An Ode To The Casting Director
By Grace Hatchell
Now then, theatre villagers, brace yourselves, because Chloé Nelkin Consulting’s ( CNC)’s Emerging Edinburgh Roster 2026 has landed, and frankly, my satchel has started making a noise usually associated with old lift machinery.
This is the fourth year of Chloé Nelkin Consulting’s Emerging Edinburgh Roster, returning alongside its Main Roster and its work running the Pleasance press office. Which, in postal terms, is not so much “a few letters to deliver” as “Grace, love, we’ve backed a van up to your house and it’s full of theatre.”
Following the success of Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) and a strong 2025 line-up, Chloé Nelkin Consulting is working with 24 companies this year, many making their Fringe debut or return. These are artists bringing new work to Edinburgh at a time when funding is shrinking, costs are rising, and everyone’s pretending they haven’t just paid £9.80 for a sandwich and a small bottle of water.
But still they come. Suitcases packed. Dreams wobbling. Tech cues waiting to betray them. And thank heavens they do, because this year’s roster is full of work about digital identity, misinformation, online culture, class, mental health, masculinity, queer joy, grief, recovery, self-discovery, camp murder, operatic ghosts and drag-fuelled fandoms.
Basically, if Edinburgh Fringe were a group chat, this roster would be the voice note that starts funny, gets emotional halfway through, and ends with someone shouting, “Wait, is that a ghost in fetishwear?”
Let’s have a rummage through the satchel.
15 Minutes of Shame
First up is 15 Minutes of Shame, a sharp new play from investigative journalist turned writer Sean Stillmaker. When a young London couple turn to OnlyFans to survive growing financial pressure, their online success begins to pull at their real-world relationship.
Directed by Adébayo Bolaji, this research-driven drama looks at what happens when intimacy becomes income, visibility becomes currency, and privacy starts behaving like that one sock that disappears in the wash.
It plays at ZOO Playground 2, High School Yard, from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026 at 19:20.
A Costume Drama
With World Cup fever sweeping the nation, Claudia Fielding returns to the Fringe with A Costume Drama, a heart-warming comedy about football, family and legacy.
Ella is suddenly thrown into the oversized boots of her mascot father, which is quite the sentence and already sounds like the beginning of either a beautiful coming-of-age story or a minor workplace injury. Inspired by the rise of women’s football, this feel-good show celebrates the fans, families and women who stand at the heart of the game, even if they are technically dressed as something with a foam head.
It plays at ZOO Playground 3 from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 18 August, at 13:25.
A Queer Little Murder
Savannah Hankinson brings A Queer Little Murder, a riotous interactive whodunnit with a gloriously queer twist.
Set in a suspiciously fabulous small town where everyone has something to hide, Hankinson plays six larger-than-life characters in a murder mystery where the killer changes every night. Which is marvellous, unless you are trying to take notes, in which case good luck and Godspeed.
Expect audience participation, improv, absurd humour and enough camp chaos to make Miss Marple reach for glitter.
It plays at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Coorie, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 19 August, at 15:40.
Alexis Sakellaris Presents
Award-winning queer icon Alexis Sakellaris returns to Edinburgh Fringe 2026 with a whole season of musical comedy, new work and late-night chaos. Not one show. A season. Some people bring a tote bag. Alexis appears to have brought a small empire.
The line-up includes A STAN IS BORN! – Encore, a camp pop-diva musical about queer obsession and identity; CHILD STAR (WIP), a funny and cringeworthy look at teenage fame; MCU: Musical Comedians Unite!; and THE CVNTY AWARDS, a parody awards show and Fringe afterparty.
It is fame, fandom, selfhood, songs, chaos and probably at least one emotional spiral in excellent lighting.
Alexis Sakellaris Presents runs at Gilded Balloon Patter House from Thursday 6 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 10, 17, 18, 19 or 24 August, at various times.
Argonauts
Opinions are weapons and friendship is the casualty in Argonauts, a sharp, funny and devastating new tragicomedy from Brazilian company Technis.
When two theatre podcast hosts clash over a controversial production, the argument spirals until myth and reality collide, bringing figures from Medea to Prospero crashing into the present day. Honestly, I have heard some theatre podcast debates get heated, but if Medea turns up, I’m putting the kettle on and hiding behind the biscuit tin.
Blurring criticism, creation and chaos, this world premiere asks why we still make art at all, especially when everyone has opinions and half of them are shouting.
