Julia Braun Raven

At a five-star Edinburgh International Book Festival event, psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry answered audience questions about friendship, family conflict, grief, grandparents, hoarding and political differences within relationships. Her advice emphasized accepting what cannot be changed, setting boundaries, preserving personal space and actively listening to others. Perry also promoted her latest book, Shrink Solves Murder, a fictional murder mystery drawing on her psychotherapy experience.

Box Tale Soup’s two-hander immerses audiences in Edgar Allan Poe’s world through adaptations of several tales and poems, including “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven” and “The Masque of the Red Death.” A scholar-narrator and ghostly female presence use puppetry, whispers, singing, smoke and atmospheric lighting to blur the boundary between storytelling and personal confession. The production is especially effective in conveying guilt, murder, deception and obsession, while its handcrafted recycled and sustainable materials reflect the company’s creative commitments. Its gothic menace and unsettling puppetry make it a particularly successful choice for fans of Poe and horror.

A chaotic interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest turns delays, mishaps and blurred boundaries between actors, crew and audience into the heart of the comedy. The cast, including first-time performers playing Cecily and Earnest, fully commit to the disorder, while audience participation helps transform potential disaster into an entertaining and unpredictable show. The production runs until 30 August and is praised for encouraging audiences to stop taking themselves so seriously.

Yllana’s Flamenc Oh!! brings flamenco dance, music and comedy into a family drama about power, inheritance, love and conflict between generations. A traditional patriarch’s authority is challenged by a guitarist influenced by rock and pop, with the production suggesting that tradition can endure while making room for change and difference. The review praises the performers’ skill, energy and audience interaction, while noting that the episodic structure sometimes weakens the overall cohesion. It concludes that the show is passionate, playful, moving and highly entertaining.

Joy Nesbitt’s dark comedy follows three actors auditioning for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in Dublin against the backdrop of anti-immigration riots. As the audition becomes increasingly coercive, the play explores race, gender, sexuality, representation, far-right politics, insecurity, silence and artistic authority. The director’s ambition and insecurity drive the actors beyond acceptable boundaries, while a largely silent accompanist raises questions about the responsibility of witnessing wrongdoing without intervening. The production is praised for weaving its concerns effectively into escalating character conflicts and for opening a timely conversation, although the ending is considered less convincing and sometimes overly obvious. It receives four stars.

The unauthorised musical parody of Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry is praised as outrageous, crude and highly entertaining. Set around rival hockey players Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, the show relies less on plot than on sexual humour, deadpan performances, audience participation and its affectionate mockery of fans’ devotion to gay romance. Its appeal is strongest for existing Heated Rivalry fans, who are given the shameless, ridiculous fun they expect; the production receives four stars.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, founded in 1947 by eight uninvited performing groups, remains an open-access festival where performers with a booked venue can participate without a selection process. Shows take place across theatres, pubs, churches, schools, community spaces and streets, with major venue operators including Assembly, Underbelly, Pleasance and Gilded Balloon. Tickets are available through the official website, app, box office and venues, with prices ranging from low-cost and free entry to premium performances; a new lottery will offer access to selected sold-out shows. The article also outlines the roles of the Fringe Society and the other major Edinburgh festivals held in August.