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Underbelly will host over 50 theatre shows this year: a full alphabetised list of theatre shows is included at the bottom of this release
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The iconic upside-down purple cow, Udderbelly, celebrates its 20th year at the Fringe
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Goodbye Dandelion wins the inaugural Futures Fund award, securing funding and support for its Fringe run and future life
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Tickets are now on sale at underbellyedinburgh.co.uk
June 17: For its 26th year at the Edinburgh Fringe, Underbelly’s theatre programme includes life-affirming storytelling, spine-tingling horror, ambitious immersive work and punchy political plays.
Beautifully crafted part-play, part-magic show BLACKBOX tells the true story of abolitionist Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved African American who shipped himself to freedom inside a wooden crate, from the award-winning team behind last year’s hit Dreamscape. Multi-award-winning storyteller Yoz Mensch recounts a road trip across Scotland they took with their grandpa, and the parts of their trans identity they kept hidden from him in My Grandpa Doesn’t Follow Me On Instagram.
Continuing true stories in which fact is stranger than fiction, in STEVE BURNS: ALIVE, the star of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues recounts how following his departure from the show, the internet decided he must have died. Linus Karp (Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, Gwyneth Goes Skiing) plays himself in Linus Karp Was Hit With An Umbrella, a fictionalised trial that could have followed the very real homophobic attack he suffered in 2024.
Connection can be found in the least likely of places. CRUSH follows two Somali teens who meet in a psychiatric clinic waiting room, and the sweet, unlikely relationship they forge in the weeks that follow, despite the taboos around how they met. Olivier-nominated Jonny Khan and writer/performer Alex Hill (Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse For England) star in The Jolly Fisherman, a new play about two best friends from different backgrounds, pushed apart by society but united by their favourite East End pub.
For those who followed the FIFA World Cup earlier in the summer, Dribble, from Brazilian company Cênica, explores football as a memory, ritual and collective experience connecting Brazil and Scotland. The Ghost of White Hart Lane is the story of Spurs and Scotland star John White, one of the best footballers of his time until he tragically died after being struck by lightning at the age of 27. His story is told by his son Rob White, drawing on his dad’s cheeky humour in this unique tale of nostalgia, grief and growing up without a father.
The 2026 programme also features award-winners: 2026 Offie-winning Spin Cycle is a queer contemporary play that explores love, memory, class and Irish identity through the story of two ex-lovers who reconnect in a laundrette. KINDER, the story of drag artist Goody Prostrate whose gig at a local reading hour is changed at the last minute, won The List’s Best LGBTQIA+ Edinburgh Fringe Award last year. The winner of the inaugural Underbelly Futures Fund initiative is Goodbye Dandelion, the heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship with a 50 year age gap, told with live music by real life brother and sister (Maddie Rice, Fleabag).
Exploring the full range of implications of what it means to be desired, Pink Rabbit follows good Muslim daughter Amna, who runs an OnlyFans called PersianBaby out of her bedroom just out of the watchful gaze of her strict mother. In the true story BASIC BALD B*TCH, Amy’s alopecia causes her hair to fall out in all the wrong places, and her resulting crisis of confidence brings up long-buried memories of sexual assault. Operotica: Lovers in Every Lifetime thoroughly debunks Timothee Chalamet’s assertion that opera is unwanted: guided by Fringe veteran Séayoncé and with stunning re-orchestrations of some of the best-known arias, audiences follow kinky opera duo Operotica through time as they are reincarnated, falling in love again and again.
Scots-language play hame. teeth. CLUB follows 19 year old party girl Morgan, working a soulless retail job and living for weekends spent with her best friends at the same club week after week – until she is assaulted on one of those sacred nights out. The play tackles the ways in which we navigate assault, the intricacies of female friendship, and how we can help survivors feel less alone. It’s brought to you by Sláinte! Theatre, the team behind last year’s DESPERATE WEE GAY BOY, which will be returning to the Fringe this summer, following the loveable Scot Ollie as he navigates London’s queer nightlife.
