Listings Mon 22 – Sun 28 June 2026
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
It’s a bit of a hodgepodge of a week this, although there is some highly recommended stuff on offer, including pop-up Opera, pop-up Burns a couple of EdFringe previews some Karate chops and a whole lot of illusion…
Top tip is the wonderful The Burns Project, dropping into the Empire Room of the Lyceum (ends Sun 5 July: tickets). Get in there quick – it is an intimate, small audience production, set around a table of illusions, with James Clements as Burns and Ray Aggs providing the music and vocals.
Action hero lovers should get along chop, chop to the Festival theatre for The Karate Kid the Musical (ends Sat: tickets). Great acting, design and choreography says our Hugh, but he does wonder why it bothers to be a musical: ★★★☆☆ Nostalgic.
Expect a whole load of wonderment at the Playhouse this week, as Derren Brown returns (again) to prove – through his mind control and psychological illusion – that we are Only Human. (Ends Sat: tickets).
Then we get a mini Edinburgh tour. Northern Assignment is staging Lucy Prebble’s The Effect (about a couple who meet while taking part in a medical trial into mind-influencing drugs) at the Wee Red Bar (Thurs), Assembly Roxy (Fri) and the Voodoo Rooms (Mon 29). Tickets for all perfs here.
pop-up opera
Scottish Opera is also touring its pop-up of 30 minute bite-size operas A Little Bit of Rigoletto and The Elixir of Love. Friday’s Royal Scots Club show is sold out, but there’s still space at Portobello Town Hall (Sat: tickets).
The early crop of EdFringe previews didn’t use the clash diary. Both are on Sunday. Niall Moorjani’s “★★★☆☆ Compassionate” Kanpur: 1857 is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre (tickets) and Edinburgh Rep’s Jane Austen’s Love & Freindship [Sic] is at Augustine United Church (tickets).
And finally, Luna Mageia has Solstice in Bloom at Summerhall (Fri/Sat: tickets). Nine storytellers explore the light and shade of a year on a vulnerable, thought-provoking and uplifting journey of new beginnings.
Listings Monday 22 – Sunday 28 June 2026
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site.
Assembly Roxy
2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU.
The Effect by Lucy Prebble (Northern Assignment)
Fri 26 Jun 2026
One perf: 7pm.
Two young participants on a trial for a new antidepressant meet and begin to unpick their feelings for one another, are they real or are the induced by the trial? Asking questions about love, reality, emotions and truth, it’s an experimental, incisive and bold interrogation of what we feel and how we feel it. Also plays Wee Red (Th 25) & Voodoo Rms (Mon 29). Book here.
Augustine United Church
41 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EL.
Jane Austen’s Love & Freindship [Sic] (Edinburgh Rep)
Sun 28 June 2026
One perf: 7pm.
Jane Austen’s real teenage fan-fiction is a tale of love and friendship, with just a little death, robbery and heartbreak. When young Marianne convinces her aunt Laura to reveal her tragic origin, she little expects such a tale of death, robbery and heartbreak. And Laura wasn’t even responsible for all of it. Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
The Karate Kid – The Musical
Tue 23 – Sat 27 Jun 2026
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Mats Thurs, Sat: 2.30pm.
Heartfelt coming-of-age story takes flight with spectacular musical numbers and dazzlingly inventive choreography. Daniel LaRusso’s journey is reimagined through movement, music, and raw, energetic storytelling. Book here.
Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street EH3 9AX. Phone booking: 0131 248 4848.
The Burns Project
By James Clements.
Henry Irving Room.
Wed 24 Jun – Sun 5 Jul 2026
Tue – Fri & Sat 4/Sun 5: 7.30pm. Mats Sat/Sun: 12.30pm (not Sun 5), 3.30pm..
Placing the audience in seats around an “immaculately designed” dinner table, the play draws spectators into close proximity with Burns himself, as the set comes alive around them with hidden voices, music and secrets – titillating, shameful and surprising in equal measure. Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Only Human (Derren Brown)
Tue 23 – Sat 27 June 2026
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Prepare to be astonished! The multi award-winning master of mind control and psychological illusion, Derren Brown, returns to the Edinburgh Playhouse for the only Scottish dates of his latest show, Only Human. The contents of the show are, as always, under wraps, but a mind-blowing experience is guaranteed. Book here.
Portobello Town Hall
147-149 Portobello High St, Portobello EH15 1AF.
Pop-up Opera (Scottish Opera)
Sat 27 Jun 2026
One perf: 7pm.
Double Bill: A Little Bit of Rigoletto and The Elixir of Love.
Two new 30 minute bite-size operas, chosen to reflect the stark contrast between the light and dark sides of love, they go from the depths of tragedy in the shady underworld of the city, to the heights of romantic comedy in the sun-kissed Italian countryside. Directed by Darren Brownlie, they are brought to life by talented singers, instrumentalists, and original illustrations. Book here.
Royal Scots Club
29-31 Abercromby Place, EH3 6QE.
Pop-up Opera (Scottish Opera)
Fri 26 Jun 2026
One perf: 7pm.
Double Bill: A Little Bit of Rigoletto and The Elixir of Love.
Two new 30 minute bite-size operas, chosen to reflect the stark contrast between the light and dark sides of love, they go from the depths of tragedy in the shady underworld of the city, to the heights of romantic comedy in the sun-kissed Italian countryside. Directed by Darren Brownlie, they are brought to life by talented singers, instrumentalists, and original illustrations. Book here.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St, EH1 1SR. Phone booking: 0131 556 9579.
Kanpur: 1857 (Niall Moorjani)
Sun 28 June 2026.
One performance: 7.30pm
Æ’s EdFringe ’25 review: ★★★☆☆ Compassionate
Strapped to a cannon, an Indian rebel finds themselves answering to a British officer for the crimes of Kanpur – an Indian uprising against British colonial forces. Based on historical events, this play satirises contemporary conflicts around gender, colonial violence, and making art in times of crisis. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL.
Solstice in Bloom (Luna Mageia)
Fri 26/Sat 27 June 2026
Evenings: 7.30pm. Sat mat: 3pm. EAS Studios
Allow the nine storytellers to take you on a vulnerable, thought-provoking and uplifting journey of new beginnings as they explore the light and shade of a year. This immersive cabaret is full of powerhouse vocalists, masterful musicians and striking spoken word. Book here.
Wee Red Bar
Lady Lawson Street, EH3 9DF.
The Effect by Lucy Prebble (Northern Assignment)
Thur 25 Jun 2026
One perf: 7pm.
Two young participants on a trial for a new antidepressant meet and begin to unpick their feelings for one another, are they real or are the induced by the trial? Asking questions about love, reality, emotions and truth, it’s an experimental, incisive and bold interrogation of what we feel and how we feel it. Also plays Assembly Roxy (Fri 26) & Voodoo Rms (Mon 29). Book here.
