The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with over 3,000 shows. This year, Playbill will be going to Edinburgh in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along this summer as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
Now, here's the thing about Edinburgh Fringe. When there's over 3,000 shows, where to stage them requires going outside the traditional theatre. One thing Edinburgh has plenty of? Churches. And this year, there's a number of religious venues that will host some VERY secular Fringe shows.
Many of the churches date back to the 19th century, and will host concerts, theatre, shows, cabarets, operas, and more during the festival. Check out some of the churches—and the shows—that will be a part of this year's Fringe.
Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church
Located south of the city center in the district of Newington, the Mayfield Church was established in 1875. In 1993, it joined with Salisbury Church and is now referred to by its current joint name. It was designed by Edinburgh native Hippolyte Jean Blanc.
It will host the return of a story which first debuted at Fringe in 1966: Whisky Galore. Edinburgh People's Theatre will present the immoral tale which follows a group of Todday islanders during World War II. Whisky is being exported to pay for the war effort, which has left many a local throat dry. 1942. But then a shipload of whisky runs aground. Will the islanders be able to get their hands on some whisky without getting caught? Edinburgh People's Theatre presents the Compton Mackenzie tale nearly 60 years after first performing it at the festival.
Greenside Parish Church
The Greenside Parish Church is located in central Edinburgh near Calton Hill. It was designed by architect James Gillespie Graham in a Gothic style, and one of its elders was Robert Louis Stevenson, grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson. Robert Louis Stevenson is the renowned Scottish writer who penned Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Playing at the church this year will be a political comedy talk from former Labour Party Spokesman James Matthewson titled Serial Spinners: The Dark Arts of Politics.
Old Saint Paul's Scottish Episcopal Church
In Edinburgh's Old Town, Old Saint Paul's Church stands. Though the building dates back to the 19th century, the church has a longer history near the site. Alexander Rose, a bishop of the city's iconic Saint Giles' Cathedral, founded a new place of worship in a wool store in the late 1600s. This was the origin of Old Saint Paul's. The congregation during the 18th century was heavily involved in the Jacobite rebellions, and one member closed the gates to Edinburgh on the British army after Bonnie Prince Charlies and his Jacobite rebel forces won the battle at Prestonpans.
This historic site will be the venue for Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot's famous play about the 12th-century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, which is being staged as a rehearsed reading. Starring Richard Holloway as Becket with a cast of friends, they'll tell the story of Becket's life and his murder inside Canterbury Cathedral.
Palmerston Place Church
Searchlight Theatre Company will present Chariot: The Eric Liddell Story at Palmerston Place Church. With a history dating back to the early 18th century, the current Palmerston Place Church was built in the late 19th century following various religious disagreements and pressures to move from a previous location. Chariot is set in Paris during the 1924 Olympic Games and follows Eric Liddell as he struggles to stay true to his values. It's based on a true story.
St. John's Church
In the center of Edinburgh is the grandly built Church of St. John the Evangelist, a Scottish Episcopal Church designed by architect William Burn in the early 19th century. It was also where the first same-sex marriage in an Anglican church within the British Isles was solemnised in September 2017.
Playing at the church will be Flickering Seasons, a play with music and dance, which follows one woman finding strength and hope to overcome homelessness, addiction, domestic abuse, and racism.
St. Peter's Church
This early Geometric Gothic church a spire that is over 183 feet tall. Built in the mid-19th century with designs by William Slater, St. Peter's will be a comedy venue for this year's festival.
Impatient Productions will present two shows: Mark Watson and Mat Ryer: The Company and Mark Watson's Churchfest. The Company was first presented at Fringe two years ago, and has been developed into a live, feature-length version. The interactive game goes like this: the audience is on a "company awayday" to Edinburgh. "Your votes decide what happens. You find yourself in some fiendish puzzles. You may have a knife. It is not a cult." Building off the theme, Watson also curates and performs "unusual old-school Fringe activities" in Churchfest.
