EdFringe 2023 Grassroots Theatre
Edinburgh-made grassroots theatre at #EdFringe 2023
By far the biggest section of our listings is theatre made by Edinburgh’s very diverse grassroots theatre companies, with 39 shows all told.
Living in Edinburgh allows companies to explore the city’s more far-flung venues as well as bagging premiere slots at the big – and not so big – city-centre venues. There are also a growing number of producers from afar, who employ local creatives and performers to create their shows – and which we are happy to include here.
Nicholas Thorne in The Real William Shakespeare… As Told By Christopher Marlowe by Matchmaker Theatre Productions. Pic: Peter Dibdin
There are 169 shows Made in Edinburgh at #EdFringe this year. In order to make things clearer, we have divided the listing up into seven parts. On this page you can find an alphabetical listing of all the theatre by Edinburgh’s grassroots companies.
Here are links to the other listings:
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Amateur companies.
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Youth and Student companies.
Theatre by Edinburgh’s Professional & Funded companies.
Theatre for children and young people.
Edinburgh-made Musical Theatre & Opera.
Edinburgh-made Dance, Cabaret & Spoken Word.
We are also proud to work with EPAD to produce and publish their annual listing of shows “created, performed or produced by Edinburgh’s theatre professionals” which is here.
Listing
The Beatles Were a Boyband
F-Bomb Theatre
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24)
18 – 27 Aug: 19:30 (1 hour)
The cosy, safe world of three flatmates is rocked by a woman’s murder. Now Violet’s scared walking home from her late shift. Daisy’s become an accidental activist drawing unwanted attention from the manosphere. And Heather just wants to get on with her life. After all, who really needs to change to make women safer? Further details.
Bits ‘N’ Pieces
Saltire Sky Theatre
Leith Arches (Venue 324)
11 – 26 Aug (not 17, 24): 19:30 (1 hour 30 minutes)
Bits ‘N’ Pieces explores the dangers of drug stigma and misinformation in modern society. Temptation, tunes and terror from every angle in this immersive assault on the senses. Winner: Best Scottish Theatre Award 2022 (Scottish Arts Club). Further details.
Break Up With Your Boyfriend
Scylla’s Bite
Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)
2 – 28 Aug (not 16): 12:55 (1 hour)
Diving into the world of noughties nostalgia, Cassie and Jo must face the realities of their romantic relationships and the toxic truth behind them. An upbeat, queer and honest exploration of consent, self-love and healing. Further details.
Brief Candle
Blushing Caligula
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
14 – 26 Aug (not 20): 21:20 (45 minutes)
Deep beneath the streets of Regency Edinburgh lies a labyrinth of black vaults, housing the downtrodden and hiding a criminal underworld. Here, Isla fights to find a candle for her Mum’s birthday, as the Great Fire rages above. Further details.
The Collie’s Shed
Island Life Productions
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Venue 24)
2 – 20 Aug: 13:15 (1 hour)
Based in a Men’s Shed in East Lothian, The Collie’s Shed follows four retired miners as they discover how a review into the policing of the ’80s mining strikes suddenly changes and affects them and their friendships. Further details.
Crash and Burn
VisceralTheatre
theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9)
13 – 22 Aug: 21:20 (50 minutes)
Joseph Johnson’s Scottish oil empire was created through decades of sweat and blood – lots of blood. Onboard a gas-guzzling jet bound for the COP26 climate conference, the tycoon faces an ultimatum: confess or crash. Further details.
Enquiry Concerning Hereafter
Adam Smith’s Panmure House
Panmure House (Venue 305)
4 – 27 Aug (not 7, 14, 21): “12:00, 16:00” (1 hour 15 minutes)
David Hume and Adam Smith, titans of The Scottish Enlightenment and the dearest of friends, grieve – for old age and disease separate them, perhaps for eternity. Passion, reason, dissension animate them as life ebbs away. Further details.
Flickering Seasons
Wild Rose 9Productions
St John’s Church (Venue 127)
4, 8 , 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25 Aug: 15:30 (55 minutes)
A gritty look at a woman’s will to live based on real-life events. Further details.
