Why the Edinburgh Fringe is still the best place to launch a new show

Brian Watkins is a multi-award-winning writer and the creator of the series Outer Range for Amazon TV which starred Josh Brolin. He is currently writing feature films for Warner Bros and for Steven Spielberg’s company Amblin, while premiering his play Weather Girl, “a dark comedy about a California weather reporter who has a mental breakdown because of climate change” on the Fringe.

“Edinburgh seems inherently against the safe road. It feels allergic to all things mid,” he says. “It's a place that celebrates theatrical risk-taking, something you have to be allowed to do in order to make something original. This play began with wanting to write something for a small audience, something that could be bold because of its intimacy. For all those reasons Edinburgh felt like the perfect fit.”

Weather Girl, Summerhall, 6pm, until 26 August.

Todd Almond

Writer, actor and musician Todd Almond starred in the TV show Gossip Girl, on Broadway in Girl from the North Country, and co-starred with Courtney Love in his own musical, Kansas City Choir Boy. He performs in the world premiere of his play I’m Almost There at the Fringe, part semi-autobiographical love story, part contemporary riff on The Odyssey.

“I’ve worked in theatre at every level and when it comes to the development of my original work I try always to trust my impulses and the impulses of my inner circle. In this case, the impulse came from my husband, Mark, who is not only the inspiration for the show but is also my life co-strategist and manager! He knew that I’m Almost There was unique in my catalogue, and that it wanted to stand a bit left of centre. It doesn’t follow the standard musical theatre or even downtown theatre rules. It wants to develop in its own way, and so it became important to us to let it. Premiering at the Fringe was the most thrilling way we could imagine giving I’m Almost There the playground it wants and needs.

I’m Almost There, Summerhall, 2.45pm, until 26 August.

Richard Kraft

When a failed Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow went viral earlier this year, Richard Kraft, who has directed and produced shows including The Little Mermaid, La La Land and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, spied an opportunity for a satirical musical. Working with director Andy Fickman (Heathers: The Musical), an impressive list of Emmy-winning and Broadway songwriters and two of the actors from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the musical gets its world premiere as a staged reading in Edinburgh.

“Like most people in our solar system, I was glued to the reports of the Wonka rip-off disaster in Glasgow,” Kraft says. “Since so many of my favourite shows - The Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Greatest Showman - are about con men, I thought, “Sing it out, Willy! We got us here a musical!” Not unlike with the original event in Glasgow, the hype on our musical preceded its reality. We sent out a press release before we even had a show. Having thrown my hat over the wall, I needed to follow. I’ve always heard about the Fringe and love many of the shows that have come from there. Since the inspiration for our show was set in Scotland, the deal was sealed.”

Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody, Pleasance Dome, 3pm, 9-26 August.

Adam Rapp

The Sound Inside, by Pulitzer shortlisted writer Adam Rapp, about a creative writing professor who is captivated by a brilliant but rebellious student, was nominated for six Tony Awards in the US including best play. It has its UK premiere at the Traverse this August.

Rapp says: “I first came to the Fringe in 2006 with a play called Finer Noble Gases. We performed at a venue called The Bongo Club and the seven of us had no idea what to expect. I’d just gone through emergency back surgery three days before we boarded the plane. We wound up getting a Fringe First award, my lead actor Pauls Sparks was named Best Actor of the Fringe and I was named Best Newcomer. It was one of the most satisfying artistic experiences of my career. Covid got in the way of bringing The Sound Inside to the UK in 2020. Now, finally, with this exceptional team of artists and producers, is the moment to make that happen, and I can’t think of a better place to launch it than the Fringe.”

The Sound Inside, Traverse, various times, until 25 August.

Jake Roche

Jake Roche is known to many as the son of Shane Richie and Coleen Nolan, the former fiance of Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson, and the lead vocalist of boy band Rixton, who went to no.1 with Me and My Broken Heart. He’s at the Fringe with Neporrhoids, a one-man “sort-of musical” promising to dish the dirt on fame.

“There was a part of my youth that I’d been struggling to put to bed,” he says. “This was probably the only way I knew how to process it in a different light. I also love being up there on a stage because I’m a massive show off! Last year I went to the Fringe as an audience member and fell in love with the city and the festival. I adored how supportive everyone was, that everyone was trying to ‘figure it out’. There’s a lot of room for failure at the Fringe. I think it’s vital that creatives feel that and experience that. I wanted to go up and just GO for it.”

Jake Roche: Neporrhoids, Pleasance Courtyard, 3.35pm, until 25 August.

Cathrine Frost Andersen

Cathrine Frost Andersen is a leading actress in Norwegian theatre whose play about birth, Good Luck, Cathrine Frost, was an overnight success in Norway, playing nearly 100 sell-out shows. She will premiere the English language version at the Fringe.

“Making this show was an instinctive and unstoppable urge,” she says. “I had no clue how it would be received. I'm passionate about embracing openness around the female body and celebrating its incredible strength. I've been to the Fringe many times as an audience member and witnessed some of the most mind-blowing theatre I've ever seen. The Fringe is a melting pot of brilliant theatrical minds and attracts a wonderfully diverse audience. My hope is for the show to have a long and vibrant life across the globe. In Norway, it has contributed to changing the national discourse about female health and births, it would be fantastic if it could contribute to that in other countries too.”

Good Luck, Cathrine Frost, Assembly George Square Studios, 3pm, until 25 August.

