Coming of age on the Mile: Childhood, identity and nostalgia at the Edinburgh Fringe

Pop idols, Girl Guides, drag princesses and Diana tributes - at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, nostalgia isn’t just trending, it’s transforming. Across theatre, comedy, clown, and cabaret, artists are cracking open their pasts - from teenage bedrooms and school toilets to 90s Dublin and queer club nights - to explore what it really means to grow up. Shell ZOO Southside (Studio), 15:05 Part queer sex-ed session, part drag-clown ritual, Shell is unlike anything else at the Fringe this year. Created by Ana Evans and Linnea Scott, the show follows Andy, a jock-turned-sex-ed-activist, and Peanut, a mysterious being of pure desire. Through irreverent comedy and audience interaction, the show asks what we really know about our bodies — and what we’ve never dared to ask. Surreal, spiritual and deeply silly in the best possible way. Cara and Kelly are Best Friends Forever For Life Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 3), 15:20 Selfies, sleepovers and slowly rising tension - Mojola Akinyemi’s razor-sharp two-hander captures the perilous intensity of teenage friendship. Set in 2013 and told from the point of view of two girls on the brink, it examines how privilege, silence, and cultural shifts play out in school corridors and shared secrets. A bold, uncomfortable exploration of the radicalisation we don’t talk about - and how ideology can form long before we know what to call it. Don’t Tell Dad About Diana Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer), 12:50 It’s 1997, and in the shadow of the Princess of Wales’ death, two Irish teens prepare a drag tribute to their fallen icon. Set against a backdrop of Boyzone CDs and nationalist parents, this camp, chaotic and unexpectedly moving comedy explores friendship, grief, and the early stirrings of queer identity. Created by Hannah Power and Conor Murray, this is a story of chosen family, late-night lip-syncs, and the danger of secrets that shine too brightly to stay hidden. A STAN IS BORN! Gilded Balloon Patter House (Blether), 15:00 A love letter to diva devotion and queer self-discovery, Alexis Sakellaris returns to the Fringe with a solo musical comedy that’s equal parts vocal fireworks and emotional resonance. With ten original songs and a keyboard always within reach, this show takes audiences from suburban bedrooms to European train stations - all set to the inner monologue of a child who grew up worshipping Beyoncé, Céline, and Mariah. A glittery, glorious, and deeply heartfelt reminder of how our icons shape who we become. Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker 1), 14:15 Jade Franks cleans toilets by day and navigates Oxbridge by night - and her autobiographical solo show is as sharp as it is scathing. With biting wit and warm storytelling, she dismantles the myth of meritocracy and the social acrobatics required to survive elite spaces as a working-class outsider. A powerful and personal show about code-switching, shame, and the politics of fitting in - or choosing not to. The Strongest Girl in the World Gilded Balloon Patter House (The Snug), 14:20 Truly Siskind-Weiss blends summer camp singalongs, storytelling, and memory theatre in this poignant solo show about a girl navigating grief after her father’s death. With warmth, wit and a patch-covered sash of Girl Guide metaphors, she explores how we grow up in the shadow of loss — and what it means to stay strong, even when you don’t want to. Funny, fierce, and unexpectedly tender. FISH Greenside (Jade Studio), 19:35 Funmi Adejobi’s absurd, tender solo performance follows a fish who wants to become human - only to find the surface world even stranger than the sea. With elements of clown, storytelling and physical theatre, FISH dives into climate dread, capitalism, and what it means to feel out of place in your own body. A surreal, smart and deeply humane show about transformation and the cost of survival. FLUSH Pleasance Courtyard (Upstairs), 12:15 Set entirely in the women’s toilet of a Shoreditch club, FLUSH is a sharply written, emotionally charged look at vulnerability, trauma and fleeting solidarity between strangers. Written and performed by April Hope Miller, this show peels back the nightlife facade to reveal quiet moments of connection, sisterhood, and survival. A powerful partnership with Ask For Angela gives this already vital show a real-world urgency. With the cast informing the process of creation this show is not to be missed. At the 2025 Fringe, the past isn’t something to escape — it’s something to confront, celebrate, mourn, remix and reimagine. These shows make space for the awkward teenage selves we carry with us, and the cultural myths we’ve wrapped around them. They prove that growing up doesn’t always mean letting go — sometimes, it means returning, rethinking, and singing it all at the top of your lungs. For tickets and the full programme, visit edfringe.com.