Brian Ferguson's diary: Looking for love? There's a play for that

Brian Ferguson takes a quick looks at the plays you should be catching this Festival.

Want a blind date this Festival? Check out In Fidelity at the Traverse Theatre

A typically heart-felt speech from Pleasance director Anthony Alderson at its launch gala saw him pay tribute to the enduring #inspiration of its founder Christopher Richardson, without doubt the best-turned-out audience member.

Alderson reflected on how the Pleasance family which has been built up over the last 32 years had now spread out around the world.

He also revealed that he even encourages the members of his team to fall in love at the start of each festival, adding: “Over the years there have been a few weddings and some babies too. I don’t know why they always seem to be born in May. August 11, apparently.”

If you have arrived in Edinburgh looking for love a couple of experimental theatre shows are offering potential inspiration. Comic Al Murray, ventriloquist Nina Conti and musician Gideon Irving are among the early participants in The Blind Date Project at Zoo Southside. Serbian-Australian actress Bojana Novakovic, who plays a woman waiting in a karaoke bar, is performing an unscripted show with a different “date” every night.

Meanwhile, the Traverse’s game show-style play In Fidelity attempts to match up two singletons who are drawn from the audience and paired up by theatre-maker Rob Drummond after he has quizzed several contenders.

Drummond – who trained as a wrestler and a magician for previous shows – entered the world of online dating to research a show which tackles the science behind love, relationships and cheating on your partner.