Here is our big Queer round up – we’ve rounded up some shows with Queer and LGBTQIA+ stories at the heart of them. There are lots this year, which we love to see!
ROB MADGE: MY SON’S A QUEER (BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO)
I adore Rob, their posts on social media always crack me up – and this is one of the shows I am most excited for at the Fringe! This joyous, chaotic autobiographical story was awarded the WhatsOnStage Award for best Off West End production!
SYNOPSIS: When Rob was twelve, they attempted a full-blown Disney parade in their house for their Grandma. As Rob donned wigs and played Mary Poppins, Ariel, Mickey Mouse and Belle, their Dad doubled as Stage Manager, Sound Technician and Goofy. Unfortunately, Dad missed all his cues and pushed all the floats in the wrong direction. Mum mistook Aladdin for Ursula. The costumes went awry. Grandma had a nice time, though.
Venue: Underbelly George Square / Dates: 4th – 29th August (not the 10th, 15th or 22nd) / Time: 16:15pm
SEX WITH FRIENDS (AND OTHER TINY CATASTROPHES)
A brand new musical, that follows six friends as they fall in love and fall apart. This show is one of WhatsOnStage’s Musical Picks of the Fringe. We love a new musical here at LIT, and this title intrigues me greatly!
SYNOPSIS: Mel needs a job. Marc doesn’t believe in love. Willow is addicted to yoga. Ben would wear a hoodie to the opera. Lily has emotional problems. Jordan might have herpes. Adjusting to city life, navigating complex relationships, figuring out who you really are – easy, right? Well, there’s a reason it’s called Generation Z. Because it can’t get much worse than this.
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Upstairs / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 10th, 17th and 24th) / Time: 12:40pm
HAPPY MEAL
This show has been included in many a Fringe round up, clearly it’s quite a highly anticipated show! The Edinburgh Fringe will be the world premiere of Tabby Lamb’s Happy Meal. A joyful queer rom-com where Millennial meets Gen Z and change is all around. Exhilaratingly staged by Roots and Theatre Royal Plymouth and directed by Jamie Fletcher, fresh from her acclaimed production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch!
SYNOPSIS: Join us for an online show irl. Travel back to the quaint days of dial up and MSN, where you’ll follow two strangers on their journeys to become who they always were. A funny, moving and nostalgic story of transition. From teen to adult, From MySpace to TikTok, From cis to trans.
Venue: Traverse Theatre (Traverse 2) / Dates: 4th – 28th August (not the 8th, 15th or 22nd) / Times: Vary, check website!
WRECKAGE
A brand new LGBTQIA+ drama from the Harlow Playhouse. Wreckage is a new one-act drama about love and loss. The show stars Tom Ratcliffe (Velvet, Sket, 5 Guys Chillin’) and west end star Michael Walters (Steve, The Inheritance, Death of a Salesman).
SYNOPSIS: Sam and his fiancé Noel have been together for years. They have a house, a cat, and their whole lives ahead of them. But when a sudden and permanent distance crashes into their relationship, it falls on Sam to discover where their story goes from here.
Venue: Summerhall / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not 15th or 22nd) / Time: 12:00pm
FABULETT 1933
Fabulett 1933 is a queer one person musical created and performed by Michael Trauffer, featuring music, ideas and lives classified as “degenerate” by the Nazis, as well as original songs. The show received multiple 4* reviews during its run at London’s Canal Café Theatre in 2021.
SYNOPSIS: Berlin, February 1933, the new German leadership orders the closure of all cabarets. But Felix, the emcee of the depraved Fabulett, still has a story to tell. He has felt different from the others all his life: as a boy, a son and a soldier in the Great War. The only place where he has ever had a sense of belonging is the Fabulett – the place that he now has to abandon.
Venue: theSpace @ Surgeons Hall / Dates: 5th – 27th August (not the 14th) / Time: 8.55pm
LIZARD BOY
Fresh from a run at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre, Lizard Boy takes residence at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose this August. Lizard Boy is the thrilling original rock musical that’s been called ‘ingenious’ (San Francisco Chronicle), ‘phenomenal’ (MercuryNews.com) and ‘ferocious and funny’ (Seattle Times).
