Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Highlights

The Fringe is returning and so is our theatre highlights column! Got to love a serendipitous moment like that. Shows are still being announced as we go to print, but so far, these are our ones-to-watch (mostly off-screen – hurrah). 

Sweet F.A. at Tynecastle Park, 5-12, 17-19 & 24-29 Aug
If you're still buzzing after the Euros and looking for a football fix, this show could be the one for you – though you don't have to be a fan of the beautiful game to enjoy it. Set in 1916 and based on a true story, Sweet F.A. charts the rise of womens football during WWI and follows an Edinburgh factory football team as they fight for their right to play. Featuring original music by Matthew Brown and taking place at Tynecastle Park football stadium. 

Move at Silverknowes Beach, 3-7 Aug 
We're really excited about this one: Move is the debut show of Disaster Plan, a new company formed by acclaimed artists Julia Taudevin and Kieran Hurley, the minds behind sensational shows Beats and Chalk Farm (Hurley is also the writer of Mouthpiece). Produced in association with the Traverse Theatre and Slung Low, one of the most exciting and refreshing companies working in the UK at the moment, Move shares stories that span generations about 'migration, loss and communal healing'. Weaving together aspects of song, sound and storytelling on the shores of Silverknowes Beach, it sounds like a vital and quietly epic production. It's also pay-what-you-can. 

Wrapped Up in This, Summerhall Online, 6-29 Aug
Wrapped Up In This received rave reviews earlier this year when it premiered at Take Me Somewhere, proving that online shows can – when done this well – be just as visceral, powerful and affecting as their live counterparts. Choreographer, director and performer Mele Broomes intersects vocal melodies, spoken word, videography and dance to tell a story of 'rebirth through a life built to care' in this stirring show, putting a spotlight on the caring roles placed upon Black womxn, both in the workplace and at home.  

DOPPLER, Newhailes House and Gardens, 6-9, 11-16, 18, 20-23 Aug
This world premiere has been a long time in the making: back in 2020, The Skinny spoke to the show's stage designer, Becky Minto, about reconfiguring the piece for a digital medium. A year after it was meant to make its live debut, it's great to hear that Doppler – based on Erlend Loe's novel of the same name about existence, consumerism and trying to live your life without people bothering you – is finally getting its spot in the limelight. Staged in a forest by multi-award winning site-specific company Grid Iron, it's about a guy who retreats from modern life to live in isolation (by choice). The irony isn't lost on us either.