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

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.Madeleine 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.