Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me but Banjos Saved My Life Credit: Erika Conway
By Grace Hatchell, 2nd Act Couriers
There are Fringe titles that whisper politely.
And then there are Fringe titles that grab you by the lapels and shout:
“Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me but Banjos Saved My Life.”
Reader. I nearly dropped my satchel.
Partly because that is objectively one of the greatest titles ever printed on a poster. And partly because — once you look beyond the tomatoes — this is one of the most genuinely moving stories in the first 2026 programme announcement from Summerhall Arts, whose shows are now on sale.
Fringe favourite Keith Alessi returns for a fourth consecutive festival after three sell-out runs. His comedy-musical-storytelling show charts his real-life journey through serious illness and recovery — told with warmth, humour and, yes, a banjo.
Now let’s be clear.
This is not a novelty vegetable incident.
This is a true, inspirational story about facing something life-threatening and finding salvation in creativity. About turning fear into music. About choosing joy when it would be easier to choose despair.
Teenage Grace once refused to eat a tomato because “it looked smug.” I am not proud of this. But Keith’s story makes you realise how fragile and miraculous life can be — and how art has this sneaky habit of stitching us back together.
And here’s the bit that made me pause mid-gossip:
Through donations — including 100% of his artist fees — Keith has raised over $1.2 million for charities, including cancer and arts organisations. All proceeds from the 2026 run will contribute to Summerhall Arts.
That’s not just performing.
That’s giving back in a way that makes the Fringe feel bigger than flyers and five-star pull quotes.
But — and this is important — the tomatoes are only one part of the harvest.
Summerhall’s first seven shows for 2026 form a line-up that feels deliberately bold and beautifully varied.
Glasgow-based Wonder Fools premiere Tether 인연, a Scottish-Korean collaboration with Theatre SAN. Part ceilidh, part intergenerational storytelling, it weaves folk songs, love letters and war stories across sixty years and three generations. It sounds like the kind of show that starts with a fiddle and ends with you texting your gran.
Award-winning London company YESYESNONO return with a prophetic storytelling piece written and performed by Sam Ward — a hallucinogenic journey through anomalies, sinkholes and a world that refuses to be understood. So… essentially the housing market, but theatrical.
Danish queer art company HIMHERANDIT bring GOOD ENOUGH?, a boisterous physical theatre celebration of imperfection and queer joy. If awkward enthusiasm were an Olympic sport, I’d have qualified in 2009.
Devon-based Kook Ensemble present SAND, a non-verbal circus theatre work exploring dementia through acrobatics and coastal imagery — delicate subject matter handled with physical storytelling.
Fringe debutant Beatrice Festi premieres PUTTANA, an immersive solo performance examining power, body and commodification, with one performer embodying five characters through music and words.
And Afghan theatremaker Mariann Yar brings LANDSFRAU, a solo show moving between 9/11 and 2021, dismantling inherited narratives of Afghanistan and building a feminist counter-archive through song, dance and memory.
If this is just announcement number one, Summerhall aren’t playing safe.
They’re curating stories about survival. Identity. Diaspora. Imperfection. Memory. Community.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, a banjo is quietly reminding us that art doesn’t just entertain — it rescues.
Grace will be watching the tomatoes carefully.
But I’ll be listening for the music.
Tickets for Summerhall Arts’ 2026 programme are now on sale via festival.summerhallarts.co.uk, with further announcements landing 31 March and 6 May.
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