Nine shows to see at the Edinburgh Fringe this August
by Best of Theatre Staff on Monday 3 August 2026, 6:15 pm in Theatre News
From a sold-out Elaine C. Smith comedy to a one-man cycling epic performed live on a Tour de France bike, here are nine shows worth booking at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, four of which have just been named in the Edinburgh Reporter's Top 20 Critics Choice picks.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is under way, and the Edinburgh Reporter has just named four of the shows below among its Top 20 Critics Choice picks: Clive, Cathy and Cadel: Lungs on Legs took the top three places in its Must See Theatre list, while Mary Mac: The Tartan Songstress topped its Must See Cabaret and Variety list.
Here is a run-through of nine productions to look out for over the coming month.
Cathy, starring Elaine C. Smith, plays the Traverse Theatre, where the entire run is now sold out with returns only. Eilidh Loan is a young Scottish writer whose first play, Moorcroft, was a true story based on her father's amateur football team and opened to critical acclaim at the Tron in Glasgow. Cathy is a new comedy inspired by her grandmother and the unique way she dealt with grief after losing her husband. Cathy, Eilidh's grandmother, insisted that Elaine C. Smith must play her, and so she does.
Cadel: Lungs on Legs runs at Gilded Balloon at the Museum from Thursday 6 to Sunday 30 August at 17.55 (not 12, 19 or 26). One of the biggest hits of the 2025 Fringe, fresh from a sold-out Australian premiere tour, it returns with new video projections ahead of a two-month London premiere season at Riverside Studios in October. It is the riveting true story of cycling legend Cadel Evans, the only Australian to win the Tour de France. Connor Delves delivers a powerhouse performance, remaining on stage for the entire show and pedalling live on an actual 2011 yellow BMC "Cadel Evans" SLR01, the same model Evans rode to victory. Combined with vivid storytelling, immersive design and live race commentary from the legendary Phil Liggett, the production brings the scale and suspense of professional cycling vividly to life.
Flop! The Best Songs from the Worst Musicals plays Gilded Balloon, Teviot from Thursday 6 to Sunday 30 August at 18.45 (not 12, 19 or 26). Written and performed by virtuosic Australian Arthur Hull, it is a love letter to Broadway and the West End's biggest musical theatre misfires: a high-octane cabaret featuring the best songs from the worst musicals, including obscure and forgotten gems from King Kong, Carrie the Musical, Love Never Dies, Moby Dick: A Whale of a Tale and Diana the Musical. This is a revised and updated version of the show that premiered in the UK to acclaim at the 2025 Fringe and has just completed a sell-out return season at Adelaide Fringe 2026.
Clive plays the Drawing Room at the Assembly Rooms, George Street from 6 to 30 August (no show on 17) at 16.55. A new play by Olivier and BAFTA Award winner Michael Wynne, it stars two-time Olivier Award nominee Paul Keating, winner of Best Performance at the 2026 OffWestEnd Awards, reunited with director Lucy Bailey. Thomas loves working from home, creating the whole day just the way he wants it while talking to his friend, a very large cactus called Clive. When things go wrong with work his life begins to unravel, and he becomes obsessed with the neighbours outside his window and ever more reliant on his spiky friend. At once funny and moving, it explores the double-edged nature of technology and the dangers of isolation in modern life.
What I Am plays Greenside at George Street from 7 to 15 August at 13.50. A new play with songs starring Olivier Award winner George Maguire and directed by two-time Offie Award nominee Guy Retallack, it steps into the asylum room of poet John Clare as he sings for his freedom. This performance is his one chance to hold on to his name, his past and his sanity, but the recital unravels. Racing to complete his greatest poem, I Am, he turns to the audience for help. Blending English folk music with electronic textures and beats, the show combines lyricism, ribald humour and desperation.
Churchill's Urinal plays the Lomond Theatre at Pleasance at EICC from 13 to 23 August at 14.00 (not Wednesday 19). Freshly installed in 11 Downing Street, a fearless female Chancellor of the Exchequer is determined to get rid of the ancient urinal in her grace-and-favour en-suite. Intrigue overflows into outrage when it transpires that the porcelain was first used by that undying icon of Britishness, Winston Churchill, and soon the whole nation has a view. Satirist and Chortle Award winner Rosie Holt, known for her alter ego MP and more than nine million online video views, shares the world premiere of her new play.
Mary Mac: The Tartan Songstress plays Studio Two at Assembly George Square Studios from 5 to 30 August (no show on 17) at 21.35. Born and raised in Glasgow, Mary Mac has blazed a tartan trail across the world, cruising with Jane McDonald and starring in the musicals La Cage aux Folles and Everybody's Talking About Jamie. Now the Tartan Songstress makes her long-awaited Fringe debut.
Sarah McGuinness: Grit, Glitter & Gaslight plays the Billiard Room at Gilded Balloon Teviot from 5 to 31 August (no show on 11, 18 or 25) at 22.00. Award-winning performer and songwriter Sarah McGuinness invites audiences into a true story of identity, family and reinvention in a powerful, darkly funny cabaret that blurs the line between memoir, concert and confession. From her childhood on the Irish border in Derry to the highs of international success, she reflects on the people, places and pivotal choices that shaped her. The show features songs by David Bowie, Kate Bush, Kurt Weill, Stephen Sondheim, and Kander and Ebb, alongside McGuinness's own compositions.
Debra Tammer: Extraordinary Alien plays Shanghai at Le Monde from 24 to 30 August at 14.30. What does it take to prove you are an "Alien of Extraordinary Ability"? For Leeds-born comedian, actor and writer Debra Tammer, the answer involved Oxford University, a failed clown career, a Slovenian cleaning lady alter ego and three strong-willed daughters. After moving to New York she found herself navigating culture clashes, motherhood, identity and the bizarre US immigration process that ultimately declared her an "Extraordinary Alien". Warm, self-deprecating and packed with characters and callbacks, it is a hilarious journey through family, belonging and learning to embrace what makes you different.