical numbers with refreshing regularity in the first part of the show, the second part tends much more towards the spoken word and occasionally a little voice in me said I want another song! Nevertheless, the two actors have a brilliant chemistry together and it’s a very rewarding storyline. And you won’t stop singing that song.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Searching for Robert Hennessey, No Hard Felix, Big Stuff, Eva Peroni: Jungled, and Tap Out! (Or I’ll Hit You Again)

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Searching for Robert Hennessey, Greenside @ George Street.

3-starsAs the title suggests, this show is about the lifelong quest of Michael-Sean Hennessey to find the father he never met. He was the product of a one-night stand, his parents never meeting again outside the sheets; at the age of 18 his mother told him his father was a truck driver named Michael Hennessey, and that’s pretty much all he has to go on. It’s an entertaining journey that we all go on together, and would it ruin the surprise to say it has a happy ending? Michael Sean is a charismatic, larger-than-life extrovert on stage, and he tells his story with excitement, enthusiasm, and a whole lotta emotion. To be honest, the Mint Studio is too small a venue to contain his big personality, and at times I felt that it could do with a little tightening up; the use of video and pictures on the screen, for example, sometimes made it look a little amateurish. But you’d have to be very hard-hearted not to be swayed by his journey.

No Hard Felix, Just the Tonic at The Caves.

A tour-de-force performance by Mark Ryder as he portrays the arrogantly alpha Felix, powering his way through the lives of his so-called friends and unfortunate colleagues. If he’s ruthless and cruel with them, spare a thought for how he treats the women in his life! But Felix has a little problem – rather, a big problem with little Felix; the question is, how to deal with it? Cue a hilarious but agonising one-man play where he blames everyone and everything for his erectile dysfunction, when what’s needed is to be a man and do something about it. A brilliant insight into toxic masculinity and the collateral damage it causes – not least to the toxic man himself. A truly inventive and honest piece about something that nearly everyone will come up against at some point (so to speak). Plus it’s outstandingly funny!

Big Stuff, Assembly Roxy.

4-starsNaomi and Matt are driving from Los Angeles to Toronto with a van full of stuff – small stuff individually, but when you put it all together, it becomes big stuff. An engaging light-hearted show about loss and grief, and how we hang onto little things because they remind us of someone special (that is, if you’re like Naomi) or how we chuck stuff away as soon as it doesn’t have an obvious purpose (like Matt). As you would expect from a real-life couple, Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram have a great onstage relationship, full of jokey digs and knowing asides, and with immaculate comic timing. There’s some gentle but entertaining audience participation and it’s a surprisingly educational show – you’ll certainly realise you’re not the only person who still hoards their great aunt’s collection of castanets. Highly relatable and entertaining throughout.

Eva Peroni: Jungled, Gilded Balloon Teviot.

The main thrust of Eva Peroni’s Edinburgh debut hour is about how she moved to Costa Rica for her education – which is a pretty unique achievement for someone from a council estate in Livingston – how she tried to come out to her best friend whilst there, and the events that meant she ended up back at the University of Edinburgh. She has masses of attack and a strong, powerful delivery; she operates at two volume levels, loud and deafening, and the show would have benefited from a little less amplification. For me, her act lacks some finesse and light and shade – I also thought she occasionally went a little cruel with her material. She’s a big fan of some groanworthy puns, which is something you either like or don’t! It was a full house and there was no lack of laughter from the audience, but, I confess, it was all a little too shouty for me.

Tap Out! (Or I’ll Hit You Again), Gilded Balloon Patter House.

3-starsTheatre at the Edinburgh Fringe is all about being challenged, and Tap Out! (Or I’ll Hit You Again) is a fascinating addition to the plays that you file under “difficult”. It’s about a man who starts random fights in the street just to gain some kind of identity, to find a purpose in his life. When expressed clinically like that, it sounds like some kind of academic exercise to theorise how far you can push violence before it becomes damaging. The answer to that is – not very far! What you can’t overlook is that these are not mere victimless errors of judgment. This is a play about a very bad man who turns violent at a moment’s notice and is a danger to society. End of. Written by Conor Dye, it’s got a strong structure and a fluid and very believable narrative. It describes itself as a comedy – which I think is stretching a point. It will certainly spark a debate between yourselves as to whether our hero (antihero?) has a remote chance of redemption. The writing suggests that he might, but does a leopard change his spots that easily? Furthermore, Matt Ackerman’s performance is so engaging, and his ability to make you feel he’s talking directly to you is so well done, that you find you’re being asked to like this appalling individual – and can you allow that of yourself? You can see why not only is this a difficult play but it’s also difficult to express exactly what you think of it! One thing’s for sure – Mr Ackerman gives a tremendous performance; but the play leaves you totally perplexed.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Long Way Home, Buggers, The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!, An A to Z Guide to Dating, Evaldas Karosas: A Very Capable Man, and 44 Minutes