Richard Darbourne (ATG)

Major theatre producers ATG are bringing a show to the Fringe this year for the first time, the world premiere of Who Do Ya Love?, the official KC and the Sunshine Band musical. Producer Richard Darbourne says: “When creating a new show, you want creative freedom and ambition to be at its height, and the Fringe is the best place for this. The parameters of performing at the festival creates an equity amongst cast, crew, creatives and producers but also takes people back to the core tenets of storytelling that inspired them to be in the business in the first place.

“The Fringe has always been a great place to create work but it is now more than ever internationally recognised by investors and promoters as a place that breeds invention and quality. Successes like Six have played a big part in that. Who Do Ya Love? is a disco musical that aims to delight and engage its audience and rock everyone in their seats at the same time, and Edinburgh is the perfect place to check it achieves those objectives.”

Who Do Ya Love?, Assembly George Square Studios, 4.50pm, until 25 August.

Queen Angelique-Monet

Her Royal Majesty Queen Angelique-Monet of Eti-Oni is the first real Queen to appear on the Fringe. An actress and performer in the US before she married the King of Eti-Oni, a principality in Nigeria, she makes her Fringe debut with a children’s show, Ventriloquist Queen.

“Although I retired from performing when I moved to Eti-Oni, I began to bring my performance to the children of Eti-Oni during our Royal Cocoa Festival, and that led to sharing this experience with children across Nigeria. It was then I decided that participating in the Fringe would offer the best platform to share my rich talent and cultural heritage. I, being part Native American and of Scottish descent, combined with the richness of my African culture, would like to share my story with a global audience and inspire everyone to embrace their own creativity and diversity. The Fringe is a celebration of artistic expression and cultural exchange, and I am honoured to be a part of it.”

Ventriloquist Queen: A True African Queen, Assembly George Square, 10.50am, until 18 August.

AND WHY DO ARTISTS KEEP RETURNING TO EDINBURGH?

Gravity & Other Myths

Contemporary circus company from Australia, Gravity & Other Myths, were last seen at Edinburgh International Festival in 2022 where they performed at the opening event at Murrayfield. They are back on the Fringe this year with the international premiere of their new show, Ten Thousand Hours. Director Lachlan Binns says:

“Gravity & Other Myths (GOM) has always held Fringe festivals very close to our hearts. We were born at the Adelaide Fringe and it was the Edinburgh Fringe that catapulted us into international acclaim with A Simple Space in 2013. We squeezed into the Debating Hall at the Gilded Balloon and had to move all the chairs to the side so we could lay down our mats in the middle. The reaction from audiences blew us away and by the end of the season we were selling out. We met our agents there leading to international touring and went on to perform Macro and The Pulse at EIF. In many ways, Ten Thousand Hours is a very deliberate return to our roots, to smaller more intimate venues. The ability to be up closer and get to know the individual performers is a totally different experience.”

Ten Thousand Hours, Assembly Hall, 11.40am, until 24 August.

Ivo Graham

Ivo Graham has been a regular on the Fringe as a stand-up comic since he won So You Think You’re Funny? in 2009 at the age of 18. This year he is back with a stand-up show, Grand Designs at Pleasance Grand, and as the host of Comedians’ DJ Battles, as well as with his autobiographical theatre debut, Carousel.

“Certain aspects of my life have become rather more serious in recent years and I decided that the comedic imperative to keep it light should not be a barrier to a quite grotesque public overshare. Even though the Fringe is being steadily chipped away at by the internet and human greed, the Fringe remains the greatest workshop in the world, a rollercoaster of risk and reward where if you've sunk quite so much of your savings into coming up, you'd be a fool not to at least briefly explore the outer reaches of your comfort zone while you're here.”

Carousel, Assembly George Square, 2.20pm, until 25 August.

Mervyn Stutter

Mervyn Stutter made his Fringe debut in 1987, and 2024 will be his 36th year at the festival. In 1992, he launched Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe (originally called Seen Anything Good), a 90-minute showcase of seven acts which changes daily. It’s now the longest running show on the Fringe.

“In the early days there was much more anarchy and mischief,” he says. “Not so much now. These days performers are very professional and very tech savvy. But the sheer quality of the shows and the frenetic energy of the Fringe has always been addictive. I come back each year because I now realise that I have created the best annual show on the Fringe! It started out in 1992 as a good idea but quickly became a very necessary idea. We can bring shows to my audience they may never have considered before and we can change performers’ by exposing them to a new audience. That's a great thing to do and it brings me back to the Fringe year after year.”

Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe, Pleasance Courtyard, 1.30pm, until 24 August.

Pip Utton

Pip Utton has been performing his own shows at the Fringe almost every year since 1992, in one memorable year performing four shows daily for the whole run. After a break last year, he is back at the Fringe this year with a new show, At Home With Will Shakespeare.

“From the first moment I was bowled over by all the energy of the Fringe, and the joy was contagious. It is a fantastic stage to perform new work. By the end of the run the work has completely transformed itself. Where else can most of us perform new work for 25 successive days? My show Adolf in 1996 changed my life. I was new to this strange acting world with no training or CV and this 'hit' at Edinburgh Fringe opened the door to the world of international touring that I still enjoy today.

“I took a year off last year and I missed it. This year, I hope to bring bring Shakespeare alive, a man who loves, laughs, drinks, sings, dances and cries, and in between is forced to write some plays and poetry to make a living - in the process of becoming a legend.”

At Home with Will Shakespeare, Pleasance Courtyard, 20-26 August, 1.10pm.