Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 – our top ten most eye-catching show titles
Alongside offering up challenging, thought-provoking and radical pieces of work (and works-in-progress), the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is also widely known for shows that boast ridiculously funny (or just plain ridiculous), cleverly outlandish and sometimes completely bonkers titles.
We’ve had a good look through this year’s line-up of theatrical productions and these are the ones that couldn’t help but catch our eye…
3 Couples, 2 Breakups, 1 Barbie and The Berlin Wall
Macready Theatre Young Actors’ Company brings us a slice of absurdism with seven teenagers (and a Barbie doll) regaling us with coming-of-age tales of breakups and heartache… and even falling in love with the Berlin Wall of all things. We wonder if David Hasselhoff has a cameo?! C ARTS, 1 to 10 August.
44 Sex Acts In One Week
Who wouldn’t be at least a little intrigued by a “fruity apocalyptic rom-com”?! A classic case of girl meets boy, girl hates boy, girl has sex with boy 44 times, gets an “end of the world” twist complete with mangoes and melons. Sounds tasty to us! Pleasance Dome, 31 July to 26 August.
For the Love of Spam
Think there’s no link between canned meat and modern-day colonialism? Think again! Find out what the two have in common in Sierra Sevilla’s comic (and multi-sensory) one-woman show. Please note: invite might have landed in your spam folder! Pleasance Courtyard, 31 July to 26 August.
The Gummy Bears’ Great War
Everybody loves a bit of Haribo, right? But who knew of their gall and gumption?! Watch an epic battle between the nation of the Gummy Bears and the Dinosaurs (no less) in an existential tragicomedy… with real candy! Yummy! C ARTS, 31 July to 25 August.
In the Sick of It
“Can actors Adam and Kemi single-handedly save the UK healthcare system… before it’s too late?” No, is probably the short answer to the question posed in the show’s synopsis, but inspiring (and/or humourous) verbatim stories from NHS and social care staff should always be given a platform and we’re certainly here for it! Assembly George Square Studios, 1 to 26 August.
Is the WiFi Good in Hell?
Follow Dev’s journey from boyhood to adulthood, from Margate to London, where the gay mecca perhaps isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Underbelly, Cowgate, 1 to 25 August.
no no no please no god no, nevermind i’m fine
This title would have worked well if we’d written a play about every time we thought our older publishing platform system crashed. Sarina Freda’s solo show doesn’t offer any “life-changing hallucinogenic experiences” or explore “the secret key to existence”, but it does explain how one woman faced her own mortality and learned how to live with that comfortably. A universal lesson for us all perhaps. theSpaceTriplex, 2 to 24 August.
Pillock
Although long and ludicrous titles often have an advantage when compiling shows for this sort of feature, occasionally one word can catch the eye in an instant. This is the case with Pillock – a show about a lactose intolerant man with ADHD, looking for love. Assembly Rooms, 1 to 25 August.
A Series of Public Apologies (in Response to an Unfortunate Incident in the School Lavatories)
What were we just saying about long and ludicrous titles? OK, guilty as charged – we’ve succumbed to the lure of toilet humour. The Morton Players bring us a piece about political pandemonium when offensive statements are smeared on the walls… C ARTS, 2 to 9 August.
Why Did I Crush My Balls? And Other Tales from the Generation of Too Much
What to do when a dominatrix fetish has spiraled out of control? You could always find out in a no-holds-barred, onstage confessional… Bedlam Theatre, 31 July to 11 August.
