Traverse's 50th

With less than three weeks to go before the Edinburgh Festival Fringe opens, the decision of choosing what to see from the 2,871 shows creates a huge challenge.

To help you steer through this maze of events here is a selection of shows that you may wish to consider and some of the news from the 273 venues.

The Traverse is celebrating its 50th year with a diverse programme of eighteen shows and five premières. It’s a great place to chill out, meet people and sample the food in the café.

Artistic Director, Orla O’Loughlin directs the world première of Ciara by award winning playwright David Harrower. It is an epic story of our times with Ciara’s father protecting his daughter as his treasure and protecting her from what he did, but when Mick dies his legacy must be faced and Clara stands on a threshold—Intriguing.

Brokentalkers from Dublin brings its deeply moving and excruciatingly honest Have I No Mouth to the Traverse. This powerful piece by one of Ireland’s most daring independent theatre companies explores the demanding nature of the relationship between real life mother and son (who also perform) in the aftermath of a family tragedy.

David Leddy’s work is always worth seeing and this year his Long Live The Little Knife, which began life for the RSC, is an absurd and uplifting theatre piece about forgery, castration and blind drunkenness—you have been warned.

Ontroerend Goed returns to the Traverse with Fight Night. This multiple Fringe First winning Belgium company has been one of my favourites for many years, and this year it puts the power in the hands of the audience as each night it makes elections a theatrical game. Be brave and perhaps give this a whirl.