EdFringe 2026: Amateur Theatre

Aug 5 2026 | By Thom Dibdin More

Edinburgh-made theatre from amateur companies at EdFringe 2026

Edinburgh’s amateur companies were at the first ever Fringe and they are still here, with an intriguing and hugely ambitious programme of theatre that spans the genres.

One particular joy of this year’s programme of amateur theatre, often based in lesser-used halls and venues, is that it can take its time, and present works of a length which visiting companies might fight shy.

While long-running local company Arkle Theatre Theatre is no longer with us, its legacy lives on at the The Royal Scots Club, the venue it opened up. Including a trio of Arkle favourites from newcomers Coraghy Lane Productions: George, Don’t Do That… The Joy of Joyce Grenfell, The Curious Case of Osgood MacKenzie and The Wester Ross Story Club.

Strawmoddie Theatre return in top form with a new, two part adaptation of I Claudius, on the 50th anniversary of the acclaimed epic BBC drama of madness, murder and debauchery at the heart of the Roman Empire. You can catch them singly or as a glorious double bill on Friday 21 and Saturday 22.

There are also performances from newcomers, The Next Act, with four of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, the Edinburgh Makars have a Double Bill of Fools Errand and Still Life, and the Grads have three different productions, Plano, Sweet and The Bear.

Elsewhere, Necessary Cat return to Hill Street with another double header of a Shakespeare play and its adjacent counterpart. This time they take on The Taming of the Shrew and John Fletcher’s hilarious sequel, The Tamer Tamed or, The Woman’s Prize. This is well worth catching as a double bill.

More Shakespeare – of a sort – from Edinburgh People’s Theatre down at the Newington Trinity Church. One of the companies at the first ever Fringe, this year they are reviving the first of David McGillivray and Walter Zerlin Jr’s comedies about the Farndale ladies, 50 years on from its debut: The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth.

195 shows #MadeInEdinburgh

We are listings a total of 195 shows Made in Edinburgh at #EdFringe this year – not including standup comedy.

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 theatre productions by Edinburgh’s amateur companies.

Here are the links to the other six listings pages:

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.

Theatre by Edinburgh’s Amateur companies

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads 1: Her Big Chance & Cream Cracker Under the Settee
The Next Act
The Speakeasy at The Royal Scots Club (The Speakeasy) Venue 241a
10-12 & 20-23 Aug: 19:40 (1hr 10m)
A multi-generational women’s company reimagines four of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, blending sharp humour with poignant reflections on loneliness and amplifying female voices at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026. Further details.

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads 2: A Bed Among the Lentils & A Lady of Letters
The Next Act
The Speakeasy at The Royal Scots Club (The Speakeasy) Venue 241a
13-19 Aug (not 15): 19:40 (1hr 10m)
A multi-generational women’s company reimagines four of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, blending sharp humour with poignant reflections on loneliness and amplifying female voices at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026. Further details.

Brassed Off
Leitheatre
Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre (Main Hall) Venue 83
8 – 22 Aug: Various times (2hrs 20m)
Facing its pit closing and losing its brass band, a community fights back. Set in Fife, with live music from Lochgelly Band, this uplifting story shows the value of friendship and solidarity. Further details.

Cluedo
Edinburgh Theatre Arts
St Ninian’s Hall (Theatre) Venue 230
10 – 22 Aug: Various times (2hrs)
Cluedo comes to the stage in this fast, funny whodunnit! Six suspects. One murder. Endless suspicion! A playful theatrical twist on the classic mystery, packed with bold characters, rising tension and clues that refuse to behave! Further details.

Double Bill
The Edinburgh Makars
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
24 – 29 Aug: 19:30 (2hrs)
In Fool’s Errand by Georgia Smith a burglary takes a spectacular turn when the homeowner turns out to be a witch. Still Life is Noël Coward’s play about doomed lovers on which the film Brief Encounter was based. Further details.

George, Don’t Do That… The Joy of Joyce Grenfell
Coraghy Lane Productions
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
11 – 15 Aug: 13:30 (1hr)
From nursery school to cocktail parties. Joyce Grenfell conjured colourful characters for our pleasure. Spend time with Lumpy Latimer, Mrs Fanshawe and George, in this timeless collection of songs and monologues. Further details.

I, Claudius: Part 1
Strawmoddie Theatre Company
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
17 – 22 Aug: 18:15 (2hrs 15m)
The acclaimed epic BBC drama of madness, murder and debauchery comes to the stage for its 50th Anniversary! Part 1 of the dynastic conflict at the heart of Imperial Rome. Further details.

I, Claudius: Part 2
Strawmoddie Theatre Company
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
18 – 22 Aug: Various times (2hrs 15m)
The acclaimed epic BBC drama of madness, murder and debauchery comes to the stage for its 50th Anniversary! Part 2 of the dynastic conflict at the heart of Imperial Rome. Further details.

