Listings Mon 9 – Sun 15 Feb 2026
What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
It’s a big week, with midterm student theatre mayhem from the big three Edinburgh Uni companies, cracking comedy at the Festival, from those Goes Wrong rascals, Mischief, and some weekend shows that aren’t quite love, actually.
The EUSC kick off the student shows with a “★★★☆☆ Expansive” Romeo and Juliet at the Pleasance (ends Friday: tickets).
There’s more Shakespearean flavour at the Church Hill, where the EU Footlights have Cole Porter’s musical comedy Kiss Me Kate (ends Sat: tickets). And back home at the Bedlam, the EUTC take on Chekhov’s The Seagull (Ends Sun: tickets).
All, no doubt, much more professional than the Cornley Amateur Dramatic Society’s take on Dickens at the Festival Theatre, in Mischief’s hilarious Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (ends Sun: tickets).
Cupid gets a serious debunking at the Traverse on Friday with [UN]Lovable (tickets), five short works-in-progress from Not So Nice!, while Tricky Hat have The Flames, a devised piece from their over-50 company (Sat: tickets).
Two Edinburgh-based performers return with solo shows about gay love in different eras. Mark Kydd’s 1945-set Our Martin in the Background (★★★☆☆ Reflective) is at the Storytelling Centre (Sat: tickets), while Conor O’Dwyer is at the Studio with his contemporary Homo(sapien) (★★★★☆ Wholehearted) (Fri/Sat: tickets).
Summerhall has a diverse couple of shows. Rosa Garland’s “gorgeously gross” Primal Bog (Thurs: tickets) and Leith-based poet Hjarta’s darkly humorous, raw and emotive personal story of the effects of schizophrenia The Rhinestone Cowboy (Fri/Sat: tickets).
Listings
Bedlam Theatre
11B Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ.
The Seagull (EUTC)
Wed 11 – Sun 15 Feb 2026
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Chekhov’s unparalleled exploration of art, ambition and generational tensions. The Seagull straddles both heartbreak and humour as the foreground to navigating human creativity and connection. Book here.
Church Hill Theatre
33 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR.
Kiss Me, Kate (EU Footlights)
Tue 10 – Sat 14 Feb 2026.
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Brush up your Shakespeare and get your show tunes ready for Cole Porter’s classic musical, set on the opening night of a touring company’s The Taming of the Shrew. Frederick C. Graham thinks it will be his magnum opus but does film star Lilli Vanessi agree? An already stressful night is complicated by the appearance of two of Baltimore’s more infamous gangsters… Book here.
Festival Theatre
13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre)
Tue 10 – Sun 15 Feb 2026
Tue – Sat: 7.30pm; Sat/Sun Mats: 2.30pm.
The Cornley Amateur Drama Society are back with tidings of chaos and joy, ready to tackle the Charles Dickens’ classic. As they battle miscommunication, delays to their set, actors missing in action and a growing feud over who will play the lead, it’s sure to be a disastrous take… Book here.
Playhouse
18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA. Phone booking: 0844 871 3014.
Shen Yun
Tue 10 – Wed 11 Feb 2026
Tue: 7pm; Wed: 2pm.
An extraordinary journey through China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture. Exquisite beauty from the heavens, profound wisdom from dynasties past, timeless legends, and ethnic traditions all spring to life through classical Chinese dance, enchanting live orchestral music, authentic costumes, and patented interactive backdrops. Book here.
Dita Von Teese: Nocturnelle
Fri 13/Sat 14 Feb 2026
Show: 8pm (doors: 7pm).
A bewitching new vision—an exquisite blend of old-Hollywood allure, theatrical magic, and the high-art “Stripscapes” Dita is known for. Inspired by the magicians of the 19th century, this production conjures a world of wonder where sensuality meets magic. Book here.
A Country Night in Nashville
Sun 15 Feb 2026
One performance: 7.30pm.
Direct from The Royal Albert Hall, A Country Night In Nashville recreates the scene of a buzzing honky tonk in downtown Nashville, perfectly capturing the energy and atmosphere of an evening in the home of country music. Book here.
Pleasance Theatre
60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ.
Romeo and Juliet (EUSC)
Mon 9 – Fri 13 Feb 2026
Evenings: 7.30pm.
Shakespeare’s masterpiece on the lines between the violent and erotic. Remarkable in how quickly and deliberately it shifts its tones, this is a whiplash text where the tragic and the comic exist trapped within each other — as enemies are, as lovers are. EUSC’s production wears surrealism, carnival and manifestations of the divine tragic proudly on its sleeve. Book here.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St, EH1 1SR. Phone booking: 0131 556 9579.
