Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024
It's that time again!
Following the “What To Do About EdFringe” open meeting we hosted last year, we want to create more opportunities for folks to find each other at the festival (with support from the Fringe Society & Pleasance in our efforts). It’s widely acknowledged that Edinburgh Fringe is mainly a huge trade fair, but it can also be a space to meet & form mutually supportive connections. We believe change builds from the ground up: cultivating solidarity & collaboration between peers is vital, especially in a time and space as pressured as Edinburgh Fringe. We can resist a system that wants us to compete, by looking out for each other instead!
With that in mind, Bechdel Theatre are BACK in Edinburgh this summer, bringing our famous ‘This Show Passes The Bechdel Test’ stickers, including some new ones - now with FLAGS! To help audiences find & support queer & trans shows:
We're also setting up some social spaces, to help you find your people, amidst the mayhem of the Festival.
We're hosting some events:
Sunday Aug 4th 11:30-12:30
Dykes To Watch Shows With Meet-up @ Fringe Central (Grassmarket, EH1 2QA)
A relaxed meet-up & chance to cross paths with new pals early on in the festival.
Register on Fringe Connect if you’re a Fringe participant, (or feel free to just turn up!)
Thursday Aug 8th 16:00-18:00
Creatives Speed-dating @ Brooks Bar (Pleasance Dome, EH8 9AL)
WLTM: potential future creative connections.
Have a ‘speed-dating’ style chat with a bunch of new people, in a fun session facilitated by us, aiming to take the awkwardness out of Fringe networking.
Register for free on OutSavvy (to make sure we have enough space for everyone!)
Sunday Aug 11th 12:30-16:00
Fringe Fair @ Fringe Central (Grassmarket, EH1 2QA)
We’ll have a stall at the Fringe Fair - perfect chance to say hi & grab your stickers!
Register on Fringe Connect if you’re a Fringe participant (or feel free to just turn up!)
We've set up a WhatsApp group:
As the name suggests: a dyke-centred group, for queer people of marginalised genders & our pals, to organise seeing shows together, support each other, and stay in touch (we may also use this to drop the odd discount code, or last minute comps - if we get ‘em 👀).
Our events & group chat are open to all Queer people of marginalised genders and active allies. Whether you’re working at Fringe, or there to watch shows. Whether you're seeking creative chats, potential future collaborators, supportive bums-on-seats for a quiet show day, or a friendly face to hit the food-trucks with after a gruelling flyering sesh.
As usual, we’ll update here & on our socials with more shows that grab our attention during the festival.
If you have a promo post you want sharing on socials, please simply tag us! If you want us at your show, email us.
25+ Shows We Think You Should See:
Finally - some recommendations of shows we’re looking forward to seeing.
This is a mix of some artists we know & love, plus some that just looked good on our first pre-Fringe flip through the programme.
If you’re a big pre-planner & share our taste, of course you’re already booked to see Fringe regulars/returners/legends - like Sh!t Theatre (Summerhall, 16:45); Hannah Gadsby (Underbelly Bristo Sq, 17:20, 18-25th only); Chloe Petts (Pleasance Courtyard, 19:00); Sophie Duker (Pleasance Courtyard, 19:00); ALOK (Underbelly Bristo Square, 16:10 13-25th only); Dylan Mulvaney (Assembly George Square, 21:40); and Elf Lyons (Pleasance Courtyard, 21:20).
This is your reminder to also check out some of these shows we think will be worth a watch:
(in time-order, to help you plan your days!)
Traverse Theatre (all month) various times
Women have long been locked up, medicated, pathologized and silenced by a simple label - ‘crazy’. BATSHIT is a wildly theatrical, unexpectedly funny, and deeply intimate story of female madness. Created by Leah Shelton and directed by Ursula Martinez, this is a requiem for Leah’s grandmother Gwen, who was incarcerated for seeking independence in 1960s Australia. BATSHIT draws on personal stories, pop psychology and Prozac-laden humour to explore the myths, fantasies and fears that keep us compliant, and the systems that let us down.
Summerhall (all month) 12:10
Sparked by a conversation with a childhood friend that unearthed a long-forgotten obsession with football, Bryony wondered why all the girls she knew stopped playing football in their teens. It's 1998: Geri Halliwell is leaving the Spice Girls, David Beckham is wearing a sarong, and somewhere in England a 10-year-old Bryony is pretending to be Eric Cantona. An absurd and tongue-in-cheek ride through British adolescence packed to the brim with playful audience interaction, 90s bangers, clown comedy and drag.
Hoots @ Potterrow (all month) 12:25
Reigning Funny Women Award winner brings you her debut hour where she tries to save the world. Where does this messiah complex come from? Is it the second coming or has she just inherited her mother's psychological disorder? If you're anxious about the state of the world (or just your own mental state), join the BBC New Comedy Awards semi-finalist as she becomes the first woman to wonder what many men have wondered before her: am I actually God?
