George Melly, who died last year, was always a great favourite of the Edinburgh Fringe. Featuring up-and-coming talent Bart Isola with the Slaughterhouse 7, the show recreates tunes from George’s vast repertoire of Blues and Jazz.

Six people enter a lift, manned by a mysterious lift operator. Once in, they realise the lift is only going one way. As it descends, horrific secrets are revealed. Can these people deal with the truth? This powerful new play - a world premiere - explores the kind of dark, depraved imaginings we all prefer to keep well hidden. Written and directed by Darren A. Furniss, and produced by renowned Edinburgh veteran, Andy Jordan .

‘Is that a dagger I see behind me?’ Shakespeare’s Macbeth goes to Westminster in this new political satire. Matthew Golden wields the knife to become leader of his political party, but at what cost and why? A host of darkly comic characters, that you may recognise from public life, invite you to sink your teeth into some hearty elevenses!

Mrs Robinson returns to the stage to seduce the young and awkward Benjamin only for him to fall for her daughter. But what will his parents think? And what about Mr Robinson? A sleek and irresistibly dark comedy based on the classic film. From the play by Terry Jonson and the novel by Charles Webb.

Climb aboard with this acclaimed student company (“Gianni Schicchi”:2006, 5* sellout, “Guilds”: 2007, 5*) on the deck of the H.M.S.Pinafore for Gilbert and Sullivan’s witty and well-loved pastiche of class relations and romance. An evening of beautiful music and sharp satire, with proceeds going to the Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
http://www.eusog.org/shows/2008/pinafore

From Santa Barbara, California, comes the classic ‘Tribal Love-Rock Musical’, with rock’n’roll classics like ‘Age of Aquarius’ and ‘Good Morning Starshine’. An electrifying tribute to the idealism of the 60s. Live rock band featuring Grammy-winner Lito Hernandez.

The hidden story of ‘Hamlet’ - ‘Hamlet Episode’. Modern people’s confessions to their identities. A strong and fresh message of hope! Various spectacles which are newly interpreted in the language of dance!

‘Wow! What a show! A modern “Hamlet” ... heir to a cardboard box company ... clever, dynamic, professional ... a high-octane ensemble ... unfathomable magic. A riotous, thought-provoking “Side-By-Side-By- Shakespeare”. If it’s not a smash, I’ll eat my codpiece.’ Shropshire Star.

Dance theatre to move and inspire. Beautiful contemporary dance ... captivating theatrical imagery ...moving musicality. Two thought-provoking stories - ‘Sadako and the Thousand Cranes’ and ‘The Dream’ - are powerfully told through a child’s eyes by this unique youth dance theatre company. Ideal for families.

Tremendously enjoyable without being crude: nine terminally repressed and frustrated actors demonstrate the age-old maxim that “Hell is other people” in a comedy that’s probably suitable to take home to your mother, especially if she needs cheering up as much as we all do. Heck, bring her along, she might even like us.

Powered by a high-energy soundtrack, and with the simplest of sets, ‘How’s Your Father?’ will take you on a ‘surprisingly touching testosterone-flavoured tour of male experience.’ National Business Review.

Marilyn Monroe, from asylum to the White House: used, beaten and worshipped. Her life and loves explored in this exciting new play from a critically-acclaimed company (Fringe sell-outs, 2006/2007). ‘Excellent’(Scotsman). Meet Marilyn, her mother, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Challenge your preconceptions and make your own mind up...

An intriguing collection of original short plays by students about their personal views of adolescence in America. Enlightened and fresh perspectives on the truths we learn as we grow up. This is a show you won’t forget!

A Vietnam allegory. Buffalo Bill’s ‘Wild West Show’ bends history to include ill-fated Senate hearings, the surrender of Chief Joseph as a sideshow, and the Wounded Knee massacre and aftermath, revisited by the ghost of Sitting Bull.

Communicating only through the poems from Edgar Lee Master’s ‘Spoon River Anthology’, can a young high school student and her friends come to grips with a disabling illness and find hope?