Underbelly’s iconic upside-down purple cow, Udderbelly, is celebrating its 20th year at the Fringe. If you’re after a feel-good night out, head into the belly of the beast for ‘one part sermon, one part purge, three parts party’ life-affirming, serotonin-boosting House of Lifeor for …Earnest? a five-star Play That Goes Wrong-style twist on the classic Oscar Wilde, where a crucial actor can’t be found.
ENDS
The 2026 Theatre Programme, Alphabetised
Shows with LGBTQ+ and Global Ethnic Minority (GEM) themes/cast are noted.
- …EARNEST? (Underbelly George Square: Udderbelly, 15:45)Improvised comedy theatre based on a traditional production of Oscar Wilde’s play where the lead actor fails to arrive on cue.
- BAD BOY (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Laugh, 13:00)Jack has no idea why his girlfriend walked out on him. A darkly funny solo show with live music about love, ambition and the damage we don’t mean to cause.
- BASIC BALD B*TCH (Underbelly Cowgate: Jelly Belly, 15:55)Everyone wants to be Amy. Until her hair falls out. Now she’s taking back her body, one fake eyebrow at a time. Drag and comedy exploring sexuality, alopecia and assault.
- BENSON DRIVE PRODUCTIONS ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE (various)Benson Drive Productions will bring three U.S.-based artists who have never been to the Fringe to experience the festival, covering travel, accommodation, and a $3,000 commission to create their first-ever Fringe piece.
- BLACKBOX (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Button, 12:40) (GEM)A play disguised as a magic show. Enslaved in America, Henry Brown conjures his life, reenacting his daring 1849 escape when he shipped himself to freedom inside a wooden crate. Audiences are invited to witness liberation not as legend but as lived and embodied resistance.
- BOOK OF SHADOWS (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 18:30) (GEM)A dark comedy mystery told through shadow puppets from the award-winning company behind Space Hippo. A teenager investigates her friends’ disappearance with her grandmother, who insists she’s a 200-year-old occultist.
- BURNING DOWN THE HORSE (Underbelly Bristo Square: Friesian, 12:50)What do boys talk about when hidden inside a giant wooden horse? Immersive comedy drops you inside the Trojan Horse to experience the conversations that went on between the soldiers in Homer’s epic.
- CRUSH (Underbelly Bristo Square: Clover, 15:55) (GEM)Two Somali teens meet in the waiting room of a mental health clinic. A tender, funny story about the messy path to healing.
- DEEPFAKE (Underbelly Cowgate: Top Belly, 16:40)A solo immersive experience where you will video-chat with coworkers, investigate your office, and argue for your perspective on AI. Part puzzle room, part quiet horror story.
- DELUGE (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 15:30)A magic-realist and comic exploration of grief, inspired by a break-up and over 40 interviews. A woman tries to contain her thoughts by fighting komodo dragons, house leaks and multiplying jam jars.
- DESPERATE WEE GAY BOY (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Dancer, 17:45) (LGBTQ+)Scottish writing following Ollie, a thrill-seeking Scot navigating London’s queer nightlife. Explores what it means to crave connection in a world of fleeting thrills.
- DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY (Underbelly Bristo Square: Ermintrude, 22:00)
(LGBTQ+)
The untold and untrue tale of Princess Diana’s extraordinary life combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry and queer joy.
- DIRTY DANCER (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Laugh, 19:25)A one-woman parody with a lift, this bold, funny solo riff on the 1987 cult classic Dirty Dancing.
- DRIBBLE (Underbelly George Square: Buttercup, 11:15) (GEM)In a Brazilian bar, a table becomes a stage where performers sing, drink and share stories, exploring football as memory and ritual. Part of São Paulo Showcase.
- FRACTURED (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Dancer, 12:50)Eva’s falling through time. We join her as she struggles to piece together her reality following a life-changing crash. A story about memory, shame and grief from the Bill Cashmore Award winning writer Shona Graham.
