It’s almost time for the Edinburgh Festivals to once again burst into life across the city.

As always, our talented students, alumni, staff members and friends are involved in a number of shows throughout the month of August.

Feeling overwhelmed with the choice on offer? Want to start planning those days off? Let our helpful guide of all things ENU provide you with a little bit of festival inspiration.

Read on for more!

Student shows at this year’s Fringe

New Celts Productions is a collective of new Scottish talent who have trained on Edinburgh Napier University’s BA (Hons) Acting & English and BA (Hons) Stage & Screen Acting programmes and Edinburgh Napier’s MFA in Directing. This production represents the culmination of that training and will showcase the talent of emerging young professional actors, directors, producers and writers.

Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Six friends plan a night of folklore and song. With ancient tales of myth and magic brought to life with song and powerful storytelling, they hope to launch a business reflecting their love of Celtic and Gaelic mythologies. It’s the perfect plan. Perfect, that is, until some evangelical Christians get wind of their ideas… as the performance draws near, the protest crowd gathers. Can the company hold their nerve? Will our heroes win the day? Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes examines the desire to hold on to ancient stories in a modern world. 3-23 August (odd dates).

Take Me To Your Leader

Deep in the Scottish Highlands lies Nebula Inc, a private space research facility fronted by egomaniacal billionaire Amadeus Klein. Fed up with unfair treatment and exploitation, Nebula’s interns are going on strike. Simultaneously, Nebula has stumbled upon a groundbreaking discovery: a message, potentially from an extra-terrestrial source. As the higher-ups clamp down on the strike and tensions rise amongst the interns, cryptic symbols from space become the least of their worries. Through trying to better workers’ rights, Nebula’s employees must learn to build solidarity with each other and possibly other life forms… 3-23 August (odd dates).

Badger

Trying to get through the many challenges of their day, a team of young co-workers in a broken system begin to have their limits pushed to the extreme. How much pressure can one person take? There’s a wedding on the lawn, a promotion on the line and a badger on the grounds. How will they put out all those fires? And is there really a badger causing havoc on the estate? Badger is a new piece of writing that highlights the recent issues that are affecting young people today. 3-23 August (odd dates).

You Deserve It

Six affluent socialites convene for a night of excess in a luxurious Edinburgh penthouse. They consider themselves the best of what the creative arts have to offer, the self-proclaimed future of their respective industries: after all, their daddies have told them so. Glasses clink and laughter fills the room, but the atmosphere reeks of deception and Chanel No 5 as veiled threats begin to emerge, hidden agendas and fractured loyalties are exposed. In this suspenseful exploration of privilege, wealth, and status, where do the lines between innocence and complicity lie? 3-23 August (odd dates).

Modern Love Is Not A Dream

'When I started this thesis, I had no idea I’d end up where I have. But, as all good researchers know, the thing you think you’re investigating doesn’t usually end up being the most interesting part of the conversation.' Love is a complicated subject and Liv wants to set the record straight. Dive into the intricacies of love, modern dating, trauma and the patriarchy as we follow her and her many prospects as she tries to balance her relationships, her thesis and her past together. 4-24 August (even dates).

Rat King Gospel

Three childhood friends reunite after one of them finds success in her children's book series The Rat King Gospels. But whose idea was The Rat King? Is he merely a storybook hero? Secrets begin to unravel as they piece together the untold story of what really happened to the monstrously cruel headteacher, Mr Mackenzie. Rat King Gospel is a new drama touching on themes of morality, friendship, responsibility and childhood trauma. The play explores how the games we play as children can stick with us as adults in ways which we never could have imagined. 4-24 August (even dates).

Di(n)e

A man has decided to take his own life and finds himself in a state of limbo between life and death. Here he meets dead family, loved ones and a former enemy, each with something to say about his choice. With only an hour before his body dies, his soul must decide between life and death. 4-24 August (event dates).

We Used To Be Girl Scouts

Drew thinks she’s pregnant. Sasha loves her female best friend. And Mary’s home life is a dark pit of despair. Finding themselves crushed under the unbearable weight that is teenagerdom, they take to the woods to clear their minds and make some tough decisions. When Mary discloses her plans of running away for good, suddenly life has more possibility and meaning than ever before. But is it really within their grasp? A triptych of the pain, joy and big feelings that make up adolescent girlhood. 4-24 August (even dates).

Loose Ends

A street trader from Glasgow and a runaway from Skye meet in unusual circumstances! Through miscommunication and comic interaction their relationship is formed. A bittersweet, poignant play about the urban/rural divide and loneliness. 5-10 August (all dates).

Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas

Trauma + Time – PTSD = Comedy!

Comedy and therapy for PTSD have a lot in common: both deal with the absurd and rely on authenticity to be good. Clinical psychologist and researcher Edel McGlanaghy (the NHS and Edinburgh Napier University) demonstrates how trauma can be funny and comedy can be therapeutic, all at the same time. 5 August.

Make More Fake News!

