Listings: Mon 29 Jun – Sun 5 Jul 2026
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
There is not a huge amount, it must be said. Unless you are reading this at the beginning of the week, when there are a couple of interesting events on offer.
The first of the early week offerings is The Effect at the Voodoo Rooms (Mon: tickets), which our Hugh Simpson reviewed at Assembly Roxy last week and found “★★★★☆ Compellingly performed“.
The second is a Crawl by Till Schindler at the Pianodrome Bruntsfield (Mon/Tue: tickets). Director Salvador Kent wrote for us about staging this piece of absurdist drama, you can read his thoughts here: Crawling your way back to Absurdism, Baby.
Then on Tuesday the Three Inch Fools will be at Lauriston Castle with King Arthur and the Holy Fail (tickets), a detour into a land of daring quests, dashing knights, and endless jousting where would-be hero Arthur is waited in the wings.
Picnics are welcome at this al-fresco production which kicks off early and the company return with the same show to the less picnic-friendly Edinburgh Castle next week (Tue 7/Wed 8 July: tickets).
heartily recommended
Otherwise the most heartily recommended piece of theatre is The Burns Project at the Lyceum (ends Sun: tickets). Hugh was very complimentary of this piece about Robert Burns, written and performed by James Clements using Burns’ own poetry and letters.
He cried the production “★★★★☆ Nuanced“, saying it is “an engaging, beautifully performed piece full of both vitality and subtlety.”
It is performed around a cleverly designed dinner table in the Lyceum’s Henry Irving Room, with musical support by Lisa Rigby and direction by Cora Bissett. Hugh said: “It’s exactly the portrayal of Burns that tourists (and Scots) should see. That, I think, is you telt!
If that is an intimate (20 audience member) show, the arrival of Rambert at the Festival Theatre with This Is Rambert (Thurs-Sat: tickets) is big and bold and living, breathing dance DNA. If you like your dance, then this celebration of the company’s centenary is the place to be this week.
The rest is Saturday family theatre. First up A Home for Hamish is at the studio for two morning performances (tickets). Merging dance and BSL, this follows May and their imaginary friend, Hamish the Haggis as they travel across Scotland to find a perfect night’s sleep.
Then up at the Church Hill theatre, Mr ButtonZ (“with a Zee”) is holding an hour of Scottish Panto Fun with The Buttons Show (tickets). Mr ButtonZ will be featuring puppets, stories, magic and catchy Scottish singalong songs – including his big hit Oh Ye Canny Shove Yir Granny Aff The Bus. Were’s Grant Stott when you need him?
Listings Monday 29 June – Sunday 5 July 2026
Click on the name of the show or the Book here link to go to its ticketing site.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Scottish Panto Fun with The Buttons Show
Sat 4 Jul 2026.
One performance: 2pm.
Join legendary Scottish family entertainer Mr ButtonZ with a Zee for an hour of Panto fun! Featuring amazing puppets, fabulous stories, dazzling magic and catchy Scottish singalong songs including his big hit Oh Ye Canny Shove Yir Granny Aff The Bus. Wear your favourite costume! Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
This is Rambert
Thur 2 – Sat 4 Jul 2026
Thur/Fri: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
This is Rambert: living, breathing dance DNA. Spotlighting the voices, visions and ideas shaping our world today — dance that’s alive with urgency, energy and relevance. Rambert’s centenary brings together bold, high-impact works from (LA)HORDE, Emma Evelein and a brand-new commission. Book here.
Lauriston Castle
2a Cramond Road South, Davidson’s Mains EH4 5QD.
King Arthur and the Holy Fail (Three Inch Fools)
Tue 30 June 2026
Evening: 7pm.
In a land of daring quests, dashing knights, and endless jousting, would-be hero Arthur waited in the wings. When Camelot is rocked to it’s core by a tragic – and frankly improbable – incident involving a large table of an undisclosed shape, he is thrust into the quest of a lifetime. Picnics are welcome at this performance. 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.
The Temptations and the Four Tops
Mon 29 Jun 2026
One performance: 7.30pm.
In 1983, The Temptations and The Four Tops performed back-to-back on the NBC prime-time special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The performance was so successful that the two groups continue pairing up for tour dates to this day. Book here.
Pianodrome Bruntsfield
St. Oswald’s Centre, 41 Montpellier Park, Bruntsfield, EH10 4NB.
Crawl (Jaggy Bunnet & Heads on Crooked)
Mon 29/Tue 30 June 2026
Evenings: 7pm.
Brandt and Temple are putting up a chandelier. A party has formed in the other room. An acquaintance, a very Private Man, drifts between them, showing off his privateness. They need to connect the chandelier to the current. They abstract it instead. Till Schindler’s wryly funny, linguistically brilliant and visually striking riddle on what it is to inherit a nonsensical world — and the desire to not switch the big light on. Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
A Home for Hamish
Sat 4 Jul 2026
Two shows: 11 am & 1.30pm.
Playfully merging dance and British Sign language in a sensory world, A Home for Hamish follows the story of May and their imaginary friend, Hamish the Haggis as they travel across Scotland to find a perfect night’s sleep. Book here.
The Voodoo Rooms
19A West Register Street, EH2 2AA.
The Effect by Lucy Prebble (Northern Assignment)
Mon 29 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 Wed Red (Th 25) & Assembly Roxy (Fri 26). Book here.
*NB: This is intended to be a complete listing of all public theatrical productions on in Edinburgh. If you are staging a show which is not listed, or a listing is inaccurate, please get in touch through the contact page, here.
ENDS
