Edinburgh 2025 - Have you seen anything good?

Sinead O'Brien - Hero/Banlaoch

I kept saying I didn't see as many shows this year as I'd usually see, and while that's true, I still ended up seeing 21 shows in the 5 days I was up in Edinburgh.

But I did have a bit of a weird festival, in that it was a lot more about people than it was about shows. Not only the meetings, though I greatly enjoyed meeting Flavia and Rob of Brassica Productions and seeing the city through their eyes as locals and as theatre-makers, but the way I picked the show had to do with the people making them more than anything else. Is this as it should be? Who knows? There are no right answers.

For various reasons I will not rate/review the shows, but I do list them here to have a record of them. In terms of recommendation for the last week of the festival, things are simple: see as much as you can. See all of the ones below if you can. So, in order of watching them:

Reuben Kaye: Live and Intimidating (Assembly George Square, 8.05 pm)

*

In the Lady Garden (Pleasance Courtyard, 2.15 pm)

If Only I Could (The Space on the Mile, 5.05 pm)

Girlhood (Greenside Riddles Court, 6.30 pm)

Ulysses in Babel (C Venues - C Alto, 21.30 pm)

It's Ok, I Still Think You're Great (The Space on the Mile, 22.55 pm)

*

Love me Like a Chai Tea Latte (Lighthouse Bookshop, 8 pm)

Corpse Flower (C Venues, 21.55 pm)

Per-Verse (C Venues, 23.10 pm)

*

Funny Guy (Greenside @ George Street, 5.20 pm)

An Evening Without Kate Bush (Assembly Checkpoint, 7.20 pm)

Hallo (Hoots @ Potterrow, 21.25 pm)

*

The Book of Joan (The Space on the Mile, 4.40 pm)

Maria Telnikoff: All the Men Are Going to Hate Me (Underbelly Bristo Square 15.45 pm)

Hero / Banlaoch (Scottish Storytelling Centre, 17.30 pm)

Outwith Words: Tinderbox Orchestra and Loud Poets  (Edinburgh Central Library, 8 pm)

The Kids Might Die (Greenside @ George Street, 23.15 pm)

*

The Christening of Prince Imogene (The Space @ Surgeons Hall, 11 am)

Grape Culture (The Space @ Surgeons Hall, 12 pm)

Shake It Up: The Improvised Shakespeare Show (Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 1 pm)

Sarah Hester Ross is What? (Just the Tonic Nucleus, 2.30 pm)

Reuben's show is still phenomenal, yet I found this one somewhat diluted down from his usual flamboyance. For TV, apparently. I hope it works.

Some really strong writing for In the Lady Garden and Girlhood, a great Weimar republic/kafkian aesthetic for Corpse Flower, Maria Telnikoff is going from strength to strength and she will soon become a Fringe staple.

Finally saw An Evening Without Kate Bush after some three years of trying and, although Sarah is an amazing performer and she puts on a great show, I'd say it's hard to enjoy it without some previous admiration of Kate Bush, which I do not posses.

Hero/Banlaoch is the highlight of my fringe this year. A phenomenal show by a phenomenal storyteller. I'm really glad I discovered Sinead and looking forward to seeing more of her work!

I'm really glad to have met two people in person as well: the other Leo Bacica, and I find it amazing that both of us are in the same country and activating in the same field. Though I wish I was as good an artist as he is! The second one is Calliope Weissman, and I couldn't believe what a sweet, engaging and enjoyable presence Calliope is. I hope to meet her again soon for sure.

And even my last day, when I left at 4 pm, was interesting: I got to meet China Forbes' nephew with a great show about the trans experience, and I got to meet Maya Forbes as well, China's sister, whose film The Polka King I really enjoyed. 

Very happy to have finally seen Silvia's Shakespeare improvisation troupe as well, and looking forward to seeing them again!

Olga Koch comes from money? What about Sarah Hester Ross? She invited me to her show after I shared a photo with Reuben, and I went. A cabaret show at 2.30 pm in a room that seats 300? That's a tall order and I think where Sarah got it wrong. Nothing wrong with doing a smaller room, but in a late evening slot, when the audience expects cabaret and indeed, it might be the most appropriate form of entertainment. I hope I'll see her in better circumstances next year. Otherwise, I'm absolutely impressed by the high production value of both her production and her online content. It's the kind of production value you have to invest heavily in, and kudos to her for being able to afford it.

But, the really important thing this year is the I really felt there is such a thing as 'the Barons Court Theatre fringe'. It was last year as well, with Maria's show and the two US previews, but this year we've had no less than nine shows that have been or will be at Barons Court Theatre, including the now multi-award winning Son of a Bitch by Anna Morris: Funny Guy, It's Ok, Son of a Bitch, Gang Bang, Marriage with Benfits, Ulysses in Babel, Forgiving my Mother, Eccentrics Assemble, Any Day Now. In addition, Reuben, Maria, Stephen and his three Threedumb shows, Flick and Threepenny Collective, are all performers close to us in one way or another. Which... is impressive. We could run a festival with these shows alone, and it would be a good one. And that makes me quite proud of the work we're doing. I hope we can continue.