Fans of Edinburgh Fringe Festival will be able to catch up with the very best LGBTIQ+ performances by reviewing our related content here. So remember to bookmark the page as we’ll be constantly adding to our Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025 previews.
A Drag Is Born
Edu Diaz’s wordless performance, A Drag Is Born, transforms homophobia into a powerful celebration of queer joy through a blend of clowning, lip-syncing, drag, and a touch of audience interaction. The story follows an ordinary man who magically becomes the Queen of the Carnival due to a twist of fate. Despite being of advanced age, having abundant body hair, and possessing limited talents, he is an unlikely candidate for this role. Accompanied by a liberating soundtrack featuring divas like Rita Hayworth, Nancy Sinatra, and Celine Dion, A Drag Is Born reminds us that it’s never too late to embrace your true self.
ZOO Playground, Playground 2, 1 – 24 Aug 2025 (not 12), 6:05pm (7:05pm)
What If They Ate The Baby?
What If They Ate The Baby? is an absurd and dystopian exploration of the 1950s American housewife, positioning audiences as surveillants. Primarily created in response to changing reproductive rights in America, the show delves into mundane conversations between neighbours through the lens of surveillance, cannibalism, and queerness, all set during an idealised period in American history marked by paranoia.
In the performance, the characters Xhloe and Natasha, two post-war suburban housewives, employ double entendre, green spaghetti, and a soundtrack that ranges from Vaudeville to rap. Together, they interrogate gender expectations and the relationship between surveillance and bodily autonomy.
SpaceUK @ Niddry St (Upper), 1 – 23 Aug 2025 (not 10 & 17); see venue for timings.
Dyke Systems Ltd
Set in the 1990s, at the height of multi-level marketing’s expansion and before the rise of the internet, this two-hander comedy satire explores the collision of repressed queerness and corporate feminism. It examines how modern technology and finance have weaponised both.
American suburban businesswomen Sally and Susan are on the hunt for new recruits for their very lucrative business opportunity, which is definitely not a pyramid scheme. However, as they delve deeper into the glitzy world of multi-level marketing, they become entangled in climbing the cutthroat corporate ladder. Cracks begin to appear in their pastel-perfect lives, revealing long-buried tensions and unspoken desires as the lies they’ve constructed start to catch up with them.
With Fag Packet’s signature blend of drag, comedy, physical theatre, and audience interaction, the audience will be guided through the DYKE programme (Dynamic, Young, Knowledgeable, Entrepreneur). This programme explores the intersections of queerness and feminism in a capitalist world that threatens us all.
Pleasance Courtyard, Cellar , 30 July – 25 Aug 2025 (not 6 & 12 ), 3:00pm (4:00pm)
Small Town Boys
Set in the late 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the Dundee-based company Shaper/Caper presents a production that explores the significance of queer nightlife spaces and community during times of crisis. Small Town Boys is inspired by the real-life experiences of writer, director, and choreographer Thomas Small. The story follows a young man who leaves his quiet hometown in search of community, solace, and joy in the vibrant atmosphere of a big city. He discovers this sense of belonging within the queer community at the Paradise Nightclub, a sanctuary alive with music, life, and solidarity. However, as the AIDS crisis escalates and is largely overlooked by the government, the exuberance of the party turns into heartbreak, forcing the community to rely on each other more than ever.
The show features a community cast alongside eight dancers and toured Scottish nightclubs last year, where it received the Creative Arts Award at the 2024 Proud Scotland Awards. This marks its debut in Edinburgh, and it arrives at the Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland showcase.
ZOO Southside, Main House, 1- 17 Aug 2025 (not 4 & 11), 7.45pm (8.45pm)
The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave
This high-energy queer dance celebration embraces techno and rave culture through contemporary dance and movement. Over the course of a relentless sixty minutes, it captures the essence of a three-day party. The performance is set to the pulsating soundtrack of “Nocturbulous Behaviour” by Detroit DJ Suburban Knight, which fuses house, techno, and funk. Three dancers push their bodies to the limit, pursuing euphoria through the sheer joy of movement. “The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave” is a visceral spectacle that showcases the human body surrendered to music, passion, and an insatiable yearning for transcendence.
Summerhall, Main Hall, 31 July – 25 Aug 2025 (not 6, 12 & 19), 6:05pm (7:05pm)
