HardLove is an unflinching comedy
HardLove
Following a sold out run, extended by overwhelming demand, at New York’s Soho Playhouse, this raw and unflinching comedy invites audiences to witness a volatile late-night encounter and its aftermath.
Starring Miray Be?li and Chandler Stephenson, and directed by Jee Duman, it is adapted from an original Turkish play by An?l Can Beydilli.
ChiChi (Miray Be?li) homeless, untethered and unpredictable – a “raw, free spirit with a wild, fierce heart – stumbles into the apartment of Theodore “Teddy” (Chandler Stephenson), a well-mannered guy who values order. What begins as fumbling attempts at a hook up quickly dissolves, exposing vastly different expectations of intimacy and connection.
Can two people navigating such different wavelengths find common ground, or will their clash only lead to emotional wreckage? HardLove doesn’t shy away from the messy realities of modern relationships.
Venue: Greenside Venues @George Street
1-9 August IVY STUDIO
11-16 August LIME STUDIO
Paris in a Jazz Age
The Memoirs of Eloise DeFleur
Seen through the memories of Eloise DeFleur, this cabaret theaure and live swing jazz gig is co-written by writer, band leader Airlie Scott. It even includes a little space for some vintage dancing should you feel inspired!
The piece emerged from a conversation about French chanson, Django Reinhardt hot jazz favourites, and vintage swing classics. This led to an idea for a show set in Paris in the jazz era.
It has played to sell-out gigs at venues such as Brasserie Toulouse Lautrec, North Wall Theatre, Oxford, Mill Arts Centre, Banbury, and the Walnut Tree Inn, Chiswick.
theSpace @Symposium Hall Venue 43
11-16 August
Wilde woman: Krista Scott
Wilde Women
Brilliant actress, phenomenal beauty, mistress of the Prince of Wales – Lillie Langtry was an international Victorian superstar celebrity.
Indeed, her stardom in America began when she was spotted onstage in Edinburgh and snapped up to go to the States – and when she arrived in New York the traffic stopped and the stock exchange closed. A town in Texas was even named in her honour.
Krista Scott’s one-woman play takes us back to 1900 when Langtry’s career is in decline and when her close friend Oscar Wilde is condemned to social disgrace after he was convicted of “indecency” offences related to his affair with Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas.
But Lillie has a plan – she wants to revive both their reputations and careers by writing a new play in which she reprises all of Wilde’s most illustrious female characters – Cecily, Salomé, Mrs Cheveley, Mrs. Erlynne from Lady Windermere’s Fan and naturally, Lady Bracknell.
Fern Studio, Greenside @George Street (Venue 236)
1-16 August (not 10 August)
Del Valle: A True Tale of Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll… and Redemption
Step into the wild, raw, and often shockingly hilarious world of Del Valle – a first-hand true tale of Ned Van Zandt well-worn Texas man who made it in Hollywood… and then made it to prison.
From the drug-induced chaos of the Chelsea Hotel in the 1970s – rubbing shoulders with Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen, and Chaka Khan in the notorious room 100 and the iconic Studio 54 – to the fluorescent glare of a Texan correctional facility, Del Valle is a genre-bending piece of dark comedy storytelling unlike anything you’ve seen. A one-man theatrical hurricane, Ned Van Zandt plays every character in a spiralling descent through sex, fame, addiction, and ultimately, redemption.
In 1978, Sid Vicious was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in room 100 of the Chelsea Hotel. A few months later, he died of a heroin overdose. Ned Van Zandt lived through it all – next door.
Van Zandt has appeared in Painkiller (Netflix), HBO’s All the Way, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime), The Blacklist, Nurse Jackie, and more. His life at the Chelsea Hotel placed him steps from the tragic demise of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in Room 100 – events explored in the documentaries Who Killed Nancy? and Sad Vacation, both of which feature Van Zandt.
Developed at The Orchard Project and based entirely on Van Zandt’s real life, Del Valle doesn’t flinch. Expect a punchy, provocative meditation on queerness, celebrity, drugs, and survival – all told with the wry humour and soul-baring honesty of a man who’s seen it all.
Dairy Room at Underbelly, Bristo Square
6– 25 (not 11 and 18)
Florence
We all wear social masks. You’re probably sitting at your desk wearing one right now. But at what point does wearing a mask mean you lose yourself entirely?
‘Florence‘ is a satirical tragicomic play that follows the story of an ambitious young woman willing to use any means necessary to secure her success in the art world. Even if it means taking on a new identity. Enter Florence. Florence is everything she isn’t: charismatic, confident and well connected. Florence infiltrates an elite group of friends and uses her new connections to secure a job in a prestigious gallery. But behind the veneer of high art and prime real estate is a den of wolves and wealthy wheeler dealers.
That’s ok. Florence can handle it. But what happens if the person underneath can’t?
Beneath the initial comedy and witty social satire, this play questions; how effective is a mask, if who you are really trying to hide from is yourself? What begins as a clever act of reinvention descends into a chilling psychological struggle as the identity she has created, (she claims), begins to take on a will of her own. Could it be that what she thought was an act, is really just a part of herself, stripped of restraint? And once this part of her is out, it doesn’t want to go back in.
Lime Studio, Greenside, George St, Edinburgh
11-23 August (not 17)
Ivo Graham, Abandoman, Michelle Wolf, David O’Doherty
Underbelly’s 7th Annual Big Brain Tumour Benefit
Underbelly has announced a powerhouse line-up of comedy acts for the 7th annual Big Brain Tumour Benefit.
Starring in this year’s show is British comedy darling and Taskmaster alum Ivo Graham, Irish musical comedy genius David O’Doherty, Emmy nominated stand-up sensation Michelle Wolf, the Fringe favourite hip-hop improv Abandoman in his only Fringe appearance for 2025, French comedy star Celya AB, Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show nominee Emmanuel Sonubi and Underbelly’s own chaotic (and nude) Garry Starr.
McEwan Hall
13 August
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