The avalanche is upon us. This week’s Road contains thousands of major announcements for the Ed Fest ahead, imparting a tinge of excitement and an existential dread that there’s literally no way for one person to see every show at the Festival in a single lifetime, let alone a single month. 

Anyway, the best course of action in these circumstances is to whip out your waterproof jacket and let the deluge of unveilings rain down on you. Included in this unwieldy edition of Road, the Film Festival is cranking up its projector again, Shedinburgh is making an exciting appearance on the scene, Summerhall Arts is flinging its inaugural programme our way, and Sikisa is back with justice in her sights.  

Big venues launch their programmes… 

… as the Fringe Society adds more than 1564 shows to its listings. In the melee of announcements, Assembly chucked 80 more shows onto its line-up including comedy from Kiell Smyth-Bynoe and Ed MacArthur, Comic Relief Live! and the return of Afrique en Cirque's circus antics. Find the full programme here. 

Underbelly joined the fun with more than 150 shows to marks its 25th anniversary. A few big ones from that announcement include the return of Adam Kay with another medical-comedy combo; the theatre piece Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not To Come, based on the hit BBC podcast; another helping of MASSAOKE: 90s Live; and the snappily titled Songs For The End Of The World, which promises to mix pop anthems with existential comedy (think MASSAOKE on citalopram and you’re halfway there). Browse Underbelly’s wares here. 

Monkey Barrel also re-entered the fray with another batch of announcements, including Luke Rollason, Horatio Gould, Josh Jones, Tony Law, Tiff Stevenson and Andrew O’Neill. It'll also be holding its usual tranche of alternative late-night shows, including Late Night Comedy Rave, Stepdads Present, RODEO!, Stuart Laws As Michael Caine Saying Never For One Hour, Roast Battle Allstars and Comedians Beer Mat Flipping Championship. Check out the full list here. 

Not to be left out, Pleasance has also added 80 shows to its August bill, including US comics Cat Cohen, Michelle Wolf and Patti Harrison, British favourites Rosie Jones and Tim Key, and a handful of LGBTQIA+ work like Giselle: Remix, Lesbian Space Crime, Count Dykula and DYKE Systems Ltd. Find the programme here. 

Meanwhile, the Free Fringe got in touch to let us know it plans to put on ‘6000 performances of about 400 shows in the 23 days of Fringe 2025’, Summerhall Arts launched its line-up (more on that below) and Shedinburgh announced a new season (also more on that below). Phew, that was a lot, eh? We recommend taking a breather (maybe make yourself a cup of tea) before you read on. 

Edinburgh International Film Festival announces world premiere of Ben Wheatley film…

… as part of its Midnight Madness strand. Not much is known about this one except that it's called Bulk and looks like a return to the British director’s culty roots after his time as a director for hire on blockbusters like The Meg 2: The Trench and Rebecca, and his recent stint for television helming Generation Z. Wheatley said: ‘I’m very excited and proud to be premiering Bulk at Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness. This is a midnight film through and through. Car chases, gun fights, sci-fi and romance. Thanks to Edinburgh for having us. It’s going to be a wild night.’ 

Meanwhile, opening night at EIFF will feature Sorry, Baby, a comedy-drama from writer, director and actor Eva Victor which has already bagged the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance. Paul Ridd, CEO and festival director of EIFF, said: ‘This is a film that completely floored us. Its witty and moving script and formal confidence is married to heartbreaking performances from a wonderful cast, and it signals Eva Victor as a major talent on screen and behind the camera. The film’s fierce, uncompromising spirit and independence perfectly aligns with EIFF, and we are honoured to open this year’s Festival with such a wonderful film.’ Read more about Sorry, Baby here. 

Summerhall Arts rolls out inaugural Fringe programme…

… as the charity attempts to turn over a new leaf after a year of turbulence. It promises to feature a 50% female-led line-up, with 20% led by artists of colour and 25% with an LGBTQ+ narrative. A few highlights that jumped out at us were BAFTA Rising Star Award winner David Jonsson making his playwriting debut with Paldem, an ‘anti-romantic comedy’ set in the amateur porn industry; writer and performer Gaia Mondadori critiquing the narcissism of social media in Centre Of The Universe; No Apologies’ deep dive into internet discourse and classical mythology; and Aethēr’s promise to ‘understand the unknown’, in a show which was developed in the performance space of Summerhall itself by Emma Howlett of TheatreGoose. Read the full coverage here. 

