; tickets ...And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel Jeffrey Holland (of Hi-de-Hi fame) envisages Stan Laurel visiting a dying Oliver Hardy and looking back on their immortal comedic partnership. Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 2-28 (not 16); tickets An Afternoon with the Ladies of the Cliff Richard Fan Club, Sutton Coldfield, 1995 Sounds a hoot – an 'immersive comedy' inviting audiences into a room full of Cliff Richard fans, with a 'unique take' on buffet food. Assembly Rooms (Venue 20), Aug 3-27 (not 15); tickets The Ballad of Truman Capote The award-winning novelist and former Telegraph film critic Andrew O'Hagan takes us inside the gossipy world of Capote, as he relives his life in his suite at New York Plaza. TheSpace@ Niddry Street; Aug 4-26; tickets Dark Noon The acclaimed reimagining of the origins of the USA, as told by seven South African actors – what started as a dramatisation of the colonisation of Africa wound up being transplanted across the Atlantic; co-directed by Tue Biering (Denmark) and Nhlanhla Mahlangu (SA). Pleasance @ EICC, Aug 2-27 (not 9, 16); tickets England & Son Comedian Mark Thomas collaborates with playwright Ed Edwards to forge a hybrid drama that collides characters from Thomas' south London childhood with Edwards' 'lived experience in jail'. Contains working-class characters, evocations of fatherhood, 'scenes of violence', and swearing. Summerhall, Aug 2-27 (not 8, 15, 19, 22); tickets The Grand Old House Hotel Riding high after her success with Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) Isobel Mchur's debut original play takes us inside an old hotel beset by fist fights and singing ghosts, where a new staff member embarks on a quest for love. Traverse , July 27-Aug 27; tickets Funeral Belgian company Ontroerend Goed – pi){kind=link}
From theatre to comedy, and opera to dance and art, our critics pick the essential performances to look out for this year in Edinburgh
Andronicus SynecdocheAcclaimed Polish theatre company Song of the Goat draw inspiration from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus as they contemplate the cyclical brutality of the ongoing war in Europe. Zoo Southside, Aug 4-27 (not 7, 14, 21); tickets
…And This Is My Friend Mr LaurelJeffrey Holland (of Hi-de-Hi fame) envisages Stan Laurel visiting a dying Oliver Hardy and looking back on their immortal comedic partnership. Pleasance Courtyard, Aug 2-28 (not 16); tickets
An Afternoon with the Ladies of the Cliff Richard Fan Club, Sutton Coldfield, 1995Sounds a hoot – an “immersive comedy” inviting audiences into a room full of Cliff Richard fans, with a “unique take” on buffet food. Assembly Rooms (Venue 20), Aug 3-27 (not 15); tickets
The Ballad of Truman CapoteThe award-winning novelist and former Telegraph film critic Andrew O’Hagan takes us inside the gossipy world of Capote, as he relives his life in his suite at New York Plaza. TheSpace@ Niddry Street; Aug 4-26; tickets