TravFest26 announced
Three new Traverse commissions in ten-strong programme
The Traverse has announced its Edinburgh Fringe programme for 2026, TravFest26, with three newly commissioned Traverse productions, a new piece of Scottish gig-theatre, four touring shows staged in-house and two further productions in external venues.
Opening with previews on Friday 31 July, and running through to Sunday 30 August, this is a programme with a strong female lead. All four of the Scottish productions have female writers and directors.
TravFest26 Logo
Cathy, written and directly by Eilidh Loan, stars Elaine C. Smith who returns to the Traverse main stage for the first time in 26 years. Written with Smith in mind for the title role, and marking Loan’s second directing role, the play follows a sharp-tongued widow in the wake of her husband’s death, as Christmas approaches and long-buried truths surface.
Morna Young’s After Party is directed by Pains Plough’s AD, Katie Posner, and comes from an idea conceived by Young with Alex Fthenakis . Set on the night of a legendary actress’s 80th birthday, the play unfolds as family secrets and champagne collide around a decision that will change everything.
Zinnie Harris writes and directs Supposing:, a piece rooted in Greek mythology, yet fiercely contemporary. This third Traverse production explores belief, isolation and the unsettling forces that disrupt ordinary life in an ambitious work by one of Scotland’s most established writers in the theatre’s experimental and intimate space, Traverse 2.
Cora Bissett writes and directs The Singer, radical gig theatre written and directed by Cora Bissett with original music and lyrics by KT Tunstall, exploring Deaf culture, authorship and creative ownership. The Dundee Rep Theatre and Solar Bear production, in collaboration with Aberdeen Performing Arts, is based on Bissett and Jamie Rea short film of the same name.
Plays from elsewhere…
Visiting productions include the world premiere of Badgers, a Theatre Royal Plymouth Production Presented in association with Bristol Old Vic by Malaika Kegode and directed by Jenny Davies. Bryony Kimmings returns to the Traverse for the first time in over a decade with the Scottish premiere of her autobiographical work Bog Witch.
Irish company Fishamble bring the UK premiere of For Delores, a blisteringly funny new play written by Eva O’Connor and directed by Jim Culleton. And it is the European premiere of Mrs Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, inspired by the real-life arrest of Hannah Arendt in 1933 Berlin, by Jenny Lyn Bader and directed by Ari Laura Kreith,
Off-site, Richard Jordon brings Antipodean hit Transmission: Into the Dark from one step at a time like this, which invites audiences to a secret location where they “embark on a nocturnal journey where the strange is real and the real is strange”.
Finally, the Lyceum Studio is home to the world premiere of Little Animals, a new work written and performed by Paul Ready, star of BBC’s Motherland. A frank, funny show about climate anxiety, the stories we tell ourselves and the chance to write a new one.
TravFest26 – composite image of shows.
Announcing the launch, Traverse CEO and executive producer Linda Crooks said: “Traverse Festival is our international showcase and most visible expression of what we do all year round – nurturing writers, taking risks, and creating the inspiring work that speaks to the world as it is now.
“This year’s programme brings together artists at different stages of their careers, bringing their different perspectives to our stages, all united by the ambition, the desire to entertain, and a passion to connect with audiences, amidst the backdrop of a refusal to play it safe.”
TravFest26 Listings
NB: The Traverse generally rotates productions over the day, so they do not play the same time one day after the other. The exceptions are off-site productions and the late night production of The Singer in Trav 1, which is at either 9.15pm or 9.30pm. Productions do play on Mondays.
Cathy
Written and directed by Eilidh Loan
Traverse Theatre Production
Fri 31 Jul – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Previews: Fri 31 Jul, Fri 7 Aug, Sat 8 Aug.
Sun 9 – Sun 30 Aug: Various times (not Mon). (Trav 1).
Elaine C. Smith, Alan Orr, Sally Reid and Michele Gallagher in young Scottish writer Eilidh Loan’s new comedy inspired by her grandmother, and how she dealt with the grief in her unique way after losing her husband. Cathy, Eilidh’s grandmother, insisted that Elaine C Smith must play her and so she is. Book here.
Supposing:
Written and directed by Zinnie Harris
Traverse Theatre Company
Fri 31 Jul – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Previews: Fri 31 Jul, Sat 1, Thu 6 Aug.
Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mon): Various times. (Trav 2).
A curse has fallen on Sally’s house. Unexpected, unwanted and hard to shake. Worst of all, no one will believe her. As the line between certainty and doubt begins to blur, Sally must decide whether to trust what she sees, and what happens if she’s right. Book here.
Bog Witch
By Bryony Kimmings and co-directed by Francesca Murray-Fuentes
Avalon & Tellus Studio
Sun 2 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Previews Sun 2, Sat 8 Aug.
