Shay Mace
Work that looks to explore, amplify, and interrogate the place of femininity and feminism in society is a stalwart piece of the EdFringe programme – this year, these 6 shows stand out as especially form-breaking, boundary-pushing, or particularly prescient works looking to explore feminism as a mode of art, or formal in their mode of art.
Both taking on online presence, Women’s digital voices, autonomy and the body, a natural double bill comes about in Laura Clare Browne’s atticwife (Studio at theSpace @ Niddry St, Aug 7 – 25 (not 16), 16:05) and Hannah Reilly’s ROLEPLAY (TechCube 0 at Summerhall, Aug 6 – 31, no Tuesdays, 17:50), giving you just under an hour to shuffle down South Bridge and collect a beverage in between. The former following a ‘tradwife’ influencer who claims to have willingly let her husband lock her in the attic, and the latter following a broke feminist podcaster who reinvents herself as a ‘slutfluencer’, who soon gets lost in the act.
Speaking of performance and performativity, buckle in for Melissa Carter’s B*tch Eat Dog (Jade Studio at Greenside @ George Street, Aug 7 – 29, no Sundays, 22:00). A group of puppeteers navigate through a smorgasbord of quandaries using classical texts, feminist theory and singing willies to interrogate the gendered ethics of pursuit. Expect audience interaction involving burlap boobs, and misguided attempts at allyship within.
Keeping in the line of the visceral, Georgina Collins looks to offer up a salient yet wild vision of feminine possibility in SUCCUBUS (Dexter at Underbelly, Bristo Square, Aug 5 – 16, 16:15), following a young woman whose ‘body goes rogue’ as her appetite blooms, putting the men in menu. Collins seeks to unpack gore, pop-culture parody and unapologetic desire in this coming-of-age rage fable.
Carry your feminist binge late on into the evening with two line-up shows focused on female, femme, and/or non-binary performers. Naughty Cabaret (Friesian at Underbelly, Bristo Square, Aug 6 – 15, not the 12th, 23:20) promises a queer feminist extravaganza full of energy, absurdity and ridiculousnes, while Bitches in Stitches: The New Grrrl Order (Basement Bar at Laughing Horse @ Boston Bar (New Town) Aug 10 – 27, Mon-Thu only, 20:15) sees the global all-femme/them stand-up collective deliver an hour of empowerment that celebrates femmes/thems in all their shapes and forms.
Explore all these shows and more as part of the EdFringe 2026 programme online.
