As Edinburgh gets set to welcome the annual festivities, we dive into the must-see Jewish shows

Comedy

Dylan Adler: Haus of Dy-lan

Sardonic comic Dylan Adler is Japanese, American, Jewish, gay and has an identical twin (who’s also gay). Why is any of that relevant? Because his identity is very much the source of his high-energy humour (“soy vey, bitch”), which he brings to the Fringe for the first time this summer. Hear awkwardly hilarious anecdotes in a mix of storytelling and music, because he’s also a classically trained pianist. Naturally.
➤ Friday 1 – Sunday 24 August. £13/£15, £12/£14 concs. 7.30pm. Beside @ Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ.

0 Ambition: An Irishman and a Jew Split a Bill

Israeli comedian and self-proclaimed ‘big old Jew’ Ori Halevy joins regular partner in jibes, Irish comedian Brendan Hickey, to play out one of the longest-running joke set-ups in history. They’ve promised not to touch on politics, but it’ll be dark, unpredictable and hopefully leave you laughing despite the underlying feelings of uneasiness.
➤ Friday 1 – Monday 25 August. 7.10pm. Price TBC. The Fallow at Alchemist Cocktail Bar and Restaurant, EH2 2HT.

Henry Churney: Behind the Laughter

Liverpudlian comedian Henry Churney takes two nights off from his other Edinburgh show (Life Lessons from a Jewish Grandfather) to champion mental wellbeing. Six participants from the Laugh for Life Comedy charity workshops he set up in his hometown, in conjunction with Care Merseyside, will perform over these two nights, sharing how comedy has helped their confidence and mental health and given them a sense of community.
➤ Wednesday 20 & Thursday 21 August. 7pm. £10, £8 concs. Theatre 2 at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, EH8 9DW.

Adam Kay: A Particularly Nasty Case

In 2023, Jewish comic and former NHS staffer Adam Kay played to sold-out crowds every night at his Edinburgh run for Undoctored. The show was funny, tear-jerking, musical, deeply emotional and it was all true. With his new book, he’s still writing from the heart, but this time it’s all made up. A Particularly Nasty Case is his debut novel and takes the form of a murder mystery inspired by his medical history – and highly humorous, too, no doubt, given his comedy writing credentials. Expect another rollicking rollercoaster of a ride at this one-off live show, which forms part of his UK book tour.
➤ Saturday 23 August. 7.20pm. £30. McEwan Hall @ Underbelly Bristo Square, EH8 9AG

Ian Stone is Looking for the Wow

Ian Stone is sick of the daily humdrum, he wants to be dazzled. He’s thought about exploring breathtaking forests, but “my ancestors wandered the desert for 40 years, I think we’ve been outdoors enough”, he stubbornly states in his press release. And spirituality is a no-go (“I’ve been harbouring a grudge against God since my mother stopped me going to see Arsenal play after my bar mitzvah”). So, what will wow this wry London comic? Join Stone as he attempts to find out.
➤ Thursday 31 July – Sunday 24 August. 4pm. FREE. The Ballroom at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, EH8 9DD.

Michael Shafar: Inappropriate

The Aussie Jewish comedian is double-dipping this season. Not only is he performing last year’s sell-out show Well Worth the Chemo (9.30pm at Kick Ass Cowgate), a darkly humorous take on losing a testicle, he’s got a new set on the go. As the title suggests, Inappropriate isn’t for the faint-hearted. Shafar will be tackling the hard topics, from abortion rights to assassinating politicians to the Middle East – and this is coming from the man who compared the Queen to Hitler. You have been warned.
➤ Friday 1 – Monday 25 August. 5.45pm. £6-£15. Beehive 1 (The Lounge) @ The Beehive Inn, EH1 2JU.

Sophie Zucker: Taste

The Emmy-nominated Jewish American comedian returns to Edinburgh following her sell-out 2023 Fringe show, Sophie Sucks Face, about the death of her grandfather. This time she has a few things to get off her chest, namely about men without bedframes. Or more specifically, why women – perfectly smart, capable, attractive women – fall for said men who so often sleep on a mattress on the floor. Read our interview with Sophie Zucker in the Summer 2025 issue of JR.
➤ Wednesday 30 July – Sunday 24 August. 9.50pm. £13, £12 concs. Below @ Pleasance Courtyard, EH8 9TJ.