SYNOPSIS: From the ashes of Mount St. Helens emerged a monster with mysterious powers—powers that changed one boy’s life forever. Freak or hero? Trevor is about to find out with a little help from Mr. Right. Join triple-threat Seattle artist Justin Huertas and friends for one fateful night of adventure, music and love set on the streets of Seattle. Equal parts comic book lore, coming-of-age love story and irrepressible tunes, audiences can expect the unexpected in this indie rock musical.
Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 15th ) / Time: 6.30pm
BRIEFS: BITE CLUB
We caught this glorious show in London in July, you can read Jack’s review here. Australia’s award-winning cult-cabaret mischief-makers, circus stars, and heart-stopping hooligans Briefs Factory, join forces with much celebrated songbird Sahara Beck. Australian cabaret at its finest!
SYNOPSIS: An event sautéed in a hedonistic haze of music, circus, drag, burlesque, theatre, and comedy. Described as one of Australia’s most arresting performers, Sahara Beck’s soaring vocals will blast female pride power into the ferociously fierce displays of talent from the BRIEFS boys you know and love. Their slick tomfoolery and heart-stopping hooliganism will be bathed in suave synth, heady hooks, and swelling strings, all set to a glorious pop pulse.
Venue: Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows / Dates: 5th – 27th August (not 15th or 22nd) / Time: 8.45pm
SEAYONCE: RES-ERECTION
This year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe will be home to a horrifyingly brilliant show: a comedy cabaret séance led by the Late Great Ghost Whisperer Séayoncé. An intoxicating performance executed with brilliant comedic timing, high calibre theatrics, bewitching characters, extravagant cabaret ballads and tantalising audience interaction. Created by Dan Wye, rising queer star on the comedy scene. Séayoncé has toured globally hitting acclaimed festivals along the way.
SYNOPSIS: The baddest b!tch in the spirit world is back, the legendary Ghost Whisperer Séayoncé! What better way to feel alive again than with a big throbbing res-erection? Ghouls just want to have fun… it’s time you did too! A desperate soul haunts the festival and no, not a fringe performer… it’s time for a little exorcism. It’s bound to be an occult classic!
Venue: Assembly Roxy / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 17th) / Time: 10pm
BRITNEY: FRIENDS AND NOTHING MORE
The award-winning comedy duo, Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson, return to the Fringe for the first time in 5 years. Fresh from their universally adored BBC Three pilot, they bring a new show, Friends and Nothing More, a sketch show about love. But which of these two girls will you fancy more?
SYNOPSIS: At the heart of Friends And Nothing More is Ellen and Charly’s 15 year friendship, their disastrous Year 11 Christmas talent show and their desire for attention and love – disclaimer, both are currently single! Will they find love at one of their shows? (Why else would they be performing sketch comedy?) Will Ellen and Charly fall in love with each other – crazier things have happened, right? Or, will they remain – like the song Charly genuinely wrote when Ellen came out to her – “Friends and Nothing More”? Expect sketches on dating apps and social media, Disney’s 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast, gender reveal parties, and how they both froze on stage at their Year 11 Christmas Talent Show. There will be songs. There will be ‘satire’. There might well be Adult Heelies. This is a show you do not want to miss!
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 16th) / Time: 5.45pm
WILF
This riotous and heartfelt new play from James Ley (Love Song to Lavender Menace), directed by the Traverse’s Artistic Director Gareth Nicholls (Ulster American, Crocodile Fever), takes audiences on a hilarious and unapologetic ride through Scotland as Calvin and Wilf attempt to escape loneliness, cope with mental illness and learn to love themselves, with the help of one another.
