Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Miriam Margolyes among first stars to confirm shows for August

Actress will launch new one-woman show

Miriam Margolyes will be at the Fringe this year with a new show celebrating her love for the work of Charles Dickens.

Stage and screen actress Miriam Margoyles is among the first acts to be confirmed for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The award-winning Harry Potter and Blackadder star will be launching a new celebration of the work of Charles Dickens 35 years after her first Fringe show devoted to the writer.

Margoyles, who went on to travel the world with Dickens’ Women, which secured the actress an Olivier Award nomination, will be part of the Pleasance’s 40th Fringe programme in August.

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A new musical based on actress Gwyneth Paltrow's legal battle with an optometrist over a ski slope collision and a musical comedy inspired by a tribunal to decide the true identity of Jaffa Cakes have also been announced.

Gwyneth Goes Skiing, which has been confirmed for a Fringe stint after two recent sell-out runs in London, has been created by Linus Karp and Joseph Martin, who had a previous Pleasance hit in Edinburgh with Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story. Giggleumug Theatre’s show A Jaffa Cake Musical will recall the 1991 legal battle over whether the popular snack was a cake or a biscuit.

The Pleasance line-up, which will be staged across its courtyard, the Dome at Potterrow and the EICC, will include the comics Rosie Jones, Colin Hoult, Chloe Petts, Kemah Bob and New Zealand duo Two Hearts, the “quick change” performer Arturo Brachetti and sketch group Tarot.

Stage and screen star Miriam Margolyes will be appearing at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas

Meanwhile the Gilded Balloon has announced that it will be running just two venues this August after failing to find a replacement for its long-running home at Teviot Row House while it undergoes a refurbishment.

All shows will be staged between the Patter House on Chambers Street and the theatre auditorium at the nearby National Museum of Scotland.

The first Gilded Balloon acts to be announced for this August include comics John Robertson, Louise Atkinson and Kathleen Hughes, sketch show Biscuit Barrel, murder mystery show Locomotive For Murder, magician Cameron Young and hypnotist Matt Hale.

Gilded Balloon artistic directors Karen and Katy Koren said: “We’re looking forward to bringing a bigger and better operation to Patter House for 2024, including some brilliant programming, from kids shows to international comedy, thrilling theatre and lots of famous faces.

Gwyneth Goes Skiing will be part of the Pleasance line-up at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“We will, of course, miss Teviot Row House which has been a major part of Gilded Balloon’s Fringe operation since 2001, but we look forward to returning next year for a big pink birthday bash to celebrate 40 years of Gilded Balloon.”