Northern Stage and the rest...

Northern Stage brings eleven productions to St Stephen’s Church. Among the highlights are Fringe First Award-winning Paper Birds with its 10th anniversary production On The One Hand, which is built on extensive research and interviews and tells six intertwining stories of the growing ambitions and how age defines women at different stages of their lives.

Alex Kelly retraces his grandfather’s 1988 journey to Cape Wrath in this intimate performance in a stationary minibus for 14 audience members at a time. It explores the idea of family as something that exists through time as well as across geography.

Live Theatre’s Captain Amazing examines how all parents strive to be heroes in the eyes of their children, and touches on the fear of failure and the desire for superhuman influence felt by every father when confronted by a young child’s first questions about the world.

The Scottish Storytelling Centre is hosting 11 events with a programme selected to offer top quality entertainment for both children and adults. Theatre of Widdershins returns with its 5-star show Rumpelstilskin and the Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre is returning with its award-winning show The Man Who Planted Trees.

Amongst other eye-catching performances are The National Theatre of Scotland’s Ménage a Trois at a new venue Paterson’s Land, which also features shows from Scotland’s leading artists. The production explores Claire’s twenty-year relationship with her crutches; this darkly humorous and deeply personal portrait questions whether it is possible to find love when there are already three of you in a relationship in a visually powerful new piece of dance drama.

At the Space @ Surgeons Hall, BAFTA-winning Glenn Chandler’s Sandel may engender some fierce debate. Adapted from the 1960s cult novel by Angus Stewart, it tells the controversial story of a romance between a nineteen-year-old Oxford undergraduate and a fourteen-year-old choirboy. It’s a relationship fraught with danger and drama, yet one that’s also tender and uplifting, made even more relevant by today’s climate.

It’s going to be a wonderful Festival and the excitement is finding that show that captivates and makes you thrill at the power of theatre to move you, entertain and challenge you. Good hunting and “enjoy every second of the Fringe.”