Underbelly Bristo Sq (all month) 12:55
As she prepares for the audition of a lifetime (playing Anna May Wong in a biopic about Hollywood’s first East Asian starlet) China Doll must untangle the ingénue’s legacy as she discovers astonishing parallels between them and the ways they navigate love, life, and identity as East Asian actors in the west. An exploration of identity, discrimination and progress, prompting audiences to reflect on how and why East Asians face the same biases as they did a century ago.
Summerhall (all month) 13:30
A comedy drama… or "dramedy" about Ade, a successful writer, or so it seems. She has everything she has ever wanted; her career is flying, she's (kinda) moved out of her mum's house, her situationship isn't as complicated as she expected. Life is perfect?! But things don't always go how you plan, and Ade is about to find that out. Failure Project explores what it means to "fail" and if it is possible to recover?
Pleasance Courtyard (all month) 13:40
Anne Bonney and Mary Read – polyamorous queer pirates that got the title ‘Hellcats of the Seven Seas’ for various vicious and notorious crimes… but you probably know them best as them female pirates that fought with their tits out. Tired of living in the shadow of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and Calico Jack, the Tit Swingers are here to write their own sea shanties, become legends and do some hot girl pirate shit! A new queer punk gig musical (with pirates).
Pleasance Courtyard (all month) 13:45
Bea's secretly working three full-time jobs. All at the same time. And she's still financially f*cked. Between looking after luxury flats and dogsitting the world's ugliest pooch, she's neck-deep in employers and it's only a matter of time until someone finds out she's breaking all her contracts. Will the plates she's been spinning come crashing down around her and her dysfunctional family? A riotous comedy about snakes and surviving capitalism.
Pleasance Courtyard (all month) 13:45
Jules has just discovered she likes girls. Juniper has always known – a queer romcom exploring polyamory, shifting sexualities and modern love. Written by award-winning playwright Stephanie Martin. Follow two women redefining romance and exploring what it means not just to survive without a template, but how we can carve our own.
Pleasance Courtyard (all month) 14:10
A comedic, multi-sensory, participatory one-woman show dedicated to two things: canned meat and colonialism. Find out how this (delicious) canned meat symbolises modern-day colonialism and threatens the very livelihood of a whole civilisation in these West vs East political games. Can this formerly Catholic, angry and God-fearing woman help educate (and feed) the masses, all while "liberating" her island? Performed by CHamoru/Filipina theatre maker Sierra Sevilla, originally from the island of Guam and passionate about shifting immigrant narratives.
Underbelly, Bristo Sq (all month) 14:25
Colourful explosions pop in this hilarious exploration of ADHD and queer identity. A plethora of eye-opening topics and hysterical anecdotes leave the audience educated, moved and highly entertained. Follow Pip as she navigates the challenges and celebrates the joys of neurodiversity.
Guilded Balloon, Patter House (all month) 15:00
Iris and Thalia. Thalia and Iris. A flatshare. A secret. A friendship dancing on the edge of time. Everything moves different when you know it's all coming apart. From the company that brought you Bluewater, this electric ode to female friendship by Danielle James confronts us with a searing question: how do you grieve something you haven't yet lost?
ROUNDABOUT (all month) 16:10
Jamie can’t swim. Bit awkward when you’re 30. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, Jamie is taking on her biggest fear, the ocean. With the help of a chipper swim instructor, a shady spiritual guide and one cathartic crab sandwich, she’s questioning, ‘how many lengths does it take to wash away regret?’ Somebody Jones’ searing debut explores what lies beneath the surface of Black people’s relationship to water. 'Funny with fear, liberating with grief' (FringeReview.co.uk)
Underbelly Cowgate (all month) 16:10
'It was my nemesis, I hated Croydon with a real vengeance. It represented everything I didn't want in my life, everything I wanted to get away from. I think it's the most derogatory thing I can say about somebody or something: God, it's so f**king Croydon!' (David Bowie). You're SO F**king Croydon! explores noughties club culture and female resilience. A f**k you in pink to the cant's and wont's, and a strut down Croydon High Street in 2003. Featuring David Bowie.
Pleasance Dome (all month) 16:15
Award-winning drag king and London's loveable nature boy, Bi-Curious George, invites you into a raucous celebration of queerness and the animal kingdom. Previously performed at Southbank Centre, Soho Theatre and Kew Gardens, this show aims to shatter the heteronormative binaries through which we view the natural world; a love letter to nature that 'shines and shimmers in queer euphoria' (BingeFringe.com). Combining stand-up comedy, parody songs and drag in the form of a nature documentary.
