Welcome to Theatre Weekly’s Best of the Fest 2026, our annual celebration of the productions, performers and creative teams that have made this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe unforgettable.
After a month of reviewing shows across Edinburgh, our critics have selected the winners in a range of categories recognising everything from outstanding performances and new writing to design, direction and innovation.
These Best of the Fest awards reflect the shows that resonated most strongly with Theatre Weekly’s reviewers, but they also serve as a celebration of every artist, producer and company who has brought work to Edinburgh this summer.
With thousands of shows competing for attention, simply making it to the Fringe is an achievement worthy of applause, and this year’s festival has once again demonstrated the extraordinary talent, courage and creativity that define the world’s largest arts festival.
Best Show of the Fringe
The Distance – Summerhall (Main Hall)
Ben Norris delivers an astonishing feat of theatre in The Distance, spending much of the performance running on a treadmill while simultaneously guiding audiences through a funny, exhilarating and deeply moving story of ambition, identity and sacrifice. Thrillingly staged and emotionally resonant throughout, it transforms one athlete’s journey into something profoundly universal.
Best New Writing
Cathy – Traverse Theatre (Traverse 1)
Eilidh Loan’s outstanding script balances sharp observational humour with a deeply compassionate exploration of grief, family and reinvention. Packed with richly authentic characters and natural dialogue, Cathy finds hope in everyday life and delivers a moving reminder that loss may shape us, but it does not have to define us.
Best Monologue
They’re Just Small Town (Northern) Lads – Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre)
Nathan Jonathan delivers a deeply personal and beautifully crafted piece of storytelling that balances humour, honesty and heartbreak with remarkable assurance. Through a compelling monologue that feels both intimate and universal, They’re Just Small Town (Northern) Lads creates a powerful connection with its audience and demonstrates the enduring strength of solo storytelling at its finest.
Best Musical
Endometriosis: The Musical – Gilded Balloon Patter House (Doonstairs)
Smart, hilarious and fiercely intelligent, Endometriosis: The Musical demonstrates how effective musical theatre can be when every element is working in harmony. With superb performances, cleverly integrated songs, dazzling professionalism and a sharp sense of humour, it transforms an important issue into one of the Fringe’s most entertaining and accomplished musicals.
Best Song / Musical Moment
Flick Hannah performing “Me and the Sky” in Come From Away – Assembly Rooms (Ballroom)
Some moments transcend the show they are part of and become unforgettable in their own right. Flick Hannah’s rendition of “Me and the Sky” combined commanding vocals, emotional intensity and complete conviction, delivering a performance that left our reviewer with chills and created one of the most memorable musical moments of this year’s Fringe.
Best Physical Theatre
Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It – Summerhall (Main Hall)
Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland fill the stage with raw energy, absurd humour and breathtaking physicality, creating an entire small-town world through movement alone. With high-octane acrobatics, inventive staging and a remarkable ability to shift between characters and perspectives, Bigfoot Ripped My Dog in Half I Saw It demonstrates the thrilling possibilities of physical storytelling.
Best Circus
The Revel Puck Circus: The Wing Scuffle Spectacular – Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows (The Lafayette)
Combining breathtaking circus skills with inventive storytelling and a wonderfully playful sense of mischief, The Wing Scuffle Spectacular captures the magic that makes contemporary circus so thrilling. Packed with astonishing feats and boundless creativity, it delivers spectacle, humour and heart in equal measure.
Best Solo Performance
Hannah Reilly for ROLEPLAY – Summerhall
Hannah Reilly delivers a remarkable tour de force, creating an entire cast of characters through little more than voice, movement and sheer storytelling ability. Funny, touching and sharply observed, ROLEPLAY tackles themes of sexuality, identity and power with confidence and compassion, all while remaining utterly entertaining. Reilly’s complete command of the stage makes this an unforgettable solo performance and a deserving winner of our Best Solo Performance award.
Best Ensemble Performance
Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? – Greenside @ Riddles Court (Pickle Studio)
In a show built around the looming threat of an asteroid strike, it is the chemistry between Fletcher Michael, Lucy Boisvert and Collin Dennis that truly makes Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? soar. Balancing sharp comedy with growing existential tension, the trio work together seamlessly, giving each other space to shine while creating an ensemble performance that remains compelling from beginning to end. Their ability to transform a clever premise into something both hilarious and genuinely affecting makes this a worthy winner of our Best Ensemble award.
