Edinburgh Fringe 2024 – Top Picks: Theatre

Burnout Paradise
Summerhall, 1-26 Aug (not 12, 19), 12.05pm

Australian theatre-makers Pony Cam present their debut show at the Edinburgh Fringe, which sees them perform an escalating series of tasks on four treadmills. Can they collectively run over 20km and multi-task before burnout sets in?

 

Crying Shame
Pleasance Dome, 31 Jul-25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 9.30pm

Emerging queer theatre collective Sweet Beef's cabaret show-cum-wellness journey explores loneliness. Audiences are invited into Club Fragilé for a celebration of queer culture, as the camp clowns try – and maybe fail – to foster some togetherness. 

 

A Giant on the Bridge 
Assembly Roxy, 2-18 Aug (not 7, 12), 10.40am

Part of the Made in Scotland programme, this gig-theatre event explores the journey of coming home from prison, bringing together some of Scotland's finest musicians, including Jo Mango, Louis Abbott, Raveloe, Solareye and Goodnight Louisa.

 

Precious Cargo 
Summerhall, 1-26 Aug (not 12, 19), 3.10pm

Australian writer-performer Barton Williams (Huynh van Cuong) and Hebridean composer Andy Yearley (Nguyen Tang) present a powerful piece that interrogates the life-long impact of the Vietnam war. The show looks at the lasting effects of conflict, drawing on interviews with Operation Babylift adoptees from across the world.

 

3HAMS
Just the Tonic at The Mash House, 1-25 Aug (not 12), 2.25pm

Charlie Traisman and Makena Miller's play follows two friends whose bond was forged through their shared experiences with eating disorders. As they grapple with the truth of their relationship, they find inspiration from an unlikely and absurd source.

 

The Book of Mountains and Seas 
Pleasance Courtyard, 31 Jul-25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), 1.05pm

Writer Yilong Liu's heartbreaking and hysterical story of a California dad, who teams up with his late son’s last boyfriend for a colossal mission: to visit all 179 restaurants reviewed on his son’s popular Yelp page in one weekend. 

 

Weather Girl
Summerhall, 1-26 Aug (not 12, 19), 6pm

An intense dark comedy about wrecking the places we love, brought to the Fringe by Francesca Moody Productions. Writer Brian Watkins' new piece follows California weather girl Stacey, whose regular routine plunges into chaos, before she discovers something that will save us all. 

 

Comala, Comala 
ZOO Southside, 2-25 Aug (not 7, 13, 20), 5.15pm

Pulpo Arts make their international debut at the Fringe with this reimagining of the 20th century Latin American novel Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo. Expect a journey through the worlds of the living and the dead with music, storytelling, and mezcal.

 

A History of Paper 
Traverse Theatre, 1-25 Aug (not 5, 12, 19), times vary

Gareth Williams' musical adaptation of the late award-winning playwright Oliver Emanuel's drama tells the story of an everyday and extraordinary love through the little pieces of paper that make up a life. Directed by Andrew Panton. 

 

How I Learned to Swim
Roundabout @ Summerhall, 1-26 Aug (not 6, 13, 20), 4.10pm

Paines Plough Playwriting Fellow Somebody Jones's debut follows Jamie, a 30-year-old who can't swim and decides to take on her biggest fear. A moving and witty play that explores what lies beneath the surface of Black people’s relationship to water. 

 

Ugly Sisters 
Underbelly, Cowgate, 1-25 Aug (not 12, 19), 6.30pm

Performance duo piss / Carnation's Untapped Award-winning show merges performance art, alt-comedy and theatre. Laurie Ward and Charli Cowgill delve into the circles of sisterhood, with sleepover confessions, smashed toilets, and the death of Germaine Greer.