Lust! Love! Tragedy! New York ’s acclaimed, “dangerously stylish” Company XIV presents its contemporary, Baroque-inspired dance interpretation of the classic Greek myth of the world’s most beautiful woman, Helen of Troy. “Irresistible and compelling” - Voice of Dance NY. “The vision for the play displays nothing short of sheer brilliance... the entire company is superb!” - NYTheatre.Com; “Deliciously excessive!” - Backstage NY

Narcissus, Tantalus, and Sisyphus angered the gods. They were sent to the underworld and bound to endless torments devised to fit their particular offenses. Finally, the gods visit them with an offer: continue the eternal struggles, or end them by committing suicide. The offer is refused, and the gods suspect that the internment may have driven the tortured souls insane.

Townsville Comprehensive is a school like any other - until the day Peter falsely accuses his teacher, Arnold Finkler, of molesting him. Whipped up by Jean McDonald, local agony aunt and moral matriarch, the parents rally, resolving to clean up the neighbourhood, even if it means putting the ‘lynch’ back into ‘lynch-mob’. A musical satire on tabloid sensation and the power of the dreaded P-word.

Through her trial and her death, Joan of Arc stood alone. Her triumphant story begs the questions: is it the insignificance or the significance of the individual that can truly challenge corrupt orthodoxy and political injustice?

‘Have I mentioned today how lucky I am to be in love with you?’ From slow ballads to burning jazz piano numbers, Jason Robert Brown’s award-winning musical classic is constantly surprising. Witty and brilliant, tender and poignant. There are two sides to every love story.

Last night, an alarm clock was never wound up. Startling truths unwind ordered lives. A tale told with lyricism enchanting the physical, entwining dance and original text. Join us in our comedic visit into a tragic protagonist’s disrupted routine and untimely end. The lie-in is unavoidable.

In Yer Space, the award winning Blackpool based theatre company, returns to the Fringe with the world premiere of Like a Rolling Stone, the first play by emerging playwright Yasmin Shaw. Like a Rolling Stone is presented in association with Demarco Rocket Productions.

Christopher Pepe Auer, Newcomer of the Year 2007, and Manu Delago, one of the best known hang players in the world, created a new sound covering a wide range of musical styles. They discovered the great pairing of the bass clarinet with its huge tonal range and the enchanting sound of the hang - hip chamber music which you’ve never heard before!

It’s unseasonably cold for Edinburgh in May and as the nation’s holy men gather on the Mound for the Kirk’s General Assembly, local prostitutes look for business in Leith. In a catastrophic and sometimes comic confrontation, the world’s oldest professions collide, provoking a series of events which threaten the future of all concerned.

What was it like to love Robert Burns? Widow and lover share their memories of irresistible Rab in this tale of love, laughter and longing. Adapted from the 2003 sell-out ‘Burns Night’, ‘a warm and touching play’ **** Scotsman.

Anthony love Camilla, but what secret keeps them apart? And what will he sacrifice to save her? An original musical with all the appeal of the classics. Take a chance, see something new!

Fregoli presents Genet’s absurdist drama as a physical exploration of the power struggle between two sisters and their mistress. This unusual adaptation incorporates elements of colour and movement to convey the social and sexual ties that bind these three women in an internal role play.
“The last act is to be played, we’ll play it to the hilt.”

Shifting stilettos in 1985 Essex is no game for girls - it’s a savage, sharp and witty world in Romford Market; you’ve got to be ruthless to play. Shagging, ecstasy and new romantics carry this Thatcherite fairytale.

A poet dreams he has been put on trial by the women of Ireland for his sexual inadequacy. A potent musical adaptation presents this classic 18th century Irish poem in a contemporary setting. Heady mix of Celtic blues, melodious, hilarious, boisterous, risqué, irreverent. A litany of sexual scenarios sung in styles veering from traditional to calypso.

Scotland 2022, in a future we hope never to witness, but which is reality for too many young people all over the world. Civil war rages between the Monster’s militia and British Government Army. Stephen’s gang hides in a disused hall, while in the hills some child soldiers have escaped. All searching for freedom ... there’s no place for innocence.