We are thrilled to announce that many current and former Fellows and friends of IASH will grace the stages of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Art Festival and International Book Festival in 2025. With a diverse array of offerings, including theatre, film, music, poetry, storytelling, readings and talks, there's an abundance of experiences awaiting festivalgoers. Don’t miss out!
Alright Sunshine by Isla Cowan at the Pleasance
'It's like the sun casts a spell, some hypnotic solar stuff, and suddenly ordinary people dae terrible things…'
When PC Nicky McCreadie responds to a mass brawl on Edinburgh’s Meadows, she finds herself face-to-face with a past she’d rather forget. Alright Sunshine is a razor-sharp monologue dissecting gender, power, and who owns public space. Critically acclaimed, hailed as ‘a memorable and hard-hitting piece of feminist theatre’ (Scotsman), the play ‘delivers a powerful punch’ (TheReviewsHub). From award-winning Edinburgh playwright and former IASH Fellow Isla Cowan, supported by Tron Theatre and produced by Wonder Fools, the blazing powerhouse behind Fringe hit Òran.
30 July - 24 August at the Pleasance Dome
Get your tickets here.
The Bacchae by Company of Wolves at Assembly Roxy
An outcast god. A powerless king. A mother who kills her only son. Glasgow's acclaimed Company of Wolves present an earth-shattering solo retelling of the myth of Dionysos: an epic of rejection, vengeance and rebirth told through story, dance and ancient song. Written and performed by Ewan Downie, The Bacchae blurs the lines between binaries: human and animal, male and female, victim and perpetrator, and takes us on a transformative journey from repression and denial to renewal and release. A hymn of rebirth for our shattered selves. Former IASH Fellow Dr Michael Carroll is the company's consultant on Ancient Greek.
31 July - 24 August at Assembly Roxy.
Buy tickets here.
Balfour Reparations by Farah Saleh at Summerhall
This performance lecture examines the UK's colonial legacy in Palestine, focusing on Arthur James Balfour, Prime Minister (1902-1905) and Foreign Secretary (1916-1919), and his role in denying Palestinian political rights. Utilising speculative choreography and Afrofuturism, former IASH Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Farah Saleh intertwines history, fiction and fantasy, drawing inspiration from archival materials. Set in 2045, the lecture reflects on a fictitious apology letter issued by the UK in 2025, promising reparations to the Palestinian people. The audience become members of the reparations' evaluation committee created on the 20th anniversary of the apology and are invited to participate in the performance. Part of the Made In Scotland Showcase.
31 July – 25 Aug at TechCube 0 at Summerhall
Get your tickets here.
Up by Visible Fictions
The odds of perishing in a commercial plane accident are 29.4 million to one. Reassuring. Except if you're the one. As emergency masks plummet, engines squeal and hand baggage flies from the overhead bins, two strangers hold hands. Scared and breathless, their lives flash past as they face their final moments together. Exploring themes of luck, choice, fate, coincidence and connection, this thrilling production, created by award-winning, critically acclaimed theatre company Visible Fictions, is a fantasy table-top exploration using object theatre and gripping storytelling. Former IASH Fellow Frances Poet is part of the creative team.
30 July - 24 Aug at Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower
Get your tickets here.
Lewis Hetherington + CJ Mahony: who will be remembered here at EAF Pavilion
who will be remembered here is a tender film which draws intimate connections between queer people across the span of Scottish history.
Former IASH Fellow Lewis Hetherington and collaborator CJ Mahony invite four queer writers to respond to Historic Environment Scotland sites, creating performances exploring the resonances and dissonances between who they are and the sites they visited. Each writer responds in a different language: Robert Softley Gale in English, Harry Josephine Giles in Scots, Robbie MacLeòid in Gaelic, and Bea Webster in BSL. The film brings to life experiences that have been rendered invisible by the erasure of marginalised people from history.
7 – 24 August at EAF Pavilion, 45 Leith Street
Free (drop-in), with screenings every 45 minutes. See here for more information. You can also hear more about the project from Lewis and CJ at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Sunday 17 August at 14:45-15:45 - get a ticket here.
Kevin Guyan & Keio Yoshida: Queer Rights and Realities
Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025. IASH Affiliate Kevin Guyan and human rights lawyer Keio Yoshida both grapple with the complex realities – the challenges and triumphs – of queer existence in contemporary society. Guyan’s Rainbow Trap delves into the societal pressures and expectations that can constrain queer identities, while Yoshida’s Pride and Prejudices examines the flawed legal frameworks shaping LGBTQ+ experiences. Join them for a vital conversation with Caro Clarke about justice, visibility, and the ongoing fight for equality.
