The Edinburgh Fringe Show, with Ewan Spence

A quick look back at the Edinburgh Fringe Show, with highlights from Rebecca Perry (Confessions Of A Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl), Laurie Stevens (An Evening With Gerald Lloyd-Davies) and Cheeyang Ng (Legendary).

As the Edinburgh Festival Fringe rolls into the final weekend before a hasty breakdown of the 250 stages as everyone heads home, Ewan Spence looks back over the last few years of the Fringe, and how it should address the future. How do you face the innovators’ dilemma when there is no competition; can the Fringe survive another year of ‘doing it all again but a little bit bigger?’; and why might the answer lie in the shadow of the global pandemic?

The Sorries are in a new venue this year, and continue to bring a cheeky mix of traditional Scottish music, easy banter, and a “what’s that?” range of musical instruments to the stage at Paradise Green. Let’s welcome them back to the podcast, as we talk about the not-so-subtle nod towards The Corries, The Great Scottish Songbook standards and the Scottish “Freebird”, and how The Fringe has changed for musicians over the years.

Today on the show, we speak to Eve Miller, the writer and director of Cutty Sark Theatre’s Turn The Cloth, a queer Scottish folk horror about tradition, superstition, and Elvira. As the first storm of winter arrives, tradition dictates that the women gather in the village hall to ward off the Kelpie, lest it steal away a bride for the year. We talk about being both a writer and director on a project and if the roles can be creatively separated; sound design that needs some stereo separation in the theatre; and leaving a little mystery as the curtain falls.

Niall Moorjani has brought three shows to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, so it’s a busy August. The first, Kanpur 1857 returns for a final performance following its successful 2025 run, backed by The Pleasance’s Charlie Harthill Fund. The second is Mohan: A Partition Story, a look at the Partition of India through the personal story of their Grandfather. Finally, Selkie: Past, Present, Future, a look at what it is to be human through storytelling, live music, and Orcadian folk song.

Legendary is a look at Chinese mythology, memory and queer legacy. It balances the mythology and trans identity, and the power of your authentic self. Performed by Cheeyang Ng, we talk about how the show has evolved, especially following Cheeyang’s coming out as trans; Legendary turns expectations on their head as the narrator stays constant and the audience is the change; and how the Hero’s Journey is not the only journey that can be taken.

Following on from last year’s debut with “David’s One Night Stand…”, we are introduced to Gerald Lloyd-Davies, an “aspiring national treasure and quintessential luvvie” looking back on his long career with the audience, before this look at his own life opens up a closer examination of moving with the times and what happens when you can no longer change to meet the world.

On the surface, ‘Woody Sez’ focuses on Guthrie's life, but his music is intensely political and remains relevant to this day, and why the cast and crew continue to bring the show to new audiences. I’m joined by David Lutken, Raquel Chavez, and David Finch to talk about how Guthrie’s music speaks to our times, why it is important to ‘shout out the politics of America’ here in Scotland, and what songs they would sing on the lawn of the White House if given the opportunity.

With temporary stages, street performers, and countless performers and tech crew flyering their shows, the Royal Mile is the Fringe all rolled into one road. Given the podcast is all about bringing the feel of the Fringe, let’s throw out any script and head down the Royal Mile, microphone in hand, to take in the sounds, discover some shows, and embrace the magic.

Leo Hincks debut hour at the Fringe is driven not by an actor - in this case, James Dean - but by an actor’s line, the titular Emotional Cowboy. The show in the show is a debut comedy hour but Hincks realises that it may be too much, and changes gears towards ‘ A Serious Play About Serious Things for Serious People.’ Finding the right show, much like finding the right place in your life, is not as easy as a description in the Fringe Guide would have you believe.