Full programme revealed for new Edinburgh Fringe venue

Shedinburgh Fringe Festival has announced its full programme and confirmed that it will be based at a purpose-built venue at the Edinburgh College of Art.

The space will hold 100 seats and serve as a café and bar by day and a performance space by night. The venue is being launched by the multi-award-winning producers behind Fleabag and Baby Reindeer.

The festival, which began online during the pandemic, returns this August with 28 one-night-only performances running from 2 to 24 August. The line-up includes Jayde Adams, Mark Watson, Deborah Frances-White, Ivo Graham, Sophie Duker, Kieran Hurley, The Showstoppers, Shôn Dale-Jones and Marjolein Robertson, among others.

Classic Fringe productions will be presented in intimate, stripped-back forms. These include The Duke by Dale-Jones, Heads Up by Hurley, Age is a Feeling by Hayley McGee, Lorenzo by Ben Target, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Songs of the Heart by James Rowland, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen by Marcelo Dos Santos, and My Arm by Tim Crouch. Six creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss will present a night of performance, while Maimuna Memon will revive her hit gig musical Manic Street Creature.  

The programme also features new work, including Flo and Joan’s The Birds, The Birds!, Annie Siddons’ Dickie Dimplethorpe Has a Day, Christopher Brett-Bailey’s I Saw Satan At The 7-Eleven, Chloe Petts’ Miscellaneous, James Ley’s First, Let Me Ask You Some Questions, and Gary McNair’s Clamjamfry.

Shedinburgh will also present three Shed Originals: new scripts by Nick Cassenbaum (REBELLION: After the B’nei Mitzvahs), Ciara Elizabeth Smyth (The Briar Patch) and Rosaleen Cox (Mercurial). These pieces will be shared as work-in-progress readings, with further titles to be announced.

The festival continues its SHEDx series of free talks intended to foster discussion within the theatre industry. The first sessions include How to Produce a Fringe Hit with Francesca Moody, Navigating the UK Touring Network with Harriet Bolwell, Casting, Who Needs It? with Annelie Powell, and How to get a Five Star Review at the Fringe with Tim Bano.

Shedinburgh aims to support artists by covering their travel and accommodation costs and paying performance fees. All shows will offer pay-what-you-can tickets, and the festival will launch the Shedload-of-Future Fund, offering three £5,000 bursaries to artists bringing shows to the Fringe in 2025. A £2 levy on each ticket sold will contribute to this initiative.

Artists can register for the Shedinburgh Artist Pass, which provides benefits including early booking access, food and drink discounts and access to an exclusive newsletter. As a not-for-profit festival without public funding, Shedinburgh will also continue its fundraising efforts through its Shed Friends and Shed Supporters schemes. Donors receive early booking privileges and other incentives. The festival’s founding supporter is Jessica Foung.

All dates are on the venue website.