#EdFringe – Like World Premiers? Check out the exciting Soho Theatre’s 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Programme @sohotheatre #theatre #EdinburghFringeFestival

Soho Theatre’s 2026

Edinburgh Festival Fringe Programme

Catherine Bohart, Demi Adejuyigbe, Frankie McNair, Frankie Thompson, Jack Rooke, Hotter Project, Kanan Gill, Max Olesker, Patti Harrison, Salty Brine, Sh!t Theatre, Spencer Jones, Tarang Hardikar, Temi Wilkey, Underground Monk Show, and Xhloe & Natasha

Year-round, Soho Theatre keeps the Fringe spirit alive with our festival-programming. Today we’re announcing our 2026 programme for our home away from home, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In the same month that we’re celebrating the opening of Dave Harris’s TENDER, the final play in our 2025/26 season of in-house produced shows in our Soho home, and the one-year anniversary of our Soho Theatre Walthamstow venue, we’re chuffed to present our Edinburgh Fringe programme.

Rose Abderabbani, Soho Theatre Head of Theatre Programme, and Steve Lock, Head of Comedy, said: ‘Fringe is peak Soho – producing work, seeing everything and getting wildly excited about new talent. This year we’re working with artists from the UK, Australia, India, Ireland and the USA, bringing together long‑time Soho pals and brand‑new discoveries alike. They’re all brilliant, and they’re all ready to light up Edinburgh.’

Featuring 18 incredible shows across theatre, comedy, and everything in between across nine venues, including new shows from Best Comedy Show and Best Newcomer nominees, two Ed Fringe debuts, UK Premieres, World Premieres, a work-in-progress, special presentations and one-offs:

Two Edinburgh Fringe DEBUTS from comedians who have absolutely smashed it at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival: TARANG HARDIKAR with IF I’M NOT WRONG, about his later-in-life autism diagnosis and hyperfixations, after absolutely smashing it at the, as part of Soho Theatre’s work in bringing fantastically talented comedians from India to the UK; and FRANKIE MCNAIR making their debut with HUGE ASS MINDSET, nominated for Most Outstanding Show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

THEATRE WORLD PREMIERES: Following FITTER, HOTTER, and The Last Show Before We Die, Fringe faves HOTTER PROJECT are back with HAM, a kinky eco-hijacking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet; the tornado of talent that is TEMI WILKEY will paint the town red with LOVER GIRL, the second of her Main Character trilogy, charting the surrealist journey of a Black Bisexual in her search for romantic love; we’re co-producing cult Fringe theatre duo and triple Fringe First recipients (and very recent Drama Desk Awards winners) XHLOE & NATASHA’s new show about Bigfoot and fake news with 80s/90s VHS aesthetics; comedian MAX OLESKER adapts his hilarious best-selling memoir MAKING THE CUT about his conversion to orthodox Judaism into a one-man play.

COMEDY WORLD PREMIERES: 2024 Best Newcomer nominee DEMI ADEJUYIGBE returns to the Fringe with a new show about selling out, featuring Demi’s trademark songs and Robbie the beloved robot; following smash hits CAttS and Body Show, clown performer FRANKIE THOMPSON presents all the HORRIBLE THINGS she’s going to do, including a selection of men in chairs and things that aren’t AI but should be; SPENCER JONES’ newest show DOGS about dogs, dog owners, dog lovers and dog haters, and his EXPERIMENTAL KIDS SHOW; and last but not least, LA-based clowns MAX BAUMGARTEN, DEE MARCUCCI, JOHN NORRIS, BILL O’NEILL and CLAIRE WOOLNER present for the first time the full-fledged unhinged version of UNDERGROUND MONK SHOW, a show that has to be seen to believed.

UK PREMIERES: HOW STRANGE IT IS, from New York cabaret performer SALTY BRINE, forms part of his Living Record Collection, mixing Neutral Milk Hotel’s seminal 90s indie rock album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, exploring the universal experience of first love; and superstar comedian from India KANAN GILL will perform NOT THIS AGAIN featuring his trademark existential angst and signature observational comedy.

