Every year, a few shows set the headlines alight at the Edinburgh Fringe. Here's our pick of the 2024 shows which look like they could cause a stir...
ADVERTISEMENTThe Edinburgh Fringe kicks off today and as hundreds of thousands of attendees arrive in the Scottish capital for the month-long performing arts festival, some shows are already making a stir - even before the curtains have been drawn back.
Here's our pick of this year's most controversial shows.
Taking on J.K. Rowling
Top of the list for this year’s most headline grabbing shows has to be ‘TERF’.
The one-act play will premiere on 2 August in the Assembly Rooms and run for the length of the Fringe with its plot that imagines a confrontation between ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling and the now-adult stars of her famous books’ film adaptations.
Instead of sitting back and enjoying her billions, Rowling has spent the past decade spreading her fury at the inclusion of trans people in 21st century society. This has largely involved hours on X, posting hate-fuelled tweets at trans people with far less power, money, or social sway than her.
In the name of balance, we should say that Rowling will argue she is just noting her gender critical concerns about women’s space. Although the manner in which she voices these “concerns” has been vociferous enough that all three main cast-members of her beloved Harry Potter series have publicly distanced themselves from her.
From this act blossoms a Fringe play, imagining an intervention between Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.
Rowling is known for her litigious approach to criticism and the gender-critical lot aren’t afraid of a social media pile-on. As a result, the production team behind ‘TERF’ have already faced floods of hate messages and have had to change venues at the Fringe due to security concerns.
Writer Joshua Kaplan has also insisted that the play isn’t a hit piece, even inviting Rowling to attend the show, hoping she could engage in the harm she has caused through her incessant gender critical posting.
Twineth Paltrow musicals
One of the more amusing stories to clog up news feeds of recent years was when Gwyneth Paltrow was sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson for his life-changing injuries after she crashed into him in a hit and run while skiing.
The high-profile court case created think pieces on Paltrow’s quiet luxury sartorial aesthetic in the courtroom, the contradictory stories of who hit whom, and the measly award of $1 to Paltrow when she won the case.
The actress' time in the docks has inspired not one but two musicals to come to this year’s Fringe.
The first is ‘Gwyneth Goes Skiing’ from Joseph Martin and Linus Karp, the pair behind last year’s successful ‘Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story’. Just as Karp starred in the previous show as Princess Diana, he dons a blonde wig and tries to capture the mannerisms of the Hollywood A-lister and Goop founder. They’ve already taken their surreal reimagining of the court case through a sold-out run in London and to Utah, where the actual trial took place.
Alongside ‘Gwyneth Goes Skiing’ is ‘I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical’, named after Paltrow famously uttered the dignified “I wish you well” to Sanderson on her way out of the courtroom.
‘I Wish You Well’ stars former ‘The X Factor’ contestant Diana Vickers with choreography from Olivier Award winner Arlene Phillips and direction by the London ‘Hamilton’ director Shiv Rabheru, there’s a lot to argue to why you should book a ticket to both shows this Fringe.
ADVERTISEMENTWhat else will cause controversy?
Before the actual month of theatre, comedy, cabaret and more starts, it’s hard to say what will cause the biggest shake-ups. Going through the programme, a handful of shows that confront the conflict between Israel and Gaza could make the headlines.
There’s a revival of David Hare’s ‘Via Dolorosa’, inspired by his trips to Israel in 1997; ‘A Knock on the Roof’ a play by Khawla Ibraheem that ran off-Broadway about a woman preparing for Israel to bomb her home; and ‘The Shroud Maker’, about a woman who sells the shrouds for burying the dead in Gaza.
That's not all, after a bizarre Glasgow pop-up based on Roald Dahl’s "Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory" went viral last year, the strangely terrible interactive experience has been reimagined as a musical.
'Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody' doesn't just recreate the peculiar exhibition, it also brings back its star Kirsty Paterson, who played a green-haired Oompa Loompa, and is narrated by Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen, who starred in the original 1971 film.
ADVERTISEMENTEdinburgh will be filled with acts that will surprise, shock and appal audiences. That’s just the point of the Fringe. What will be interesting is which of these shows cut through to generate mainstream controversy.