Best International Show
Tether – Summerhall (Main Hall)
A remarkable collaboration between Scotland’s Wonder Fools and South Korea’s Theatre SAN, Tether blends live music, dance and multilingual storytelling into an inventive and deeply moving theatrical experience. Exploring how music connects people across cultures, generations and continents, it upends expectations of how complex stories can be told while remaining joyful, poignant and utterly captivating.
Best LGBTQ+ Show
Acid’s Reign – Pleasance Courtyard (Forth)
Part drag spectacular, part activist musical, Acid’s Reign bursts with originality, honesty and infectious energy. Packed with memorable original songs, sharp humour and powerhouse performances, it uses music and drag to explore community, identity and climate activism, creating a show that is as entertaining as it is empowering.
Best Experimental / Avant-Garde
QFWFQ – Summerhall (Former Gents’ Locker Room)
Gregory Nussen’s remarkable Fringe debut embraces chaos, curiosity and connection, weaving together seemingly unrelated stories, memories and ideas into something strangely coherent and utterly captivating. Funny, thought-provoking and impossible to categorise, QFWFQ invites audiences into a stream of consciousness that consistently surprises while never losing its emotional or intellectual grip.
Best Direction
Behind Closed Doors – Braw Venues @ Hill Street (Alba Theatre)
Drawing on deeply personal material, director Jason Marc Williams guides Behind Closed Doors with remarkable sensitivity and assurance. Balancing moments of intense emotional confrontation with quieter, reflective scenes, the production never loses sight of the humanity at its core, creating a raw, compassionate and profoundly affecting piece of theatre.
Best Design
Mythos: Ragnarök – Assembly Rooms (Music Hall)
From ominous lighting to striking staging, Mythos: Ragnarök creates a world of gods, warriors and legends with extraordinary visual flair. Every design element works in service of the storytelling, transforming a company of wrestlers into towering figures of Norse mythology and giving the production an epic scale that lingers long after the final battle.
Most Uplifting Show
The Singer – Traverse Theatre (Traverse 1)
Filled with warmth, music and an infectious sense of joy, The Singer celebrates community, connection and the power of bringing people together. With integrated BSL woven seamlessly into the storytelling and a final act that leaves audiences grinning from ear to ear, it was impossible to leave this production without feeling uplifted.
Most Thought-Provoking Show
Atomic Tales – Zoo Playground (Playground 1)
Few shows this Fringe grappled with such enormous themes as skilfully as Atomic Tales. Exploring the legacy of nuclear catastrophe through an intimate human lens, the production examines love, grief and memory while never losing sight of the people caught in the shadow of history. By balancing emotional storytelling with complex moral questions, it leaves audiences reflecting on its ideas long after the performance has ended, making it a clear choice for our Most Thought-Provoking Show award.
Hidden Gem
Dylan Thomas: Return Journey – Pleasance Courtyard (Attic)
In a Fringe packed with larger productions competing for attention, Dylan Thomas: Return Journey quietly proved itself to be one of the festival’s most rewarding discoveries. This beautifully crafted revival captures the wit, poetry and melancholy of Thomas’s writing while remaining accessible and engaging throughout. Anchored by a compelling central performance and a deep affection for its source material, it offers audiences an intimate encounter with one of Wales’ greatest literary voices and fully deserves recognition as our Hidden Gem of the Fringe.
Best Fringe Debut
Jacob Sparrow for Sanctuary – Pleasance Dome (Ace Dome)
Writer Jacob Sparrow announces himself as a major new voice with Sanctuary, a debut play that tackles challenging subject matter with confidence, compassion and emotional intelligence. Combining powerful storytelling with a strong sense of humanity, Sparrow’s writing demonstrates remarkable assurance and marks him as a talent to watch.
Spirit of the Fringe Award
Tom Read Wilson: A-Z of Me – Gilded Balloon (The Museum)
Few performers captured the warmth, generosity and sense of connection that define the Edinburgh Fringe quite like Tom Read Wilson. In A-Z of Me, he welcomes audiences into his world with charm, wit and disarming honesty, creating an experience that feels less like a performance and more like a conversation with an old friend. A joyful celebration of storytelling, curiosity and human connection, it embodies the very spirit of the Fringe.
