Our award-winning digital home for theatre, physical performance, circus, dance, opera, musicals, music, cabaret, spoken word, storytelling, children’s shows, talks, film, video, visual and performance art. Part of the vibrant, vivacious variety of C ARTS: a curated programme of international, independent work taking place at multiple city-centre locations, and online, in our 34th year at the Fringe. It’s a festival all of its own. Make sure you see it all.

In its 75th anniversary year, we have forgotten why we have the ECHR. A living commemoration of a living law, this beautiful song cycle offers a new way to view the Convention, telling its story through the words of its British artisan, Edinburgh-born David Maxwell Fyfe. It shows how the seeds of ECHR grew in the wasteland of the evidence of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Firmly rooted in humanity, David's personal papers, Sue Casson’s music and archive film blend in this powerful celebration of the Convention's protections. ‘Magnificent work about freedom, democracy, liberty’ (MusicalTalk.co.uk).

Dreams of Peace and Freedom

An intimate, one-on-one multimedia piece inspired by the novel Fahrenheit 451. Based on Kyle Yamada’s play, this new immersive experience leads you into a world where words survive through spoken transmission. As you lie on a bed, distant landscapes and voices surround you. Wrapped in a quilt, you discover another’s memories through a multimedia montage of whispers, warmth and deep personal connection. More than a performance: you are invited to join the Alliance. When you leave, the cycle continues: you record your own voice and images, to send back to be shared with someone, somewhere.

The Fahrenheit Alliance V

Award-winning flamenco dance from an international duo based in Spain. Flamenco, Brazilian music and jazz fuse in this inspirational showcase of strength, elegance and beauty embodied in Aylin Bayaz’s dance and Raul Mannola's guitar music. The shared passion and synergy of this five-year collaboration produces a unique experience of beauty and inspiration. ‘Flamencodanza is more than just a show – it’s a breathtaking journey, with its fusion of tradition and contemporary flair… leaving an enduring impression on every fortunate spectator’ (Dancelife.com.au). ‘Flamencodanza is hot, and you won’t see anything else like it’ (TheStageRaw.com). ‘Manola is amazing to watch’ (TheTVolution.com).

Flamencodanza

Shakespeare sits in his script, costume and prop-strewn attic amending his Will, when his muse magically materialises. ‘Why are you here?’ She points to the audience. ‘I’ve come to prove to them you wrote the plays’. ‘How?’ ‘By getting you to reveal where you “signed them”’. ‘Screw you’. What follows is a heart-warming, at times tragic, often heated debate between them – the Muse hurling Will’s own lines in his face – that ultimately reveals the truth and the urban legends that make up Will’s life and works, allowing him to adopt the motto: Not Without Right.

Not Without Right

Think you know your Shakespeare? Think again! This is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen him before – ‘trippingly on the tongue’. Migrant actors take on the Bard, reinterpreting his words in alien environments you will never have imagined before. They give his iconic characters a new life, migrating them into the roles assigned to outsiders by society. Hamlet is a meat-packer, King Lear a construction worker, Caliban a hotel cleaner, Lady Macbeth a housewife looking after children, and Shylock washes the dishes in a restaurant. There is no one Bard: Shakespeare belongs both to no-one and to everyone.

Migrant Shakespeare

An intriguing, soul-searching masterclass into the personas of jesters, jokers and clowns, through the lens of the theatrical mask. From Greek trickster gods to Japanese Noh theatre, commedia dell’arte and opera to slapstick and cartoons, join Professor Rosemary George on a rollercoaster through the joys and sorrows, comedies and tragedies of life which probes hidden identities in human behaviour. ‘The professor’s range and extent of research is clearly apparent’ (EdinburghGuide.com). ‘Brilliantly and eloquently written… Thoughtful… Extraordinarily well-researched’ (Audience review). ‘Quite unique… Informative and fun’ (Audience review). ‘Truly thoughtful, educational’ (Audience review).

Hiding Behind the Mask: Jesters, Jokers and Clowns

The Christmas story, Broadway-style. You’ll be startled by Roman soldiers, witness the oppression of the Jews, awed by the Wise Men’s lavish costumes, hear yodeling shepherds and learn to love the hilarious Herod the Great – all in 60 minutes! ‘I was completely blown away. I came not expecting that at all’ (Audience review). ‘The music, the sound, the singing, the whole production was beautiful. It was really lovely’ (Audience review). ‘I think it was wonderful. The whole play was great. Gets you in the Christmas spirit and shows you what it’s all about’ (Audience review).

