Some Danish delicacies at Edinburgh Fringe 26
One of the great pleasures of the Edinburgh Fringe is discovering work from around the world. This year, the #DANISH Showcase presents a curated selection of boundary-pushing productions that highlight the bold creativity of contemporary Danish performance.
Laughing Out Lonely (LOL) is a bold, genre-defying work from award-winning Danish company OPE-N, blending opera, physical theatre and immersive staging to explore what it means to feel alone in a hyperconnected world.
With English-language lyrics drawn from anonymous social media posts, LOL transforms digital confession into a raw, live experience. Acclaimed countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen channels a multitude of voices, vulnerable, furious, intimate and searching, in a work that places the audience inside a theatrical echo chamber.
Directed by Louise Beck, the production breaks down the boundaries between performer and audience, creating an environment that is at once unsettling and deeply human. Direct, unflinching and emotionally charged, LOL pushes the limits of what opera can be, speaking urgently to a generation navigating identity, connection and loneliness online.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, times vary.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/laughing-out-lonely/
GOOD ENOUGH? Is a bold, boisterous and deeply human celebration of queer joy, imperfection and the courage to take up space. From the critically acclaimed, award-winning company Himherandit, this is quirky and striking physical theatre, exploring growing up, finding your people and learning to be seen.
Blending movement, voice, sound and visual imagery, three performers take audiences on a fast-moving journey through their lives — from childhood obsessions and first dances to heartbreaks, training rooms and adult awakenings — transforming personal memories into a shared celebration of creativity, survival and queer joy.
Artistic Director Andreas Constantinou says: “I set out to make a dance show and found myself creating something that was just as much about the people moving through it. GOOD ENOUGH? grew from a frustration with conformity in both dance and everyday life, and became a celebration of the people I actually care about. The work asks what becomes possible when we let go of performing perfection and return to play.”
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 13:30.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/good-enough/
Ten years after its sold-out, five-star run, DON GNU brings its breakout show M.I.S.- ALL NIGHT LONG back to Edinburgh.
Blending physical theatre, dance and comedy, the show throws three men into a chaotic and revealing night of identity crises.
Through outrageous stunts, slapstick comedy and moments of raw vulnerability, they wrestle with archetypes; the tough guy, the lover, the pushover, the best mate - in a relentless search for what it means to be a man today.
Set against a backdrop of club beats and surreal projections, the production is both riotously funny and unexpectedly moving, pushing physical limits while peeling back layers of performance, expectation and masculinity.
Artistic Directors Jannik Elkær and Kristoffer Louis said: “When we created M.I.S. – All Night Long, we asked a simple question: what does it mean to be a man? Now, ten years later, the question feels even more urgent - and far more complex. We take the clichés of masculinity, strength, control, aggression, and push them until they crack. What’s left is something much more human.”
ZOO Southside, 18 - 30 Aug, 12:30
https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/m.i.s-all-night-long/
OUR OTHER ORGAN is a striking and interdisciplinary performance from NoLands that fuses physical theatre, anatomy and political inquiry into a visceral and deeply thought-provoking experience.
With brutal honesty and dark humour, Boaz Barkan leads a performance lecture that cuts into the living body to expose a hidden “organ” — a metaphorical site where racism, trauma and ideology reside. Set within a stark, clinical environment, the body becomes both subject and object in a compelling dissection of identity, history and power.
Blurring the boundaries between victim and perpetrator, the work traces how histories of European antisemitism continue to shape lived experience, examining how ideas of superiority and inferiority are internalised, embodied and reproduced. Moving between personal narrative and collective history, OUR OTHER ORGAN explores how trauma can transform into systems of domination and violence, challenging audiences to confront what is carried within the body — and what is often left unseen.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 16:15.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/our-other-organ/
More info at https://danishedfringe.com/
Roger Kay, July 20
Some Danish delicacies at Edinburgh Fringe 26
One of the great pleasures of the Edinburgh Fringe is discovering work from around the world. This year, the #DANISH Showcase presents a curated selection of boundary-pushing productions that highlight the bold creativity of contemporary Danish performance.
Laughing Out Lonely (LOL) is a bold, genre-defying work from award-winning Danish company OPE-N, blending opera, physical theatre and immersive staging to explore what it means to feel alone in a hyperconnected world.
With English-language lyrics drawn from anonymous social media posts, LOL transforms digital confession into a raw, live experience. Acclaimed countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen channels a multitude of voices, vulnerable, furious, intimate and searching, in a work that places the audience inside a theatrical echo chamber.
Directed by Louise Beck, the production breaks down the boundaries between performer and audience, creating an environment that is at once unsettling and deeply human. Direct, unflinching and emotionally charged, LOL pushes the limits of what opera can be, speaking urgently to a generation navigating identity, connection and loneliness online.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, times vary.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/laughing-out-lonely/
GOOD ENOUGH? Is a bold, boisterous and deeply human celebration of queer joy, imperfection and the courage to take up space. From the critically acclaimed, award-winning company Himherandit, this is quirky and striking physical theatre, exploring growing up, finding your people and learning to be seen.
Blending movement, voice, sound and visual imagery, three performers take audiences on a fast-moving journey through their lives — from childhood obsessions and first dances to heartbreaks, training rooms and adult awakenings — transforming personal memories into a shared celebration of creativity, survival and queer joy.
Artistic Director Andreas Constantinou says: “I set out to make a dance show and found myself creating something that was just as much about the people moving through it. GOOD ENOUGH? grew from a frustration with conformity in both dance and everyday life, and became a celebration of the people I actually care about. The work asks what becomes possible when we let go of performing perfection and return to play.”
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 13:30.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/good-enough/
Ten years after its sold-out, five-star run, DON GNU brings its breakout show M.I.S.- ALL NIGHT LONG back to Edinburgh.
