Edinburgh Fringe 2024: 8 Theatre Shows to See

The programme for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe offers over 1,500 theatre (and theatre-related) shows for audiences to comb through.

Fringe favourites Xhloe and Natasha, who won their second consecutive Fringe First award last year, return with What If They Ate the Baby? (theSpace @ Niddry Street, 2-10 Aug) and their new show, A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First (theSpace @ Niddry Street, 2-10 & 12-24 Aug). The new show features more of the pair’s captivating signature style, promising a heady mix of clowning, physical theatre, comedy and devastation. 

Also playing at theSpace is Rat King Gospel (theSpace on the Mile, 4-24 Aug) by Cup of Teatre and New Celts Productions. Created by four Edinburgh Napier students, the play explores the way our childhood games and fantasies follow us into adulthood. As three reunited childhood friends unpack what happened to them at school, mysteries and memories of a monstrous head teacher and a fictional Rat King are woven together.

James Rowland finishes his Songs of Friendship Trilogy with James Rowland Dies at the End of the Show (Summerhall, 1-26 Aug except 12 and 19). Following its critically-acclaimed predecessors, Learning to Fly and Piece of Work, Rowland’s new show is an hour-long solo piece about joy, life and death. 

Summerhall will also host Cosmos, a solo show by contortionist Ashtar Muallem. Through the piece, Muallem seeks a connection with the Divine and explores memories of growing up between Palestine and France. This multi-genre show blends comedy, movement and storytelling (1-11 Aug).

At the Scottish Storytelling Centre, audiences can find an ambitious and original mix of storytelling, theatre and poetry for Fringe-goers aged 2-6. Suitcase's adaptation of Niall Moorjani's children's show, Grow, returns after a sell-out run last year (1-25 Aug). Sinéad O'Brien combines Irish epics and personal storytelling in Hero/Banlaoch, a heartfelt piece about myth and family (1-25 Aug). Jess Aquilina brings her multi-genre show, The Tree and Her Tale, to the George Mackay Brown Library. Told through puppetry, music and storytelling, the piece explores friendship and the bond built by stories (1-13 Aug).