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Edinburgh Fringe 2023: best shows (well, our favourites) from a four-day visit

By Holly O'Mahony on 14/8/2023

Edinburgh Fringe is back for 2023, running from Friday 4 – Monday 28 August. The theme this year is ‘fill yer boots’, and with 3,535 shows to choose from, you might want to bring a second pair. We barely made a dent in the programme during our four-day visit. In fact, we left with a list of recommendations longer than the one we arrived with, and a hope some of them will transfer to London soon.
The below is by no means an exhaustive list of the best shows on this year, more a theatre-heavy round-up of the ones we enjoyed and would recommend you see too. So if you're heading to the Fringe this month, here are our picks…

Chriskirkpatrickmas: A Boy Band Christmas Musical ★★★★★

A lot of love has been poured into this hard-working little musical about the founding member of boyband NSYNC. No, not its breakaway star Justin Timberlake, but Chris Kirkpatrick. Haven't heard of him? You have now. Riffing playfully on It’s a Wonderful Life, the all-female cast whizzes us through the history of the band (cue plenty of niche trivia about forgotten, short-lived band members) before conjuring a scenario where Kirkpatrick is holding onto the idea of a reunion, and needs an angel to help him move on. Enter a pre-fame Mark Wahlberg, who has the job of proving to Kirkpatrick that things have actually turned out for the best for all of them. There’s terrific energy to this show, along with 12 original songs, squad dances and some inspired touches we won’t spoil. If it’s a little unpolished in its current guise, it’s all the more charming for it.

WHEN

Until Monday 28 August

WHERE

Pleasance Courtyard: Pleasance Two, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Party Ghost ★★★★★

Aussie duo Olivia Porter and Jarred Dewey meld meticulous mime and extreme acrobatics to present a gloriously gory and overtly macabre show that alternates between silliness and surrealism. The pair play twin girls, not unlike those in Kubrick’s The Shining, who chase each other around as sheeted ghosts before violently assaulting one another, while a twinkly rendition of Happy Birthday plays jarringly in the background. How the head bangs aren’t causing them concussion, and how Dewey can dangle upside down, supported only by his stilettoed feet, is credit to the sheer artistry going on behind the scenes. It won the Overall Best Circus and Physical Theatre award at this year's Adelaide Fringe, and deserves acclaim from Edinburgh too.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Assembly Checkpoint, 3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh EH1 1EY

Chloe Petts: If You Can’t Say Anything Nice ★★★★★

The comedian who occupies the middle ground of a Venn diagram detailing the likes of 'football lads' and 'beautiful, gentle queers' is back with a stonker of a show. It’s about her anger, essentially, and how she’s learned to cope with it. But saying so does nothing to convey how succinct and seamless the whole performance is, with the elderly supporters of the Brighton Seagulls and men who sit in the front row of comedy gigs among those in her firing line.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Pleasance Courtyard: Pleasance Beyond, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Yoga with Jillian – A New Comedy ★★★★★

'Hi, do you wanna do some yoga?,' asks performer and co-founding artistic director of US-based Project Y Theatre Company Michole Biancosino at the start of the show. You really can join her on stage for a yoga class, albeit one spliced with her character Jillian’s story. What begins as a funny impersonation of a standard post-pandemic class, with Jillian welcoming yogis on Zoom as well as those of us in the room, becomes gradually darker as she shines a light on a fractured gig economy that leaves freelance yoga teachers in danger of losing their income at a moment’s notice if they fall ill or are dropped by a studio. It’s a situation fit to drain anyone of their mindfulness, and it creeps into her messaging as she dryly tells those on the mat: 'Exhausted? Let it go. Can’t afford to pay your rent? Let it go,' using their legs and feet as mouldable stress balls. She’s pretty terrifying as a teacher, but it’s a masterful performance from Biancosino, and as a show it wins our vote for the originality of its format.

WHEN

Until Monday 28 August

WHERE

Pleasance Courtyard: Pleasance Two, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Courtney Pauroso: Vanessa 5000 ★★★★★

What does clowning make you think of? If it’s red noses and pantaloons, you’re way off. If it’s tumbling and goofy humour, you can also think again. Making the artform actually quite hot is LA clown Courtney Pauroso, who’s brought her show, about a malfunctioning sexbot, Vanessa 5000, to this year's Fringe. Between its theme and the fact the poster features Pauroso in underwear, fishnets and a blonde bombshell wig, it’s unsurprising this show attracts a lot of solo men, but don’t come looking for a sex show: despite being dressed as a Pornhub fantasy, Pauroso commandeers the room from the get-go. Early on, she makes us all feel silly by demanding we make sex noises, and while one wincing audience member is instructed to spank her, she always has the last laugh. This clown has further tricks stuffed down her bra too; after all, what are robots if not computerised know-it-alls waiting to destroy humanity?

