by Saoirse Anton

After a year’s hiatus, the world’s largest artistic smorgasbord returns to its usual August slot in the calendar. Opening on the 6th August, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe brings a feast of theatre to stages and screens, and, despite not being able to attend in person this year, I certainly plan to indulge in some theatrical gluttony.

Last year was the first time in over 70 years that the Edinburgh festivals did not go ahead, though the Fringe Society did embark on an ambitious digital programme of fundraising for artists that were affected by the pandemic, as well as supporting a wide variety of digital events and offerings. This year’s Fringe is a slimmed down, hybrid version of the usual festival, with just over 670 shows on sale compared to the 2019 festival’s 3,841 shows. However, there is no shortage of exciting and interesting work to choose from. I’m already struggling to wedge all of the shows I want to see into my diary, and that’s only choosing from online and streamed work!

As the world converges on Edinburgh, both digitally and in-person, Ireland is bringing a host of delectable treats to the theatrical banquet. If you’re struggling to pick what you’re going to see, then read on for my picks of Irish work at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Charlie’s a Clepto

Originally premiered in 2017, produced by Axis Ballymun, Charlie’s A Clepto has moved online, with a new version filmed in the Pumphouse Building in Dublin Port forming part of the Assembly Showcatcher Online programme. Written and performed by Claire Monnelly and directed by Aaron Monaghan, Charlie’s A Clepto is a heartfelt comedy that won over audiences and reviewers alike on its previous outings, with Peter Crawley’s Irish Times review of the 2019 revival describing it as ‘deftly comic and evocative.’

Afloat

From the same creators as previous Fringe First award-winning play Mustard, Afloat finds two sisters, Bláthnaid and Debs, living on the top floor of Liberty Hall, as the sole survivors of climate disaster in Dublin. In what The Arts Review described as a play that ‘makes its serious points heard for never taking itself too seriously,’ Eva O’Connor prompts her audience to consider what has lead (or is leading) to this climate apocalypse that Bláthnaid and Debs are living through. Afloat is streaming via Summerhall Online and I will certainly be tuning in.

WSTL:Epistles

Multi-award-winning Irish theatre collective, Malaprop, return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with WSTL: Epistles, a durational performance on WhatsApp. Providing a glimpse into their production Where Sat the Lovers, which is due to premiere as part of Dublin Fringe Festival 2021, WSTL: Epistles promises to be yet another innovative theatrical delight from the ever-inventive Malaprop team. 

The Saviour

Another Irish Fringe First winner, Deirdre Kinahan, and award-winning production company, Landmark Productions, brings The Saviour  to Assembly Showcatcher Online. First broadcast as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival 2021, The Saviour stars Marie Mullen and Brian Gleeson, and promises to be a riveting work, drawing the social and personal together in what the Irish Independent described as ‘an emotional high-wire act.’ 

CITY  

Sticking with Cork offerings, we find CITY, a recent streamed production from the Everyman Theatre, which will be broadcast on the Fringe Player throughout the Festival. Due to unfortunate internet issues, I missed the first outing of this production, so I am particularly excited to catch it this time around. Delving into the discarded stories of a city, this production brings together fourteen intersecting streets, five time periods and one stretch of legendary bog, and promises to be a lyrical storytelling treat. 

This is just a small selection of the work I am looking forward to catching over the next month (the word ‘moderation’ is erased from my vocabulary when I approach the Edinburgh festivals!), but whether you love plays, comedy, dance, music, or poetry, and whether you are looking for laughter, a cathartic cry or just something to keep the family occupied of a Saturday afternoon, settle into your sofa and enjoy the theatrical feast that is the Edinburgh festivals from a distance.