The 2025 Edinburgh Fringe has come to a close, leaving exhausted arts journalist Fergus Morgan with a long list of memorable shows. Here are his top 10 picks:
Fringe First Awards went to Ohio, Philosophy Of The World, and Hot Mess, as well as Jade Franks for her autobiographical show Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x). Other winners included the Filipa Bragança Award winner Beth Wants The D and the Stage’s Fringe Five list featuring theatre makers such as Emma Howlett.
However, criticism of the festival has been prominent this year. Natasha Tripney questioned the short timeframe for reviewing shows, while comedian Kieran Hodgson accused some reviews being written by AI. Fergus Morgan concludes his coverage with a list of his top 10 favourite shows.
Here are his picks:
1. Lost Lear – Dan Colley’s drama about an elderly Irish actor living with dementia was both intelligently constructed and devastatingly moving.
2. Aether – Emma Howlett’s show explores the stories of four women obsessed with pushing human knowledge boundaries, featuring shapeshifting performances.
3. Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) – Jade Franks’ autobiographical one-woman play retells a familiar story with refreshing style and sass.
4. Ohio – American folk duo The Bengsons’ 75-minute slice of atmospheric gig-theatre meditates on faith, mortality, and hearing loss through lyrical storytelling.
5. Madonna On The Rocks – Writer and performer Marie Hamilton explores the professional challenges of having a baby in the arts industry with messy flair and meta wit.
6. Hot Mess – Emerging musical-writing duo Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote reimagines earth and humanity’s relationship as a tumultuous love story.
7. Nowhere – Khalid Abdalla’s solo show weaves together storytelling, projections, movement, and more to explore his own experience of the Arab Spring in Egypt.
8. Windblown – Celebrated Scottish singer-songwriter Karine Polwart tells the tale of The Old Sabal through storytelling and song, overflowing with grief, love, and deep time.
9. DYKE Systems Ltd – Comedy theatre double-act Fag Packet’s anarchically entertaining show about two female representatives of an American multi-level marketing scam was a chaotic hour of audience interaction and meta gags.
10. Philosophy Of The World – In Bed With My Brother’s thrillingly unruly show takes the story of The Shaggs and spins it into a caustic comment on patriarchy.
For now, Fergus Morgan concludes his coverage with a list of his top 10 favourite shows. He thanks all his subscribers, paid supporters, and champion supporters for their contributions, making independent theatre coverage possible.
Source: https://thecrushbar.substack.com/p/the-ten-best-shows-of-the-2025-edinburgh