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Pleasance Courtyard: Beneath, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Lady Dealer ★★★★★

Set in-the-round, this pacey show about a female drug dealer has a heart-in-mouth tension to it that creates the sense it’s about to tip over into a crime thriller at any moment. That’s down to clever writing from Martha Watson Allpress (2021’s Patricia Gets Ready), who brings it to the festival as part of the ever-reliable Paines Plough lineup. It catches a rhythm early on and holds it throughout. Charly (Alexa Davies) is living a groundhog day reality, selling drugs and struggling to get over her ex-girlfriend Clo. What this show does excellently is make Charly both funny and relatable. Most other characters are disembodied voices, which works. Only the fleeting physical appearance of the father of one of Charly’s clients is jarring. While the stakes are undoubtedly high when you’re working a black market trade, it soon becomes apparent Charly’s biggest enemy is her suffocating anxiety.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Roundabout at Summerhall, Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1PL

Hello Kitty Must Die ★★★★★

Angela S Choi’s Asian stereotype-busting novel has been reworked into a musical. Peppering the story with not wholly necessary but original songs, it tells the Heathers-esque story of Fiona Yu, a Chinese-American woman who, fed up with society’s expectations for her to be submissive and cutesy, sets out to even up the playing field with the help of her murderous childhood friend. Its current über-minimalist staging sits at odds with the world the show describes. Sets must be agile for the Fringe, of course, but this show is in need of a visual glow-up to bring it more vividly to life.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Pleasance Courtyard: Pleasance Two, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

Adults ★★★★★

Picture this: a teacher visits a brothel only to find his former pupil working there. It’s a scenario fit to make anybody cringe, and it’s the premise of promising Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley’s new dark comedy. The quick three-hander explores some big themes including loneliness, the cost-of-living crisis and the dissonance between our public and private selves, before taking a more surreal turn and becoming a little unbelievable. If it’s overwritten in places, three strong performances from Conleth Hill, Dani Heron and Anders Hayward make it a gripping watch, and the sobering ending is quietly profound.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED

Oscar at the Crown ★★★★★

Six meets The Rocky Horror Show in this foot-stamping new musical set in an underground cabaret club that acts as a sanctuary to history’s wronged women and vilified homosexuals. Its proprietor? A leather-clad Oscar Wilde. It comes to the Fringe from US-based troupe Neon Coven, who are unafraid to interact with their audience: encouraging us to stand closer and use our phones if we wish. While the story is a bit muddled and in need of a stronger ending, it’s a fun-fuelled 60 minutes filled with sparky, original songs, including an ode to The OC’s Julie Cooper, who show-writer Mark Mauriello believes foresaw all sorts of problems we now live with. Running at the relatively late time of 9:40pm, it’s a show to put you in the mood for the party you'll head to next.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Assembly George Square Gardens, 50 George Square, Newington, Edinburgh EH8 9JU

Klanghaus: InHaus ★★★★★

More of a multi-sensory concert than a theatre show, this latest affair from ‘sound, art and building’ collective Klanghaus invites audiences to sit where they like in a perfumed studio, surrounded by instruments and screens showing footage of windows, cities and…so many hands. Then the music starts – a blend of rock and electronic with a gentler ballad thrown in part-way through. It gets loud in places – really loud. But there are headphones on hand if you scare easily. There’s not really a story here, but it feels novel seeing a space used so freely, and watching someone make music using a saw and violin bow.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Summerhall, 1 Summerhall, Newington, Edinburgh EH9 1PL

An Oak Tree ★★★★★

A rare revival of Tim Crouch’s seminal 2005 play comes to the Fringe following a run at Festival d’Avignon. In it, the visionary theatremaker, and a second cast member who is only presented with the play’s text on the night, enact a story about a hypnotist and a grieving father. The former is responsible for killing the latter’s daughter in a road accident, and the latter has come to the former’s magic show in search of answers. How well this show works probably comes down to the chemistry between the pair which, on the night we saw the show, wasn’t too powerful. Still, this landmark show doesn’t come around too often, so it’s worth catching when you can.

WHEN

Until Sunday 27 August

WHERE

Royal Lyceum Theatre: the Lyceum Studio, 30 Grindlay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AX

Jessie Cave: Work in Progress

Comedian Jessie Cave has respun another chapter of her life for laughs, and while it’s in the process of being fine-tuned, she’s trying it out on audiences at this year’s Fringe. We won’t star-rate it, obviously, as it’s not a finished product yet. But expect more taboo-busting jokes about motherhood (Cave has four young children), shadow puppets, and more candid reflections on her on-off relationship with comedian and father to her kids, Alfie Brown.

WHEN

Edinburgh Fringe run now finished

Edinburgh Fringe 2023: best shows (well, our favourites) from a four-day visit

Chriskirkpatrickmas: A Boy Band Christmas Musical ★★★★★

Party Ghost ★★★★★

Chloe Petts: If You Can’t Say Anything Nice ★★★★★

Yoga with Jillian – A New Comedy ★★★★★

Courtney Pauroso: Vanessa 5000 ★★★★★

Lady Dealer ★★★★★

Hello Kitty Must Die ★★★★★

Adults ★★★★★

Oscar at the Crown ★★★★★

Klanghaus: InHaus ★★★★★

An Oak Tree ★★★★★

Jessie Cave: Work in Progress

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