EDINBURGH PREMIERE: SH!T THEATRE bring EVITA TOO, the greatest story never told about Argentina’s first ever female president, to Edinburgh, after a run at the Southbank Centre last December.

Irish comedian CATHERINE BOHART will present a new work in progress before launching her show at Soho Theatre in September and touring the country.

And more: Soho Theatre Writers’ Lab alumnus JACK ROOKE performs GOOD GRIEF for the show’s tenth anniversary, following two sold out runs at Soho Theatre; PATTI HARRISON returns to the Fringe to wreak havoc for a limited time only, after a two-week run at Soho Theatre.

Jessica Draper, Soho Theatre Head of Creative Engagement, said: ‘We back new talent all year round through our Labs programmes – we love to see our alumni take work to the Fringe. As Jack Rooke pointed out at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards, fringe theatre and live comedy aren’t optional extras – they’re the proving ground for the whole industry.’

LONDON TRANSFERS: confirmed for CATHERINE BOHART (and on tour), FRANKIE THOMPSON, KANAN GILL (and on tour), MAX OLESKER, TARANG HARDIKAR, TEMI WILKEY, SALTY BRINE, and XHLOE AND NATASHA, touring dates for JACK ROOKE, and more/dates to be announced.

SOHO THEATRE is London’s most vibrant producer for new theatre, comedy and cabaret. Our central London venue in Soho is celebrating 25 years as one of the UK’s busiest with a buzzing bar, lively audiences and an entertaining year-round festival programme with a queer, punk, counter-culture flavour. Our second London venue SOHO THEATRE WALTHAMSTOW opened in May 2025, bringing our vibrant programme to its biggest stage yet. Work extends beyond our venues with a full touring programme and connections with New York, Melbourne and Mumbai. Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a huge part of our year, we present many shows and scout hundreds more and we are the UK’s leading presenter of comedians from India. Our filmed comedy specials can be seen on international airlines and online. And our artist development and participation programmes are as important as the work on our stages. Soho Theatre is a charitably-owned social enterprise; with annual audiences projected to increase to over 400,000 this year, turnover to exceed £11m and strong international links, it makes a positive contribution to growth in creative industries and UK soft power. sohotheatre.com / @sohotheatre.

Soho Theatre’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 Programme is supported by Isobel and Michael Holland.

#Review of Call of the Isles by various authors, Tantallon Tir – a set of stories from the best of Scottish and Scotland – based writers in the world. Think you know the Scottish Isles, think again… @Tantallon_2001 @tantallontir @randomttours #Scotland #scottishanthology #ScottishIslands

Call of the Isles
By various Scottish and Scottish-based authors
Publisher – Tantallon Tir

Call of the Isles takes readers on both a geographical journey, encompassing places like St. Kilda, Skye, Monkey Island in Loch Lomond and more… including all the way to Samoa and an emotional journey through grief, violence, hope, regret and recovery. I am hopping on the Random T. Tours blog tour today with a review of this fascinating, well put together book that shows what you don’t see when you visit the islands. It almost serves as a warning to the UK to pay attention to more than just the scenery.

The cover deserves a mention as it is fascinating and strangely thought-provoking. Sure, it shows an island and the sea, but looking closer, there’s a bit on the larger island that looks almost like a hole you can step into and the sea has interesting wave like markings that makes it look a bit fragmented, yet at the same time, creates one whole picture and in some ways, that’s a bit what the stories inside do. There are several short, snappy stories by a range of authors, but what unites them is both the societal issues and the sea.

Amongst the scenic, rugged landscape of the Scottish Isles as the sea laps up at their shores, sometimes calmly, sometimes ferociously, are also tales of residents on the islands that may not be what you expect. Call of the Isles is raw in many places, creating a vulnerability, a sadness, an anger in many of the storylines and rightly so. They tell a truth of what is unspoken, peoples stories of island life that you don’t hear on the news nor in a cosy reality show or documentary. These tell of unnoticed broken lives together with the harshness of the sea.
There are final messages, but not what you expect with dangerous myths and beliefs at play, a lost person, but with the person be found or lost to the island? There’s mentions of funding issues, issues in the whisky distilleries and more than you may think, the scattering of ashes, empty homes that just stand waiting for someone to live in them, memories of being on islands, such as Skye and more… These are all cleverly entangled with the complexities of emotions that come with them that are palpable, as though you are on these life journeys with everyone.

