Two Shows, One Venue: Summerhall's Fringe Offers Grief, Bells and the American Dream
Two productions at Summerhall during the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe have drawn contrasting responses from WhatsOnStage, the theatre listings and review site, in reviews published on 21 August 2026.
"The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey," written by the Maltese writing duo Malcolm and Angéle Galea and produced by Give or Take Productions, centres on a man named Magnus who is tasked with fixing a broken church bell. The story uses that premise to explore grief, escapism, and the pursuit of happiness. Joseph Zammit and Rebecca Camilleri perform the piece (WhatsOnStage).
WhatsOnStage's review described the staging as "perfunctory and standard," with unambitious production values, but credited the two performers with "earnest, endearing turns" on stage. In other words, the actors won goodwill even where the production around them did not reach for much.
Sharing the Summerhall programme is a very different proposition. "How Not To Make It In America," written by Emily Steel, is set in New York around 2001 and follows an Australian actor chasing the American Dream. Jono Darby performed the piece, having stepped into the role mid-run — a not uncommon occurrence at the Fringe, where short rehearsal windows and limited runs sometimes require quick cast changes (WhatsOnStage).
WhatsOnStage called Steel's show "a remarkably watchable, brilliantly observed hour of theatre." The review drew echoes of Jonathan Larson's musical "tick, tick… Boom!" — a semi-autobiographical work about a struggling composer racing against time in 1990s New York — in its portrayal of creative desperation.
For Fringe-goers weighing which shows to catch in the final stretch of August, the two reviews point in different directions. One production earns praise for its performers but not its staging. The other lands as a fully realised piece. Both sit inside Summerhall, the former veterinary school on Nicholson Street that has become one of the Fringe's most recognised multi-venue hubs since it began programming festival shows in 2012.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the open-access arts festival that runs each August, does not programme or select its shows. Anyone who can book a venue and pay the registration fee can perform, which is part of why the programme runs to thousands of listings each year. Reviews from outlets such as WhatsOnStage are one of the main ways audiences navigate that volume.
Both productions run as part of the 2026 Fringe, which closes on 25 August.
