Edinburgh Fringe Review 2026 Archives

4Sep

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

Glenn & Flenn – Paradise in the Vault

Glenn & Flenn were the stars of a kid’s TV puppet show that has unfortunately fallen into obscurity. Both puppets and actors have been trapped in the studio and time has not been kind to them. Years of disuse made the puppets moldy and rotten, and the puppeteers might just be going insane. It’s a wonderfully strange idea and writer and director Frederik Bang’s script has a good build up to the finale and lots of hilarious and lovelifying humour. The Glenn & Flenn jingle and fun little songs particularly stand out and really pull the audience into this world, keeping everyone engaged throughout the show. The puppetry unfortunately did not work. Eyelines are not working on the construction side, there’ some odd choices like hiding the puppet being one’s back although the audie...

Shatter Resistant – Greenside @ George Street

3Sep

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

Shatter Resistant – Greenside @ George Street

The audience enters the dimly lit basement. It’s a humid day and I’m pleased to get a front row seat near the portable air-conditioning unit. A fellow audience member tells me this is her first ever Edinburgh Fringe show. She’s flown in this morning from Dublin to see her sister perform in ‘Shatter Resistant’. This is an impressive writing and acting debut from Isabelle Blanche. She has written a captivating, poignant and often funny show which she performs with gusto. She treats the audience as her best friends as she takes us with her on her emotional rollercoaster. Cassie, a recent University graduate, has been working temporarily for a marketing company. She has high hopes that her experience of advertising ‘shatter resistant’ mobile phone screen covers will lead to her being...

David Correos: Noise Zealand – Monkey Barrel Comedy

3Sep

By Ella BeckleyNo Comments

Scotland

David Correos: Noise Zealand – Monkey Barrel Comedy

David Correos’ show feels like hanging out in a state of delirium in your mate’s garage, stunk out with smoke, sweat and booze. From the moment you walk into the monkey barrel basement room Correos’ chaos is palpable, with dance music booming at full volume while idyllic videos of New Zealand’s landscapes play serenely on the presentation style TV at centre stage. As the audience file in towards their seats, Correos greets them individually with a sweet smile and handshake, he’s genuine, down to earth and generally lovable. ...

Collateral Damage – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

3Sep

By Al CarrettaNo Comments

Scotland

Collateral Damage – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

This week I’ve spent sixteen hours on buses commuting in and out of Edinburgh. You might not immediately appreciate the relevance of this fact, but the bus is a focal point of social interactions and a microcosm of society. Theatre gets interesting when it holds a mirror to dysfunction and reflects it. Listen to any given conversation on an Edinburgh bus and you will begin to hear what sets this play apart; realistic dialogue and a wholly naturalistic approach. The play has thematic structures that are highly topical and relevant. The driving trope in this piece is the effect of alcoholism on a tight knit family and the subsequent resolution and healing needed to progress. Human interest stories work when we are invested in the characters and in the circumstances presented, reasons,...

Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story – Just The Tonic at The Mash House

3Sep

By David NicaudieNo Comments

Scotland

Blip Blarp: An Alien Love Story – Just The Tonic at The Mash House

Confident, rehearsed, and gloriously unhinged, Blip Blarp lands on Earth with an ambitious mission: conquer the planet and produce 1,000 offspring. Unfortunately for our intergalactic heroine, the real challenge isn't planetary domination, it's dating. Through “burlesque” flair, sci-fi absurdity, and plenty of comedy, showing how dating can be completely alien. The central joke is simple but effective: if an alien can understand the complexities of invading Earth, why can't she understand how to get a human to commit? Located in The Snifter Room at Just The Tonic at The Mash House as the last show of the day, the chaotic nature of that time slot and the difficulty in finding the venue adds to the mystery of the show. One of the show's greatest strengths is its confidence. Blip feels ...

Ten Ways to Die Happy – Underbelly Cowbarn

3Sep

By Ella BeckleyNo Comments

Scotland

Ten Ways to Die Happy – Underbelly Cowbarn

Coming to the Fringe for the first time, Italian company Sisifo production presents Ten Ways to Die Happy, an adaptation of the Italian production Dieci Modi per Morire Felici, written and directed by Emanuele Aldrovandi and presented in collaboration with Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione. As you enter the theatre, you’re given a slip of paper with a number next to a skull and cross bones – morbid! The set is...

Frisky’s Remix Roulette – Bijou at Assembly @ St Andrew Square

3Sep

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

Scotland

Frisky’s Remix Roulette – Bijou at Assembly @ St Andrew Square

Miss Frisky Laura Corcoran is an Australian -born British cabaret singer, MC and comedienne and music lovers are in for a treat with Frisky’s Remix Roulette. This popular comedic show has the Edinburgh Fringe audiences laughing, singing and joining in with the musical mayhem. A full throttle of an evening with audience participation and a mash up of songs to different genres. From funk to punk, Bavarian oom-pah-pah to Bollywood and a fabulous jazz version of Abba’s Waterloo. You have never heard Amazing Grace ‘Frisky’ style, and you probably won’t ever hear it again. Miss Friskys commands the room from the moment she enters on stage. Her voice withstands the brutal choices by the audience as she ‘bends genre boundaries’ and adapts the...

3Sep

By Christina SchmidtNo Comments

Scotland

Double Take – Underbelly Bristo Square

After watching Peregrinations, Dutch Kills Theatre’s other show, Double Take, unfortunately did not meet expectations. As a silent mime show, the movements should be incredibly precise whilst also conveying emotion and creating characters. Instead, it often felt like the actors focused so much on technique (which was still sloppy at times) that the characters felt superficial. They eased more into it towards the end of the show, and we got moments of clowning and some very funny bits, but most of the time both movements and transitions were not refined enough. The concept is nice: eight little stories told entirely through mime. Some of them were definitely more interesting than others, The Whole Shebang in particular gave included some interesting images and hand puppetry. But many...

Bliss – Grand Theatre: The Pleasance Courtyard

3Sep

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

Scotland

Bliss – Grand Theatre: The Pleasance Courtyard

From the Olivier Award - winning producers of Cabaret and Benjamin Button, BLISS a musical fantasy story which follows four sister princesses who are locked up in a Tower under the caring protection of their father. Time spent studying and their desire to experience the world outside the castle, overwhelms them and they embark on a scheme to leave. Chasing Comets and encounters with a fairy Godfather, Prince. Piper, Carmella, Faye and Holly soon discover that life on the outside is not exactly kind. At its heart, the musical explores the fragile collision between innocence and adversity, placing its characters in a world where anything less than perfection can feel like failure. What begins with hope, naivety and the belief that achievement is simply a matter o...

28Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Moving On – Paradise in Augustines

There is something wonderfully Fringe-like about Moving On. An Edinburgh company writes an entirely original musical, assembles seven actors and a three-piece live band, fills a stage with removal boxes and ghosts, and gives us two hours of spooky, silly and surprisingly touching musical theatre. I admire the ambition before we even get started, and happily, much of that ambition pays off. Happy Sad Productions’ show is written by Amber Docherty, Roza Stevenson and Josh Wood, with music by Wood. Stevenson directs, Docherty is assistant director, Murron Goodall provides costumes and Cormac Cameron-Finn designs sound. Wood also leads the excellent live band on keys, alongside Abby Bailey on trumpet and keys and Alistair Sealy on trombone. Paradise in Augustines’ main hall is a...