Theatre

Eggs and Baskets

How can two Jewish women in their 20s be expected to become the best versions of themselves when man-shaped obstacles keep getting in the way? Lilith and Gabriella (played by the show’s directors Bethany Agaoglu and Nell Sternberg) are on a mission to find out in this new comedy play from Era Theatre Co. See if the gutsy duo can keep their journey of self-discovery from derailing into self-sabotage.
➤ Monday 11 – Saturday 16 August. 8.40pm. £12, £10 concs. Space 1 @ theSpace on the Mile, EH1 1TH.
➤ Monday 18 – Saturday 23 August. 8.15pm. £12, £10 concs. Haldane Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, EH8 9DW.

I Was a German

In 1933, Jewish German journalist and screenwriter Heinrich ‘Heinz’ Fraenkel fled Berlin to build a new life in the UK. Before the end of the war, he was interned on the Isle of Man. Afterwards, he tried returning to Germany, but he no longer felt a kinship with the country. Almost a century later in London, 2023, we meet Fraenkel’s granddaughter Clare (playing herself), who’s trying to claim German citizenship in a post-Brexit Britain, but is a nationality that her grandfather rejected hers to take? Thus unfolds the true story of a search for belonging and heritage in this intriguing one-woman play.
➤ Friday 1 – Sunday 24 August. 1.50pm. £9-£14. Studio @ ZOO Southside, EH8 9ER.

The Lost Priest

Orchard Theatre Company presents the premiere of this intimate one-man show about the complexities of growing up Jewish in modern-day America. Written, co-directed and performed by Gabe Seplow, The Lost Priest offers an insight into the actor’s struggles with identity and ethnicity, as told through childhood memories, historical anecdotes and everyday observations.
➤ Friday 1 – Saturday 23 August. 10.40am. £10. theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, EH8 9DW.

Margolyes & Dickens: More Best Bits

Award-winning Jewish actor, author and TV personality Miriam Margolyes OBE returns with an update on her 1989 one-woman show, Dickens’ Women. The original was a mix of sketches based on characters from Charles Dickens stories, short readings and fascinating titbits about the man himself. Last year, More Best Bits sold out at Edinburgh, so don’t miss your chance to see it. Expect more characters, more anecdotes and a highly unfiltered Q&A.
➤ Saturday 9 – Sunday 24 August. 6pm. £26.50, £24 concs. Pentland Theatre @ Pleasance at EICC, EH3 8EE.

My Name is Rachel Corrie

Twenty years since its controversial debut at London’s Royal Court Theatre, this powerful political play has been revived by an (almost) all-Jewish team. Originally adapted in 2005 by journalist Katharine Viner, now editor of The Guardian, and the late actor Alan Rickman, My Name is Rachel Corrie tells stories, verbatim, of a subject that maintains a stronghold in international news: Israel vs Palestine. The words are collated from emails and diary entries by American activist Corrie, who died in 2003, aged 23, trying to help a Palestinian pharmacist protect his home from demolition in the Gaza Strip. She was crushed to death by the Israel Defence Forces’ bulldozer. Upon its initial release, the play was heavily criticised for being biased and adding fuel to flames of political tension, so it will be interesting to see if it arouses similar passions in the hands of this Jewish team. Starring British-German actor and producer Sascha Shinder and directed by Susan Worsfold.
➤ Friday 1 – Sunday 24 August (exc. Mondays). 7pm. £12/£13. Studio @ ZOO Southside, EH8 9ER.

NIUSIA

Meet Niusia. She was studying medicine in Poland before being transported to Auschwitz. There, she was forced to work alongside Josef Mengele in one of the camp hospitals, caring for the victims of his deadly experiments and smuggling medicine out to aid her campmates. She survived the atrocities, but she became embittered in her old age once her granddaughter Beth Paterson got to know her. In NIUSIA, Beth tells the story of her grandmother through her own memories, as well as her mother’s (recordings of whom are projected), and dramatisations of Niusia’s post-war life in Melbourne, Australia. Join her on this journey of discovery, not only of a hidden family history, but of her own heritage, identity and how deep traumas can continue to effect new generations.
➤ Friday 1 – Monday 25 August. 1.20pm. £17, £14.50 concs. Former Womens Locker Room @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL.

