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Edinburgh Fringe 2026

The Edinburgh International Festival launched in 1947. Eight uninvited theatre companies performed on the Festival Fringe. This year the Fringe is hosting over 4,000 productions. Here are some highlights of my first weekend here.

Dance

Boys Don’t Dance. Marc Brew choreographs an auto-biographical work. His younger self hides his love of dance from his rural Australian home town. His adult self continues dancing in a wheelchair after losing the use of his legs. They perform duets both graceful and acrobatic. The results are stunning. The use of British Sign Language, closed captions and space tours welcome multiple audiences.

Music

FLOP! The Best Songs From The Worst Musicals. What it says on the tin. Arthur Hull’s a charismatic showman with an infectious energy. He offers love and support to (most) of the artists who placed these short lived works on stage.

Legendary. Cheeyang Ng performs their original songs about the heroes of Chinese mythology. Ng uses these to process their relationship with their family in Singapore. Ng compared one heroine to a Disney Princess. This fit the overall tone of the yearning score. The audience was asked to provide back-up vocals. My sole complaint was that this drowned out many lyrics.

Remember, Remember! A farcical, queer, historically inaccurate musical about the gunpowder plot. The four person company is side-splittingly hilarious. But I’ll give a shout out to Ross Tomlinson’s King James I. A sultry demon twink who balances menace and sex appeal. A bit Troye Sivan. A bit Marilyn Monroe. Highly recommended.

Comedy

I focused on queer comics. Many shared familiar coming out narratives and dating woes. Fresh perspectives stood out. Kate Dale faced unique challenges coming out as bi in her 50’s. Daniel Foxx briefly found himself trapped as the nagging housemaid of a slovenly partner. Christopher Hall recounts his clubbing days with the energy of a sentient cocaine tornado.

Improv makes me nervous. But Baby Wants Candy provided a memorable original musical from the prompt Titanic in Hormuz. I thought I’d taken a break from coming out narratives. But it soon turned there are no straights… in Hormuz.

The straight rep came from Daniel Sloss. His vulgar tales of his wife and baby daughter’s vaginas(!?) provided enough heterosexuality to last me a year.

Stray Observations

  • No one agrees which side of the sidewalks to walk on. Several couples walked hand in hand, forcing me off the curb with the strength of their love.
  • Cellular reception is spotty and charging stations are in short supply.
  • Venues are farther apart than they first appear.
  • The Plan My Fringe app helped me see 7 shows in one day. It’s exhausting. Take breaks.
  • Three cheers to the hard working front of house staff. They steer audience traffic with efficiency and tact.
  • Musicians, please don’t ask me to rhythmically clap like a metronome for an hour. My wrists are limp enough as it is. Save it for the finale.
  • If a comedian asks you questions, project and keep your answers brief.
  • I still haven’t tried haggis. I didn’t care for Irn Bru soda.
  • Don’t walk down a hill you aren’t prepared to walk up.

The Fringe continues through August 31. I’ll share more thoughts next week.