For Better, For Worse
Penpal Productions (Scotland)
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila (Venue 21)
13 – 27 Aug: 15:50 (50 minutes)
New comedy drama about families, politics, and family politics. 2014. With the Independence Referendum days away, Diane announces a new future for herself. Will the resulting emotional family clash be resolved before the result is announced? Further details.
Frighthouse Presents: The Wheel of Misfortune
Frighthouse Productions
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
4 – 19 Aug (not 13): 21:40 (45 minutes)
The Wheel of Misfortune returns this year bigger and better. It’s a horror-comedy anthology show inspired by Creepshow and The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror episodes. Which tale will you hear tonight? Further details.
Garage Warriors
Raw Toast Productions
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
14 – 19 Aug: 15:55 (50 minutes)
When Archie is sacked and replaced by a machine, there’s only one logical solution: to get off the grid and move away. The only problem is he has absolutely no idea how. Further details.
Gie’s Peace
Morna Burdon
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30)
9, 16, 24 – 26 Aug: 16:30 (55 minutes)
Highlighting women’s peace activism over the years, Morna Burdon uses a wealth of inspiring stories and songs to celebrate the remarkable courage, inventiveness and determination of women worldwide who have taken a stand against war. Tears, laughter, hope. Further details.
Grandmothers Grimm
Some Kind of Theatre
Paradise in The Vault (Venue 29)
14 – 19 Aug: 21:30 (1 hour)
Cannibalism, werewolf trials, deceit: Marie Hassenpflug and the Brothers Grimm are editing the darkness out of old stories. What will be saved and what will be forgotten? A critically acclaimed feminist drama from Some Kind of Theatre. Further details.
The Hearth
Brite Theater
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30)
11 – 27 Aug (not 14, 18): 12:30 (1 hour)
The Hearth is the stone beneath which a fire burns. Renowned traditional musician Tom Oakes presents music and stories inspired by characters past and present who were unknowing catalysts for artistic or societal change. Further details.
Help Yourself
Jess Brodie, Victoria Bianchi, Emma Ruse Productions
Summerhall (Venue 26)
2 – 27 Aug (not 14, 21): 16:00 (1 hour)
Help Yourself is a new performance exploring grief and friendship. Join Jess and Victoria – your expert hosts – as they share their patented five-step Help Yourself approach, teaching you how to obliterate sadness in those around you. Further details.
Hersterectomy
The Counterminers
Just the Tonic at The Caves (Venue 88)
3 – 13 Aug (odd dates), 16 – 26 Aug (even dates): 18:10 (1 hour)
Carmel has PCOS. She wants a hysterectomy. It shouldn’t be that hard. To meet the archaic criteria, she plots to curate the perfect nuclear household. But family isn’t straightforward, especially a fake one. It’s hysterical. It’s hormonal. It’s Hersterectomy. Further details.
Hickory
Deleardley Theatre
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
14 – 19 Aug: 11:05 (50 minutes)
Tom and Isaac are two mice who live inside a cuckoo clock. Work, sleep. Tick-Tock. Work, sleep. Tick-Tock. Work… Sleep… Tick… Tock… Discovery! Tick-Tock? Wake up! Further details.
In Loving Memory of Mary Mort
Cod Liver Theatre
Greenside @ Nicolson Square (Venue 209)
14 – 26 Aug (not 20): 19:50 (55 minutes)
Mary is dead. She is buried in Highgate Cemetery. You are sad. Eye can help. We can peer into your loved one’s afterlife. The Book tells me she is on quite the journey. Further details.
Kitchen Underwear
Hey Thanks! Theatre Collective
Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)
14 – 26 Aug (not 20): 14:55 (50 minutes)
How far can you push a sex metaphor, a romantic friendship, and questionable interior décor choices? Told through diary entries of two flatmates, Kitchen Underwear follows their search for what queer love means and how to show it. Further details.
The Lady of the Loch
Simply Surreal
Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)
4 – 12 Aug: 18:35 (1 hour)
On a stormy night on Loch Ness, Sam is faced with an impossible decision. When finalising the housing development on the loch, who should appear to protect it but the monster that lies beneath it. Further details.
