Three Shows Catching Eyes at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Fringe is in full swing, and three productions — spanning a Glasgow-set comedy about motherhood, a surreal three-act experiment, and a boardroom satire — have drawn early attention from reviewers across the festival's first week.
Fishamble, the Dublin-based company with four Fringe Firsts and an Olivier Award to its name, has brought For Dolores to the Traverse Theatre as part of TravFest26. Written by Fringe First-winning playwright Eva O'Connor and directed by Jim Culleton, the play stars Catriona Faint and Lara McDonnell as Mo and Réaltín, two friends whose story unfolds across early-20s motherhood and the circumstances surrounding the conception of Réaltín's daughter, Dolores. The narrative is non-linear, jumping through time rather than following a straight line. The official Edinburgh Fringe listing classifies it as comedy, describing it as a show about friendship, motherhood and coming to terms with your worst mistakes Edinburgh Fringe.
The production is set in Glasgow and comes to Edinburgh after a run at the Galway International Arts Festival earlier in 2026. It is presented at the Traverse in association with the Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick, the Belltable in Limerick city, and the Galway International Arts Festival, and forms part of Culture Ireland's Edinburgh Showcase 2026 — a state-backed programme that promotes Irish work at the festival. Design credits include set and costume by Alyson Cummins, lighting by Suzie Cummins, sound by Denis Clohessy, and movement choreography by Nóra Ní Anluain Fay WhatsOnStage.
Over at Summerhall, the company YESYESNONO has staged As Far As We Know, written and performed by Sam Ward. The production has moved into Summerhall's Main Hall, a step up from Roundabout, the pop-up venue where YESYESNONO has previously appeared. The show is divided into three acts, each with a radically different delivery format — so the way the story reaches the audience shifts as the performance progresses. The plot follows a woman who discovers mysterious, humming holes multiplying in her garden. The official Fringe listing describes it as a "hallucinogenic road trip about cartographers, bubbles, crashes and psychics" Edinburgh Fringe. Rhian Davies produced, and Ward is represented by United Agents WhatsOnStage.
At Pleasance Courtyard, Dan Bishop's new comedy Target Audience unfolds entirely inside a single boardroom with a four-strong cast. Henry Calcutt plays Tobias, a principled novelist brought in for a day's script work at the UK office of an international TV production company run by James Coward's Angie. RhéAna Kamalu completes the principal cast. The Guardian reviewed the show on 7 August, calling it funny and politically astute WhatsOnStage; The Guardian.
Target Audience runs at Pleasance Courtyard (Above) from 5 to 30 August, with performances at 16:50 and tickets priced at £13 WhatsOnStage; Comedy.co.uk. There are no performances on 17 August. The Fringe listing gives the runtime as one hour Edinburgh Fringe.
All three shows were reviewed by Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage on 12 August 2026, as the festival's first wave of critical coverage landed across the trade press.
For Fringe-goers still planning their August, the three between them cover a wide stretch of ground — Irish motherhood in Glasgow, a woman's garden sprouting humming voids, and a novelist cornered in a TV company boardroom — all within a 15-minute walk across the city centre.
