Theatres

Theatres

Edinburgh theatres are plentiful and diverse, as you would expect from the home of the Edinburgh Festivals (aka the biggest arts festival in the world™). Since 1947 the Edinburgh International Festival has been popping up each August to present a local and international cultural audience with a programme of the world’s finest theatre, opera, music and dance.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival also dates from 1947, when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the city to perform on the fringes of the EIF. Since then it has mushroomed into a vast and diverse annual extravaganza of theatre and comedy taking place over three weeks in August.

Edinburgh’s theatre has plenty going on for the other eleven months of the year. The Playhouse on Greenside Lane provides an ever-changing programme of big hitters from touring musicals to arena comedians. More big tours, ballet and crowd pleasers can also be found at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre and King’s Theatre.

The Traverse Theatre presents original new works from cutting edge playwrights through initiatives like its writer development programme. Next door, the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh offers home grown productions of international names from Shakespeare to Arthur Miller, plus an annual Christmas show beloved by Edinburgh theatre-goers.

Keeping it local, Bedlam Theatre is the stage for Edinburgh University’s many thespian societies and home to the Improverts sketch comedy group. Up in Morningside, Church Hill Theatre offers a platform for Edinburgh’s amateur dramatic societies, as well as becoming one of August’s many many Fringe venues, when all the world’s a stage.

We’ve curated the best guide to Edinburgh performance and theatre listings, featuring plays, dance and cabaret. If you’re organising an event or spot any information which needs listing or updating, let us know by contacting events@theskinny.co.uk with the event and venue details.