- FURNITURE BOYS (Underbelly Bristo Square: Jersey, 14:30)Emily Weitzman’s solo comedy turns boyfriends into furniture. Part showroom, part confessional, and a meditation on impermanence.
- GEORGINA THOMAS: HYSTERICAL SOPRANO (Underbelly Bristo Square: Dexter, 13:15)Some might say Georgina is a narcissist, but she prefers the term ‘soprano’. Trapped in the echo chamber of her own vibrato, Georgina is forced to confront her greatest obstacle: herself.
- GOODBYE DANDELION (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Dancer, 16:10)The story of an unlikely friendship with a 50-year age gap. A bold, witty new show blending storytelling and live piano told by real-life siblings, from the team behind Fringe hit Pickle Jar.
- GOODBYE HORSES: AN UNAUTHORISED SOLO RETELLING OF THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 20:00) (LGBTQ+)The newest film retelling from the mind that brought Never Let Go in 2022. A wild homage to Hannibal, Clarice and Buffalo Bill.
- HAME. TEETH. CLUB (Underbelly Cowgate: Iron Belly, 17:10)Scottish writing hame. teeth. CLUB is a darkly comedic one-woman play about a young working-class Scottish woman who finds herself at the Dalkeith Miners Club every weekend without fail.
- HOUSE OF LIFE (Underbelly George Square: Udderbelly, 21:45) (LGBTQ+)One part sermon. One part purge. Three parts party. The show that is ready to cure your existential dread with a glittering blast of joy, led by the glitter-clad, beat-dropping RaveRend.
- IN THE BLACK (Underbelly Bristo Square: Daisy, 14:45) (GEM)A dark comedy about an ambitious Black accountant fighting for a seat at the table in the high-stakes world of Wall Street in a system never built for him. Shortlisted for the Popcorn Writing Award.
- JELLYFISH (Underbelly George Square: Bluebell, 12:15)Twins Nova and T have just turned 100 years old – but still look 30. In an exclusive interview they reveal the controversial dystopian secrets behind their eternal youth.
- JERK OFF! (Underbelly Bristo Square: The Dairy Room, 11:35) (GEM)After her mother’s death, a British-Pakistani woman moves to Boston, where a Puerto Rican hip hop dancer teaches her how to dance and battle. She doesn’t realise she’s training to fight him.
- KINDER (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 14:00) (LGBTQ+)A drag performer scrambles to adapt an act for a children’s reading hour, spiralling into a chaotic interrogation of childhood, memory, and what it means to ‘grow up’.
- LINUS KARP WAS HIT WITH AN UMBRELLA (Underbelly Bristo Square: Friesian, 20:20)
(LGBTQ+)
Just before Fringe 2024, Linus Karp (Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, Gwyneth Goes Skiing) was the victim of a homophobic attack. The case never went to trial but is imagined here as if it did.
- MAKE YOUR MIRROR BE ME (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 12:30)Youth theatre written by Kirsty Housley (Fringe First and Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust winner). Live music, masks and ensemble storytelling exploring stories we tell ourselves and imagined communities.
- MY GRANDPA DOESN’T FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM (Underbelly Cowgate: Jelly Belly, 20:25) (LGBTQ+)Multi-award-winning Aussie storyteller Yoz Mensch returns with their autobiographical one-woman show; a vivid pilgrimage through familial grief to queer joy, about a road trip she took with her grandfather.
- NEVER LET GO: AN UNAUTHORISED RETELLING OF JAMES CAMERON’S TITANIC (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 20:00) (LGBTQ+)A one-man comedic retelling of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
- ONE HOUR WEDDING (Underbelly Bristo Square: Friesian, 21:50)A high-stakes, crowd-built ceremony where the audience makes the decisions and hosts Roz and Rachel have sixty minutes to pull it off (featuring several real-life weddings across the run).
- OPEROTICA: LOVERS IN EVERY LIFETIME (Underbelly Bristo Square: The Dairy Room, 19:45)
(LGBTQ+)
Classically trained, fetish-approved, kinky opera duo Operotica are gone, but their spirits are restless. Psychic Séayoncé recounts the past lives of the star-crossed shaggers who inspired every epic love tale.