SYNOPSIS: Calvin is going to revolutionise his life. Escape his abusive boyfriend, detonate his inner sex bomb, see (and shag) the world! Now he’s found his partner in crime in Wilf, a rusty Volkswagen Polo. Together they hit the road on a wild ride of greasy takeaways, graveyard orgies and banging 80s power ballads – ending up somewhere they never imagined they’d go…
Venue: Traverse Theatre / Dates: 5th – 28th (not the 8th, 15th and 22nd) / Times: Vary – check website
SOUND CISTEM
Sound Cistem is a verbatim, featuring recorded interviews from trans and non-binary people, a self-love manifesto is made through riotous, glittering disco. This duo keep moving to reject conformity and shame, despite the current transgender debate. See the beauty in these bodies, and your own. ‘Revealing and emotional’ **** (Guardian). Offies Winner 2021.
SYNOPSIS: Two transgender performers say ‘up yours!’ to the gender binary and invite you to their radical dance party! Under disco lights, over pulsing music, a queer celebration takes place. Set in nightclubs, this exuberant verbatim show examines the cisgender gaze on the transgender body.
Venue: Pleasance Dome / Dates: 23rd -29th August / Time: 1.35pm
ALAN TURING – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY
This intriguing new musical, composed by Joel Goodman & Jan Osborne. This biographical account is narrated by Andrea, the fictitious author of Alan Turing’s biography. Alan’s dialogue is directly taken from historical letters that he wrote to his friends, colleagues and his mother.
SYNOPSIS: A journey through the extraordinary life of Alan Turing. It presents experiences of paramount importance such as the loss of his closest friend, Alan’s role in the Second World War as well as his struggle with society’s unjust view of homosexuality.
Venue: Paradise in The Vault / Dates: 6th – 20th (not the 14th) / Time: 11.10am
IN PURSUET
Having premiered at the Fringe in 2019, In PurSUEt is back. Inspired by true events: a passionate Sue Perkins Superfan, sent to a therapist to deal with her drinking, relays her adventures pursuing Sue. Fleabag meets Maranda in this fierce, heartfelt new LGBT comedy/drama. Follow our heroines impressive swagger skills, drinking habits and coping mechanisms in an age of Social Media, #MeToo and Brexit…. In PurSUEt is a play with unexpected truth, nuance and hope.
SYNOPSIS: Woman is sat in a therapist’s office. She’s been sent there to deal with her drink problem. But she doesn’t have a problem and she doesn’t need help. She just needs Sue Perkins. They’re meant for each other. If only Sue could see that too. But how can she? She’s too busy being a celebrity. So Woman sets out in pursuit of her love.
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate / Dates: 4th – 28th August (not the 15th) / Time: 3.50pm
RYAN LANE WILL BE THERE NOW IN A MINUTE
Ryan Lane is an actor and comedian from Llanidloes, Wales, who trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier. RYAN LANE WILL BE THERE NOW IN A MINUTE ran at VAULT festival 2020 and Ryan is pleased to bring the show back to audiences with performances already held at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Brighton and Camden Fringe. Think The League of Gentlemen meets Under Milk Wood and Clueless, set against the backdrop of growing up gay in the forgotten Welsh town Llanidloes
SYNOPSIS: Ryan Lane’s playful, inventive and intimate character comedy explores what it means to be Welsh, queer and the myths that fuel national identity. A fast-paced, whip-smart satire with belly laughs, bellowing Rugby teachers, beguiling maidens and belligerent Grandma’s.
Venue: Assembly Roxy / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 16th) / Time: 3.10pm
HOW TO LIVE A JELLICLE LIFE: LIFE LESSONS FROM THE 2019 HIT MOVIE MUSICAL CATS
Following 5-star reviews and two sold out runs the jellicle show is back! Following the success of “Awkward Conversations With Animals I’ve F*cked” (Underbelly Edinburgh 2018, King’s Head Theatre + National Tour 2019) Awkward Productions have returned with yet another show about… sexy animals.
A one man comedic parody that celebrates one of the biggest cinematic flops of recent years. Come along for a silly, ridiculous, very queer and unquestionably jellicle time full of “too many penis jokes” (The Guardian).