Kafka for Beginners
Edinburgh Little Theatre
Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Dunedin Theatre) Venue 41
7 – 30 Aug: 15:30 (1hr)
Back by popular demand, Julian Lowenfeld’s brilliant dark comedy asks: how do we survive dictatorship without betraying our ideals? Further details.

Murder at the Fringe 2
Edinburgh Little Theatre
Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Dunedin Theatre) Venue 41
7 – 30 Aug: 11:45 (1hr)
Back again! Carry on dying! Prof Stiff has been found dead. Who had the motive to kill? You listen to the evidence, you cross examine and you decide this interactive murder mystery. Further details.

Plano
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
10 – 15 Aug: 21:35 (1hr 15m)
Three sisters sit on a porch as time hurtles forward and everything happens. Plano is a horror comedy about sisterly love, suburban dread and the surreal fallout of a mother shrink-wrapping and sealing her daughters inside a tiny box. Further details.

Room 1219
Keystone Theatricals
theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (Haldane Theatre) Venue 53
17 – 22 Aug: 17:20 (50m)
Hotel St Francis, San Francisco, September 1921. Silent movie star Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle – the man who turned slapstick into gold – is charged with murder. This is the story of Hollywood’s first fall guy! Further details.

Roses To The Living
Pasuz Productions
Paradise in The Vault (The Vault) Venue 29
8 – 15 Aug: 22:20 (50m)
How would you like to be remembered? For your worst acts or not at all? Join us for a darkly comedic meta-theatrical jaunt through a five-hundred-year battle over the reputation of Margaret of Anjou. Further details.

Sweet
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
10 – 15 Aug: 18:30 (1hr)
Edinburgh, 1820s. The struggle for abolition gathers pace, especially among women. Widowed matriarch Nelly is newly converted to the cause of abolition, alongside her maid Jeanie. But her family’s fortunes are built on slavery and sugar in particular… Further details.

The Bear
Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
10 – 15 Aug: 20:10 (45m)
Grief, passion and explosive tempers ignite when a stubborn widow and an thunderous, blustering creditor lock horns in Chekhov’s riotous one-act classic! Pistols, pride and perilous attraction collide in EGTG’s energetic, fast-paced, destructive rendition of Chekhov’s comedy farce. Further details.

The Court 1
Edinburgh Little Theatre
Braw Venues @ Grand Lodge (Committee Room) Venue 7
7 – 30 Aug: 19:30 (1hr)
This fantastic show is back for its third year. Two sisters appear in court as one accuses the other of murdering their mother. But was it murder or a mercy killing? You decide the outcome! Further details.

The Court 3
Edinburgh Little Theatre
Braw Venues @ Grand Lodge (Committee Room) Venue 7
7 – 30 Aug: 15:45 (1hr)
Agnes Sampson stands accused of witchcraft, brought to trial for attempting to kill the king. Listen to the evidence and cross-examine the witnesses in a true story as you delve into the mindset of 1590s Scotland. Further details.

The Curious Case of Osgood MacKenzie
Coraghy Lane Productions
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
27 – 29 Aug: 15:30 (1hr)
Osgood is known for Inverewe Gardens in Wester Ross. Less known is his personal story, with his redoubtable mother, mistreated wife and The House of Lords divorce case she won. Curious to know more? Further details.

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth
Edinburgh People’s Theatre
Newington Trinity Church (Church Hall) Venue 11
7 – 22 Aug: Various times (2hrs)
Fifty years on from their first time in Edinburgh, the Farndale ladies return with their startlingly original production of Macbeth. Yet again, it goes wonderfully and hilariously wrong. Further details.

The Tamer Tamed or, The Woman’s Prize
Necessary Cat Limited
Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Dunedin Theatre) Venue 41
17 – 30 Aug: 20:15 (1hr 30m)
John Fletcher’s hilarious sequel to Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Petruchio gets his comeuppance when his new wife Maria vows to tame the infamous “wife-breaker”. Further details.

The Taming of the Shrew
Necessary Cat Limited
Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Dunedin Theatre) Venue 41
17 – 30 Aug: 18:30 (1hr 30m)
Shakespeare’s comedy tale of misogyny, manipulation and misdirection. With themes as relevant today as when the play was written, our production is set in Suffragette times, featuring an exciting epilogue by a contemporary national treasure. Further details.

The Wester Ross Story Club
Coraghy Lane Productions
The Royal Scots Club (The Hepburn Suite) Venue 241
27 – 29 Aug: 11:30 (1hr)
The folks that produced Osgood and Kelpie now bring you more tales from the edge of the land: inspired by the people, legends and landscapes of Wester Ross. Settle back and listen to our stories. Further details.

Wallace
Edinburgh Little Theatre
Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Dunedin Theatre) Venue 41
7 – 30 Aug: 14:15 (1hr)
It’s William Wallace’s last day on Earth as he awaits his trial in London. He tells his story in this moving and passionate play about a Scottish hero. A must-see for those interested in Scotland’s story. Further details.