It plays at ZOO Playground 2 from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 10, 17 or 24 August, at 18:05.
An Ode to a Casting Director
Sophie Fisher brings An Ode to the Casting Director to Assembly George Square Studios after a critically acclaimed Fringe 2026 run.
The show follows a young actor auditioning by day and questioning everything by night, which, to be fair, is most actors and also me after accidentally sending an email without the attachment. It looks at the relentless world of auditions, expectation and industry judgement, asking what happens when the real performance is not on stage but in how you are seen.
Sharp, funny and honest, this solo show digs into identity, ambition and self-worth, while giving casting culture the side-eye it richly deserves.
It plays at Assembly George Square Studios, Studio Four, from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 29 August 2026, not 13 or 20 August, at 12:00.
Broke & Fabulous in the 21st Century
Created by and starring Dale Robertson, Broke & Fabulous in the 21st Century is a comedy about friendship, ambition and surviving London as a young artist.
Best friends Alex and Petunia are determined to make creative lives for themselves while juggling precarious work, visa pressures, romantic complications and the constant pressure to “make it.” Then they unknowingly become involved with the same man, because apparently London rent was not stressful enough.
It is friendship, ego, romance and creative chaos wrapped in a sharp new comedy. Very “laughing so you don’t check your bank balance.”
It plays at Gilded Balloon Patter House, The Dram, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 17 August, at 14:20.
Forget About Me
Performed, designed and co-written by Dylan Howells, Forget About Me is a collaboration between Despite the Monkey and Worklight Theatre.
Set in a remote village where something unsettling lurks in the bathroom, the show blends mentalism, ghost stories and theatrical illusion to explore memory, childhood and the things we try to leave behind.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if something unsettling is lurking in my bathroom, I am not exploring memory. I am moving. Immediately. Possibly to a hotel with strong TripAdvisor reviews.
Co-written and directed by Harry Machray, this hauntingly playful solo show asks what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.
It plays at Pleasance Courtyard, Below, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 12, 19 or 26 August, at 13:40.
Heart Beats Strong
Three birthdays. Three boys. One night that changes everything.
Based on the performers’ own teenage diaries, Heart Beats Strong is a funny, fast-paced and personal new show from Kickdrum. Created by Alfie Wickham, Kai Porter and Noah Manzoor, it blends physical theatre, dance and storytelling as three young men navigate friendship, identity and the moments that shape them.
It is about modern masculinity, vulnerability and growing up, which sounds deeply moving, though I do hope the teenage diaries are braver than mine, which largely consisted of “I hate PE” and “why has nobody texted?”
It plays at Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker 2, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 12, 18 or 25 August, at 12:20.
Georgina Thomas: Hysterical Soprano
Georgina Thomas: Hysterical Soprano is a gloriously unhinged musical comedy from critically acclaimed comic and classically trained soprano Georgina Thomas.
Determined to become the world’s greatest soprano, Georgina heads off on a chaotic quest involving an old witch, a bitter rival and more than a few existential crises. So, opera, but with the emotional admin left in.
Blending virtuosic singing with razor-sharp comedy, this solo debut explores ambition, ego and the horror of being perceived. Which is also why I avoid automatic doors when I’m flustered.
It plays at Underbelly Bristo Square, Dexter, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 17 August, at 13:15.
I Bought A Flip Phone
Panos Kandunias makes a Fringe debut with I Bought A Flip Phone, a candid, nostalgic and hilarious solo show about loneliness, queer desire and digital overload.
Charlie deletes social media and swaps an iPhone for a 2002 flip phone, convinced it will fix everything. Which is a bold move, because my emotional support system currently includes WhatsApp, Google Maps and checking whether the bus is pretending to exist.
What follows is a funny and honest look at connection in a world that never stops scrolling.
It plays at ZOO Playground 2 from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 19 or 26 August, at 15:35.
In A Bad Way
In A Bad Way is a fast-paced, darkly funny solo show from Irish playwright Isolde Fenton.
Grá is back at the doctor’s office for the fifth time this month, convinced something is seriously wrong. Symptoms, self-diagnoses and worst-case scenarios spiral as she searches for certainty in a mind that refuses to switch off.
Drawing on Fenton’s own experiences of anxiety, this comedy explores hypochondria, overthinking and the chaos of a brain that has opened 47 tabs and forgotten which one is playing music.
It plays at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Blether, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 17 or 24 August, at 14:20.