SYNOPSIS: A show that provides a jellicle discussion about the jellicle aspects of the jellicle cats in ‘Cats’ and how you can apply them to your life in order to make it truly jellicle. Expect jellicle laughs, jellicle dance and a very jellicle PowerPoint presentation. No previous knowledge about CATS required.
Venue: Greenside @ Riddles Court / Dates: 15th – 27th August (not the 21st) / Time: 5.15pm
DELIOUS FRUIT
Verbatim sex stories and anarchic punk songs cum together in an orgiastic rebellion against shame. These intimate interviews with queer people explore kink, community and self-worth with humour and honesty.
Following the acclaimed Sound Cistem, Plaster Cast dance, sing and f*ck through the sticky mess of sexuality.
What can queer sex do for you? For us?
SYNOPSIS: Ayden and Lizard want to be cool, sexually-liberated queers. But the cis-straight world is a real boner killer. If they talk to enough queers about sex, desire and intimacy, can they kickstart a revolution in society, and in their pants!?
Venue: Pleasance Dome / Dates: 3rd – 29th August (not the 15th) / Time: 4.15pm
RECLAIMING HARRY
A fabulously queer quest!
In the hopes of finding… a new writer. That‘s right, the old one has been Goblet of Fired! Will Harry succeed? Perhaps Ally, former #1 Harry fan and ex-Pothead, might help. After all, Ally has a magic all of her own… Reclaiming Harry is brought to you by Rich Watkins – creator and star of award-winning smash-hit parody musical sensation Happily Ever Poofter. ‘Thrilling and hilarious’ (Stewart Who?).
SYNOPSIS:
You‘ve Read The Books, Seen The Movies And Watched The Nostalgic Documentary. But The Adventure Has Only Just Begun…
Once upon a time, there was a boy called Harry, who was just like every other teenager.
Except… Harry was a wizard.
Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?
OK, Harry’s not just any wizard, he‘s basically the saviour of the entire wizard world. And he may also be the star of a global franchise phenomenon, which we won’t go into for legal reasons…
But apart from that, Harry is just like every other teenager. His life is altogether rather unremarkable.
Until now
Venue: PBH’s Free Fringe @ CC Blooms / Dates: 8th – 28th August (not 16th & 22nd) / Time: 10.30pm
AIDAN SADLERS: TROPICANA
Following their sold out, extended, award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run, Tropicana is the future of queer comedy cabaret! Storming the UK circuit, Tropicana is the most engaging LGBTQIA+ act of the year.
The show is an exploration and unashamed assault on the gender binaries, featuring amiably anarchic stand up punctuated by electrifying 80s’ synthwave ranging from Spandau Ballet to ABC.
SYNOPSIS: Drawing on their own tumultuous experience of being queer in a small industrial town, the audience is taken on a journey to the absurd and surreal mind of Aidan Sadler. Nothing is safe from ridicule such as body image, straight folk and the dreaded ASOS Gays! Nothing is safe from ridicule so be led on an exploration of body image, heteronormativity and sometimes wearing a dress round the house on a muggy day.
Venue: Assembly George Square / Dates: 3rd – 28th August / Time: 10.20pm
SOHO BOY
Soho Boy is a new one-man musical by Paul Emelion Daly starring Owen Dennis, about the joys and perils of moving to London. Filled with glamour, sex and songs, this is a modern take on a gay scene that can appear glamorous but can also be harsh and lonely.
SYNOPSIS: Young and trendy, Spencer leaves home and hits Soho for a whirlwind journey of love, laughter, happiness… and heartbreak. Working in a clothes store, busking on the streets and partying at the weekend, the glitter soon fades when Spencer stumbles into the darker side of the neon lights..
Venue: theSpaceUK@symposium hall / Dates: 5th – 27th August (not the 14th) / Time: 5.05pm
COTTAGE
Cottage has recently been performed at the Durham Drama Festival, where it was awarded Best Show, Best Writing, Best Lighting Design and Best Actor. Cottage rejects the modern trends of sanitised queer stories by returning to examine authentic relationships and characters in an unflinching gaze at aspects of gay culture the twenty-first century may prefer to ignore.
