Edinburgh Festivals 2026: Theatre Highlights

Beginning at Summerhall's Main Hall, we see triple Fringe First winners Xhloe and Natasha premiere Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It. The beloved pair of best friends take a crack at the American South this time, promising clowning, choreography and a nine-foot puppet in a show about conspiracy and belief (6-30 Aug). Also in the Main Hall, Wonder Fools return with Tether, a collaboration with South Korea's Theatre SAN. Developed over two years across residencies in both countries, the show spans three generations, weaving folk songs, love letters and war stories into a shared history between the two nations (6-31 Aug). Meanwhile, over in TechCube 0, Francesca Moody Productions and Global Creatures present ROLEPLAY, Hannah Reilly's darkly funny, surreal take on modern feminism, following a broke podcaster who reinvents herself as a 'slutfluencer' (6-31 Aug).

Now in its 17th year, the Made in Scotland showcase continues to platform homegrown talent heading out into the world, and this year's theatre strand is worth building a day around. Grid Iron's Mayflies, adapted from Andrew O'Hagan's novel, unfolds at the Rear Warehouse at Brown's of Leith (7-30 Aug). Kangaroo Court and Serpentine Productions' Shotgunned returns to the Fringe after a sold-out 2024 run and a Bright Spark Award for emerging Scottish talent, telling the non-linear story of a couple falling unexpectedly out of love (Assembly George Square Studios, 5-30 Aug).

Over at the Traverse, Elaine C. Smith returns to the venue's main stage for the first time in 26 years in Cathy, Eilidh Loan's fierce, funny new play about a sharp-tongued widow confronting long-buried family truths as Christmas approaches (7-30 Aug).

At Pleasance, Niall Moorjani revives Mohan: A Partition Story, first performed in 2022 to mark Partition's 75th anniversary and drawn from their grandfather's own experience, blending live music with dark, funny history (18-31 Aug). Plexus Polaire's UK premiere of Dracula: Lucy's Dream reimagines Stoker's gothic tale through life-sized puppetry, told from the perspective of Dracula's first victim, Lucy (Pleasance at the EICC, 6-29 Aug). And Kufiya Comedy, Aisha Josiah and Passion Pit Theatre present MAJENIN – A Palestinian Love Story at Pleasance Dome, promising a funny and piercing look into two 'crazy people' (majenin) in love (5-31 Aug).

Underbelly's programme features Farah Ashraf, Mimi Martin and NAZAR arts' Pink Rabbit (Bristo Square, 5-30 Aug), and, staged in partnership with Medical Aid for Palestine, The Palestinian Circus: Step and a Half, which draws on the traditional dance Dabkeh to build a celebration of heritage and collective freedom (Underbelly's Circus Hub, 8-29 Aug). Andy Jordan Productions and Hindsight Productions also bring Blackbox to Underbelly Cowgate (5-30 Aug).

Elsewhere, Jack MacGregor's Prophets makes its debut at Assembly Roxy (5-31 Aug) after winning the 2026 ART Award; it's a dark psychological thriller following Kerris, a researcher who arrives on a remote British Overseas Territory to find its 48 residents in the grip of a growing religious sect. And Paperfolk Theatre's Our Seventh String plays theSpace @ Venue 45 (14-15 and 17-22 Aug).

Not to mention the Edinburgh International Festival: at the Lyceum, Zora Howard makes her directorial debut with HANG TIME, in which three Black men caught in a liminal space share the loves and losses of their lives (20-23 Aug). Over at the newly reopened King's Theatre, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam present the UK premiere of Angels in America, Ivo van Hove's five-hour fusion of both parts of Kushner's AIDS-era epic, staged on a minimal set to a David Bowie soundtrack (15-20 Aug).

Also at the Lyceum, Golden Globe winner Wagner Moura makes his first theatrical collaboration with director Christiane Jatahy in A Trial – after An Enemy of the People, a modern-day courtroom continuation of Ibsen's classic enlisting audience members in a live jury (7-10 Aug). And Opera Ventures Productions and Scottish Opera present the new opera The Galloping Cure at Festival Theatre, confronting the worldwide opioid crisis (9-12 Aug).