Fringe 2025 midway picks: Must-see shows ending & what’s coming soon
As the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival hits its halfway point, audiences are spoilt for choice, but time is running out to catch some of the festival’s most innovative productions. While new shows are poised to debut in the coming days, these standout performances are ending their runs soon and deserve a place on your must-see list.
Leaving Soon
The Ode Islands
Pleasance at EICC, Lammermuir Theatre | Until 16 Aug (not 11 & 12) | 4pm
This one-woman, mixed-reality show is a genre-defying experience. Performed in a fully digital environment responsive to the performer’s body and emotions, The Ode Islands takes audiences on a surreal journey through identity and memory. Featuring live motion capture, AI characters, and satellite data landscapes, it’s a technical and emotional triumph unlike anything else at the Fringe.
RoboTales
Gilded Balloon, Patter House | Until 17 Aug | 7.40pm
AI meets improv in this playful, futuristic storytelling experience. A.L.Ex, a humanoid robot, collaborates with live actors and the audience to co-create a different story each show. If you're curious about the future of performance, this is essential viewing.
Lolo’s Boyfriend Show
theSpaceUK @ Surgeons Hall, Haldane Theatre | Until 16 Aug (not 10) | 8.30pm
High-energy, deeply personal, and hilarious, this solo show from Lauren O’Brien is a crowd-pleaser. Playing 18 characters, O’Brien explores love, heartbreak, and self-worth through the lens of modern dating. Winner of the 2024 NYC Fringe Audience Choice Award, this is a quick-witted, big-hearted rollercoaster ride.
Small Town Boys
ZOO Southside, Main House | Until 17 Aug (not 11) | 7.45pm
Part of the Made in Scotland showcase, this emotionally rich dance-theatre piece looks back at queer nightlife in the 1980s. Set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, it’s a poignant and visually stunning tribute to community, love, and resilience, featuring a powerful mix of professional dancers and local participants.
No Sugar No Milk (Prototyping)
Assembly George Square Studios, Studio 2 | Until 17 Aug (not 12) | 12.15pm
Hong Kong's TS Crew returns with a sensory, physical theatre experience that evokes the struggles of life in a Cha Chaan Teng diner. Using martial arts, street art aesthetics, and vibrant choreography, this show explores home and identity through the textures of everyday life in Hong Kong.
A.L.Ex and the ImproBots: How To Train Your Robot
Gilded Balloon, The Nip | Until 17 Aug | 11.40am
This family-friendly sci-comedy mixes improv and AI in an exciting interactive format. Kids help A.L.Ex become the funniest robot in the galaxy, co-creating a mini-film live on stage using green screens and props. Equal parts educational and entertaining, it’s a show that will get young minds thinking about creativity and technology.
Cinderella Ice Cream Seller – A Musical
Bristo Square, Underbelly, Ermintrude | Until 17 Aug (not 13 & 14) | 11.40am
This whimsical reimagining of Cinderella turns the classic tale into a song-filled journey of entrepreneurship, flavour, and fairy tale reinvention. Narrated by two quirky ice cream parlour employees, the show charms with brilliant songs, colourful staging, and a generous helping of comedy for both kids and adults.
Coming Soon
The Alchemy of Sadness
theSpaceUK @ Niddry St (Upper) | 11–23 Aug (not 16 & 17) | Week 1: 12:50, Week 2: 11.10am
Inspired by personal experience in toxic work environments, this intense drama explores emotional volatility in the high-pressure world of PR. As two colleagues clash over a career-defining assignment, surreal transformations mirror their psychological descent. A raw, riveting look at ambition, power, and the emotional costs of success.
Elon Musk: Lost in Space
theSpaceUK @ Surgeons Hall, Grand Theatre | 11–23 Aug | 3.05pm
Voiced by Ben Whitehead (Wallace of Wallace & Gromit), this darkly funny sci-fi satire follows Musk on a solo mission to Mars, accompanied only by an increasingly manipulative ship AI. After a call from Donald Trump, the performance shows a spiralling, dystopian take on power and isolation.
Rock Hard – A Theatrical A Cappella Adventure
Big at the SpaceTriplex | 11–23 Aug (not 14 or 17) | 12.20pm
Presented by Hong Kong’s Yat Po Singers, this a cappella journey blends vocal innovation with physical movement and mythology. Richly expressive, the show follows hikers whose harmonies echo across time and culture, offering an artistic reflection on Hong Kong’s shifting identity.
Waves of Tradition: A New Horizon in Scottish-Chinese Music
theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall, Theatre 2 | 19–23 Aug | 6pm
An experimental music performance that unites the zheng, Celtic harp, and bodhrán to create a truly global sonic landscape. This intimate performance showcases the beauty of cultural dialogue through improvisation and reinterpreted folk melodies.
Thanks for Being Here
ZOO Southside, Main House | 12–24 Aug (not 18) | 1.45pm
Eight-time Fringe First winners Ontroerend Goed return with a show that centres the audience as co-creators. Combining live video with intimate storytelling and participatory reflection, the production transforms the simple act of attending into the heart of the experience. A thoughtful meditation on connection and presence.
What's Coming
The Aquatic Melody
Theatre 1 at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, 21 – 23 August, 9:40pm
Adapted from the musical Ghost Catfish and The Coriolis Force, The Aquatic Melody leans into a shared Tarot-inspired universe to tell the dark romance of a mermaid finding true love. When the roles of predator and prey blur, will our lovers face the demons in their hearts or be swept away in the current? Look forward to 40 mins of magic realism, aquatic metaphors and references the magical girl genre! With influence from Japanese city-pop and Latin rhythms, our pop score features infectious melodies designed to resonate with our audience.