As much as comedy can be a staple of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, there is plenty of room in the city (and the show-goer's festival planner) for other artistic forms of expression, such as dance and theatre. ZOO always bring their A game when it comes to selecting the best of the best talent from all over the world to grace Edinburgh's venues, and 2019 has been no different, with this year's programme just fresh off the presses. For its 19th edition, ZOO welcomes audiences to three venues, with 60 shows between them.

ZOO Southside welcomes visionary company Ontroerend Goed and their performance Are we not drawn onward to new erA this summer, in an exploration of the political landscape and the irreversible nature of human actions. If a political edge is what you are looking for this Fringe, then Scottish Dance Theatre's Looping: Scotland Overdub is surely another great option.

In the dance and physical performance department ZOO have gone quite international, with Danish company DON GNU's acrobatic battle against old age in Raiders of the Grey Gold, a multi-national exploration of transformation in iCoDaCo's it will come later and an experimental circus act by three performers on a precarious platform in Circumference's Staged.

If you are a fan of seeing emerging companies and fresh new talent then ZOO's new venue, ZOO Playground, is where you should plan to spend most of your time (which also saves you a troublesome attempt at travelling through the city during peak festival season). As a taste of what they have in store, keep an eye out for Emergency Chorus' Landscape (1989), Plaster Cast Theatre's show on the transgender experience, Sound Cistem, and debut black comedy Doubt, by Moon Loaf Theatre.

The British Council's Edinburgh Showcase returns to ZOO venues in 2019 with three shows: Seeta Patel's collaboration with choreographer Lina Limosani, Not Today's Yesterday, which explores white-washing through contemporary dance and theatre; Scottish Dance Theatre offer Colette Sadler's RITUALIA, which surveys androgyny through the medium of dance; and Black Holes, by Seke Chimutengwende and Alexandrina Hemsley, a retelling of the history of the universe through Afrofuturism in a patchwork of poetry and movement.

ZOO, Various Venues, Wed 31 Jul–Mon 26 Aug. See the full programme at zoofestival.co.uk