More shows announced for Fringe 2022

5 May 2022

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has announced that tickets for a further 1,281 Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows are now available to browse and book.

This is the third set of tickets to be released for 2022, with the first 283 shows revealed in March and 796 in April. In total, there are 2,074 shows now available, with more set to be announced on Thursday 09 June. The official programme launch will take place on Thursday 07 July.

The 75th anniversary of the Fringe takes place from 05 – 29 August 2022 and will feature an exciting range of shows, with theatre, comedy, music, dance, circus, musicals, variety, cabaret, events and more all featured in the programme so far. Below is a small representative sample of shows available to book from today. The full list of shows released so far can be found at edfringe.com.

Theatre

Hamlet with Ian McKellen features McKellen alongside Danish ballet dancer Peter Schaufuss in a new performance concept adapted from William Shakespeare’s play. It takes place at Ashton Hall, Saint Stephens Stockbridge
Paines Plough return to Summerhall this August with a programme of work, including Caste-ing, which explores “the experiences of three black actresses using beatboxing, rap, song and spoken word”
Something About Productions present two biographical music shows at Assembly: Something About George deals with Beatles star George Harrison, while Something About Simon tackles the life and work of Paul Simon.
Tinted at Gilded Balloon, “originally written as a disabled response to #MeToo”, examines bodily autonomy and consent from a blind woman’s perspective. At the same venue is Angel by Henry Naylor: an award-winning story of a female anti-ISIS sniper who allegedly has more than 100 kills to her name.
Theatre Paradok, “Edinburgh's premiere experimental theatre society”, present Paradok Platform at Just the Tonic: "more than ten brand new experimental pieces of theatre, ranging from comedy and drama to musicals and movement".
At Laughing Horse, Horrible History for Adults (Or Those That Think They Are!) offers “a zany mix of stand-up and historical reportage. Fearless lives, fearlessly lived from Lord Byron to Quentin Crisp”.
About Money at Summerhall is a Glasgow drama about family, love and friendship, “drawn from interviews with young kinship carers and inspired by the McDonald's strikes of 2018”. Also at Summerhall, Isto é um Negro? (This is a Black?) describes itself as a performance essay investigating what is to be a black artist in Brazil today.
Pip Utton as Bacon is at The Stand’s New Town Theatre, depicting “the gutters, sleazy bars, rough sex and alcohol” of artist Francis Bacon’s life.

Comedy

Edinburgh Comedy Award winner John Robins presents his Work In Progress / Progress In Work at Just the Tonic
Shazia Mirza brings her show, Coconut, to Gilded Balloon, reflecting on the events of the past two years
Phil Wang assures us he is The Real Hero in All This at Assembly this Fringe, with more material “about race, family and everything that's been going on in his Philly little life”.
At Assembly Rooms, Reginald D. Hunter tackles “climate change, mass unemployment, economic pandemics and the rise of global fascism” in Bombe Shuffleur.
And musical comedy duo Flo & Joan “are climbing out of their pits, armed with a piano and percussion section to bring you a brand new show”: Sweet Release.
The Mash Report’s Rachel Parris performs at Underbelly this year, performing “stand-up and songs about sudden love, the highs and lows of relationships, family, weddings, kids, going viral, going mental, and the baffling state of play in society right now”.
Pleasance hosts the return of three Fringe regulars as part of its programme: Nick Mohammed presents The Very Best and Worst of Mr Swallow, Tim Key: Mulberry and Tim Vine: Breeeep!
Poet, comedian and musician John Hegley returns to Summerhall with John Hegley's Biscuit of Destiny, incorporating stories of John Keats’ romantic adventures alongside Hegley’s own life.
Mark Thomas is back at The Stand Comedy Club this August with Black and White, “about the simple act of being in a room together and toppling international capitalism.”