SYNOPSIS: One man walks into a public bathroom. Another follows. The play deals with one of the most shameful yet thrilling parts of queer history, setting the dilemma of public sex against the intricacies of private connection.
Venue: Greenside @ Infirmary Street / Dates: 22nd – 27th August / Time: 10.10pm
HEIDI REGAN GIVES BIRTH EVERY NIGHT OR YOUR MONEY BACK
Heidi Regan will be bringing her highly anticipated show Heidi Regan Gives Birth Live On Stage Every Night Or Your Money Back to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022. A prolific comedy writer and performer, Heidi has two of the most prestigious comedy awards under her belt; the So You Think You’re Funny? title at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016 which sees her following in the footsteps of comedians including Peter Kay, Aisling Bea, Alan Carr, and Lee Mack as well as the BBC New Comedy Award prize in 2017.
SYNOPSIS: This brand-new hour is Heidi’s most personal yet. Having had very limited experience in committed relationships, Heidi moved in with her girlfriend and began looking into parenthood minutes before a global pandemic kicked off. As things get serious, an increasingly hopeless Heidi tries to support her NHS girlfriend via her usual tactics of telling very bad jokes and making niche pop culture references that never land. It has mixed results. Oozing personality and a unique perspective on life, all while maintaining her extremely silly tone, this hour is one not to be missed!
Venue: PBH’s Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms / Dates: 6th – 28th August (not the 20th or 21st) / Time: 5.55pm
DEFINITELY MAYBE ACTUALLY NEVERMIND
Following a successful run at The Space Theatre in London, the Haus of Bollix is thrilled to be bringing their cabaret show; Definitely Maybe Actually Nevermind to Underbelly / Belly Laugh at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. ‘What do Jamie, Mark, and Fitzwilliam Darcy all have in common? They’re white, problematic, and played by Colin Firth.’ Join drag artist Crystal Bollix as they take on their greatest enemy yet… romantic comedies.
SYNOPSIS: Onstage sits a strange figure surrounded by blankets, holding a Ben and Jerry’s, and crying over the latest ‘will they won’t they?’ produced by Netflix. This is Crystal Bollix and it’s now their turn to lead a Rom-Com. Will they (or won’t they) survive? Fall in love with this new cabaret extravaganza all about the pitfalls of chick-flicks and Colin Firth. Watch as they navigate the tricky world of rom-com masculinity, femininity and beyond. Expect gorgeous costumes, dazzling lip sync, and maybe a surprise guest or two…
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate / Dates: 23rd – 28th August / Time: 10.50pm
CUMTS: SLEEPOVER
From the people who brought you Six, the Musical. Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society (CUMTS) is proud to announce the premier of Sleepover at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022. Sleepover is a coming-of-age comedy musical about self-discovery (and self-pleasure!). Top-class comedy delivered to you with a side of well-rapped bars in this spectacular piece of new writing.
SYNOPSIS: Four immigrant teens. Twelve hours. One suspicious box teeming with questions about sex. Join Jenny, Anita, Nina and Ruth as they dive into the world of sex – discussing everything from monogamy to masturbation, dating preferences to penises.
Venue: Just the Tonic at The Caves, Dates: 4th – 28th August (except 15th) / Time: 16:30
THE GAY TRAIN
Written by two LGBTQ actors, The Gay Train is an irreverent satire of the UK’s current TV landscape. Whilst the show’s targets include the obvious – socially conservative platforms such as GB News and Good Morning Britain, where talking about LGBT rights is increasingly dismissed as “Wokeism,” “Virtue Signalling,” or even “Dangerous” – the show also takes aim at the progressive side of the debate, from the ‘rainbow capitalism’ of Avanti’s LGBT-staffed pride train, to the journalists who set themselves up as spokespeople for the whole LGBT community.
SYNOPSIS: Fifty thousand genders, vegan sausage rolls, what should you be angry about next? When non-binary student Lin is attacked in a pub toilet, a viral video propels them to fame for all the wrong reasons. Will they manage to make something of their time in the spotlight? Yellow Mug returns to the stage with a vicious ode to weekday morning TV.
