Fringe Family Favourites

The end of the school year has brought about a busy week here at the Family Stage. With school trips, sports day and end of term performances coming out of our ears, we’ve barely had time to do anything apart from run between home, school and various church halls. Although Mummy admits that she has managed to squeeze in ‘a bit’ of Wimbledon too. Anyway, as is customary, Mummy digresses. The important thing is that Twitter has informed Mummy that today is World Fringe Day. Although Mummy desperately needs to cut her fringe, she has carefully consulted the internet which has confirmed that this is nothing to do with haircuts and everything to do with entertainment. On this basis, she has decided to put away her hair scissors and focus on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. So without further ado, here are our tried and tested recommendations for family shows at the Fringe:

Disclaimer: There are plenty of other family shows to see at the Fringe which are almost certainly also excellent, but in this blog we are focusing purely on shows that we have actually seen and therefore consider ourselves marginally more qualified to give an opinion on than those that remain a mystery.

In time-honoured fashion (and not just because Mummy is too tired from all the end of term activities to come up with something better) we present you this list in alphabetical order:

The Amazing Bubble Man: Venue 300, Underbelly, George Square –
Uderbelly, (August 1-26). Age Recommendation: 0+: The Amazing Bubble Man is genuinely amazing. We saw him at London Underbelly Festival last summer. Mummy works within walking distance of the Southbank so met up with Mrs Mummy and the Munchkins for a lunchtime show during the summer holidays. Mummy was confident that this would not take up more than her permitted hour lunch break because surely one man and his bubbles could not create more than an hour’s worth of bubbly entertainment. Spoiler alert: Mummy was very late returning from lunch.

Beauty and the Beast (Jellyfish Theatre): Venue 61, Underbelly Cowgate – Bellydancer. (August 1-11). Age Recommendation: 3-7: We caught this at Brighton Fringe. A proper fringe show for small people and their accompanying adults. Read our review here.

Bicycle Boy: Venue 23, Pleasance Dome – Outside. (August 16-18). Age Recommendation: 5-10: We are very pleased to see Bicycle Boy up in Edinburgh this year, after catching it at the marvellous Greenwich & Docklands International Festival 2018. A family musical with an environmental message, this is an enjoyable and interactive show which will quite literally have the kids jumping out of their seats (and into the saddle) with excitement.

Comedy Club 4 Kids: Venue 139, Assembly Roxy, Upstairs. (July 31 August 1-18, 24-25). Age Recommendation: 5+: The ethos of the Comedy Club 4 Kids is that just because you’re a kid, doesn’t mean you should miss out on the best of the comedy that the fringe has to offer. Hard to argue with that. And if our experience of the Comedy Club 4 Kids is anything to go by, this is definitely not one to miss.

The Showstoppers’ Kids Show: Venue 33, Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance 2. (July 31, August 1-18). Age Recommendation: 3-10: Fringe favourites The Showstoppers made our Top 10 of 2018 with their London Christmas show. Every show is different, so why not fill every free slot with a trip to see The Showstoppers?….

Shark in the Park (Nonsense Room Productions): Venue 8, Assembly George Square – Gordon Aikman Theatre. (July 31, Aug 1-13, 15-18). Age Recommendation: 3+ (2-7). All three of Nick Sharratt’s popular children’s books are brought to life in this musical adventure about Timothy Pope and his shark-spotting telescope. Fancy a closer look? Focus your telescope on our review.

Sunshine (Stickyback Theatre): Venue 61, Underbelly, Cowgate – Delhi Belly. (August 1-11, 13-25). Age Recommendation: 3+: Scotland may not be known for sunshine, but this masterclass in clowning will be sure to put a warm smile on your face, whatever the weather. Read our review of Sunshine at Brighton Fringe here.

For full details of what’s on at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, check out the official website.

Guide updated on 26 July to include Shark in the Park which we managed to sneak in at the Underbelly before it heads up to Edinburgh next week.