Edinburgh Fringe theatre reviews: Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) | The Feminine Urge to Disappear | Nick It for Munich | Wannabes | The Wonder Drug | The Idiot’s Guide to Breaking Your Own Heart | Frankenstein: Afterglow

Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x)

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

★★★★☆

Before studying English Literature at Cambridge, Jade Franks worked at a call centre in her home city of Liverpool. Having always worked, she takes up a position as a cleaner at the beginning of her undergraduate degree, which is – she soon learns – against college rules. Certainly, working and studying simultaneously is an alien concept for her classmates, since they have never wanted for a job or been inclined to earn their own money, but they also treat her as she were from a different planet, mimicking her Scouse accent like “aristocratic parrots” and carrying their MacBook computers “raw” in their “flimsy tote bags” without any care or concern for their cost.

Eat the Rich promises an excellent script – a sex scene with love interest and Eaton alum, Greg, is “like an episode of The Crown, X-rated” and when Jade’s sister travels the 199 miles along the M6 to visit Cambridge for the first time, their hug “is like the reverse of the Big Bang.” There is also excellent use of space throughout, with costumes and props housed inside a desk that functions as the Liverpool call centre, her university bedroom, a lecture theatre, and a nightclub, among other locations.

Devices such as recorded voice-overs represent anxiety-induced out-of-body experiences, perfectly conveying overwhelming feelings when Jade’s fears and potential futures overlap. And while an incident featuring a stolen watch becomes a key subplot, the true conflict lies in the overt and covert classism purported by the Cambridge student elite. If you’re not in, you’re out, and in this, Eat the Rich shows that the price of fitting in – using the correct cutlery at college formals, eating £7 ice creams in summer and ordering plates of fish and chips for £27 – moves swiftly from fantasy to become a socio-economic and moral quandary.

JOSEPHINE BALFOUR-OATTS

Until 25 August

THEATRE

The Feminine Urge to Disappear

The Vault at Paradise in The Vault (Venue 29)

★★★★☆

Body counts. Brat summer. The limit does not exist. If these phrases don’t resonate with you, then large swaths of The Feminine Urge to Disappear may be downright incomprehensible. However, if you’re a chronically online woman in your mid-20s, then this 40-minute gem of a show will hit very close to home - and even if you don’t fit that demographic, it’s still well worth a watch.

The show opens as two unnamed women – bedecked with viral Trader Joe’s mini pink tote bags and stickered MacBooks – gossip and giggle while #WorkingFromHome (but actually #WorkingFromCoffeeShop). This isn’t just any soulless Starbucks, however: this is their ideal coffee shop which has the perfect lighting, ambiance, energy, everything. The pair’s energy is frenetic, bordering on manic, as they chatter away about dating apps and body positivity with a cadence known only unto TikTok aficionados. That is, until He walks in.

The show’s mood immediately turns sour; the women nervously explain that they’ve actually been exiled from the office while HR works through the formal complaints they’ve raised against Him. Their vulnerability is palpable and all too familiar for those who have faced sexual harassment before; most upsetting is the manner in which He violates their safe space, eventually forcing them to abandon it altogether. We never see or hear Him – the final scene featuring empty tables and chairs tells us everything we need to know.

At times uncomfortable, at times uproarious, The Feminine Urge is a microcosm of young womanhood in 2025 which is equal parts cynical and affectionate. It never punches down; the script has clearly been crafted with deep empathy for the so-called “basic” women trying to navigate (or simply survive in) a misogynistic world as best they know how – oat milk lattes and all.

ARIANE BRANIGAN

Until 8 August

THEATRE

Nick It for Munich

Mint Studio at Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236)

★★★☆☆

Nick It for Munich is, in many ways, reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey – only, instead of battling Scylla and Charybdis, our teenage protagonist Jamie (portrayed with alacrity by Aric Hanscomb-Ryrie) must somehow get to Munich for the Euro finals between Germany and Scotland, despite both limited funds and time. In doing so, he’s forced to rely on his wits – from winning a bicycle race to hiding in a train toilet – in a manner that would make even the wily Odysseus proud.

Of course, you have to sacrifice some logic for enjoyment (Jamie allegedly leaves home with only £35, which wouldn’t go far in 2025 regardless of the exchange rate). This wouldn’t be an issue – Hanscomb-Ryrie is easily engaging enough to keep our disbelief suspended – if it weren’t for the more sombre theme of parental illness that is also vying for our attention. There’s emotional whiplash as Jamie comforts his ailing mother and argues with his harried father, then gleefully throws himself into an adventure on the continent (even if he does eventually reflect on the journey). Overall, however, there’s an awful lot to like about the punchy Nick It – especially the ambition and promise of the young people involved.

ARIANE BRANIGAN

Until 9 August

THEATRE

Wannabes

Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236) until 9 August

★★★☆☆

It’s Halloween, and five young women are getting ready to go to a party dressed as the Spice Girls. In a few months time, they’ll finish school and the close-knit friendships formed all the way back in primary school will fracture as they head off into different futures.

Writer Emilia O’Donoghue, who also co-directs the show with Ella Matthews, captures the moments when the cracks begin to show. Zoey (Emily Butterfield) has interviewed for Cambridge, while Ellie Mae (Aya Khalid) is focused on a BTEC in Hair & Beauty and her own lash business. Straight-talking Kiera (Millie Hampson-May) knows she won’t be going anywhere. Her sick mum needs her, and the wage she brings back from her job at McDonalds.

Rational Creatures, an emerging company from Manchester, is committed to exploring voices like these, young working-class women from the north who have been let down by the education system and might never get what they really, really want.

Among the gossip about boys and games of Snog, Marry, Kill, they confront their differences and anxieties about the future. While the script sometimes lacks momentum, it is buoyed up by the energy of these voices and blasts of the Spice Girls at every scene change.

SUSAN MANSFIELD

Until 9 August

Make sure you keep up to date with Arts and Culture news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here.

THEATRE

The Wonder Drug

theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39) until 9 August

★★☆☆☆

In this slow-burning two-hander, a weekly park meeting becomes a subtle study of control, connection and the grey areas of recovery. Connor Eastman and Todd Schwartz deliver understated performances as two men linked by diagnosis, a doctor, and a forced drug meant to suppress their psychopathic tendencies. The writing offers insightful glimpses into their dark pasts, but the threat of going off medication lacks real urgency. Still, as the drug’s effects emerge, the shifts in their personalities become intriguing. The dysfunctional bond feels believable, and the evolving dynamic holds some promise. While the play raises interesting questions about identity and suppression, it is missing the emotional grit or dark humour needed to fully land.

SUZANNE O’BRIEN

Until 9 August

THEATRE

The Idiot’s Guide to Breaking Your Own Heart

Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16) until 6 August

★★☆☆☆

Produced by staff and students of St Johns Country Day School in Florida, this show arrives in Edinburgh after the original director died recently and the young cast decided to press on with commendable togetherness and team spirit. George Griggs and Paul Andrew Perez’s musical tells of Simon (Nikhil Gupta), a teenage boy struggling to fit in and understand love at high school, and lthough the six-strong ensemble’s performances are variable (some occasionally poor mic technique means lyrics are lost amid the noisy recorded score), everyone shows ability. In particular, Samantha Richter as Simon’s mother both gets the best song and has a very professional spoken and sung delivery.

DAVID POLLOCK

Until 6 August

THEATRE

Frankenstein: Afterglow

theSpace on the Mile (Venue 39) until 9 August

★★☆☆☆

This “response” to Mary Shelley’s novel isn’t an adaptation of the gothic tale, rather an addendum. Spike Rose Productions mixes puppetry with performance – and not in the way you might expect – and nails the vengeful nature of Frankenstein’s monster. It touches upon the right to choose how to end your life as Victor is kept alive against his will by the creature. But it doesn’t really add to the debate – or the Frankenstein story itself. Much like the neon lighting that illuminates the stage, it’s an unnecessary addition to a story that resists improvement.

RORY FORD

Until 9 August

READ MORE: The Best Edinburgh Fringe Theatre 2025: Every show with a four or five star review from The Scotsman so far