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Long Way Home, Gilded Balloon Patter House.

From the first sentence you’re completely hooked by Layla Warren’s true, inspiring tale of survival, from an early childhood in war-torn Tehran to fleeing to London, a family upheaval to Virginia, back to London and then to Los Angeles. Long Way Home is a story of resourcefulness against the odds, the need for constant flexibility and always reaching for the stars, whilst never losing sight of the pull of home and family. Layla is a riveting storyteller, with a perfectly paced and constructed narrative that leaves you hanging on her every word. She has an extraordinary ability to draw you into her confidence and her insights, so that within minutes the whole audience is on her side – we are all “Team Layla”. And although it is a story of survival, there’s an overriding acceptance that safety is never guaranteed and that everyone is only one hostile government’s step away from disaster. Governments never learn from their mistakes, but we must all carry on as best we can. A must-see.

Buggers, Pleasance Courtyard.

Alistair Hall’s engrossing and authoritative play, written with the consent of the Estate of painter Francis Bacon and after being given access to the Estate’s archives, concerns the relationship between the educated and wealthy Bacon and the charismatic petty criminal George Dyer, the “bit of rough” who became his artistic muse, through their intense, physical and toxic sexual partnership. Imaginative staging conveys both their alcohol-fuelled existence and their artistic creative process, whilst exposing the sadomasochism of their relationship. Rivetingly directed, the production boasts two heartfelt and honest performances by Alistair Hall as Bacon and Peter Clements as Dyer. If you don’t know the works of Bacon, this will make you want to discover them. A brave, thought-provoking and challenging production.

The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!, Pleasance Courtyard.

3-starsCabbage Productions present a cunningly woven farce set in a failing rural library where the structure is crumbling and no one knows where the safe is. The previous Head Librarian has shuffled off this mortal coil leaving a power struggle in his wake – who will take over as the next Head Librarian and will they be able to keep this creaking old place going? And is there more behind the series of recent library closures… and who really is the Library Inspector? Well structured and with some extremely funny lines, the cast perform at a cracking pace and make the most of the comic opportunities. Not every joke lands, and occasionally it gets a little exasperating, but overall this is an entertaining show that just about stays on the right side of ludicrousness. Don’t run up any fines and definitely don’t have the Garibaldis!

An A to Z Guide to Dating, Underbelly George Square.

Grace is running late to start her new Fringe show, but fortunately her mother is here to watch it too. When Grace becomes a no-show, her mother decides to take over proceedings and present a potted, musical version of her own book An A – Z Guide to Dating. Sounds like a fun concept for a show, and Grace O’Keefe (it was her all the time, who knew!) is a likeable and confident presence on stage, but, sadly, the material just isn’t there. The songs are rather repetitive and she relies heavily on audience participation (in our show, the excellent Ruby and Tim) who actually provided most of the entertainment. Neither of us could understand what the show was trying to achieve and I’m afraid, despite Ms O’Keefe’s obvious talent and effort, this failed to hit the spot.

Evaldas Karosas: A Very Capable Man, Monkey Barrel at the Cabaret Voltaire.

37,000 people follow Evaldas Karosas on Instagram, so how come I hadn’t heard of him? I’m so glad that’s been rectified with his new show, A Very Capable Man, which is jam-packed full of original and devastatingly funny material, all delivered with a sprinkle of Lithuanian attitude and a brilliant feel for the comic cadences of the English language. Among his comedy nuggets he shared were the reasons men keep their emotions in, why they don’t have Pride marches in Lithuania, and why he fears men who have gone through a relationship break-up. He has a terrific stage presence, great connection with the audience and I didn’t want his hour to stop. A brilliant find – and he really ought to be huge in the comedy world. Can’t recommend him too strongly!