Sun 9 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): Various times. (Trav 1)
Bryony Kimmings returns to the stage with her first solo show in half a decade. As with all her previous shows, it follows a part of Kimmings’ real life story, this time the journey of uprooting her and her son’s life to live in a tumbledown cottage in the wilderness to plug back into nature as a last-ditch attempt to be happy and sane. Book here.
The Singer
Music & Lyrics by KT Tunstall, book and direction by Cora Bissett
Dundee Rep Theatre and Solar Bear in collaboration with Aberdeen Performing Arts
Tue 4 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Previews Tue 4 (7pm), Sat 8 (9.30pm) Aug.
Sun 9 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): 9pm or 9.15pm. (Trav 1)
A bold, new, thrilling piece of gig-theatre about Joe, a deaf artist who “sings” with his hands, and Andy, a washed-up musician hungry for a comeback. When their unlikely creative partnership sparks something extraordinary, ambition and belonging collide. But as prejudice and the music industry’s ableist blind spots close in, their bond is pushed to breaking point. Book here.
Mrs. Stern Wanders The Prussian State Library
By Jenny Lyn Bader directed by Ari Laura Kreith
Luna Stage and Richard Jordan Productions with Traverse Theatre
Thu 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Preview: Thu 6 Aug.
Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): Various times. (Trav 2)
Berlin 1933. With martial law in effect, political activism has become a capital crime. When a young Gestapo officer arrests a philosophy graduate student, her interrogation will endanger them both. Direct from its Off-Broadway premiere and inspired by the real life arrest of Hannah Arendt, Jenny Lyn Bader’s timely new play illuminates the struggle for human connection and perseverance in even the darkest of times. Book here.
For Delores
By Eva O’Connor, directed by Jim Culleton
Fishamble in association with Lime Tree Theatre
Presented by Belltable, Galway International Arts Festival and Traverse Theatre
Thu 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Preview: Thu 6 Aug 3.15pm.
Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): Various times. (Trav 2)
Mo (the Scottish one) and Realtín (the Irish one) party, play and blaze their way through the Edinburgh student dream. Set in Glasgow a couple of years later, For Dolores is about friendship, motherhood and coming to terms with your worst mistakes. Like twin stars in obsessive orbit, it’s a friendship, a rivalry and an adventure. Risk is a delicious pleasure: until it all explodes in the blink of an eye. Book here.
Badgers
By Malaika Kegode, directed by Jenny Davies
A Theatre Royal Plymouth Production Presented in association with Bristol Old Vic
Thu 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Preview: Thu 6 Aug.
Fri 7 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): Various times. (Trav 2)
Something has taken root in this town. A recluse, a disappearance, a mysterious folk song. And then there’s you, Meles — a podcaster with a dying mother and a stalling career — about to stumble into something unfathomable. Something that could change everything. But is it your story to tell? Book here.
After Party
By Morna Young, directed by Katie Posner
Traverse co-pro with Paines Plough & Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Thu 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Previews: Thu 6, Sat 8 Aug.
Sun 9 – Sun 30 Aug (not Mons): Various times. (Trav 1)
Matriarch Vivienne Blackwood has always lived life on her own terms; much to the frustration of her fractured family. Summoning them for her 80th birthday party, they arrive expecting the usual family escapades. But as old tensions surface and beliefs collide, Vivienne’s reasons for gathering them soon unravels. Book here.
Transmission: Into the Dark
one step at a time like this and Richard Jordan Productions with Traverse Theatre
Fri 7 – Sun 23 Aug 2026
Daily (not Mons, Tue 18): 9.40pm, 10.20pm, 11pm & 11.40pm. (Traverse Elsewhere).
It’s night-time. You receive an address to a secret location. A mysterious voice speaks to you, drawing you towards unknown destinations, through Edinburgh’s darkened streets and into the soul of the night. Interweaving site-specific radio, installation, night-walking, and the sky, this invites audiences to embark on a nocturnal journey where the strange is real and the real is strange. Full details in booking link: Book here.
Little Animals
Conceived, written and performed by Paul Ready
Directed by Caroline Steinbeis
Fern Culture co-produced by Pentabus, in association with Gulbenkian Arts Centre
Tue 18 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Daily (not Mon 24): 1.30pm & 4pm (Traverse @ The Lyceum Studio)
You’re invited to Richard’s memorial. Richard is dead, after all. He’s gone. But his friend wasn’t invited to the funeral. And he can’t let go because something happened. Something he needs to lay to rest. This is his chance. The story of a life-long friendship, set in a culture that can’t stop consuming. Book here.
ENDS
