Mark Ludmon picks out some of the new writing highlights at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
This year’s Edinburgh Fringe offers an incredible choice of new writing, including many world premieres. Alongside the powerhouse of the Traverse Theatre, venues such as Summerhall have now established a reputation for exciting new theatre, especially with the return of Paines Plough’s Roundabout space. But don’t always follow the crowd: there are plays by new writers being staged across the city, giving you a chance to catch new and emerging talent.
The Fishermen
Having its world premiere at Home in Manchester in July, this new play is an adaptation of Chigozie Obioma’s Man Booker prize-shortlisted novel by Fringe First-winning playwright Gbolahan Obisesan. Presented by Nottingham-based theatre company New Perspectives, it is an allegory of brotherhood, vengeance and fate about four brothers in a small Nigerian town whose lives are changed forever. The cast includes Michael Ajao and Valentine Olukoga.
Assembly George Square Studios: 2-27 August. Book Now!
A Fortunate Man
Fifty years ago, writer John Berger and photographer Jean Mohr followed the working life of a country doctor to create what became one of the most important books about medical practice. New Perspectives has collaborated with theatre-maker Michael Pinchbeck to explore and expand on this work, setting it against verbatim interviews with doctors today. This mixed-media performance takes the pulse of GP practice then and now, continuing the conversation in the 70th year of the NHS.
Summerhall: 1-26 August. Book Now!
The Greatest Play in the History of the World
Julie Hesmondhalgh, who has gained plaudits for her work after leaving Coronation Street, stars in the world premiere of Ian Kershaw’s play in association with Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. It is described as a love story set on Preston Road but “also in space and in time”. A man wakes in the middle of the night to discover that the world has stopped. Through the crack in his bedroom curtains, he can see no signs of life at all other than a light in the house opposite where a woman in an over-sized Bowie T-shirt stands, looking back at him.
Traverse: 2-26 August. Book Now!
Hamlet: Horatio’s Tale
There is always plenty of Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe, from breakfast onwards, but this intriguing show from Maverick Theatre Company is devised as a solo Hamlet from Horatio’s point of view. Featuring Kizzy Dunn, it has been adapted and directed by Nick Hennegan who also directs the same actress in Henry V: Lion of England which alternates with this show. With original music by Robb Williams, Horatio’s Tale also features the voice of Sir Derek Jacobi as Old Hamlet.
Assembly Rooms: 3-26 August. Book Now!
Harpy
The legendary Su Pollard makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut in this new drama from Fringe First award winner Philip Meeks. She plays Birdie who has become a hoarder after something deeply cherished was stolen many years ago – and she’ll do anything to get this priceless thing back. Directed by Hannah Chissick, it is inspired by the cinematic Grande Dame Guignol genre of the 1960s and 1970s, dubbed “hag horror”.
Underbelly, Cowgate: 2-26 August. Book Now!
Heaven Burns
Edinburgh-based playwright Jen McGregor won this year’s Assembly Roxy Theatre Award for the script of this intriguing play. Set in Morayshire in 1662, it tells the story of runaway Isobel who works for charismatic witch-pricker John Dixon. She worships him but when he is accused of falsifying his identity, she finds out he may not be the man he claims to be. The show is described as a “pitch-black” exploration of gender politics and religious fundamentalism.
Assembly Roxy: 2-27 August. Book Now!
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With live music and video artistry, award-winning Yesyesnono return with this new show, described as a “fevered excavation of adverts, objects, memory and identity”. First presented at Home in Manchester in January, it is a show about the objects we use, the stories we tell about them, and the way we consume them.
Zoo Charteris: 3-19 August. Book Now!
Island Town/Sticks and Stones
Paines Plough’s Roundabout season at Summerhall features two new plays that are currently on tour: Island Town by Simon Longman, recipient of the 2018 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright, and Sticks and Stones by Bafta-nominated Vinay Patel. They both star Charlotte O’Leary, Katherine Pearce and Jack Wilkinson and are produced with Theatr Clwyd. Island Town is a bittersweet story about friendship, hope and dreams of an escape, focusing on the lives of three teenagers, Kate, Sam and Pete. Sticks and Stones is a satire about a surreal search for understanding and certainty in an age when technology multiplies every mistake.
Roundabout @ Summerhall: 1-26 August. Book Now!
It’s True, It’s True, It’s True
Fringe First and Total Theatre Award-winning Breach Theatre restage the 1612 trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Based on court transcripts, this new play dramatises the seven-month trial that gripped Renaissance Rome and asks how much has changed in the last four centuries. Blending myth, history and contemporary commentary, this is the story of how a woman took revenge through her art to become one of the most successful painters of her generation.