Rebellion: After the B’nei Mitzvahs

There’s a new venue at the Fringe this year, Shedinburgh, set up by the Olivier Award-winning producers behind hit TV shows Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. Situated at Edinburgh College of Art, this 100-seat spot is playing host to big names and up-and-comers alike for 28 one-night-only shows. Sunday 10 August welcomes acclaimed playwright Nick Cassenbaum with a work-in-progress performance of Rebellion: After the B’nei Mitzvahs. Following 2024’s Revenge: After the Levoyah, this year’s offering is the second part in his series exploring the British Jewish experience through drama and comedy. In Rebellion, we’re privy to a group of Jewish teenagers experiencing their firsts… First time away from home, first kiss and, er, first time reenacting the Raid of Entebbe.
➤ Sunday 10 August. 8pm. Price TBC. Shedinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art, EH3 9DF.

Will You Be Praying the Entire Flight?

What happens when a Hasidic woman and a secular woman are sat next to each other on a six-hour flight from New York to London? Find out in this new comedy by US journalist, playwright and producer Gili Malinsky. Connections are made (well, how could you not love hamantashen?), disagreements are had (what is a woman’s purpose anyway?), and the flight attendant adds a particularly testing element. Starring Rachel Ravel, Marissa Ruben and Madeline Rose Parks.
➤ Monday 11 – Saturday 16 August. 11.30am. £11, £5 concs. Lower Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry Street, EH1 1TH.

Music

Hans Zimmer’s Hollywood 1925-2025: A Centenary Celebration of Film Music

Taking inspiration from Hans Zimmer’s score for Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi epic Insterstellar, this performance journeys through cinematic history. Presented by Moonlight, creators of immersive classical concert experiences, this celebration of 100 years of film music includes scores by Zimmer, John Williams (Star Wars, Schindler’s List), Ennio Morricone (Cinema Paradiso) and Joe Hisashi (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle).
➤ Tuesday 5, Friday 8, Wednesday 13, Saturday 16, Thursday 21 & Friday 22 August. 6pm. £19.50, £9.50/£14.50 concs. The Chapel at St Vincent's, EH3 6SW.

Rhapsody in Blue: Jazz Sessions by Candlelight

Award-winning pianist and conductor Matthew Shiel leads his jazz band in a performance lit only by candles. Join them on a musical journey from Berlin cabaret by Jewish composer Erwin Schulhoff, to classic ragtime by Texan pianist Scott Joplin and, of course, the orchestral jazz of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
➤ Saturday 2, Thursday 7, Tuesday 12, Friday 15 & Wednesday 20 August. 6pm. £19.50, £9.50/£14.50 concs. The Chapel at St Vincent's, EH3 6SW.

Simon & Garfunkel and Beyond

Having already tackled other major artists, including Amy Winehouse, Carole King and Bob Dylan, Night Owl Shows present the lives and music of legendary musicians Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Performers Dan Clews and Peter Marchant recount the folk duo’s famously tumultuous relationship alongside their biggest hits, including ‘The Sound of Silence’ and ‘The Boxer’, plus songs from their solo careers.
➤ Friday 1 – Sunday 24 August. 1.30pm. £16.50/£17, £15.50/£16 concs. Amphitheatre at theSpace @ Symposium Hall, EH8 9DR.

When Judas Met John: Songs of Dylan and Lennon

Irish duo Brothers Broke return with their show about two of the most iconic musicians in history: Bob Dyland and John Lennon. Watch as the pair unpicks the lyrics of each artist and explores the jealousy and respect the two variously held for one another. The stories are accompanied by some of the musicians’ most popular and lesser-known songs interpreted in the Broke Brothers’ own stripped-back style.
➤ Friday 1 – Saturday 23 August. 7.30pm. £14, £12 concs. theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall, EH8 9DW.

By Danielle Goldstein

Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs Thursday 31 July – Monday 25 August. edfringe.com

This article appears in the Summer 2025 issue of JR.