Shedinburgh Fringe Festival launches…

… and will be curated by Francesca Moody Productions, who’ve previously found success with Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. The Shedinburgh brand was initially launched in response to Covid-19 as a way for artists to perform in a digital space while the Fringe was cancelled. It’s now back, live and in-person, and with an appealing proposition for both audiences and performers: it will pay financial guarantees to all artists and creatives by covering their travel and accommodation, and offer ‘Pay What You Can' tickets to audiences for every show.

Producer Francesca Moody said: ‘As a company FMP owes so much of its success to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and likewise, the festival has been the launchpad for some of the world’s most celebrated artists too. From Phoebe Waller-Bridge to Eddie Izzard, Trevor Noah to Richard Gadd - we wouldn’t have Fleabag, The Mighty Boosh, Six, The Play that Goes Wrong, or Baby Reindeer without the Edinburgh Fringe. But in recent years it has become more challenging than ever to bring a show to the festival and for artists and audiences it feels increasingly inaccessible. Shedinburgh is our attempt to level the playing field; it’s our love letter to the Fringe, and something that we hope sits in conversation with the many other brilliant initiatives working to ensure the festival remains a launchpad for the next generation of game-changing artists.’ 

The first acts to be announced are Jayde Adams, Mark Watson, Deborah Frances-White, Ivo Graham, Sh!t Theatre (pictured above), Marlow & Moss, and Maimuna Memon, with the full line-up to be unveiled later this month. 

Here & Now to bring performances to the Fringe…

… including the deeply personal and political Nowhere (pictured above) by actor and activist Khalid Abdalla (The Crown, The Kite Runner, United 93); autobiographical musical epic The Legends of Them by reggae artist and actor Sutara Gayle AKA Lorna Gee; Ad Infinitum's show about death, deafness and ritual Last Rites; and SERAFINE1369’s detailed, meditative, hypnotic dance piece IV.

The Arts Council England-funded project has made a bit of a name for itself over the past few years for bringing some of the most interesting projects from south of the border to the Fringe; it looks set to do the same in 2025. Read more about the line-up here. 

Female health is in the spotlight…

… in a handful of theatre pieces putting a historically under-researched problem under the stethoscope. Within a programme of 2000 shows, it would be nonsensical to claim that there’s any real throughline. Yet coincidental narratives tend to emerge at the Fringe, whether it’s the many fresh acts who appeared in the first festival after covid, the preponderance of trauma narratives in 2023 or last year’s wave of neurodivergence-themed works. There’s every chance that the topic of female health (particularly as abortion rights in the US continue to be in jeopardy) becomes the theme reviewers stumble across the most as they traipse from show to show on the hunt for a five-star gem. 

A few that caught our eye include Anatomy Of Pain (theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall, Friday 1 – Saturday 9 August), about a woman’s repeated attempts to receive a diagnosis for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) in a crumbling NHS, tackling the pressing issues of cuts to disability benefits and a lack of empathy from clinicians. 

Then there’s Jumper Bumps (Gilded Balloon, Wednesday 30 July – Monday 25 August), a drama about friendship, unplanned pregnancy and a woman’s right to choose. According to the show’s producers: ‘This is a play by women for women; the play we wanted to see when we were young adults, having to make difficult decisions without knowing all the facts.’  Taking a similar tack is Odds Are (Assembly Roxy, Wednesday 30th July – Monday 25th August), a one-woman, darkly comic hour about pregnancy loss. 

Finally, there’s The City for Incurable Women (Pleasance Courtyard, Wednesday 30 July – Monday 25 August), a historical look at female health in 1880s Paris as doctors in a sanitorium examine the four stages of ‘hysteria’. 

There’ll be plenty more themes to discuss as the Fringe draws nearer, but these four might provide an alternative viewpoint on an issue that’s become a political football in recent years. 

Four stars or more 

Fringe favourite (and immigration lawyer) Sikisa is Serving Justice this August in a show which will explore ‘truth, identity and what justice looks like’. She’s been growing in stature every Fringe since her debut in 2022, and last year we were big fans of Hear Me Out. ‘It’s a brassy, vivacious show from a performer who takes an obvious pride in herself but offers plenty of compelling evidence about the trials and tribulations which make up her off-stage lifestyle,’ wrote Eddie Harrison in our four star review. ‘Sikisa may rely on some standard stand-up tropes, but her presentation is often explosive, with the kind of raucous style that suggests that she’s on the verge of bigger things.’ Read the full review here. 

You’ll be able to catch up with Sikisa at Monkey Barrel from Wednesday 30 July – Sunday 24 August.