14 Aug, 17:45 - 18:45, at the Courtyard Theatre, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Get your tickets here.
Disrupting the Narrative – A Performance
Do you think you know Edinburgh? What about the parts of its story it prefers to conceal? This theatrical poetry performance from Edinburgh's former Makar Hannah Lavery alongside fellow poets Jeda Pearl, Shasta Hanif Ali, Niall Moorjani, and IASH alumna Alycia Pirmohamed, illuminates the hidden history of the city, its institutions, and its people. Set to music by composer Niroshini Thambar, and featuring evocative images from photographer Kat Gollock, your understanding of Edinburgh will be changed forever by this special event. Originally commissioned by Push the Boat Out, with support from Edinburgh 900.
17 Aug, 17:00 - 18:00, in the Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Get your tickets here.
Alycia also features in Beautiful Experiments at the Book Festival on Saturday 23 August, 16:45 - 17:45, where she launches this too is a glistening - described as a prose poem, a nature diary, and a poetic inquiry, the pamphlet is the creation of four brilliant poets and writers. Grab a ticket here.
Beyond the Archives with Jo Clifford and Jen Hadfield
Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025. Now in its centenary year, the National Library of Scotland is a treasure trove of Scotland's literary past - but did you know it also cares for the archives of our nation's contemporary writers? Today, we explore the idea of a 'living archive' with playwright and IASH alumna Jo Clifford and poet Jen Hadfield. Join them for a conversation about building an archive, the creative and curatorial choices involved, and discover the personal objects that fuel each writer's creative life.
18 Aug, 14:00 - 15:00, at Venue B, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Get your tickets here.
Orian Brook, Dave O’Brien & Mark Taylor: Is Culture Bad For You?
Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025. The benefits of culture to health, education and community are championed, but can culture ever do wrong? First published in 2020, academics and creative industry experts Orian Brook (former IASH Fellow), Dave O'Brien and Mark Taylor's Culture is Bad for You breaks down the heated debate around arts work in Britain, its systems of precarity, and the exclusion of women, people of colour, and working-class people. Freshly updated for the post-Covid era, its concerns have only grown more urgent.
19 Aug, 15:30 - 16:30, at the Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Get a ticket here.
David Farrier & Alex Riley: Life Unstoppable
Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025. Our planet teems with life – across four billion years of evolution, organisms have adapted to thrive in even the most inhospitable environments. This fascinating conversation will take you from the highest peaks to the ocean’s depths as former IASH Fellow David Farrier (Nature’s Genius) and Alex Riley (Super Natural) discuss the astonishing tenacity of life in all its forms and find hope for humanity’s future in the most unexpected places. Chaired by Cal Flynn.
21 Aug, 13:15 - 14:15, at Venue NW, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Get a ticket here.
Auntie Empire by Disaster Plan and Jordan & Skinner at Summerhall
Auntie is a sweet old dear and a jolly good raconteur. All she wants to do is regale us with tales of dear old Blighty – but her body is falling to bits. Oh dear. Best not mention it. Someone ought to clean that up. By turns an absurd and rambunctious bouffon comedy and a bloody, messy, sing-along satire on Britain and nationhood, Auntie Empire was originally developed at IASH and is an unmissable collaboration between award-winning Scottish companies Disaster Plan and Jordan & Skinner.
22 Aug at the Dissection Room at Summerhall
Get your tickets here.
Naga Munchetty: It’s (Not) All In Your Head
Part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025. Women’s healthcare is in need of a revolution, and BBC broadcaster Naga Munchetty is ready to fight. In It’s Probably Nothing, she explores the difficulties women still face in getting diagnosed and treated, and provides actionable lessons to help women advocate for themselves in medical settings. She talks with Devi Sridhar about the fundamental flaws in our healthcare system and the provocative conversations that inspired her book. Supported by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities.
23 Aug, 17:00 - 18:00, at Venue T, Edinburgh Futures Institute (Edinburgh International Book Festival)
Buy your tickets here.
Black is the Color of my Voice by Apphia Campbell at the Lyceum
In September, immediately following the Fringe, former Fellow Apphia Campbell brings her multi-award-winning play Black is the Color of my Voice to the Royal Lyceum Theatre. The play is inspired by the life of Nina Simone, and featuring many of her most iconic songs performed live.
Apphia's acclaimed play follows a successful singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. The show has toured the UK and Australia to standing ovations and played sell-out seasons in Shanghai, New York, Edinburgh, and the West End.
3 and 4 September at the Lyceum
Get your tickets here.