They aren’t uplifting tales, they show the other-side of the “fairytale” like lifestyles portrayed within idyllic looking scenery. This is what makes it a unique read, with each story told in approx 3 pages, making it easy to dip in and out as you learn through stories the hard lives lived within the islands that people forget when heading to them for a scenic holiday. They almost serve as a warning as well as an insight, telling people not to look away in abandonment, from the tourist right through to governments throughout the UK.

So, take a read and find another part of the truth within the islands of Scotland in Call of the Isles. They’ll make you see the islands in a different light.

Blurb

From St. Kilda to Samoa, Call of the Isles sails into islands beset with grief, violence, hope, regret and recovery.

A stunning set of stories from the best Scottish and Scottish-based writers in the world

The islands are calling.

#Review of The Marsh In May and Poems and Paintings by Ronald Rand a #book filled with #poems #paintings #art in #TheMarshInMay by #RonaldRand

The Marsh In May
and poems and paintings
By Ronald Rand

Ronald Rand is a cultural ambassador in the U.S. He takes his work of books and plays, encouraging drama and more across the country and other countries in the world. I have had the pleasure of reviewing a book and interviewing him before. He has once again given the opportunity to review another book, which he provided a PDF of in-exchange of an honest review. Check out my review and blurb below. Here is also the link to that interview, which will open in a new tab, so you can return here with, hopefully relative ease.

Interview

The Marsh In May takes readers to various places in the world such as Kathmandu, Olympia, Fez and more in a journey through 29 odes, shape poems and 30 paintings. After a devastating flood, which he had personal experience of as informed by Ronald Rand, himself, this is the creative work that emerged.

The poems are reflective, some, deeply so, others are lighter. There’s a quiet stillness in many of them, inviting the reader to be contemplative and study the circumstances and nature around them. What is written is of the everyday occurrences, done in a relatable, interesting seamless manner between the writing and artwork.

Sitting near a peaceful field or in a woodland or a beach with the sea gently lapping the sand would be some great places to be whilst immersing yourself in this book.

Is it possible to see the miracles of life happening right before our eyes?

The Marsh in May brings the reader into an unforgettable journey of soaring poetry on nature and the joys and mysteries of life, accompanied by twenty-nine full-color, luminous paintings by Cultural Ambassador and world-acclaimed solo performer, Ronald Rand in a stunning debut volume.

Within these pages, you’ll discover myriads of worlds within words – a harmonious dance between each poem and painting with some written as shape poems; others as odes to Thomas Wolfe, Edwin Booth, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and to the poet’s mother; and transforming experiences around the world to fantastical places including Kathmandu, Mostar, Olympia, and Fez.

Float along the Tennessee River, travel back in time to when art appeared in caves thousands of years ago, experience when Helen Keller first recognized water, and sit in a field with a chimney alone. Take a moment to rest easy within and soar inside Ronald Rand’s heartfelt paintings and poetry.

For everyone who loves poetry, nature, and the gift of life, you’ll be transformed by the miracles revealed in The Marsh in May.

The first book of Lucky Shoe Press with an introduction by author/publisher, Lawrence Knorr, Ph.D.

Features 29 full-color acrylic paintings by Ronald Rand, and a painting each by playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie, portrait artist Martha Carpenter, and Maribee.