Music

In “a rare intimate evening of dark and light songs”, Fringe stalwart Camille O'Sullivan will perform Dreaming at Underbelly, Bristo Square, incorporating songs by “Bowie, Cohen, Pulp, Radiohead and Rufus Wainwright”.
The Nothing Ever Happens Here NEHH Presents… concert series returns to Summerhall this August with a programme including world music DJ Auntie Flo; musician and producer Cate Le Bon; experimental, electronic chamber-pop outfit Efterklang; shimmery, summery indie-pop duo Sacred Paws and off-kilter twosome Tune-Yards.
Mairi Campbell is at the Acoustic Music Centre, performing songs and stories with “deep bardic heritage and masterful Celtic courage.”. At the same venue, John Carnie and Spider Mackenzie explore the bluesier side of a music legend in Tangled Up in the Blues: The Blues of Bob Dylan.
When they’re not busy penning crime fiction novels, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Luca Veste, Doug Johnstone and Stuart Neville join forces as the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, “happily murdering much-loved songs by The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Beatles” and more. You can catch them this year at The Stand’s New Town Theatre.
The Jennifer Ewan Band performs the Bonnie Bayou Blues at the Jazz Bar and the Argyle Cellar Bar, bringing together “a mix of heartfelt original songs, Louisiana accordion blues and old-time Cajun dance music with a Celtic tint”. Also at the Argyle, Los Chichanos bring to the Fringe “a live fiesta of psychedelic Latin vibes” with Tropical Jungle Cumbia Fiesta.
At the French Institute in Scotland, Christine Bovill explores ‘le yé-yé’ and the Americanisation of French music in Paris: From Piaf to Pop!, while French duo Fergessen ‘create a live synthetic-folk atmosphere’ using the words of Robert Louis Stevenson in Stevensongs.
Irish trad singer Cara Dillon will take to the stage at Musselburgh’s The Brunton this Fringe, performing old favourites as well as material from her new album, Wanderer.
The Jazz Bar includes some tributes to musical greats among its Fringe 2022 programme, including Cat Stevens Reconstructed (as reinterpreted by New York vocalist Jess Abrams) and Riding With the King: The Music of Eric Clapton, from "up-and-coming Czech jazz fusion guitarist" Honza Kourimsky.
Stewart D'Arrietta heads to theSpaceUK to perform Tom Waits For No Man, tackling Waits’ back catalogue with "characteristic gravel-voiced sensitivity". While WeMu “reimagines the traditional in a concert combining Western and Korean instruments, creating modern music based on ancient customs” in Six Stories.

Cabaret and Variety

With late-night cabaret line-ups, the Kaye Hole Hosted by Reuben Kaye returns to Assembly, while Briefs will be “manufacturing a conveyor belt of high-quality circus treats” with their show, Sweatshop.
Cab-arette Showtour, hosted in a taxi cab, offers an immersive experience as it takes an audience of five on a musical comedy tour.
At Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows is “subversive break-out hit of the international cabaret and circus circuit” Blunderland, featuring “outrageous nightlife naughtiness, club-kid antics and a heady dose of arthouse weird”.
At Gilded Balloon, Jesus L’Oreal brings Nailed It!, as the “fabulous influencer” tells stories from his life in a “high-octane hour of song, dance and interactive Jehovah's Fitness”.
In Darren McGarvey’s The Social Distance Between Us – Live at The Stand’s New Town Theatre the Orwell prize-winning author and celebrated hip-hop artist Darren McGarvey asks: "If all the best people are in all the best jobs, why is Britain such f*cking bin fire?"
In Madame Chandelier's Opera House Party at Greenside, you can join Madame Chandelier and "all her favourite opera characters for jokes, party games and lots of dramatic death scenes".
Just the Tonic will host Sugarcoated Sisters: Bittersweet at the Caves as they “unleash their multi-million-hit TikTok personas onto the stage… Armed with original songs, guitar and double bass”.
Mono Restaurant is playing host to Drag Queen Wine Tasting, in which you can join “drag queen Vanity von Glow and wine expert Beth Brickenden to taste through three wines and a snack, with a dash of mischief, a dollop of humour and a twist of glamour”.
Absolute Burlesque Cabaret at Paradise Green is “Edinburgh’s only homegrown burlesque and cabaret show”, demonstrating that “regardless of age, gender, or belief system, everybody is a burlesque body”.

Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus

At Acoustic Music Centre, Kunfetaga and Talking to Mum is a dance piece which explores the question: "what's the worst thing to happen to you?", as it deals with a four-year-old's painful death
At Assembly, DONUTS is “inspired by classic sitcoms from the 90s and 00s” and follows three close friends as their friendship evolves over time, through “hypnotic and playful contemporary dance to jazz and funk”.
Bamboozled at French Institute in Scotland sees artists Sonia Killmann and Constant Vigier invite you to their house-warming party. Expect “live piano and electronic music, dance and projections”.
At Greenside, A Death Has Occurred sees Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre return to the Fringe with their newest creation. This contemporary work tells the story of the miraculous journey of a young lion-hearted journalist.
Transhumance – winner of Best Weekly Award for Circus and Physical Theatre at Adelaide Fringe in 2020 – is at Laughing Horse. In this, “award-winning clown Ania Upstill playfully explores what it means to be a trans human.”
At Summerhall, Taiwan Season: Tomato “is an absurdly funny expression of dancer-choreographer Chou Kuan-Jou's ongoing interest in gender issues from a feminist perspective”.
At Underbelly, Havana Steet celebrates the street dance culture of Cuba; while Rebel is a live circus rock tribute to David Bowie, bringing to life a body of work spanning more then 50 years.