44 Minutes, Assembly Rooms.

4-starsFour men are thrown into a cage. They are all strangers, they don’t know why they are there. One of them can’t remember anything but screams in pain and anguish. Then comes an unseen voice: they have 44 minutes to decide which of the four men will die so that the others will live. But 17-year-old Lev Steinberg’s intriguing psychological thriller is not like the old-fashioned Balloon Parlour Game, where you have to choose which of the players will be thrown from the hot air balloon so that the others will survive. There are far more sinister plans afoot here and, unlike many other psychological thrillers, the explanation for it all is made crystal clear at the end. I’m not entirely sure the Sisyphus-like denouement entirely holds water, but tense, taut writing and four excellent performances from John Billinsgley, Dorian Missick, Christopher Ryan and Matthew Petrick make this a very watchable drama.

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – Baby Everything, Jitters, A Cat in a Box, Copycat, We Had Fun, The Joker and the Thief, and Table for Two

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Baby Everything, Summerhall.

Meet Baby. It’s her day off and she’s not going to waste it. Coffee with a friend, a visit to the art museum and an inspirational talk to attend. She has everything – including hypochondria, but best not think about that. That’s the framework for Lee Minora’s simply brilliant Baby Everything, a show that has so much to say about the state of the world (and especially the USA) that you wonder how she can cram it all into one hour without frustratingly just scraping the surface of each issue – but she achieves it, because of the show’s incredible structure, her comic inventiveness and an extraordinary performance that just knocks your socks off. I’ve rarely laughed so hard at 10:10am and the show’s truly positive and optimistic message means you come away from the show truly grateful for everything you have. Lee Minora is a powerhouse of fun, a tremendous communicator and surely a star in the making; and Baby Everything is one of the most accomplished shows I’ve ever seen at the Fringe – the perfect reason to set your Fringe alarm off early!

Jitters, Summerhall.

Everyone’s nervous on their wedding day, but maybe Charlotte has a bigger reason than most people. After all, she has Elle to contend with, her husband-to-be’s daughter; will she give them her blessing? Ellen Robertson’s Jitters pits two very different people with very different backgrounds against each other – will they find a common ground, or will they both have something to hide as the questions become trickier to answer? Beautifully, wittily written with a terrific feel for the comic awkwardness of conversation, and with two superb performances from Charly Clive as Charlotte, hilariously insensitive and delightfully shallow, and Ellen Robertson as Elle, struggling to come to terms with her preconceptions and jealousies. Simply directed by Emily Burns, letting the words and performances do all the magic. Very funny, very thoughtful – all in all, a stunning piece of work.

A Cat in a Box, TheSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall.
4-starsTom Nemec tells his own story of his childhood and young adult years, from the olive drab house he always hated, to his older siblings with whom he had little in common, his mother whose only disciplinary tool was to hit you (with or without implements) and his drunkard father. Tom saw his life as though he were a cat in a box, tightly confined, prevented from running free and unable to find his own identity. Forty years after his father’s death, he’s finally ready to face his demons publicly and let it all out. Many Edinburgh Fringe shows consist of someone telling their own private story, and sometimes they can be a little on the dull side as the narrator falsely believes their story is more interesting than it is. But this is not the case with Tom Nemec, who speaks with such passion and conviction that you could almost be there every step of the way. An emotional, relatable, powerful tale beautifully told. Recommended!

Copycat, Pleasance Dome.

4-starsJoe Sellman-Leava was always a bit of an impressionist at school, doing his best to nail the voices and mannerisms of the teachers. Today he is a writer and creator, but he’s never forgotten the advice of Mr Swift – always remember to make eye contact: you can say a lot with your eyes without ever having to use your voice. Joe extends his observations to take in the growing developments in technology, specifically the rise of AI – should we be worried about it? We’ll all have our own opinions about that, and Joe can see his work opportunities being gobbled up by those greedy machines, giving us many alarming nuggets to take to heart and advice for fighting back against the dreaded AI. His trademark style with which he presented the excellent It’s The Economy Stupid continues here in Copycat, with this informal piece, which is part theatre, part lecture, part warning. A very engaging, fluid delivery, this is a very intense show with a whole lot of information coming at you, only some of which will stick. No matter what you take out of this show, you’ll come out of it feeling a whole lot more uneasy about AI.