Land Under Wave
Young Edinburgh Storytellers (YES)
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30)
2, 3 – 27 (odd dates & 16, not 17): 17:45 (1 hour)
Three storytellers, trapped in the Otherworld, must perform their music and stories to earn their freedom. Which deserves to return to the human realm? The fair folk in the audience must decide! Further details.
Lost and Found
The Counterminers
Just the Tonic at The Caves (Venue 88)
4 – 12 Aug (even dates), 15 – 27 Aug (odd dates): 18:10 (1 hour)
Maeve’s home and university lives collide: drinks swilled, snogs exchanged, friendships tested, phones lost. This fast-paced comedy follows three best friends from London, Leeds and Glasgow as they fight to find themselves, without losing each other. Further details.
MANikin
Saltire Sky Theatre
Leith Arches (Venue 324)
7 – 22 Aug (not 10, 17): 16:00 (50 minutes)
From Saltire Sky, the Offie and Broadway Baby Bobby Award-winning company, join Fraser Patterson as he wrestles with his mind and body in his struggle with playing the bit-part role of The Big Guy. Further details.
Mark Twain’s The Stolen White Elephant
Stolen Elephant Theatre
Paradise in The Vault (Venue 29)
14 – 27 Aug (not 20): 20:00 (1 hour)
Mark Twain was a comic genius, the greatest American humorist of the 19th century. Best known for the likes of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, we are showcasing one of his funniest short stories. Further details.
Murder in the Cathedral
Richard Holloway and Friends
Old Saint Paul’s Church (Venue 267)
28 Aug: 19:00 (2 hours 20 minutes)
Richard Holloway reads Thomas Becket in this rehearsed reading of Eliot’s famous play. Further details.
Never Trouble Trouble (Till Trouble Troubles You)
Two Halves Productions
Tynecastle Park (Venue 547)
2 – 4, 7/8, 11, 14/15, 18, 21/22, 25, 27 Aug: 19:30 (1 hour 30 minutes)
Bobby Walker. Scottish football’s first superstar. Edinburgh boy, legendary one-club man, the only player given a testimonial by Scotland and that’s just the beginning! This is his remarkable story, performed where it happened. Further details.
Photon StarBlaster and the Suicidal Spaceship
Bonnie and Braw (Scotland)
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila (Venue 21)
14 – 27 Aug: 13:45 (45 minutes)
When Photon StarBlaster’s spaceship malfunctions and begins to self-destruct, will he make it home? New play exploring the generational fallout of suicide through the world of science fiction. A C ARTS Spark Fund winner. Further details.
A Preoccupation with Romantic Love
Laura Thurlow / PBH’s Free Fringe
PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms (Venue 171)
5 – 11 Aug: 15:00 (1 hour)
PBH’s Free Fringe @ Burrito ‘n’ Shake (Venue 605)
19 – 27 Aug: 20:45 (1 hour)
Laura meets with the six ghosts who have broken her heart to exorcise them for good. Darkly funny, poetic monologue about letting go of the dream of ‘The One’ and loving yourself in their absence. Venue 171 details.and Venue 605 details.
The Real William Shakespeare… As Told By Christopher Marlowe
Matchmaker Theatre Productions
Greenside @ Riddles Court – Thistle Theatre (Venue 16)
4 – 19 Aug (not 13): 13:50 (55 minutes)
“Make my words reside in your language as if they never knew any other.” Marlowe, murder… Morocco? The truth behind Shakespeare is steeped in blood and political intrigue, but now Christopher Marlowe is ready to tell all. Matchmaker Theatre Productions present a provocative new production that asks: who was the real William Shakespeare? Further details.
Rotting Hart
Crested Fools in collaboration with Fronteiras Theatre Lab
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30)
3 – 13 Aug: 19:00 (1 hour)
Predator or prey. Hunt or be hunted. A new queer horror about how ignorance can transform men into wild beasts. From the makers of Becquer’s Legends, the Edinburgh Horror Festival 2021 sell-out show **** (TheWeeReview.com). Further details.