#Review of Festival Days by Julie Anderson @julieandersonwriter @HobeckBooks #HistoricalCrimeFiction #bookreview by Lou

Festival Days
By Julie Anderson

Festivals are fun, full of joyous atmosphere and there’s often a lightness in the air. Festival Days celebrates that in 1951 and adds a twist of murder in what is book 3 of The Clapham Trilogy. I read it as a stand-alone and it holds up pretty well.
Thanks to Hobeck books, check out the lively jazz-filled cover. my review and the blurb as you scroll down…

May, 1951 and everyone who knew the dark days of war and rationing, is in the mood for a lively, uplifting festival that will change the tide to that of one of hope.
The atmosphere of anticipation for the present and future of something huge brewing is captured well. The something big turns out to be more that just the jovial atmosphere of festival days…

Detective Constable, Faye Smith is who readers meet because things turn rather sinister when a double murder that looks is more than a straight-forward killing when two bodies are discovered in old wartime shelters, and turn out to be more in gangland territory. She has her work cut out in not only solving the crime, but in a male dominated world, to prove herself as does her work colleague, Ellie Peveril.

Ellie Peveril, meanwhile also has her own domestic problems with her ex-fiance hanging around between the background and foreground of her life.

Julie Anderson mixes the light with the dark, the criminal underworld and domesticity in an intriguing way. It’s one that readers can be caught up in the characters lives and progresses the story at a great, fast pace. She changes the tempo, cranking it up, tightening events. the more you read, so what it becomes is a tense and gripping plot, at a time when everyone’s lives are changing one way or another.

This summer as all types of festivals loom large, this is the book to check out for your tbr pile and read to whet your appetite for them. It’s captivating for festival-goers and crime fiction fans alike.

Blurb

May 1951

Celebration is in the air with the Festival of Britain and for the first time in years the mood is one of hope rather than hurt.

For Detective Constable Faye Smith, London is not as safe as it seems. The criminal underworld is gaining strength, enjoying a lively existence below the surface. Then two bodies are found in the war-time shelters, a man and a woman. Who are they? What’s their story? Why were they murdered and how did they end up in the shelters?

Meanwhile, Ellie Peveril is busy with a celebration of a different kind. Ellie does all she can to support her friend but has her own worries, with ex-fiancé Patrick Haverstock looming in the shadows. Faye, keen to unravel the mystery of the double murder, finds herself tangled up in crimes that stretch far beyond a simple killing.

Faye and Ellie must face their toughest case yet as their lives change, irrevocably, for the future.

#Review of The Blues Brothers by Daniel de Vise – An Epic Friendship, Rise of Improv, The Making of an American Classic @danieldevise @groveatlantic #bookreview by Lou – #TheBluesBrothers #books #music

The Blues Brothers
By Daniel de Vise

Review by Louise Cannon

“They’re not going to catch us,” Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues, tells his brother Jake, played by John Belushi. Possibly one of the most famous lines in the Blues Brothers film.

It chronicles the lives of those who made up Blues Brothers, in a vivid manner that shows their lives during the period of making The Blues Brothers and their other works as well as their lives away from the cameras. It bravely shows both the light and the dark, which keeps it being truthful and, although there is the inevitable nostalgic look, it steers away from it all being through “rose-tinted glasses”.

The Blues Brothers has held fascination and entertainment throughout and across many generations. Not every film brings different generations together, this film does. The book is an insightful, well-researched look into behind the scenes. It neatly joins the interesting documentaries also made about John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

Aretha Franklin, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles were persuaded to be onboard for the film that was to re-ignite what was seen as a long forgotten tradition of Blues music, not that it was easy to bring everyone together, as the book documents. It also documents film like Animal House, the huge costs involved, delays in filming and personal finances.

It isn’t totally about the film, it shows Belushi and Aykroyd on Saturday night live and their darker, drug-fuelled nights, marriage troubles and other challenges. It didn’t shy away from those times, which gave an honesty about how things spiraled to the fateful end. This makes the book more rounded and just adds to the fascination of the lives of people behind the film.

What Daniel De Vise brings is a fascinating insightful look into the lives and times of The Blues Brothers, written in a compelling manner.

It was so well-written and researched I bought this for someone I know. That person has since informed me it was enjoyable and added to knowledge of a favourite film.