Assembly George Sq (all month) 17:50
A knockout solo show about one woman's love of pro wrestling. Part confessional, part exuberant oral history of sports entertainment's greatest matches and most loved characters. Acclaimed comedian Tegan Verheul leaves no Stone (Cold) unturned in her unflinchingly raw autobiographical debut that grapples with heartbreak, friendship and the healing power of bloodsport. Riotously funny, unexpectedly touching, brilliantly human. You will leave a wrestling fan.
Summerhall (all month) 17:55
The story of two generations of women activists in the struggle for black liberation in America. One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur, the other a college student at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson in 2014. Against a stunning soundtrack of gospel and blues sung live, the show explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. Originally performed as Woke, written by Apphia Campbell, creator of the hit show Black is the Colour of My Voice.
Summerhall (all month) 18:10
Written and performed by award-winning comedian, actor and writer Anna Morris, Son of a Bitch is a brutally honest and darkly funny monologue about a woman caught on camera calling her 4-year-old son a c*nt during an air-rage incident. When the video goes viral, Marnie's life violently unravels. Now the world knows her darkest secret, but what happened before someone pressed record and captured the worst 10 seconds of her life? A bold one-woman piece about maternal ambivalence.
The Space Niddry Street (Aug 2-10) 18:20
How do you look non-binary? Everyday your brain is bombarded by images and opinions about your body. At the centre of a lot of this discourse sits the nipple: Sexualised and politicised, a symbol of liberation and of oppression, something to flaunt and something to cover. What might happen if they just didn’t exist? I Cut My Nipples Off Today asks why someone would take such drastic measures to make their body match the image in their mind.
Underbelly Cowgate (all month) 18:30
Ugly Sisters is a hallucinatory plunge through the circles of sisterhood. Who fits into a glass slipper, and who buys heels for drag queens? The critically acclaimed and multi-award winning piss / CARNATION dance between performance art, alt-comedy and theatre. Ugly Sisters is their latest offering: a brutal ritual for a new kind of sisterhood forged from sleepover confessions, smashed toilets, and the death of Germaine Greer.* (*Germaine Greer was not harmed in the making of this show).
Pleasance Courtyard (all month) 19:05
Acclaimed comedian Kemah Bob comes to the Fringe with their unmissable debut stand-up show. As seen on QI, Comedy Central Live, Don't Hate The Playaz, and Guessable. As heard on the Off Menu and The Guilty Feminist. Tour support for Hannah Gadsby, Nish Kumar and Desiree Burch. Host of the FOC IT UP Comedy Club and podcast.
Summerhall (all month) 19:35
Nearing 40, painfully shy, and emerging from a toxic break-up, Leah forms a punk bank inspired by Lynn from Alan Partridge. As she takes to the stage with no musical ability, will this gig push Leah further over the edge, or help her regain her confidence and find the hope she needs to move on? A funny, farcical and poignant new play, exploring the impact of abusive behaviour, the power of friendship and how silliness can be healing.
Zoo Southside (all month) 20:00
This is not a show about mental health. This is a disorder. Is it rehearsed? That depends. Scripted? Half. Improvised? Absolutely not. Is it a play? No it's not a f*cking play. F*ck off. My cousin in christ, this is a borderline comedy. 'Falls into almost every category of art, or none of it: its own individual masterpiece of mess' (BroadwayBaby.com).
Summerhall (all month) 20:15
For decades trans people have been using hyperpop to shatter standards of genre, gender and good taste. Right now, the only thing Saoirse wants to shatter is her own f*cking voice. Told through live vocal modulation and manipulation, this is a rip-roaring and unabashedly queer theatrical deep dive into trans identity and music. What it means to speak, sing and, for the audience (yes, you babe), to listen.
Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly (all month) 21:30
How do strippers celebrate Halloween? Why do strippers wear those clear plastic shoes? And what really happens in the VIP room? Stacey Clare (author, The Ethical Stripper), Gypsy Charms (creator, The Illicit Thrill) plus special guests return with their riotously funny, raucously feminist show. Nothing is off limits as they pull back the G-string, revealing the mysteries that surround their work and industry. Ever had a burning question you wanted to ask a stripper? There's a cream for that.
ROUNDABOUT (all month) 21:40
This is Temi’s show. It’s all about her. Not you. Her. Temi got veeeery good at being everybody’s sassy best friend. Growing up a black girl in a white world shunts you into playing a side character in your own life. But now she’s stepping into her Main Character Energy and it’s your privilege and pleasure to give her all the attention she deserves. A high-energy cocktail of comedy, audience interaction and cabaret. An excuse to show Edinburgh how radiant Temi is.
That's it for now!
Don't forget to tag us (@BechdelTheatre) or drop us an email if you've got more recommendations for us to add once the festival gets underway.
See you there x
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