The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 is in full swing, and our critics have been out in force, catching a diverse range of shows. From a supreme being experiencing life in a woman's body to a golden retriever serving as a small-town mayor, here are 13 quick-fire reviews covering theatre, comedy, dance, and circus.
Identity, Satire, and a Supreme Being
Anna Leong Brophy's Born Sexy Yesterday presents a potent thought experiment: a supreme being is implanted into a grown woman's body to experience life for the first time. Presenting like a sci-fi sex robot with the soul of a naive child, Brophy marries a man on the front row and settles into domestic drudgery, until she discovers other settings and brands of femininity. The hour is not always hilarious but undeniably persuasive, protesting against the circumscribed roles women are allowed to play, particularly in movies. The conceit dilutes a bit, but Brophy's righteous indignation and strong performing chops make this a compelling hour. At Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August.
From Taiwan, Under Mask features the Mailantia Dance Company, led by choreographer Lai Yun-Chi, who has danced with Hofesh Shechter's junior company in London. Huang Hsiao-Wen stands out with incredible flow and presence. The quartet, dressed in steampunk-style masks and painted faces, explores identity and masks, though the theme doesn't come through more meaningfully. The movement, with swagger and mystery, is enough, inspired by Taiwanese temple rituals and drawing on martial arts, hip-hop, and contemporary dance. At Assembly @ Dance Base until 30 August.
Comedy, Chaos, and Climate
Izzy Radford's Big Dog, directed by Zoë Templeman-Young, is an exuberant satire about true-crime podcasters. Radford stars with Lauryn Jenkins and Tumba Katanda, with Eleanor Cross as a disgruntled listener. The performances are energetic, but the show verges on chaotic, overstuffed with ideas, wavering between true-crime parody and dark comedy like Severance. It's great fun, even if underdeveloped. At Gilded Balloon Patter House until 31 August.
Rosalie Minnitt returns as her Regency-era alter ego Clementine in Clementine 2, following her smash-hit debut. In this follow-up, our heroine makes for the big city and gets caught up in a revolution with a French flavour. The show is an absolute blizzard of character-comedy, confirming Minnitt as a writer/performer in the vanguard. The satirical bite of the original may be lacking, and the plot is throwaway, but the chaos, silliness, and smarts make up for it. At Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August.
Ahir Shah's Golden finds the comedian 35 and married, overworked and anxious about money, developing a severe allergic reaction to his own life. Piling on depression, autism, a fire in his parents' house, and a pessimistic view of midlife stasis, the show struggles to find enough jokes to jollify the proceedings. It's an hour with a man grappling with his mordant worldview, towards a sunnier conclusion. At Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August.
Circus, Cabaret, and Canine Politics
The Palestinian Circus's Step and a Half celebrates 20 years of teaching children across the region. With acts on trapeze, straps, and silks, plus fire poi and a surprising diabolo demon, the show is enveloped in a folky, celebratory atmosphere with traditional dabke dancing. “Joy itself is an act of resistance,” they say. At Underbelly's Circus Hub on the Meadows until 29 August.
Fanny Bleach, aka geordie clown Emma Crowley-Bennett, presents The Nearly Naked Show, an irreverent cabaret “freak show”. With inventive grotesque costumes and high energy, it features characters like Ms One-Tit and a Prawn Star. But what might work as a subversive short slot is dragged out, lacking dramatic muscle. At Assembly Roxy until 30 August.
Meet Mayor Max tells the true story of Max, a golden retriever who became mayor of Idyllwild, California. Alex Robins, in dog ears, brings the story to life with a PowerPoint presentation. The play is billed as a story of hope, but leaves too many unanswered questions, including what happens after citizens start voting for Trump and how Robins extracted himself from scientology. The ending needs a sharper bite. At Pleasance Courtyard until 31 August.
Romance, Rage, and Sketch Shows
Hadsan Mohamud's debut play Crush, longlisted for the 2025 Tony Craze award, is a meet-cute in a mental health clinic for people with eating disorders. Two British Somali teenagers, Najma and Zak, become friends, slowly opening up. It captures the insidious nature of eating disorders, but plays out haltingly and statically, with a contrived romance. At Underbelly, Bristo Square until 30 August.
House of Oz's Birds, created by Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford, is an apocalyptic two-hander. Shayna and Beverley, with towering beehives, watch birds from deckchairs under a punishing sun. It feels like a camp spin on Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone, with flights of fancy building to a rat-a-tat finale. The luridly painted show feels a little over-extended. At Assembly George Square until 30 August.
Sketch duo Burger and a Pint (James Trickey and Ted Milligan) promise to explore “expectations of masculinity” in Burger and a Pint: Treats for the Soul. The promise is not fulfilled, with a conventional offering that reaches its nadir with a puppeteer sketch. Better material includes a Mastermind sketch and Dickens' Fagin on Diary of a CEO. At Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August.
Jonathan Oldfield's Exquisite Corpse is a character-comedy debut, deriving from the kids' doodling game. Oldfield plays it with the audience, feeding results into a gallery of eccentrics, including an allotment gardener with a sideline in erotic dancing. The linking narrative about his broken arm feels tenuous, but it's a captivating hour on corporeal fragmentation. At Pleasance Courtyard until 30 August.
Rosco McClelland's The Bones settles on “pathological demand avoidance” as a frame for several club-comedy routines. McClelland lands some comic haymakers, including material about Scotland's World Cup and a shaggy-dog story about a cyborg nemesis. At Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) until 30 August.