Venue: RSE Theatre / Dates: 5th – 28th August (not the 15th or 16th) / Time: 8.10pm
PASH
Pash is a queer comedy about the sweat-inducing terror, joy and sliminess of a first kiss. Olivia McLeod’s one-woman show PASH pays loving homage to both romance and comedy. In crafting a story about one woman’s quest for her long overdue first kiss, McLeod creates a show that is likely to speak to many. PASH is a prime example of what homegrown comedy has to offer the world stage. Whether you’re a lover of rom-coms or just a lover of comedy, PASH is sure to bring a smile to your face and a laugh to your heart.
SYNOPSIS: Sweet sixteen would’ve been alright. Twenty-four and never been kissed is just sad. Max is turning twenty-five in one week, and she’s desperate to have her first kiss with someone (anyone) before she hits her quarter-life crisis. She’s no longer waiting to pash Romeo, Rapunzel, or Rolf. It might end up being Davo from the local, but that’s better than nothing, right? PASH is about making out with the back of your hand, studying the Top Ten Movie Kisses, and navigating the hellish underground of your early twenties when you feel just a bit… behind.
Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose / Dates: 3rd – 28th August / Time: 9.40pm
BLUE & PIP
1.5 million people in the UK suffer from endometriosis, a long-term and potentially debilitating womb condition. It takes sufferers on average 8 years to be diagnosed, with misdiagnosis common and testimonies often dismissed by medical professionals. Blue & Pip brings these experiences, so rarely depicted or discussed, to the fore. It follows 20-something-year-old Blue as they navigate the care system and work with their wife, Pip, to discover how to live with endometriosis. This story is brought to the stage with wit, cynicism, and heart. Blue & Pip is a disabled-led play with a queer love story at its heart.
SYNOPSIS: Blue loves the sea. Blue is sick. The doctors aren’t listening. And the sea is making the illness worse. As the pain grows, Blue and their wife, Pip, set out to find answers and get Blue to the sea before it all becomes unbearable. Blue & Pip questions what it means when we both grieve and celebrate our bodies at the same time, and salutes the comfort we seek in our surroundings.
Venue: theSpace @ North Bridge / Dates: 5th – 27th August (not the 14th) / Time: Varies, check website
HOW TO BUILD A WAX FIGURE
Girl meets anatomical wax sculptor. Anatomical wax sculptor meets girl. They fall in love. Or something like that. November Theatre launches in the UK with Isabella Waldron’s electric new play, how to build a wax figure, bringing a fresh perspective on queer love, age-gap relationships, and ocularistry.
SYNOPSIS: Bea’s older neighbour was her first love, her first cigarette, her first prosthetic eye. When Bea is invited to the Wellcome Collection to speak about her expertise making glass eyes, she finds herself unable to untie Margot from all that she does. As she tries to unpack her mentor’s effect on her work, Bea must dissect for herself what love really looks like.
Venue: Assembly George Square Studios / Dates: 4th – 29th August (not 10th, 16th or 23rd) / Time: 12.55pm
I JUST LIKE YOU | A GAY MYTH
An intimate two-hander about the messy complexities of the contemporary gay dating experience, by the Who What Where Theatre Collective.
SYNOPSIS: When these two find themselves drawn to one another, they find that they are looking for different things. One, recently out of a LTR, just wants sex; the other, after a years-long string of hook ups, just wants a LTR again. So they decide to do that progressive thing that gay people do – you know, have a meaningful friendship while also having loads of sex, but without catching feelings. There’s no way that could go wrong, right?
Venue: Greenside @ Riddles Court / Dates: 5th – 27th August (not the 14th or 21st) / Time: 12.30pm
THE FIRE AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH
Come explore myth, queerness, and love in a new two-man play premiering at Edinburgh Fringe. After the success of Wendy Hui and Zack Rocklin-Waltch’s Confessions of a Former Boy Detective at the 2021 Hollywood Fringe – which was selected as an official Pick of the Fringe and awarded a Producers’ Encore Award – the creative team is ready to bring new theatre to an even wider audience. The Fire at the Edge of the Earth is an examination of queer love and queer existence. It vacillates between the mythic and the deeply intimate as Vector and Pluto fight to reconcile their respective places in the world with their love for one another. It is a personal and provocative work by an up-and-coming team poised to make waves at this year’s Fringe.