Blending physical theatre, dance and comedy, the show throws three men into a chaotic and revealing night of identity crises.
Through outrageous stunts, slapstick comedy and moments of raw vulnerability, they wrestle with archetypes; the tough guy, the lover, the pushover, the best mate - in a relentless search for what it means to be a man today.
Set against a backdrop of club beats and surreal projections, the production is both riotously funny and unexpectedly moving, pushing physical limits while peeling back layers of performance, expectation and masculinity.
Artistic Directors Jannik Elkær and Kristoffer Louis said: “When we created M.I.S. – All Night Long, we asked a simple question: what does it mean to be a man? Now, ten years later, the question feels even more urgent - and far more complex. We take the clichés of masculinity, strength, control, aggression, and push them until they crack. What’s left is something much more human.”
ZOO Southside, 18 - 30 Aug, 12:30
https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/m.i.s-all-night-long/
OUR OTHER ORGAN is a striking and interdisciplinary performance from NoLands that fuses physical theatre, anatomy and political inquiry into a visceral and deeply thought-provoking experience.
With brutal honesty and dark humour, Boaz Barkan leads a performance lecture that cuts into the living body to expose a hidden “organ” — a metaphorical site where racism, trauma and ideology reside. Set within a stark, clinical environment, the body becomes both subject and object in a compelling dissection of identity, history and power.
Blurring the boundaries between victim and perpetrator, the work traces how histories of European antisemitism continue to shape lived experience, examining how ideas of superiority and inferiority are internalised, embodied and reproduced. Moving between personal narrative and collective history, OUR OTHER ORGAN explores how trauma can transform into systems of domination and violence, challenging audiences to confront what is carried within the body — and what is often left unseen.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 16:15.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/our-other-organ/
More info at https://danishedfringe.com/
Roger Kay, July 20
Some Danish delicacies at Edinburgh Fringe 26
One of the great pleasures of the Edinburgh Fringe is discovering work from around the world. This year, the #DANISH Showcase presents a curated selection of boundary-pushing productions that highlight the bold creativity of contemporary Danish performance.
Laughing Out Lonely (LOL) is a bold, genre-defying work from award-winning Danish company OPE-N, blending opera, physical theatre and immersive staging to explore what it means to feel alone in a hyperconnected world.
With English-language lyrics drawn from anonymous social media posts, LOL transforms digital confession into a raw, live experience. Acclaimed countertenor Morten Grove Frandsen channels a multitude of voices, vulnerable, furious, intimate and searching, in a work that places the audience inside a theatrical echo chamber.
Directed by Louise Beck, the production breaks down the boundaries between performer and audience, creating an environment that is at once unsettling and deeply human. Direct, unflinching and emotionally charged, LOL pushes the limits of what opera can be, speaking urgently to a generation navigating identity, connection and loneliness online.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, times vary.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/laughing-out-lonely/
GOOD ENOUGH? Is a bold, boisterous and deeply human celebration of queer joy, imperfection and the courage to take up space. From the critically acclaimed, award-winning company Himherandit, this is quirky and striking physical theatre, exploring growing up, finding your people and learning to be seen.
Blending movement, voice, sound and visual imagery, three performers take audiences on a fast-moving journey through their lives — from childhood obsessions and first dances to heartbreaks, training rooms and adult awakenings — transforming personal memories into a shared celebration of creativity, survival and queer joy.
Artistic Director Andreas Constantinou says: “I set out to make a dance show and found myself creating something that was just as much about the people moving through it. GOOD ENOUGH? grew from a frustration with conformity in both dance and everyday life, and became a celebration of the people I actually care about. The work asks what becomes possible when we let go of performing perfection and return to play.”
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 13:30.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/good-enough/
Ten years after its sold-out, five-star run, DON GNU brings its breakout show M.I.S.- ALL NIGHT LONG back to Edinburgh.
Blending physical theatre, dance and comedy, the show throws three men into a chaotic and revealing night of identity crises.
Through outrageous stunts, slapstick comedy and moments of raw vulnerability, they wrestle with archetypes; the tough guy, the lover, the pushover, the best mate - in a relentless search for what it means to be a man today.
Set against a backdrop of club beats and surreal projections, the production is both riotously funny and unexpectedly moving, pushing physical limits while peeling back layers of performance, expectation and masculinity.
Artistic Directors Jannik Elkær and Kristoffer Louis said: “When we created M.I.S. – All Night Long, we asked a simple question: what does it mean to be a man? Now, ten years later, the question feels even more urgent - and far more complex. We take the clichés of masculinity, strength, control, aggression, and push them until they crack. What’s left is something much more human.”
ZOO Southside, 18 - 30 Aug, 12:30
https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/m.i.s-all-night-long/
OUR OTHER ORGAN is a striking and interdisciplinary performance from NoLands that fuses physical theatre, anatomy and political inquiry into a visceral and deeply thought-provoking experience.
With brutal honesty and dark humour, Boaz Barkan leads a performance lecture that cuts into the living body to expose a hidden “organ” — a metaphorical site where racism, trauma and ideology reside. Set within a stark, clinical environment, the body becomes both subject and object in a compelling dissection of identity, history and power.
Blurring the boundaries between victim and perpetrator, the work traces how histories of European antisemitism continue to shape lived experience, examining how ideas of superiority and inferiority are internalised, embodied and reproduced. Moving between personal narrative and collective history, OUR OTHER ORGAN explores how trauma can transform into systems of domination and violence, challenging audiences to confront what is carried within the body — and what is often left unseen.
Summerhall, 19 - 31 Aug, 16:15.
https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/our-other-organ/
More info at https://danishedfringe.com/
Roger Kay, July 20