Our Martin in the Background (Mark Kydd)
Sat 14 Feb 2026.
One performance: 2pm
Æ’s EdFringe ’25 review: ★★★☆☆ Reflective
England, 1945. The lives of two strangers are changed forever by a chance meeting at a railway station. But this isn’t Brief Encounter... We’re all extras in the lives of others, but the stars of our own. What happens when you pan the camera away from the leading players? Mark Kydd’s solo show turns the spotlight onto a supporting artist with his own surprising tale of first, forbidden love. Book here.
Maya and the Whale (Hazel Darwin-Clements)
Sat 14 Mar 2026.
One performance: 7pm
The story of a young climate activist on the run who finds herself face-to-face with a beached whale. Her dad works in the oil industry and her mum just wants her to have a childhood free of worry, but how can she go about ‘business as usual’ when there’s a climate emergency? Book here.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Tell Me (Manipulate Fest)
By: Sadiq Ali Company – Scotland.
Mon 9/Tue 10 – Sat Feb 2026
Evenings: 6pm.
Using Chinese Pole and aerial artistry, including an innovative new multi-dimensional cube apparatus developed specially for the show, Tell Me follows one person’s journey of self-discovery after a life-changing diagnosis. At its core, it’s about connection: to self, to friends, to community.. Further details. Book here.
Homo(sapien) (Conor O’Dwyer)
Fri 13/Sat 14 Feb 2026
Evenings: 7.30pm.
EdFringe 2025 review: ★★★★☆ Wholehearted.
A joyful, queer, coming-of-age one-man show by Edinburgh-based performer Conor O’Dwyer about overcoming your fears. Joey is a Bad Gay. He can’t get into Drag Race, he’s never tried poppers and he’s never had sex with a man… But tonight is the night, and he is determined to make sure he will not die a virgin. Book here.
Summerhall
1 Summerhall, EH9 1PL.
Auntie Empire (Manipulate Festival)
Disaster Plan
Sun 8/Mon 9 Feb 2026
Evening: 8pm.
Auntie has gathered us all to relive and celebrate our glorious shared past, but unfortunately she also has some tragic, terrible, and most pressing news. And she needs your help. Julia Taudevin and Kieran Hurley blend bouffon comedy, satire and audience interaction into a bloody, messy, hilarious and timely lampoon of the myths of nationhood. Further Details. Book here.
Primal Bog (Rosa Garland)
Thurs 12 Feb 2026
Evening: 8pm.
The gorgeously gross new piece from Rosa Garland, creator of cult hit Trash Salad. In Primal Bog, Garland plunges headfirst into the muck in an hour of clowning, slime, and unfiltered desire. Part psychosexual fever-dream, part Jackass stunt it leaves audiences howling, gagging, and cheering in equal measure. Book here.
The Rhinestone Cowboy
Fri 13/Sat 14 Feb 2026
Evenings: 7pm.
Written and performed by Leith-based poet Hjarta and co-produced with musician Harry Bongo. This darkly humorous, raw and emotive one-woman show is based on a true story and produced by a real-life mother and son duo, to expose the ravages of schizophrenia through a blistering trip from Auld Reekie to the Land of Fire and Ice. Book here.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED. Phone booking: 0131 228 1404.
The Wood Paths (Manipulate Festival)
By Theatre on Gertrude St.
Mon 9/Tue 10 Feb 2026
Evening: 8pm (Trav 1).
Two logs. Two axes. Two people. A pause. Silence. Then the splinters fly. A tree cracks under pressure. But the people don’t stop. A celebration of humanity’s endless creativity and our desire to understand, to shape, and to find beauty in the mess. Further Details. Book here.
[UN]Lovable [WIP] (Not So Nice!)
By Five emerging playwrights.
Fri 13 Feb 2026
Evening: 7pm (Trav 2).
Five emerging playwrights explore what it means to be ‘unlovable’. Messy break-ups, explorations of loneliness and a clown’s bitter divorce await, in a show that promises laughter amidst some heartbreak. Delve into the other side of love: being ‘unlovable’. With Clown Divorce by Russ Russel; Wish Me Luck by Melissa Ainsworth; Tit For Tat by Ryan Lithgow; La Solitude by Emma McCaffrey; and Defective by Grace Ava Baker. Book here.
The Flames (Tricky Hat)
Sat 14 Feb 2026
Evening: 7.30pm (Trav 1).
A striking and innovative mix of film, music and performance to explore stories about life after fifty, presenting a fresh look at how we approach ageing. A unique performance of devised work, taking inspiration from everyday life, to challenge pre-conceived ideas of how older people think and what they aspire to. Book here.