- PECKING ORDER (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 12:30)A man enters a waiting room with no memory. Through various bizarre encounters, Pecking Order confronts the feeling of being ostracised by those you’d least expect.
- PERUDO (Underbelly Cowgate: Big Belly, 12:30)A comedic drama maps the trajectory of a friendship in decline. Over the course of an evening, Jamie’s birthday party spirals into a night of romantic misfire, performative politics and physical conflict.
- PINK RABBIT (Underbelly Bristo Square: Daisy, 16:15) (GEM)A coming-of-age solo play about faith, female desire and the cost of being seen. Good Muslim daughter Amna hides her OnlyFans webcam identity PersianBaby from her traditional mother.
- PLAY DEAD (Underbelly Cowgate: Iron Belly, 15:40) (LGBTQ+)A queer, unruly adaptation of Ovid. Echo has a broken heart, an empty dog crate and seventeen grapefruits. Help is just a phone call away, but he opts for revenge.
- RAVES R US (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Button, 22:10)A show that becomes a rave. After losing their jobs, Charlie and friends transform an abandoned warehouse into a sanctuary. Immersive, high-energy and inspired by true events.
- RIP HER TO SHREDS (Underbelly Cowgate: Iron Belly, 12:35)Set in the early 2000’s, four college girls summon dark magic in their dorm. Blood, chants and prophecy shatter repression as feral girlhood erupts.
- ROOMIES (Underbelly Bristo Square: Jersey, 13:00)Sophie was once an LA it-girl. Now, turning 30, she’s stuck in a treatment facility with her 18-year-old schizophrenic roommate. A darkly funny solo show about identity and friendship.
- SAFETY (Underbelly Bristo Square: Daisy, 11:45) (LGBTQ+)When psychotherapist Adam reconnects with a former patient, he wants to help, but things are not as they seem. A play about power, obsession and stories we tell to keep ourselves safe. Finalist, VCA Playwriting Award 2026.
- SAVING BRITNEY (Underbelly George Square: Bluebell, 18:15) (GEM)A hilarious and heart-breaking nostalgic love letter to the 90s seen through the eyes of the Princess of Pop’s biggest fan.
- SECRETS SECRETS SHHH! (Underbelly George Square: Buttercup, 14:15)Step into the backroom where a lonely cloakroom attendant invades her customers pockets and acts out imagined versions of what their lives could be.
- SPIN CYCLE (Underbelly Bristo Square: Clover, 14:25) (LGBTQ+)‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ meets ‘The L Word’ in this bittersweet, absurdist launderette meet-cute. Part of the 2026 Culture Ireland Edinburgh Showcase.
- STAND UP IF YOU’RE HERE TONIGHT (Underbelly Bristo Square: The Dairy Room, 16:40)A new play by Olivier-nominated playwright John Kolvenbach. Jim Ortlieb is a man desperate for connection, bent by isolation, and deeply in love with the audience itself.
- STEVE BURNS: ALIVE (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Button, 17:20)From 1996-2002, Steve Burns was America’s beloved problem-solver on Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues. Upon leaving the show, the internet decided his fate: he was dead…. except he wasn’t. Burns dissects being mourned while alive.
- SUCCUBUS (Underbelly Bristo Square: Dexter, 16:15)A woman’s appetite transforms, putting the men in menu. Amid medical shrugs and moral chaos, she finds power and unapologetic desire.
- TEN WAYS TO DIE HAPPY (Underbelly Bristo Square: Cowbarn, 13:55)A participatory, funny and deeply human theatre experience where ten audience members step on stage, start a new life and make choices which shape connections, encounters and conflicts.
- THAT’S WHY MUMS GO TO SWITZERLAND (Underbelly Bristo Square: Clover, 11:25)A middle-aged woman reluctantly moves in with her recently bereaved mother. An exploration of assisted dying within modern family dynamics. Best Solo Show Winner Riverside Studios Bitesize Festival.
