Alaa Shehada's Fringe First winner arrives at the Bush Theatre on 28 October for a little over two weeks, carrying a container of olive oil and a great deal of history. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
Few solo shows at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe travelled as quickly as The Bridge. Alaa Shehada's account of a single journey with a leaking can of olive oil collected a Fringe First, added three extra performances in August, and now comes to the Bush Theatre from Wednesday 28 October 2026. It is a short stay, closing on Wednesday 11 November, and it marks Shehada's second visit to Shepherd's Bush in two years.
Who is starring in The Bridge?
Shehada is the whole company. He wrote the piece, co-writing it with its director, and performs it alone. His previous solo show, The Horse of Jenin, also took a Scotsman Fringe First and sold out at the Bush last year, so this is a performer the building already knows well, returning with a second chapter rather than a debut.
What is The Bridge about?
The show grows out of an errand repeated every year. Shehada's mother in Jenin sends olive oil from his grandfather's trees to her sister in Amman, and he carries it there himself, in a large yellow container. The road crosses the bridge in the Jordan Valley, the only crossing that West Bank Palestinians are permitted to use to leave and return, and on this occasion the container leaks the whole way: through the checkpoints, through the occupation and on into Jordan. Fellow travellers fall in beside him as he goes.
What the piece makes of that journey is the reason it has been noticed. It moves between storytelling, stand-up and physical comedy, and sets a story of family and stubborn good humour beside the colonial history of the region, including the promises Britain made in Palestine and did not keep. It carries an age guidance of 14+.
Who is behind the production?
Sam Beale directs, having co-written the piece with Shehada. Movement direction is by Micaela Miranda, music and sound design by Julius Pollux Rothlaender, and lighting by Lily Dawford. Charlotte Knowles produces for Palestine Comedy Club, the company she founded with Shehada and Beale to make comedy and theatre with Palestinian artists, and which presents this run in association with the Bush.
When and where can I see it?
The run begins on Wednesday 28 October 2026, with press night on Monday 2 November at 7pm, and ends on Wednesday 11 November. Evening performances are at 7.30pm from Monday to Saturday, with 2.30pm matinees on Saturday 31 October, Wednesday 4 November, Saturday 7 November and Wednesday 11 November.
Three access performances fall in the second week: the Saturday 7 November matinee is relaxed, Monday 9 November at 7.30pm is captioned, and Tuesday 10 November at 7.30pm is audio-described, with a touch tour beforehand. Tickets for The Bridge currently start at £12. We reported the transfer when it was announced, and that piece has the fuller background on the Edinburgh run.
What else should I book if I like it?
The closest relation in London this season is White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Nassim Soleimanpour's play written when its author could not leave Iran, and performed by a different actor each night who opens the script for the first time on stage. An Oak Tree at The Other Palace works on a similar nerve, with an unrehearsed guest actor joining the play at every performance.
For a single performer carrying an evening on comedy alone, Garry Starr: Classic Penguins arrives at The Other Palace in the same week, though it is a very different proposition, strictly for adults, and owes more to clowning than to memoir. Our guide to that show has the details.
