YTAS Picks of the Fringe 2025

It’s that time of year again! The YTAS staff have been briefly distracted from our usual jobs while we made our way through the Fringe (and EIF, EIFF, EIBF…!) programmes to select our top theatrical tips.

As always, you’ll find a selection of performances and events, from theatre to circus and everything in between, that we think will delight, inspire or push your boundaries. So dive in, and if you see anything, let us know what you thought!

We’ll keep adding to it as we see and hear about other performances, so if you have any shows that you would like to recommend to the sector, or that you are involved in and would like to showcase, get in touch! Email info@ytas.org.uk

So, in no particular order, here’s a list of shows which piqued our interest…

Pickled Republic, Ruxy Cantir, Summerhall

Thanks for Being Here, Ontroerend Goed, Zoo Southside

The Beautiful Future is Coming, Bristol Old Vic, Traverse Theatre

Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl, Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali, Assembly Roxy

A Teen Odyssey La Mechanica, Summerhall (part of our Fringe Days Out!)

FLOAT, F-BOMB Theatre, Gilded Balloon

Wee Man Barrowland Ballet, Assembly @ Dancebase (also part of our Fringe Days Out!)

Balfour Reparations, Farah Saleh, Summerhall

Peregrunus, KTO Theatre, Summerhall

Welcome to Gaza, The Hands Up Project, Portobello Town Hall, part of Welcome to the Fringe Palestine 

Athens of the North, Mark Hannah, Scottish Storytelling Centre

Love Me Like a Chai Tea Latte, Sanjay Lago, Assembly Roxy

Consumed, Paines Plough, Traverse Theatre (another one for our Fringe Days Out!)

The Legends of Them, Sutara Gayle, Zoo Southside

Figures in Extinction, Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicite, Festival Theatre

Top Tips for More Tickets

We know attending the Edinburgh festivals can be expensive, so here are some ways to help you access quality performance at a more affordable price:

Keep an eye out for the £10 on the Day tickets from EIF which will be released daily during the festival.

If you’re under 25, or receiving any low-income benefits, you can access the Traverse Theatre’s £1 Ticket Project for selected shows. These are available year round including during the festival, so keep an eye out on their website and sign up for notifications.

If you work with a group in Edinburgh or the Lothians, find out if you might be eligible for the fringe’s Community Ticketing Initiative which provides free tickets for those who might not be otherwise able to attend.

Edinburgh International Book Festival have offered a 50% discount code to Ita O’Brien: Unblurring the Lines for YTAS members – email info@ytas.org.uk to get the code.

And finally, YTAS Members can join us for one of our Fringe Days Out Artist Trips for a free ticket to a festival show and a post-show drink to discuss what we watched. Check out the list of dates and performances we’ll be seeing and sign up or join the waiting list!

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