We Had Fun, Summerhall.

3-starsConsent is such an important issue and any addition to the debate is always welcome. We Had Fun takes the on-off dating of Ela and Oscar and focuses on one significant evening when Ela needed an alcohol-fuelled escape from the bad news of being made redundant. But at the end of the evening, things went further between Oscar and Ela than she had intended – but had she given consent to Oscar’s actions, did he misinterpret them, or did he totally ignore her wishes just to satisfy himself? It’s a thought-provoking play; it’s gratifying that you get to see what actually happened between the two and can compare it with what both of them said had happened. It also very effectively shows how consent, which ought to be a very straightforward issue (no, after all, means no) is actually more complicated than one might think. Unfortunately it’s quite a messy production that gets sidetracked with a lot of unnecessary action as well as two largely unnecessary characters. It also feels about fifteen minutes too long. That said, the main performances by actors and writers Emmeline Hartley and Jack Mullings are very good and you’ll be discussing it for hours afterwards.

The Joker and the Thief, TheSpace Triplex.

4-starsDylan and Will Theatre return to the Fringe after their remarkable Cody and Beau last year with The Joker and the Thief, the story of Sid and Larry, a comedy double-act who split up, one (Larry) to go on to superstar success, one (Sid) to end up playing a 20-seat cellar at the Fringe. It examines enduring friendship, despite intervening years of resentment and misunderstanding, and asks questions of trust, the nature of comedy and the definition of success. This year Dylan and Will are joined by Rufus Goodman as Larry’s wisecracking agent Howard, who seizes every opportunity in a nicely sleazy, villainous role. Will Grice’s Sid is a very believable characterisation of an old-school comic, showbizzily smarmy whilst deep down being pretty sad and desperate, and Dylan Kaeuper gives a smart turn as namedropping Larry, luxuriating in the fripperies of wealth. Unlike Cody and Beau, which was a play of delicate subtlety, this is more of a thigh-slapping rip-roarer of a show, as befits its larger-than-life characters. Watch out for an excellent comic three-way fight scene on a tiny carpet, choreographed and executed beautifully! Great fun, smartly written and with a satisfying conclusion.

Table for Two, TheSpace @ Surgeons’Hall.

4-starsOne lucky member of the audience is going on a date with magician Jack Kenyon – could it be you? Some magic shows are packed with showbiz pizzazz, but others, like Table for Two, are a much more refined, gentler affair, where Jack tries to iron out where he’s going wrong with relationships by practising a few tricks with his new date for the evening. The date is chosen at random – it could be any member of the audience! A sequence of baffling card tricks and other games had me scratching my head in wonderment as to how Jack does it, and if you like your magic with a quieter, subtler edge, this show is for you!

Edinburgh Fringe Reviews 2026 – An Audience with Virginia Woolf: Writing One’s Mind, The Longer My Mother is Dead the More I Like Her, The Problem, Gareth Waugh: Is Pepsi OK?, Two Halves and SpinQueen

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An Audience with Virginia Woolf: Writing One’s Mind, Assembly Rooms.

4-starsYou too can have A Room of One’s Own – one where you decide the rules and what goes on there. That’s at least part of the message of Lucy Stevens’ intricate and engrossing play, an intelligent digest of Virginia Woolf’s work and life. Undoubtedly one of the great voices of 20th-century literature, Woolf has fascinated readers and academics over decades and Lucy Stevens gives a quietly authoritative performance as Virginia herself, constantly popping in and out of books as a kind of comfort blanket, reflecting on what motivated her and taking us through the most significant stages and mind-opening awakenings of her life. We learn about how she was sexually assaulted as a child, the achievement of “killing the Angel”, and how the move to Bloomsbury contributed to Woolf’s constant search for truth and identity. As a student, I desperately wanted to like Virginia Woolf’s works, but I always found them annoyingly difficult to read. However, this play made me not only want to revisit her works but also to find out more about her. Ms Stevens easily makes you believe Virginia Woolf is in the room with us! An elegant and literary start to the day.

