The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is returning with a bang for 2022. Showcasing exceptional new writing talent and inspirational women, the fest is showcasing countless fascinating stories this year. With a wider range of artists and shows than ever before, here are our top picks for shows both performed and written by magnificent women at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August.
What’s On
From award-winning theatre company Dead Rabbits. A new show combining fast-paced, innovative physical theatre with a moving tale of love, excitement, danger and very sharp claws. Mabel Stark was one of the first ever female tiger tamers. She was the only woman to step into the ring with seven tigers. Pleasance Courtyard (Above), Wednesday 3rd – Monday 29th August 2022 (not 17th, 22nd) at 13:05. Buy tickets here – http://www.pleasance.co.uk/
Peep Show’s Emily Bruni comes to the Traverse in the Off West End Award-nominated Psychodrama. Just following a sell-out run in London last year. This gripping, at times hilarious, revenge tale by Matt Wilkinson follows an actress in her 40s under investigation for the murder of an auteur theatre director. With a soundscape from the multi award-winning Gareth Fry. Lighting by Fleabag’s Elliot Griggs, and set against the backdrop of a stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Bruni plunges us into the dark heart of show business. Traverse Theatre, Thursday 4th – Sunday 28th August 2022 (not 8th, 15th, 22nd) at various times. Buy tickets here – http://www.traverse.co.uk/
Sticky Door is from the multi-award-winning team behind the highly-acclaimed Sexy Lamp and Bicycles and Fish , a personal, honest and funny look at sex, stigma and cystitis. Katie Arnstein returns with her trademark ukulele-spun storytelling show examining sex, shame, struggles, isolation and the sisterhood, and asks why are women facing a series of sticky doors in work, sex and life? Pleasance Dome (Ace Dome), Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 28th August 2022 (not 15th) at 16:00
Buy tickets here – http://www.pleasance.co.uk/
More Female Fronted Shows to Catch
Haley McGee, the creator of sell-out The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale has returned with a brand-new show that is different every day. Age is a Feeling is a gripping story about the glorious and melancholy unknowability of human life, charting the seminal moments, rites of passage and turning points in an adult life. Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre), Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 28th August 2022 (not 8th, 15th, 22nd) at 12:10. Buy tickets – http://www.summerhall.co.uk/
Award-winning Atticist and Ellie Keel Productions return with a new play based on an old myth, about passion, power, and photosynthesis. Rafaella Marcus’ debut play is a queer urban fable about bisexuality and what we allow people to believe. A contemporary fast-paced thriller with ancient roots, SAP is directed by Offie-nominated Jessica Lazar. Paines Plough’s Roundabout @ Summerhall, Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 28th August 2022 (not 9th, 16th, 23rd) at 13:00. Buy tickets here http://www.summerhall.co.uk/
Dark Comedies at Edinburgh Fringe
Award-winning Popelei are returning to Edinburgh with the world premiere of PUSH – a darkly comic and provocative show performed by one increasingly knocked up performer. This daring new play, interlaced with punchy choreography and featuring an electrifying original soundtrack, takes a playful, feminist look at motherhood through the lens of one woman, infused by her Anglo-Latinx heritage and her apparent lack of maternal instinct. Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand), Wednesday 3rd – Monday 29th August 2022 (not 15th) at 14:00. Buy tickets here – http://www.pleasance.co.uk/
Please, Feel Free to Share is a dynamic, darkly comic, one-woman show from Rachel Causer. The show is about our personal addictions and our growing desire to share all. Finalist for The Popcorn Writing Award 2021, Rachel Causer’s play looks at the blurring between lies and likes. Questioning our desire to present edited versions of ourselves online. Please, Feel Free to Share explores what happens when the obsession with self-editing bleeds into real life. Pleasance Courtyard (The Attic), Wednesday 3rd – Monday 29th August 2022 (not 15th, 16th) at 12:50. Buy tickets here – http://www.pleasance.co.uk/
Don’t Miss
Dreams of the Small Gods is an intoxicating one-woman performance telling the story of the awakening of Wild Woman, blending aerial circus, masked ritual and performance art. Naked, unaware and unselfconscious, she explores her surroundings – more animal than human. Summerhall (Demonstration Room), Wednesday 3rd – Sunday 28th August 2022 (not 15th, 22nd) at 19:50. Buy tickets here – http://www.summerhall.co.uk/