Assembly Festival: Over 5000 £5 tickets for local residents at this year’s Festival Fringe

Having the world’s biggest performing arts festival right on their doorstep is about to get even better for Edinburgh residents, with locals now eligible for £5 tickets to shows at Assembly Festival this August.

Residents across Edinburgh and Lothians, Falkirk and Fife with an EH, KY or FK postcode will have access to 5000 discounted tickets for their pick of almost 200 shows in Assembly’s programme for performances in the first week of the festival – Wednesday 2nd to Sunday 6 August.  

Assembly, the longest running multi-venue curator at the Festival Fringe, has a jam-packed program for 2023 – full of outrageous comedy, dazzling circus feats, compelling theatre, playful children’s shows and more.  

Edinburgh’s own illusionist Kevin Quantum: Momentum will wow with epic stunts and mind-blowing magic, and the incredible talent of Scottish hip-hop dancers will be showcased in Beyond Boundaries – a triple-bill performance presented as part of Assembly’s inaugural collaboration with Dance Base at the Grassmarket. 

Highlights of the comedy programme include the razor-sharp punchlines of Glasgow’s Susie McCabe: Femme Fatality and Australian sketch comedy duo The Umbilical Brothers: The Distraction who are marking their 30th anniversary of the Fringe.  

Thrill-seekers who want to be wowed by gravity-defying acrobatics should catch the all-female Aussie circus troupe YUCK Circus and critically acclaimed Afrique en Cirque from West African/Canadian circus troupe Kalabanté. 

Assembly’s theatre programme is full of heart, including Lena about 1970s child star Lena Zavaroni starring Jon Culshaw (Dead Ringers) and Erin Armstrong (Shetland) and JM Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K from two-time Fringe First winners Baxter Theatre, featuring intricate puppetry from the same company that brought you War Horse

For the kids, there’s a musical adaptation of Roger McGough’s Money-Go-Round, Fringe-favourite The Bubble Show and a charming homage to circus horses in Chevalier – Hobbyhorse Circus

The tickets will be available to purchase from assemblyfestival.com between 15-31 July on a first come, first served basis. Residents can claim the offer by using discount code ‘AF23’ at the checkout and paying with a card that is registered to an address in one of the eligible postcodes.  

For further information, tickets and T&Cs, visit assemblyfestival.com.  

It is time for an honest man to step forward and set the record straight … WATSON: The Final Problem

WATSON previewed at Edinburgh Fringe last year, being enthusiastically received and achieving sell out shows. Now, refreshed and revised, Tim Marriott returns as Watson to Edinburgh before touring in the UK and internationally.

The play is a classic Sherlock Holmes tale of long buried secrets, betrayal and death. There is a shadow in the gutters, a spider’s web of poisonous intrigue plagues the city and Watson must face his greatest ever challenge.  

The year is 1894. Watson is alone. Sherlock Holmes and his beloved Mary are both gone. London seethes with false reports and rumour. It is time to set the record straight. So Watson tells his tale and the intrepid detectives must face their nemesis, the Napoleon of Crime, Professor Moriarty. But as Watson takes us on a journey across Europe to the Reichenbach Falls, is the game really over?

“Impressive! A damn fine play” – Weekend Notes

Brilliant. A must see” – Edinburgh Review

A grippingly fine display… outstanding” – Broadway Baby

Watson: The Final Problem is created in collaboration with and directed by Bert Coules, the BBC’s head writer on adaptations of the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, who says “Watson is often overlooked, but is more than Conan Doyle’s alter ego. Deeply affected by the effects of war in Afghanistan and appalled by dishonesty and falsehood, he is a remarkably contemporary character to bring to life on stage.”

90s sitcom star Tim Marriott played ‘Gavin’ in 7 seasons of the BBC sit-com The Brittas Empire. After a second career in education, he returned to the stage in 2018, travelling to festivals around the world with acclaimed productions of his PTSD awareness play Shell Shock and Holocaust themed Mengele.

BOOKING DETAILS

Time:13.10

Venue 20 – The Drawing Room, Assembly Festival, George Street

Dates: Aug 3-15, 17-28

Running Time: 60 mins

Tickets and Info: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/watson-the-final-problem