Salamander
Pretty Knickers Productions
Assembly Roxy (Venue 20)
2 – 16 Aug: 18:55 (1 hour 10 minutes)
The five-star, sell-out Fringe-hit Salamander is back! Inspired by the unsolved murder of a sex worker in Leith, 1983, Salamander celebrates the underrepresented through original poetry and song, posing the question – has anything improved 40 years on? Further details.
Sir Percival and the Jabberwock
Kestrel Eye Productions
Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)
14 – 26 Aug (not 20): 12:45 (1 hour)
After his mother dies and his girlfriend breaks up with him, Percy uses a self-constructed world based on the poem ‘Jabberwocky’ to resolve his traumas and come to terms with his grief. Further details.
Something Educational
Act Two Scene One Productions
theSpace @ Niddry St (Venue 9)
4 – 12 Aug: 17:45 (50 minutes)
What happens when five best friends at boarding school are stuck together, possibly in trouble, with an inability to communicate and a plethora of time on their hands under the watchful eye of a prefect? Something Educational happens… Further details.
Three Men in a Boat
Not Cricket Productions
C ARTS | C venues | C aquila (Venue 21)
5 – 13 Aug: 17:50 (50 minutes)
Join three friends on a Victorian boating holiday filled with mayhem and mishaps. This lively (and mostly faithful) adaptation of Jerome K Jerome’s comedy proves even the most ill-equipped adventurers can find their way. Eventually. Further details.
Tickbox 2
Lubna Kerr
Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)
2 – 27 Aug (not 16, 23): 17:00 (1 hour)
Tickbox 2 is a semi-autobiographical, one-woman, newly updated and re-directed, bilingual (Urdu) play. Combining theatre and storytelling, it shares the journey of a Pakistani family arriving in Glasgow and dealing with the discrimination by using food and humour. Further details.
Tragedy That Befalls the Dastardly Crew of the Kakapo
The Dead Parrot Collective
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
4 – 12 Aug: 22:15 (1 hour 15 minutes)
A tongue-in-cheek farce and laugh-a-minute comedy dissecting the well-trodden tropes of pirate fiction. Goofy characters who face real consequences for their actions on their latest light-hearted adventure. Further details.
Tre
Benskin’s Bench
Greenside @ Riddles Court – Clover Studio (Venue 16)
4 – 12 Aug: 17:15 (50 minutes)
Cornwall’s rising. The people want the nation back! Some question its existence. All is not well in the fishing village of Tooletee where a failing magician whittles boutique wooden pixies whilst pondering where he comes from. Fishing boats are hauling up crab pots and guns, but will the hosepipe ban thwart the revolution? A one-person farcical Cornish comedy. Taking you from deepest darkest Cornwall to the edge of the metaverse and back. What is home? Why do we need it? Where does it lead us? An absurd world not so far from now. Featuring magic, concertina and pilchards. Further details.
Varmints
Punch Monkey Theatre
Greenside @ Nicolson Square (Venue 209)
14 -19 Aug: 16:05 (1 hour)
In the Old West, three men converge in a saloon to drink and share violent tales. Their reality is shattered by the arrival of a mysterious stranger. A one-of-a-kind stage Western from the guys who brought you Reservoir Knobs. Further details.
Walk
Ellie Higgins
Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)
21 – 26 Aug 13:50 (45 minutes)
Do you want to know what it’s like to make heads turn, all eyes on you? Or would you rather get lost in the crowd? Join Ellie, as she navigates you through her unnervingly nonsensical step-by-step guide to finding your stride. Walk is a multimedia, brilliantly absurd exploration into the (in)ability to move freely in city spaces. Further details.
We Must Do This More
Bossy Belters
The Royal Scots Club (Venue 241)
18/19 Aug: “15:00, 20:00” (1 hour)
Nothing is stronger than female friendship – except maybe the pressures of adulting. A one-woman show with original songs and poetry, exploring the life of a burnt-out millennial, struggling to prioritise her best friend. Further details.
Why Am I Like This?
High Heels and Heavy Suitcases Productions
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall (Venue 53)
4 – 19 Aug (not 13): 15:00 (40 minutes)
Follow Nicole on her 30-year journey as she discovers the four letter diagnosis that answers the biggest question in her life: Why Am I Like This? Spoiler – she has ADHD. Further details.