Underbelly, Cowgate: 2-26 August. Book Now!
The Journey
Stand-up comedian Stuart Laws makes his theatrical debut with this new play starring Will Brown and Phoebe Sparrow. It tackles an age-old problem: you’ve just been dumped but you’re stuck on a spaceship alone with that person. It is described as a romantic comedy about self-obsession and toxic relationships.
Pleasance Dome: 1-27 August. Book Now!
Killymuck
Inspired by real events, this new play is written and directed by award-winning Irish writer, Kat Woods. Set on a housing estate in 1970s Ireland, it is the story of Niamh – played by Aoife Lennon – who navigates life in a world where lack of opportunity, educational barriers, impoverishment, addiction and depression are the norm, and the struggle to escape the underclass stereotype becomes a priority.
Underbelly, Bristo Square: 1-27 August. Book Now!
The Ladder
Actor Helen Rutter has written this new play, based on a true story, about a couple who end up rethinking their relationship after the wife gets stuck up a ladder. She stars in the show along with her real-life husband, comedian Rob Rouse, who plays Bottom in Upstart Crow. It promises to be a funny and moving look at marriage, pain and grief.
Gilded Balloon Teviot: 2-12 August Book Now!
Meek
Penelope Skinner’s new play is described as a haunting vision of ruthless state control, tense friendships and one woman’s determination not to be broken. Receiving its world premiere, it focuses on Irene who finds herself imprisoned, in a society where private lives become political and freedom of expression is not an option. Produced by Headlong with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, it features Scarlett Brookes, Shvorne Marks and Amanda Wright and is directed by Amy Hodge.
Traverse Theatre: 31 July-26 August. Book Now!
One Life Stand
After the success of last year’s show All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Middle Child brings what promises to be another exciting piece of gig theatre to Paines Plough’s Roundabout space. Written by Eve Nicol with music by James Frewer and Honeyblood, this is described as a late-night search for intimacy across a hyperconnected, hypersexual city, exposing the loneliness sometimes found in modern relationships, where expectations of love and lust are ever-changing.
Roundabout @ Summerhall: 1-26 August. Book Now!
Pickle Jar
Maddie Rice stepped magnificently into the shoes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge to tour in the much-lauded solo show Fleabag. She has now written her own debut play, Pickle Jar, in which she also performs, working with director Katie Pesskin. It is a comedy about a woman trying to keep her life together in the face of pressures of teaching, Tinder and outrageous Irish best mates.
Underbelly, Cowgate: 2-26 August. Book Now!
Power Play
The Pleasance is creating a pop-up space at 21 Broughton Street where it will showcase four immersive, site-specific plays written by and predominantly starring women, staged within the rooms of a house. Funeral Flowers, written by and starring Emma Dennis-Edwards, takes you inside the world of Angelique, a young black woman caught within the foster care system who dreams of becoming a florist. Next Time by Offie-nominated Jess Moore follows one woman as she plans to leave her abusive relationship. Somebody by Matilda Curtis examines the events that shaped a girl who is on the edge of womanhood. The Empty Chair by Polly Creed takes you to a Hollywood after-party, examining the human experiences behind the #MeToo movement.
Pleasance Pop-Up, 21 Broughton Street: 3-25 August. Book Now!
Square Go
Another show in Paines Plough’s Roundabout line-up, this new play is a collaboration between Fringe First-winning writers Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair. Featuring an original soundtrack, it examines playground violence, myths of masculinity and the decision to step up or run.
Roundabout @ Summerhall: 1-26 August. Book Now!
Ulster American
David Ireland’s new play will receive its world premiere, exploring consent, abuses of power and the confusions of cultural identity. It brings together three people who are creating a new play – Oscar-winning actor Jay, ambitious director Leigh and Northern Irish playwright Ruth – who get drawn into a discussion that escalates into violence. It stars Darrell D’Silva, Robert Jack and Lucianne McEvoy and is directed by Traverse associate director Gareth Nicholls
Traverse: 28 July-26 August. Book Now!
What Girls Are Made Of
Actor, writer and director Cora Bissett presents the true story of how she went from being a girl in a small town in Fife in 1992 to a rock-star lifestyle touring with Radiohead and partying with Blur, drawing on her meticulously detailed, pull-no-punches teenage diaries. Performing with a live band, the show – receiving its world premiere – features Cora alongside Susan Bear, Simon Donaldson and Grant O’Rourke, directed by the Traverse’s artistic director Orla O’Loughlin.
Traverse: 3-26 August. Book Now!