- THE FAUSTUS PROJECT (Underbelly Cowgate: Belly Laugh, 21:05)An actor makes a deal with the devil. Doctor Faustus is theirs to perform. Except… they’ve never rehearsed it before. Featuring a different guest performer every night.
- THE GHOST OF WHITE HART LANE (Underbelly Bristo Square: The Dairy Room, 14:55)A humorous tale of nostalgia and grief. Follows the stories of footballer John White (struck by lightning and killed at age 27) and his son Rob White.
- THE JOLLY FISHERMAN (Underbelly George Square: Buttercup, 12:45) (GEM)The story of Alan and Amir. Inspired by true events in London’s East End, two boyhood best friends must hold tightly to their friendship as the place they call home changes. Starring Alex Hill (Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England) and Jonny Khan (Olivier-nominated The Shitheads).
- THE LATE UTOPIANS (Underbelly Cowgate: Iron Belly, 14:10)Emma is a journalist; by night she disappears into a hidden rave subculture. Set against the backdrop of an unravelling America, she finds a community and a vision of a different future.
- THE PIGEON FACTORY (Underbelly Cowgate: Jelly Belly, 12:55)An unhinged shut-in lives and works with a family of pigeons to avoid facing harsh truths about himself and the world. An absurdist dark comedy about work, family and capitalism.
- THIS PLAY SHOULDN’T EXIST (AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON HOLIDAY) (Underbelly Bristo Square: Daisy, 13:15)Last year, retired playwright Jonas Müller received a box from an unknown sender. It contained an enormous handwritten book, a pink flash drive and a firm but friendly threat. This is the tale of what happened next.
- TWITCH (Underbelly Bristo Square: Clover, 18:55)Doug Lemons has gone missing in a town where no one trusts each other. His mother, Pam, searches obsessively for Doug without ever leaving her couch. In this surreal American town, Pam claws for certainty, a witness and evidence that she was ever chosen.
- WENCH (Underbelly George Square: Bluebell, 22:45) (LGBTQ+)The year is 1645. England is gripped by whispers of witchcraft, and Martha Tallow is guilty by popular demand. A darkly comic, one-wench musical about the fine art of being unacceptable.
Issued on behalf of Underbelly
For enquiries, please contact Amy Elizabeth at amy.elizabeth@underbelly.co.uk and Cate Hanlon at cate@underbelly.co.uk.
For tickets contact press@underbelly.co.uk.
Full programme listings here.
ABOUT UNDERBELLY
Underbelly is a UK-based live entertainment company founded in 2000 by Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood. The company produces and programmes acclaimed theatrical productions, live events, festivals and cultural experiences across the UK and internationally, often in site-specific and unconventional locations.
Alongside ATG Productions, Underbelly is co-producer of the Olivier Award-winning Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Other recent productions include Macbeth alongside Wessex Grove starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma, Nutcracker at the Tuff Nutt Jazz Club with The McOnie Company and Southbank Centre, Cabaret Royale in Charleston, and Tweedy’s Massive Circus.
In 2023, the company opened its first permanent venue, Underbelly Boulevard Soho, in London’s West End. The venue presents a year-round programme of cabaret, comedy, circus, music and theatre, alongside free events and artist development initiatives. Artists appearing at the venue have included Steven Frayne, Flo & Joan, James Acaster, John Bishop, Dara Ó Briain, Michelle Wolf, Mason Alexander Park, Tim Key and Laura Benanti.
As one of the leading producers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for over 25 years, Underbelly has presented landmark productions including Fleabag, SIX, My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?), Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, Humans by Circa and work from Mischief Comedy.
Underbelly also produces major festivals and events including Underbelly Festival, Christmas in Leicester Square and Skate Leicester Square, and has previously delivered large-scale public events including Pride in London, West End Live, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, Edinburgh’s Christmas, Dubai Expo and The Walk and the first ever swarm drone show as part of Hogmanay’s online celebrations in 2020. Since 2025, Underbelly is also the programming producer for Nevill Holt Festival in Leicestershire.
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