SYNOPSIS: The Fire at the Edge of the Earth is a one-act play set in the Caucasus Mountains that explores queer love and existence as a couple fight to keep their relationship alive. Their story is partnered with the myth of Prometheus – equating the fire he stole to the love they were never supposed to have. While navigating the intricacies of an LGBTQ relationship; we seek to shed light on key issues and uplift other queer works and artists in the process.
Venue: theSpaceTriplex / Dates: 5th-13th August (not the 9th) / Time: 10.15am
CERYS BRADLEY: SPORTSPERSON
Sportsperson is written and performed by Cerys Bradley (Soho Theatre Young Company, Amused Moose semi-finalist, 2020). Cerys says that ‘Sportsperson is about playing sports and not liking it and maybe that’s connected to being non-binary, or just because I’m bad at them, who knows’.
SYNOPSIS: It’s a show about playing sport and fitting in and how Cerys is quite bad at both of those things. It’s also a show about being non-binary, embarrassed about wearing lycra and how spending your childhood in a car whilst your parents watch your brother play football (and rugby and tennis and cricket) definitely doesn’t leave you with a massive chip on your shoulder.
Venue: Gilded Balloon Teviot / Dates: 3rd – 29th August (not the 15th) / Time: 4.40pm
MAMA LOVE
Mama Love is a one-woman show in which Lea Blair Whitcher plays with the absurdities of the idealised and toxic images of motherhood in which she finds herself enmeshed. Lea is a queer person currently living on the more hetero side of things, she considers her show Mama Love to be an important part of queer discourse. Swiss Selection Edinburgh returns with three UK premieres from exciting Swiss artists tackling issues rippling through Europe and beyond.
SYNOPSIS: Against the backdrop of the 2020 Swiss vote on granting new fathers a whole two weeks’ paternity leave (18 years behind the brits’ oh-so generous offer) Whitcher links lived experience with current discourses on motherhood, thrashing out a path through a jungle of everyday situations, social clichés and quizzical utopian models of life in a society beyond the bounds of patriarchy.
Venue: Summerhall / Dates: 3rd – 28th August (not the 15th or 22nd) / Time: 3pm
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE
Spine-tingling yet heart-warming, Mark Gatiss’s retelling of A Christmas Carol truly encapsulates the haunting atmosphere of a Victorian ghost story, balanced out with enough humour so as to capture the festive season. Led by Keith Allen as Scrooge, with Peter Forbes as Marley, this show is perfect for Christmas viewing. The set design by Paul Wills is instantly captivating, … More A CHRISTMAS CAROL – REVIEW – ALEXANDRA PALACE - A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503
The title of this winner of Theatre 503’s 2023 International Playwriting Award by Roxy Cook may seem like the set-up to a joke, but the narrative that unspools is instead an affectionate, gently barbed and at base quite sobering portrait of three ordinary souls (and one restless feline) adrift in modern Moscow. There is much … More A WOMAN WALKS INTO A BANK – REVIEW – THEATRE503 - PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE
Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered in London at the Pleasance Theatre in 2013, and earlier this year the show made its Broadway debut. Now the production is back in the West End for the Christmas season. Following on from The Play That Goes Wrong, in this production, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is staged by … More PETER PAN GOES WRONG – REVIEW – LYRIC THEATRE - GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE
Drawing heavily from the classic canon of the British supernatural, High Tide’s trio of contemporary Gothic narratives uses traditional storytelling formats to address contemporary themes. Directed by Elayce Ismail, reverent musical interludes accompany tales of apparitions and nighttime conjurings that speak of women from the East of England. Unfortunately, the effect is less chilling and … More GHOST STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT – REVIEW – SAM WANAMAKER PLAYHOUSE - CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH