Top seven LGBTQ+ shows to watch at Edinburgh Fringe this year

ZOO Playground, Playground 2, 1 – 24 Aug 2025 (not 12), 18:05 (19:05)

Transforming homophobia into a defiant celebration of queer joy, Edu Diaz’s wordless A Drag Is Born blends clowning, lip-sync, and drag with a touch of audience interaction.The story follows an ordinary man who, through a twist of fate, is magically transformed into the Queen of the Carnival. With advanced age, abundant body hair, and limited talents, he’s an unlikely candidate for the role. Set to a liberating soundtrack featuring divas such as Rita Hayworth, Nancy Sinatra, and Celine Dion, A Drag Is Born reminds us that it’s never too late to embrace your true self.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/a-drag-is-born

What If They Ate The Baby?

the SpaceUK @ Niddry St (Upper), 1 – 23 Aug 2025 (not 10 & 17), see press release for timings

What If They Ate The Baby? is an absurd and dystopian take on the 1950's American housewife, where audiences are put into the position of surveillant. Created largely in response to the changing laws surrounding reproductive rights in America, the show explores the same menial conversations between neighbours in the context of surveillance, cannibalism, and queerness, all during an idealised period in American history that was marked by paranoia. Playing two post-war suburban housewives, Xhloe and Natasha use double entendre, green spaghetti and a soundtrack complete with Vaudeville to Rap to interrogate gender expectations and the relationship between surveillance and bodily autonomy.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/what-if-they-ate-the-baby

Dyke Systems Ltd

Pleasance Courtyard, Cellar , 30 July – 25 Aug 2025 (not 6 & 12 ), 15 .00 (16 .00)

Set in the 1990s at the height of multi-level marketing expansion but before the rise of the internet, this two-handed comedy satire delves into the collision of repressed queerness and corporate feminism and looks at how modern technology and finance have weaponised them both. American suburban business women Sally and Susan are on the hunt for new recruits for their very lucrative business opportunity that is definitely not a pyramid scheme. But as they dive deeper into the shiny world of multi-level marketing, they become caught up in climbing the cut-throat corporate ladder and cracks begin to appear in their pastel-perfect lives, unravelling long-buried tensions and unspoken desires as the lies they’ve built everything on 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) which explores the intersections of queerness and feminism in a capitalist world that is coming for us all.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dyke-systems-ltd

Small Town Boys

Part of the Made in Scotland showcase

ZOO Southside, Main House, 1- 17 Aug 2025 (not 4 & 11), 19.45 (20.45)

Set in the late 80s at the start of the AIDS epidemic, Dundee-based company Shaper/Caper’s production explores the importance of queer nightlife spaces and community in times of crisis. Inspired by the real-life experiences of writer, director, and choreographer Thomas Small, Small Town Boys follows a young man who leaves the quiet of his hometown in search of community, solace and joy in the bright lights of the big city. He finds it all within the vibrant LGBTQ+ community of the Paradise Nightclub, a sanctuary pulsing with life, music, and solidarity. But as the AIDS crisis deepens and is largely ignored by the Government, the party gives way to heartbreak, and the community must rely on each other more than ever. The show includes a community cast alongside eight dancers and toured Scottish nightclubs last year receiving the Creative Arts Award at the 2024 Proud Scotland Awards. This is its first time in Edinburgh and arrives at the Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland showcase.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/small-town-boys

And Then the Rodeo Burned Down

theSpaceUK @ Niddry St (Upper), 1 – 23 Aug 2025 (not 10 & 17), see press release for timings

And Then the Rodeo Burned Down is a meta-theatrical subversion of the traditional Western following Dale, a rodeo clown aspiring to be a cowboy, and Dilly Dally, Dale's mischievous shadow. Exploring masculinity, power, and the American Dream in the context of cowboy culture, the pair playfully switch between characters, shift power dynamics, and turn the story around at breakneck speed, challenging the audience to keep up. Dale and Dilly bicker, antagonise and flirt through synchronised physical theatre, dance and clowning, scored by a soundtrack from Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Elvis. The performance is flipped when the duo are forced out of character to reflect on the financial pressures put on performers in the industry. They question the events of the narrative, whether they will be able to afford to find the end, and most importantly, who burnt the rodeo down?

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/and-then-the-rodeo-burned-down

The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave

Summerhall, Main Hall, 31 July – 25 Aug 2025 (not 6, 12 & 19), 18:05 (19:05)

Championing techno and rave culture through contemporary dance and movement, this high-energy queer dance celebration condenses the spirit of a three-day party into a relentless and seamless sixty minutes. Set to a pulsing soundtrack of Nocturbulous Behaviour by Detroit DJ Suburban Knight, which blends house, techno, and funk, three dancers push their bodies to the absolute limit, chasing euphoria through the pure joy of movement. The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave is a visceral spectacle: the human body at the mercy of music, passion, and the endless hunger for transcendence.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-butterfly-who-flew-into-the-rave

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First

the SpaceUK @ Niddry St (Upper), 1 – 23 Aug 2025 (not 10 & 17)

Show One: 1 – 9 Aug 13:40 (14:40), 11 – 23 Aug 19:20 (20:20) & Show Two: 21:20 (22:20)

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First is a farcical two-hander that blurs the lines of 1960s American Boy Scouts and drafted US Soldiers in Vietnam. Drawing on their own upbringings in military families and being taught that the USA was the greatest country in the world, Xhloe and Natasha play two scouts who directly address the audience, telling stories, playing soldiers and declaring their admiration for current president Lyndon B. Johnson. Exploring children’s innocence and their relationship with war as well as the androgyny of gender traits that society allows boys to have, the performance is set to a Beatles’ soundtrack, complete with live harmonica and spit-shakes.

Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/a-letter-to-lyndon-b-johnson-or-god-whoever-reads-this-first