Learning to Human
Austin-based comic actor Sims Holland brings Learning to Human to Edinburgh following multiple award wins.
Blending storytelling, clown, stand-up and poetry, Holland charts a journey from addiction to recovery and the messy, hopeful reality of starting again. Developed over seven years, the show celebrates resilience, connection and finding your way back to yourself.
It sounds funny, moving and properly human. The kind of Fringe show where you go in expecting laughs and come out quietly staring at a wall for three minutes, pretending it is “just allergies.”
It plays at Gilded Balloon Teviot, Wee Room, from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 17 August, at 15:00.
Operotica: Lovers in Every Lifetime
Classically trained, fetish approved and recently deceased. Honestly, Fringe, never change.
Operotica: Lovers in Every Lifetime is a sexy, hilarious and wildly original new show from queer opera duo Operotica and award-winning performer Dan Wye.
Guided by ghostly Séayoncé, audiences journey through the past lives of star-crossed lovers doomed to repeat the same tragic fate across time. Blending opera, comedy, cabaret and kink, this theatrical debut reclaims opera for a new generation of queer audiences.
It is giving high notes, high drama and probably the most interesting ghostly intervention since someone left a recorder playing in a haunted castle.
It plays at Underbelly Bristo Square, Dairy Room, from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 12, 17 or 24 August, at 19:45.
Puck Bunnies: A Heated Rivalry Drag Musical Parody
They’re rivals on the ice, lovers in everyone’s fantasies, and quite possibly the reason the Fringe programme needs a fainting couch.
Puck Bunnies: A Heated Rivalry Drag Musical Parody is a camp, chaotic and gloriously queer musical comedy from Kyra Brown and Christan Leonard. Starring drag kings and queer performers, it transforms 2026’s hottest TV show into a singalong spectacle packed with original songs, outrageous characters and big queer energy.
It is fandom, romance, hockey obsession and drag chaos. I do not understand hockey, but I do understand theatrical commitment and people making poor romantic choices in excellent costumes.
It plays at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Other Yin, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 11, 18 or 25 August, at 22:45.
Racists, Recessions & Revolutions
“Girl I’m bored, let’s go spread fake news” is one of those lines that makes you laugh and then immediately feel slightly concerned about the state of civilisation.
Racists, Recessions & Revolutions is a darkly funny and unsettling new play about the global rise of misinformation. When a group of teens in a small Macedonian town stumble into the early internet fake news boom, one young woman is pulled into a lucrative world of viral lies, political manipulation and digital chaos.
As the hustle grows from a kitchen table to an international crisis, the line between truth and profit begins to collapse. Which is very modern, very alarming, and exactly the sort of thing that makes you want to delete the internet and go live in a shed with a kettle.
It plays at ZOO Playground 3 from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 12, 19 or 26 August, at 15:55.
Rockpools
Rockpools is a darkly comic and surreal solo debut from Molly Windust.
It follows a young woman facing a crumbling marriage, grief, care and a house full of rooms she cannot face. As she builds a strange private refuge room by room, the show explores endometriosis, loneliness and the pressure to fit into a life you never wanted.
Blending character comedy with a fractured domestic world, Rockpools sounds funny, unsettling and painfully human. Also, any show involving a house full of rooms someone cannot face has my sympathy. I once ignored a cupboard for six months because I knew there was admin in it.
It plays at Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker 3, from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 30 August 2026, not 17 or 24 August, at 15:20.
Stayin’ Alive
Maggie’s nan is dead, her therapist is useless, and her sister is threatening to knock her out. So, you know, a quiet one.
Written and performed by Victoria Oxley, Stayin’ Alive is a riotously funny and brutally honest new play about OCD, survival and the chaos of keeping going.
Set in The Blue Anchor pub, this Scouse-led story follows Maggie as she tries to make sense of grief, family and the fragile systems holding her together. Blending biting humour with working men’s club culture and lived experience, it offers a sharp and compassionate look at mental illness, class and resilience.
It plays at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Blether, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 12, 19 or 26 August, at 15:40.
Surreally Good
Grief, corporate absurdity and lo-fi storytelling collide in Surreally Good, a delightfully bizarre one-man show from award-winning theatre maker Scott Turnbull.
Playing the finest Edutainment Officer in the business, Turnbull guides audiences through a surreal illustrated world of overhead projections, unreliable memory and workplace chaos as he tries to make sense of loss through art.
