Award-winning theatre to see at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026

A whole host of performers will be arriving in Edinburgh next month as the Festival Fringe kicks off.

Among them will be a variety of award winners and newcomers, all looking to show off their latest work to audiences. These are just some of the shows that have already received a stamp of approval.

Remember to check out our festival guide for all of our coverage!

Alone

In this multi-award-winning sci-fi thriller, two female astronauts fight to save Earth on a failing spacecraft! Exploring climate change, resilience and the silencing of female voices in STEM, it is presented by Alchemy Theatre.

The Box at Assembly George Square, 5 to 30 August

Daughter of Sweden

Creator Cecilia Säverman and the piece earned the City of Stockholm Scholarship for Theatre for the one-woman show about royal scandals, female rebellion and forgotten British-Swedish history. Now translated into English and making its international debut, the piece follows Sweden’s 19-year-old Princess Cecilia Vasa, who is caught with a lover in 1559.

Theatre 1 at theSpace – Surgeons’ Hall, 17 to 22 August

Endometriosis: The Musical

Included in our editor-in-chief’s list of unmissable musicals, this show is making its Edinburgh debut after winning three major awards at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. The piece follows Jane, an aspiring businesswoman trying to navigate a dismissive healthcare system while dealing with a chronic illness. 

Gilded Balloon Patter House – Doonstairs, 5 to 31 August

Glob

After winning the Avignon Award and the Director’s Choice Award internationally, Canadian clowning group Les Foutoukours presents the Scottish premiere of Glob. Two characters tumble, glide and soar through a wordless world inspired by Norway’s midnight sun.

Underbelly – McEwan Hall, 5 to 30 August

How To Art

When two bananas wake up duct-taped to the wall of an art gallery, they find themselves being bid on! Performed by Ratbags Theatre clowns, the piece was the winner of the Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready Award.

Iron Belly at Underbelly – Cowgate, 5 to 30 August

Kanpur: 1857

The Fringe First-winning comedy satire returns to the Edinburgh Fringe. Strapped to a cannon, an Indian rebel finds themselves answering to a British officer for the crimes of Kanpur. Written by and starring Niall Moorjani, Kanpur: 1857 is co-directed by and starring Jonathan Oldfield.

Above at Pleasance Courtyard, 5 to 16 August

Liberace and Liza – A Tribute

Direct from their run in the West End, the show makes its Edinburgh debut having won both the prestigious Offies Assessors’ Choice Award and Brighton Fringe’s Best Show Award. Featuring two flamboyant performers taking on two legends, they imagine a show that never was – but absolutely should have been.

Ermintrude at Underbelly – Bristo Square, 5 to 30 August

Penelope

Grace McLean stars in this Richard Rodgers Award-winning contemporary chamber musical, bringing one of history’s greatest epics to life – this is The Odyssey as Penelope always meant it to be told.

Belly Button at Underbelly, Cowgate, 5 to 30 August

Remember, Remember!

Another one of our editors’ ones to watch, this camp, pro-queer revisionist comedy musical delivers an explicitly inaccurate retelling of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot from the perspective of Robert Catesby. It is the winner of the Charlie Hartill Award, which is always a sign of strong quality.

Pleasance Dome – Queen Dome, 5 to 30 August

Ten Thousand Hours

Paying ode to the countless hours of sweat and joy that help achieve great things, Australian acrobatic company Gravity and Other Myths return to Edinburgh with the Adelaide Fringe Critics Circle Award 2025 and the Adelaide Fringe 2024 Best Circus Award tucked beneath their arms.

Main Hall at Assembly Hall, 6 to 30 August

Texas Annie: The Legend of the Moan Ranger

Based on the Wet Spots song “Texas Annie,” this campy new musical premiered at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, where it won the Audience Award and Critics’ Pick Encore before selling out at the NYC Fringe Festival and earning another Audience Award! It follows a renegade sex toy dealer in Texas, where sex toys are declared illegal. After her granny’s illicit shop is raided, Annie is forced to become a fugitive in disguise, guided by her granny’s girlfriend, whose voice now inhabits one of the illegal toys.

Space 3 – the Space on the Mile, 7 to 15 August

The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much

The Voloz Company present their multi-award-winning cinematic caper set in 1960s New York. When a minor delay saves his life but throws Roger’s ordered world into chaos, he ends up chasing would-be assassins around the globe!

Forth at Pleasance Courtyard, 5 to 30 August

Water Colour

This new play won a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, the St Andrews Playwriting Award in 2024 and the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer 2025. So it has its credentials! Milly Sweeney’s piece observes loneliness and unexpected connection, following Esme, who is standing on a bridge when she meets Harris, a young chef whose own life is shifting beneath his feet.

Traverse 2, 6 to 30 August

You and Me (And Whoever Comes Next)

This funny and touching exploration of how care goes both ways follows Keron Day, who is disabled, and Dani, who is his personal assistant. Featuring a live folk score and inspired by a true story, the piece from Patch of Blue is the recent recipient of the 2026 Mary Dick Award.

Old Lab at Summerhall, 6 to 29 August