The Longer My Mother is Dead the More I Like Her, Greenside @ George Street.
3-starsThere’s an art to mother-management; most of us learn it the hard way. Deborah Unger’s relationship with her mum veers from the tetchy to the impossible, an atmosphere created from her earliest memories when she realised Mom wasn’t the cookie-baking, warm-hugging type of mother but the kind who keeps secrets and deliberately files away information as ammunition for the future. But Debbie doesn’t get it all her own way in this show, as dead Mom also gets to butt in with some observations and home truths. Structurally, it’s a confessional narrative, with daughter Debbie setting the pace, but Ms Unger really comes to life when giving us some of her mum’s unwelcome interruptions. There are some entertaining characterisations of the people in Debbie and Mum’s lives, and the only prop is a sequence of changing photo cards, confirming the time and place of the story’s progress – not that they lend much to the proceedings. Although she likes her mum more now that she is dead – the clue is in the title – we never really see the transformation from irritated, put-upon daughter to loving, mentally at ease daughter. Nevertheless, it’s a smart, engaging hour from Deborah Unger, based on her own experience, and there will be something here that everyone will recognise from their own childhood.

The Problem, Assembly Rooms.

3-starsWe’ve all been there. A perfect system works perfectly until somehow, unpredictably, a problem emerges. But how to solve it? Hopefully we’d all do better than Slater, Manning and Wilson, who display increasingly bizarre coping and solving strategies which descend into paranoia, chaos and general ludicrousness. Very slickly performed by Matthew Boston, Brian Dykstra and Patrick Frederic, who give their all in a three-way fencing tournament of wits where only the bravest gain attention and only the strongest survive. If you like an ensemble piece of wordplay, this may well be your cup of tea. It’s the kind of show that divides an audience; for me, the absurdity of it all stretched my credulity and, I’m afraid, patience beyond breaking point, but their commitment and skill are never in doubt.

Gareth Waugh: Is Pepsi OK? Monkey Barrel Comedy.

3-starsFans of stand-up comedy are familiar with the concept of comedy as therapy, where a comic relates a tragic sequence of events to help them come to terms with what’s happened to them – frequently sacrificing laughs for the sake of their mental health. In Is Pepsi OK? Gareth Waugh has already come to terms with the hurt and damage caused by a very proficient conman, but there is still an element of healing therapy as he relates the extraordinary events of the summer of 2023. En route, there’s some great material about performing stand-up on cruise ships and at a darts tournament, but it’s the story of his work with Coca-Cola that dominates the hour. Gareth is a terrific storyteller and his tale is engrossing – indeed, frequently anguish-inducing – even if it isn’t always laugh-out-loud funny, and he works hard to spin it into the most positive experience he can. So many morals to this tale: I’d recommend checking the veracity of email addresses first.

Two Halves, TheSpace Triplex.

4-starsA thought-provoking two-hander where rising woman’s football star Sophie and fading Welsh rugby player Sean start a relationship following a chance meeting at an American sports awards ceremony. A series of intensely written and tightly performed scenes reveal pivotal moments in their relationship over the coming years, when both sides show the strain of facing scrutiny under the spotlight of social media and the physical demands of their chosen professions. The pressures of both being at very different stages of their careers, and even the importance of superstition rituals provide an additional level of tension. A combination of romcom, sports docudrama and psychological breaking points, it’s riveting to watch, and unusual and original subject matter for this very promising first play by Sam Rowlands and direction by Zoe Lerman, who also appear as Sean and Sophie. Recommended!

SpinQueen, Greenside @ George Street.

Feeling insecure, unfit, or generally worthless? No problem, leave it to Meg to put you through your paces in a 45-minute spin class, where good posture reveals emotional brittleness and measurable numbers count for everything. Our wannabe theatre kid trainer must have a golden existence with that toned body and her inexorable drive. But we’re only human and sometimes the miseries of real life perform mission creep on your daily workout… Megan Tomei gives an outstanding performance as the irrepressible but surprisingly fragile Meg for whom not even exercise is the answer to everything, Three-quarters hilarious and one-quarter absorbingly tragic, it’s simply staged with just a spin bike, a very clever stage make-up effect (I’ll say no more) and one of those hearty musical workout tracks. SpinQueen gives us a heartfelt and horrifying peek into the real life of someone truly on the edge.