Directed by Ed Gaughan with original music by Jeremy Bradfield, this cult hit blends humour, heart and total nonsense. Which, frankly, is also how I would describe most staff training days, but with better lighting.
It plays at Summerhall, Former Women’s Locker Room, from Thursday 7 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 17 or 24 August, at 17:20.
Thermodrama
Four people enter a sauna. Three walk out.
Thermodrama is a tense and darkly funny new play from Lovelock Productions, set entirely inside a sauna pushed to breaking point. When two estranged sisters are unexpectedly reunited, their fragile dynamic is disrupted by an evangelical gym-goer and a cyclist seeking revenge.
As the temperature rises, so do the tensions, which is exactly why I avoid saunas and family WhatsApp groups.
Set against the backdrop of wellness culture and self-optimisation obsession, this sell-out return asks what happens when nobody gets better.
It plays at Summerhall, Old Lab, from Thursday 7 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 18 or 25 August, at 22:30.
They’re Just Small Town (Northern) Lads
Be hard. Be respected. Never be too different.
They’re Just Small Town (Northern) Lads is a bold and deeply personal new play from Nathan Jonathan, set in a Northern town in the early 2000s.
Told through nostalgia, humour and sharp emotional clarity, it follows a mixed-race teenage boy navigating competing models of masculinity, from a volatile father to a gentle Windrush grandfather, as he learns the unwritten rules of becoming a “proper” lad.
Exploring class, identity and inherited expectation, this sounds like a funny and affecting look at what shapes us and who we choose to become. And as someone who has witnessed Northern lads communicate entire emotional histories through the phrase “you alright?”, I am listening.
It plays at Summerhall, Anatomy Lecture Theatre, from Thursday 6 to Sunday 16 August 2026 at 19:15.
This Is How I Got Arrested (after smuggling drugs across the border but never actually getting caught with any drugs)
Now that is a title. That is not so much a title as a full incident report.
Written and performed by Azaelia Slade, This Is How I Got Arrested (after smuggling drugs across the border but never actually getting caught with any drugs) is a raw, darkly funny solo show about young women chasing feelings, sensations and escape.
Following Sophie, a sharp-tongued young woman performing different versions of herself to survive, the story unravels a world of parties, lies and fractured home life as her search for belonging spirals out of control.
Blending humour with honesty, this urgent debut explores class, identity and the human stories behind the headlines.
It plays at ZOO Playground 3 from Friday 7 to Sunday 30 August 2026 at 19:40.
To Do Lists
NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU. EXCEPT YOURSELF.
To Do Lists is a high-energy solo show from Amy Lever about control, chaos and our obsession with productivity.
Born from a compulsive relationship with list-making, the piece begins in perfect order before spiralling into playful collapse as diaries, goals and memories start to unravel. It blends humour, projection and creative captioning to chart a life measured in tick boxes, from childhood ambition to adult burnout.
As someone who has written “make list” on a list, I feel personally attacked.
It plays at Pleasance Courtyard, The Green, from Wednesday 5 to Monday 31 August 2026, not 12, 17 or 26 August, at 17:15.
TOAST
One skint creative versus the system. Living off toast, apparently.
TOAST is a blisteringly funny and brutally honest debut from writer and performer Jude Green about starving for your art.
Selected for the Shedload-of-Future Fund 2026, this unflinching comedy follows an actor trying to navigate crumbling work, benefits bureaucracy and the impossible cost of staying afloat while still trying to make theatre.
As everything unravels, the question becomes whether survival itself is the final performance. Which, frankly, is the most Fringe sentence imaginable and also possibly the truest.
It plays at Summerhall, Dissection Room, from Thursday 7 to Monday 31 August 2026 at 12:10.
And that is the satchel emptied. Mostly. There may still be a flyer wedged behind the emergency biscuits.
Chloé Nelkin Consulting’s Emerging Edinburgh Roster 2026 looks like a proper Fringe feast: bold, funny, queer, strange, angry, tender, messy, musical, political, sweaty, haunted and occasionally wearing a mascot costume.
It is the kind of line-up that reminds you why Edinburgh Fringe matters. Not because it is easy. Not because it is cheap. Certainly not because anyone’s knees survive the hills. But because, every August, artists somehow drag impossible ideas into rooms and say, “Here. Sit down. This matters.”
And honestly?
My satchel is heavy, my feet are already complaining, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Emerging Edinburgh 2026 – Chloé Nelkin Consulting
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