Blurb

The story of the epic friendship between John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the golden era of improv, the early days of Saturday Night Live, and the making of a comedic film classic that helped shape our popular culture

“They’re not going to catch us,” Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues, tells his brother Jake, played by John Belushi. “We’re on a mission from God.” So opens the musical action comedy The Blues Brothers, which hit theaters on June 20, 1980. Their scripted mission was to save a local Chicago orphanage. But Aykroyd, who conceived and wrote much of the film, had a greater mission: to honor the then-seemingly forgotten tradition of rhythm and blues, some of whose greatest artists—Aretha Franklin, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles—made the film as unforgettable as its wild car chases. Much delayed and vastly over budget, beset by mercurial and oft drugged-out stars, The Blues Brothers opened to outraged reviews. However, in the 44 years since, it has been acknowledged a classic: it has been inducted into the National Film Registry for its cultural significance, even declared a “Catholic classic” by the Church itself, and re-aired thousands of times on television to huge worldwide audiences. It is, undeniably, one of the most significant films of the twentieth century.

The story behind any classic is rich; the saga behind The Blues Brothers, as Daniel de Visé reveals, is epic, encompassing the colorful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd; the comedic revolution sparked by Harvard’s Lampoon and Chicago’s Second City; the birth and anecdote-rich, drug-filled early years of Saturday Night Live, where the Blues Brothers were born as an act amidst turmoil and rivalry; and, of course, the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made, scene by memorable scene. Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers illuminates an American masterpiece while vividly portraying the creative geniuses behind modern comedy.

#Review of 27 Church Street by A.J. Hobart #Bookreview by Lou @HobeckBooks #BlogTour #PreNHS #27ChurchStreet

27 Church Street
By A.J. Hobart

27 Church Street is the debut novel of A.J. Hobart and was more than pleasantly surprised at what was concealed within the pages. A well-researched, atmospheric family drama, the sort that would sit very nicely on tv on a Sunday night.
It’s a very different book for Hobeck Books to publish, but one that’s very worthwhile checking out.

Meet three generations of the Stretton family, a family who actually lived and breathed on this earth. If you haven’t heard of them, you soon will. They were surgeons, pre-NHS, which adds interest, challenges and also some interesting insights perhaps the NHS (National Health Service in the UK) could learn a little from. The prestige and attitudes are higher and better in 1910 in some ways, although perhaps not in others.
Not everyone in the family wants to follow in those footsteps. Sammy doesn’t see a future in the medical field, causing friction as he has a desire to be a different type of working man…

Calvin Whitman, a brash American from New York changes things for the working man when he rocks up. He’s ready to buy anyone and anything to make his business and factory work. He does have one okay point to him, that he keeps to his word. There’s nothing wishy-washy about him. He doesn’t, however, like it when the Stretton family try to get some semblence of order to deal with the Smallpox outbreak.

The insights of family relations are often poignant and relatable, with rebellion and love. 27 Church Street has lots of drama behind its doors, and outside them too, which captivates interest and stops it from becoming dry. The facts of the time period mixed with human experience with nothing sugar-coated keeps the plot intriguing.

For a debut novel, it has lots of strengths to it and one I recommend.

Blurb

Kidderminster Town Hall, July, 1910
A glittering family celebration

The Stretton family spare no expense as the heads of their medical dynasty, Samuel and Kate, mark their golden wedding anniversary at Kidderminster Town Hall. Daughter Katie fights to ensure everything goes to plan. But family divisions soon come to the fore in a very public way, fueling gossip that will keep the town talking for weeks.

A transatlantic threat

Meanwhile, the social fabric of this famous carpet-making town is being threatened by a surprise arrival. Ambitious American carpet-tycoon Calvin Whitmore has designs on disrupting the established order. Whitmore’s son Charles is far from convinced about his father’s plans. Can Katie support him to find the courage to finally face down his father?

A lethal epidemic

As the future of Kidderminster is being fought over, the town’s population is threatened by a deadly outbreak of smallpox. Principal surgeon Lionel Stretton, son of Samuel, must inspire his hard-pressed team at the infirmary to save as many people as possible. Under the strain, more buried family secrets emerge, secrets that threaten to destroy the family’s unity and reputation forever…