With the advent of generative AI for text, video and images paired with deregulation of social media and news websites, fake news has never been easier to create and spread. So if you can’t beat them – join them? Ted Carlson Webster (Edinburgh Napier University) shares an unconventional disinformation deterrent: teaching people how to write convincing fake news themselves. 24 August.

Other staff and student shows

Paradigms Art Exhibition

Paradigms contemporary painting exhibition features vibrant new work from four Edinburgh-based women artists. With distinct world views, they share a common passion for their individual influences and subjects. Their diverse approaches include abstract work focused on the natural environment (Catherine Young), atmospherics and botanicals (Hazel Brady), figurative scenes depicting emotional ambiguity (Jayne McIntyre), and expressive imaginaries of the tourist gaze (Louise Todd). First time at the Fringe! ‘A must-see painting exhibition by contemporary artists showing new work using a variety of approaches’ (SmartLeisureGuide.wordpress.com, 2022). 10-14 August.

A Giant on the Bridge

Unflinching, spellbinding gig theatre devised by award-winning theatre maker Liam Hurley and songwriter Jo Mango, also featuring Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow), Louise McCraw, Raveloe and Solareye (Edinburgh Napier's Dave Hook). Every year in Scotland, thousands of people return home from prison to an uncertain future. A Giant on the Bridge reveals the hidden heartbeat within one such story. Identity, family, community, restoration and injustice are explored through original songwriting, hip-hop and immersive storytelling by five of Scotland’s leading musicians. Developed with the Distant Voices Community – people from across the criminal justice system. Part of MadeInScotlandShowcase.com. 2-6, 8-11, 13-18 August.

Why do we need whistle-blowers?

What motivates whistle-blowers to disclose official information, corruption, or fraud to a wider public? Despite risk to reputation, livelihood and even life, whistle-blowers will work with investigative journalists to bring to light illegal activities that would otherwise go undetected.

What protection does our legal system afford such individuals and what of the ‘bad leakers’ who are motivated to disclose information for personal political or financial gain and no regard to public interest? 21 August. Supported by Edinburgh Napier and features the University's Dr Eamonn O'Neill.

The Napier University Drama Society presents…Why Do We Lie?

Why do we as humans lie? It’s in our nature, is it not? There’s a whole host of justifications, like not hurting someone’s feelings, protecting others, giving the illusion of hope, saving your own skin or just being someone you're not (actors, am I right?). But is it always the right thing to do? 19-24 August.

SunDate Roast

Join us for a SunDate Roast! The ultimate late-evening Fringe spectacle! Dive into the madness of stand-up comedy, improv, and dating roasts – perhaps some tears, too. Each night, a new performer will be taking the stage, with immersive audience participation. Expect endless laughs, banter and surprises. You might even find yourself on stage or leaving with a prize, or... perhaps single! Bring your pals for a guaranteed good time or dare to come with your other half for a challenging night out! Serial daters at the front, please! Features Edinburgh Napier Creative Advertising student Mihalis Michailidis. 19-24 August.

900 voices

Celebrating St Giles’ Cathedral’s momentous 900th anniversary, 900 Voices is an ever-evolving sound installation created entirely from the diverse voices of Edinburgh’s communities.

Exploring the themes that anchor this year’s International Festival programme, reflections on belonging and community reverberate through St Giles’ Cathedral in 900 Voices. This experimental installation - by Edinburgh Napier's Zoë Irvine with Lindsay Perth and Jules Rawlinson - emerged from recorded conversations with people from all walks of life across Edinburgh. Prepare for some deep listening to take in the rhythms and cadences of these conversations. 2-25 August.

Our Alumni shows

Kyle Dolan: No Place Like Home

Recipient of the Adelaide Fringe Funding Grant, filmmaker, comedian and Edinburgh Napier alumnus Kyle Dolan makes his highly anticipated Edinburgh Fringe solo-show debut. Using stand-up comedy and storyboard illustrations, Kyle pitches the audience a movie about what the concept of "home" means when you are drawn in so many different directions, as well as what happens when you are the only Scottish kid in school when Shrek is the biggest movie in the world. 'Certainly one to keep an eye on' (AdelaideInsider.wordpress.com). Illustrations by Alex Mills. ***** (Funny Tonne, Melbourne International Comedy Festival). 31 July, 1-11, 13-18, 20-25 August.

Kyle Dolan: Liars and Clowns: A Late Night Comedy Show

Rachelle Atalla & Ali Millar: Longing in a Blazing World

In Rachelle Atalla’s The Salt Flats, six strangers journey to a retreat in the salt flats of Bolivia, desperate to find a cure for their various ills. Edinburgh Napier alumna Ali Millar’s debut novel Ava Anna Ada is set during a scorching summer when the past comes calling for Anna. The authors discuss their atmospheric novels this afternoon with Zoe Venditozzi. 18 August.

Got a show that you think should be in our guide? Let us know by emailing social@napier.ac.uk!