Gecko’s Recommendations For This Year’s Edinburgh Fringe
As it’s the 20-year anniversary of our debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, we’re reflecting on this year’s programme and all of the brilliant work that companies and creatives are bringing to the city. Edinburgh Fringe was critical to our development as a company and we were even taking shows there as late as 2017, so we know how vital to the arts in the UK (and indeed the world) the festival is.
While the Fringe remains a vibrant and important event in the arts calendar, we also recognise that it’s becoming unsustainable for smaller companies and emerging creatives to take work there due to a lack of funding for Fringe shows, the extortionate cost of accommodation and the uncertainty of box office splits, to name but a few reasons. While these factors can be attributed to the general state of the arts in the UK right now, there is more that can be done to protect the Fringe as a sustainable means of showcasing and developing groundbreaking new work.
One small thing that we can do is lend our voice and our platform to creatives, who will be soon starting on the pilgrimage to Edinburgh, by sharing their shows on our social media. So, if you’re taking a show to the festival this year, tag us in a tweet, an Instagram story/post or a thread about your show and we’ll share it with our audiences.
In addition to this, here are some recommendations of shows that our core team would most like to see at the Fringe this year:
Amit Recommends:
REWIND
Ephemeral Ensemble
Ephemeral Ensemble have been making waves in the UK physical theatre scene for some time now and are led by a global majority ensemble of creatives, including our very own Andres Velasquez!
From what I’ve seen of this show so far, it not only looks like a beautifully realised production with innovative means of using physicality to tell their story, the themes that the show explores such as human rights, migration and resistance against authoritarianism, are close to Gecko’s heart and incredibly important topics to tackle right now.
If I was travelling up to Edinburgh this year, this would be the first piece that I book.
📅 2-27 August, 11:40
📍 Summerhall (Old Lab)
Steve Recommends:
The Comedy of Tango
Los Guardiola
“When Strictly Come Dancing eventually get round to inviting me on as a contestant, I think it’ll be the Argentine Tango where I will score my first 10. It is such an incredible, emotional and mesmerising dance and that’s why I am recommending Los Guardiola’s ‘The Comedy of Tango’ at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, a sophisticated and stylish dance and mime masterclass exploring the many faces of tango with, from what I have heard, an incredible finale performed on a tiny box.
It’s a 10 from me!”
📅 4-12 August, 16:10
📍 TheSpaceTriplex, (Big (End On))
Niamh Recommends:
Elvis Died of Burgers
BLINK Dance Theatre
If I was heading to the Fringe this year, the first thing I’d book is ‘ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS’ by BLINK Dance Theatre… I’ve been desperate to catch this on tour!
BLINK Dance Theatre are a group of 4 Neurodiverse artists who perform and facilitate together. ELVIS DIED OF BURGERS explores the group’s relationship with food. If they’re not eating, they’re talking about it, dreaming about it, and in this work they are dancing, rapping, and rhyming about it!
The show uses semi-improvised dance, theatre and spoken word to explore themes of food, overeating and death through the lens of Elvis Presley’s life.
You are guaranteed to have an amazing night watching this incredible group of artists, I promise!
📅 2-13 August, 11:45
📍 Summerhall, Red Lecture Theatre
Malachy Recommends:
Police Cops The Musical
Police Cops
There are only a few theatre companies that I would consider myself a fangirl for (Gecko being one, of course!), but another would certainly have to be Police Cops.
I first saw Police Cops at the Vault Festival in 2018 with their second show ‘Police Cops in Space’, the sequel to their first show ‘Police Cops’ and was blown away by how ridiculous, clever and genuinely hilarious the show was. I then managed to catch their first show at Latitude Festival in 2019, which was equally as absurd and brilliant, and then their third show ‘Badass Be Thy Name’ at the Edinburgh Fringe in the same year. I then went to see ‘Badass Be Thy Name’ again when they toured to Ipswich because I just couldn’t get enough of it, and I brought my family along who said it was the funniest show they’d seen in a long time.
Police Cops’ shows are highly physical, slick and the writing is pure genius. So if you’re looking for high-quality, entertaining performance that anyone can enjoy this year, you can’t do much better than Police Cops. God knows what Police Cops The Musical has in store, but I’m desperate to see it.
📅 2-28 August, 19:00
📍 Assembly George Square Studios (Studio One)
Natalie Recommends:
1000 Miniature Meadows
Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly
“My choice would be 1000 Miniature Meadows by Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly. I’d warmly accept their invitation to immerse myself in nature through their intimate soundscape and interviews and to take time within Edinburgh’s green spaces: to feel a part rather than apart. What are these places and their constituents eliciting or trying to teach me? What can be better understood about biodiversity in the city?
During lockdown I read the book ‘How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy’ by Jenny Odell and its provocation to listen deeply and look inquisitively at your surroundings has stayed with me. It would be a pleasure to dwell, be present and challenged. It sounds like a beautifully conceived, mediative experience.”
📅 12-28 August, Listening Pack Collection 11:00-19:00
📍 Pleasance Courtyard Info Shed
Paul Recommends:
SENse
DanceSyndrome
I’ve been following the work of DanceSyndrome for some time now and it’s great to see them returning to the Fringe this year with their new show, SENse!
DanceSyndrome is a multi-award winning inclusive dance charity based in Lancashire who ‘provide opportunities for disabled people to not only be included, but to become more visible citizens, have their voices heard and to follow their dreams’.
Inclusive dance is incredibly important and there are so many companies creating brilliant work in this area, so I would thoroughly recommend you go along to see this show and dip your toe into some thought provoking and perspective widening performance.
📅 24-26 August, 11:30
📍 theSpace @ Niddry St (Lower Theatre)