There’s a whole lot of gay going down at Edinburgh this year, here’s our top picks for what LGBTQ+ people should look out for whilst out at the fringe.
Stephanie Martin (Juniper and Jules; Joy) who is bringing her new comedy DID YOU MEAN TO FALL LIKE THAT? about expectations we place on ourselves through the lens of modern-day masculinity and the sexual as well as personal awakenings that might arise when life hasn’t quite gone according to plan. In this one-man show, James McGregor (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, The Palace Theatre; Pride, Pathé) will take on the role of Charlie, who is on a journey of healing whilst rejecting the pressures from society and embracing sexual fluidity.
WHERE AND WHEN: Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 3), Wednesday 31st July – Monday 26th August 2024, 11:35
PILLOCK has ADHD and is trying to keep his head above water, but he is drowning in loneliness, hook-up culture and medical role-plays. Then he meets Eugene – but will he be Mr Right or Mr Right Now? Pillock wants to trust his gut, but with his lactose intolerance, his can’t even handle a Muller Corner. Capturing the essence of the ADHD experience, Pillock is a darkly hilarious coming-of-age remix following a young man who is struggling with ADHD while dreaming of something bigger and wanting more from life.
WHERE AND WHEN: Assembly George Square (Front Room), 1st – Monday 26th August 2024, 18:25
SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT explores queer friendship, platonic love and nuclear anxiety, following Jo and Eddie through the first seven minutes of their friendship – and the final seven hours of the world. With most queer stories on stage and screen focussed around romance, Love Song Productions set out to fill the gap by making a show about queer friendship. While female friendship is often written about, very few stories have been told about the unique dynamic between queer men and women when the possibility of attraction is taken away.
WHERE AND WHEN: Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker One), Wednesday 31st July – Monday 26th August 2024 (not 7th, 14th, 21st), 11.45am
A new play by Rachel E. Thorn, which was longlisted for the Kenneth Branagh Award, is coming to Pleasance Courtyard this Edinburgh Fringe festival, and it’s all about the utter selfishness of true love. ME FOR YOU tackles the fundamental paradox of modern life – we want to be good people but we’re just so bloody self-absorbed. The play is about a gay couple who join Extinction Rebellion in a bid to save the planet. In the process, they have to face the fact that we do good things for personal gain. After all, what could be more selfish than being in love?
WHERE AND WHEN: Pleasance Courtyard (The Green), Thursday 1st – Saturday 25th August 2024 (not 7th and 13th), 18:10
THINGS BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH is a psychological thriller that depicts the aftermath of a widow discovering her husband’s affair and murder through a book written by their close friend, exposing everything to the whole world. From a global majority perspective of East Asian culture, LGBTQ rights may seem integrated to Western countries, but elsewhere, a profound stigma persists. Things Between Heaven and Earth delves into the persistent taboo surrounding homosexual relationships, prevalent not only in the 64 countries that still criminalise them but also within immigrant communities locally.
WHERE AND WHEN: Underbelly Bristo Square (Jersey), Thursday 8th – Monday 26th August (not 13th), 13:00
With six actors, six roles and one story – There are hundreds of combinations for the audience to choose as they direct the love story of the summer. REJECT ME ALREADY provides a space of endless possibilities with pairing across gender and sexuality. From newcomer Paul Richard Keegan comes this light-hearted yet sincere romcom that gives the audience the chance to develop the characters and story and build the world around them, even as they watch.
WHERE AND WHEN: Greenside (Lime Studio), Friday 2nd – Saturday 24th August, 19.40
IN DEFIANCE OF GRAVITY: Ezra Montefiore is the greatest psychic to have ever lived. He’s a master of the séance, telekinesis, and spirit summoning. Eyewitnesses swear he can raise the dead, heal the sick, and levitate 70 feet into the air. He defies all scientific explanations. But when an unexpected encounter with Prince Felix Yusupov catapults Ezra into the world of Russia’s aristocracy, he finds himself entangled in a dangerous game of power, seduction, and political intrigue. As rumours of his affair with both the prince and his wife reach the ears of Rasputin, Ezra faces an impossible choice: denounce himself as a fraud or commit political murder.
WHERE AND WHEN: Summerhall (Demonstration Room), 1 Summerhall, Edinburgh EH9 1PL. Thursday 1st August –Monday 26thAugust 2024(not 12th, 19th), 21:15