A Night To Remember

A drunk, a clown, a disabled soldier, an old crone. A moth, a mirror, a muse. Welcome to the world of Rey Camoy, Japanese painter of the human soul. tarinainanika’s latest production shows the artist in his studio, surrounded by the characters from his creations. The drama unfolds without a word, with intricate ensemble-work and breathtaking physicality. It’s a gut-wrenching love song to beauty – the kind worth living and dying for. ‘One of the most exquisite pieces I have seen in a long time’ ***** (BritishTheatre.com). ‘A tour de force of physical theatre’ **** (Salterton Arts Review).

Rey Camoy

A digital live dance-theatre performance designed for Zoom Webinar format that explores space, presence and connection in one ground-breaking event. Conceived and developed during the lockdown in Chile, Deshacer el Rostro (To Undo the Face) is performed entirely from the artists’ homes and streamed to audiences online. Inspired by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s idea of 'undoing the face' as a gesture toward imagining other possible worlds, the piece examines the digital medium’s capacity to cultivate meaningful encounters and shared experiences, regardless of geographical location. New, dynamic and immersive.

Deshacer el Rostro (To Undo the Face) Online on-demand

Experience a bold theatrical adaptation of one of Japan’s most powerful war novels: Ooka Shohei’s classic Fires on the Plain reimagined for the stage. This solo performance brings to life the harrowing journey of a soldier lost in the chaos of World War II. Through multiple roles, one actor explores the depths of war, solitude, and human survival. Explores themes of faith, dignity and humanity through the loneliness, hunger and moral dilemma of the Philippine front.  A visceral, intimate take on Ooka’s classic, confronting the darkness of war with haunting clarity.

Fires on the Plain (Online on-demand)

Language creates awareness and reinforces stereotypes, but what if the vocabulary is not enough to describe one’s identity? Female, male, both or neither. It is difficult to describe in words what has long been a reality. The traditional gender division based on one’s sex is far outdated. However, do our language and behaviour follow this change? This interactive dance film addresses the following questions: What impact does language have on gender differentiation? How do certain meanings of a word become established? And what cultural, political and ethical influence do these have on us and our bodies?

Xe [zi:] (Online on-demand)

An original ballroom duet inspired by the golden age of 1930s Shanghai, blending the elegance of Chinese Cheongsam culture with the passion and drama of Argentine tango. Set to the music of Carlos Gardel’s Por Una Cabeza, this stylised performance evokes the smoky glamour of Raymond Yiu’s Night Shanghai. Through dramatic partnering, musicality and movement, the piece explores cross-cultural themes of tension, tenderness and transformation. Accompanied by a fusion soundtrack of traditional Chinese instruments and tango rhythms, Tango in Silk offers a poetic and emotionally charged journey across cultural borders.

Tango in Silk

Three men walk into a bar – a Dane, a Swain and a Thane. Tired of their tragic lives and nightly deaths, Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth seek to escape their storylines. As they conspire to be free of their creator and flee their destinies, they are interrupted by none other than Will Shakespeare himself. Tragedy escalates into mayhem once Mercutio arrives... Will the plotting protagonists prevail? Can Shakespeare stop his characters conspiring and save himself? It may end in murder, but whose? ‘High energy, fast-paced comedy and the right amount of drama’ ***** (BroadwayBaby.com).

Madman William (Online on-demand)

Out of Line is a 6-minute dance short capturing a woman’s psychological and physical resistance against rules defined by men – both on the ballroom floor and in reality. Inspired by the rigid follower/leader dynamic of standard ballroom, the piece exposes the invisible shackles imposed on women. Through struggle, isolation, rebellion and exploration, she seeks liberation, but can she ever truly break free? With striking choreography, a haunting performance and feminist urgency, the film opens up questions about power, gender and autonomy – all without speaking a single word.

Out of Line

A heartfelt and humorous coming-of-age comedy by Jed Sutton, inspired by the first LGBTQIA2S+ and neurodivergent-inclusive Scout Troop 5813. Set in a post-pandemic world, it explores identity, community and resilience as a gender- and neurodiverse group of young adults navigate belonging in a challenging society. This staged reading combines evocative soundscapes by Ariel Bittner and expressive choreography by Andrea Parson, and blends humor, magic and the rugged beauty of the Pacific Northwest into a powerful story of self-discovery and connection.

What the Fox?

Two people, disconnected from themselves and weighed down by emotional residue, discover a ritual of release. Through breath, shaking and raw, expressive movement, they begin to shed what their bodies have held. One resists. One rises. Together they remember joy. Unbound is a 6-minute, non-verbal dance-theatre work exploring how stress and trauma live in the body – and how we can clear them. Drawing on somatic practices and lived experience, The Code Collective presents a bold, healing piece designed to move audiences emotionally and physically. Visceral, minimal and human, this is movement that refuses to stay still.

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