Spoken word

At Pleasance at EICC, LBC broadcaster Iain Dale will appear in conversation with several public figures, including Keir Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, Mary Beard, Ruth Davidson and Nadine Dorries.
Tales from the City Below is at Arthur Conan Doyle Centre. In this, Edinburgh medium, Ewan Irvine, “tells the tales of this city where it is said many still reside despite their earthly demise” – including the likes of Burke and Hare.
Triggernometry Live, the” hit political and cultural podcast and YouTube phenomenon,” is in town for two nights only at Gilded Balloon.
Guerilla Autistics Year 8 – Scenes From an Undiagnosed Life is at Laughing Horse. “For the eighth year of this universally unique, neurodiversifying, audience-participatory solo show, Paul Wady has changed the name to Guerilla Autistics and wants to take you all back in time.”
At Paradise Green, Poems on Gender is “a series of poems on gender, sex and revolution” by David Lee Morgan.
PBH’s Free Fringe has Attila the Stockbroker – 40 Years in Rhyme. “Celebrating his 40th anniversary earning his living as a poet/musician, Attila is using this year's Fringe to launch Heart On My Sleeve, his collected works, and 40 Years in Rhyme, his new dub poetry album.”
At Summerhall, Stop Trying to Be Fantastic is a new work from award-winning writer/performer Molly Naylor. It’s a “mostly true story about suffering, saviour complex, self acceptance and a magpie who refuses to quit.”
And at theSpace @ Surgeon's Hall, The Church of the Fall is “one man’s award-winning celebration of the work of the late writer, musician and working-class genius that is Salford's Mark E Smith and his group The Fall.”

Children’s Shows

At Asembly, Knuckle and Joint present The Adventures of Bo Peep, “a perfect theatre introduction for 2 to 6-year-olds with an interactive story and sensory learning”.
At Deaf Action HQ you can catch Once Upon a Raindrop, “a cheerful, funny, magic show for toddlers: a walk-through performance with sensory games and magic tricks”; and The Funny Punny Magic Show, “a riot of silly stunts and crazy magic” from Tricky Ricky. Both shows are accessible to deaf and hard of hearing audiences, presented in partnership with Edinburgh Deaf Festival.
At Gilded Balloon, Marcel Lucont presents Les Enfants Terribles – A Gameshow for Awful Children, “pitting children against adults and each other to try and find the most awful child”.
Inside the Robot: Quick, I Need Your Help! is on at Just the Tonic, and features “stunning visual effects and immersive interactive technology” for kids aged 5 to 95.
An "enchanting" new adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny will be staged outdoors for families at Musselburgh Racecourse.
Betwixt-and-Between present The Princess and The Dragon (PBH's Free Fringe) as a “music-full, modern fairy-tale about freedom, friendship and finding boundaries” for children aged 7-11 and their families.
I Piano is “an interactive kids show about music and love, told with a piano, shadow puppetry and everyone in the room.” It takes place within the Pianodrome.
At Pleasance, Everything has Changed is “a joyful, kaleidoscopic new show for 5 to 12 year-olds about change, why change happens and how to deal with it”, created by theatre company Rhum + Clay and made in consultation with a child psychologist and children across London..
Underbelly is the home of Bee Story: “a uniquely Australian physical theatre show for children and families incorporating a kaleidoscope of circus, acrobatics, dance and live music” that also incorporates an important message about the environment.

Musicals and opera

Carpe Diem Productions continue “their tradition of bringing powerful new music to the Fringe” with The Last Judgement (theSpaceUK) featuring Peter D Robinson.
At Assembly Rooms, Friendsical is”‘a 60-minute celebration and loving parody” featuring characters called Ross and Rachel, but is “not to be confused with the Warner Bros Entertainment Inc series Friends”,
As part of the Fringe’s online offering this year, the jazz-flavoured Cooperstown is “an opera about one heart too big and one heart too small that plays out like a present-day Othello”.
Also online is Lag: A Zoomsical Comedy, “the world's first original musical created to be performed over video conferencing”, written and directed by Haddon Kime.
A pair of musicals form part of the programme at Gilded Balloon. I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical “lifts the lid on awful auditions, debilitating dance routines, mid-performance mishaps, and backstage backstabbing – plus those magical moments that make it all worthwhile”. RuneSical, on the other hand, is “an interactive parody musical” inspired by online game RuneScape.
Guilty: A Legal Musical Comedy is being staged at Greenside, giving “fiction’s greatest villains, from Hannibal Lecter to Cruella de Vil,” their day in court. And Dr Theatre uses songs from the likes of Cabaret, The Sound of Music, Blues Brothers, Wicked and more in