theSpaceUK celebrates the opening of 2022 programme

theSpaceUK kicks off their 27th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in style

It was a night to remember as theSpaceUK kicked off their 27th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a powerhouse performance packed launch at theSpace Triplex.

Artists from a wide variety of genres came together to wow audiences with a small flavour of the 400+ shows available in this year’s programme. Featuring eleven fantastic acts, the launch was a showcase of music, comedy, theatre and packed with plenty of action, to give a taste of the talent on show at theSpaceUK this year.

theSpaceUK pioneered the return of grass roots performance to the festival last year and continues to offer the most established programme for new and original writing as well as established work offering that unique and special experience that can only be found in Edinburgh during August.

Highlights from theSpaceUK Press Launch


Kicking off proceedings was the Hip Hop Orchestra Experience direct from California which seamlessly fused hip-hop and classical music. Upcoming theatre company koi collective premiered a new comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe, Crossing the Void, with a swirl of intrigue and emotion.

A multimedia hybrid, part live stand-up, part film, Apartness featured Sylvester McCoy, Linda Marlowe in a tale of two isolated souls and their devilish comedian saviour. Prejudice & Pride was new folk musical comedy that reimagines Jane Austen’s classic novel in modern America with gender-swapped characters.

How do predators justify what they have done? Why do some victims survive and others perish? Brother’s Keeper is about courageous survival. Merrill gets diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and tries to make sense of her life and chaotic childhood in Merrill Means Well.

The Mistake is a compelling new play by Michael Mears that explores the events surrounding the catastrophic “mistake” that launched our nuclear age.

UK Underdog is a solo show based on true events in a London, Jewish boy’s life told with humour and plenty of chutzpah.

A modern tale of the gay scene which can be harsh and lonely, Soho Boy is packed with glamour, sex and songs.

One-liners and light-hearted jokes from the UK Pun Championships winner 2022 and Scottish Comedian of the Year runner-up 2021, Richard Pulsford had the audience in stitches.

Puppet Pansori Sugungga is an untraditional staging of classical Korean themes using the traditional puppetry of pansori and live music. All hosted by the freshest comedian at the Fringe, It’s Fraser Brown.

About theSpaceUK

Established in 1995, theSpaceUK hosts the largest and most diverse programme at the fringe. Companies, both professional & amateur, are given an affordable, supportive and professional platform to showcase their work. 

About the venue

theSpaceUK operates 19 venues across 7 sites including: theSpace@Surgeon’sHall, theSpace@SymposiumHall, theSpace on North Bridge, theSpace on the Mile, theSpaceTriplex, the Space@Venue45. Further details will be revealed in the coming months.

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@thespaceuk
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Fringe 2022: Done To Death By Jove! 

Gavin Robertson & Nicholas Collett 

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Done To Death, By Jove!

BRITISH DETECTIVE GENRE GETS A COMEDY MAKEOVER …

“The 39 Steps” meets “An Inspector Calls” via Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes and Midsomer Murders. A cast of six brings a comic flurry of suspects and characters together to discover who done what, and why …

Except, well … four of the cast are stuck by the side of the road in the van, and only those two knights of the Theatre – Sir Gavin of Robertson and Sir Nicholas of Collett have managed to get to the venue… but ‘the show must go on’…

Comic clichés from the Detective genre abound in this genre-busting comedy from the masters of inventive silliness! That’s if the two of them can get through the play at all without losing the plot. Literally.

It’s not a new idea – it’s been DONE TO DEATH, BY JOVE – but not like this! Promise.

From touring in USA, Australia and beyond, they’re now at the The Space!

After two years of inaction while covid killed off live performance, investigating a murder seemed appropriate!

But how? With no income and no production funds in the bank, what to produce and how?

Nicholas Collett & Gavin Robertson found a solution – produce a show for six actors but manage with two! With almost no budget and a dearth of necessary actors this was a case of writing a Whodunnit, rehearsing the ACTUAL storyline – then working out how to sabotage themselves at every turn!

The result is this show – a storyline complete with bickering, audience on-the-spot interaction, and laughs a-plenty. And many hats!

Gavin and Nicholas now have 9 shows as a partnership, with Gavin best known for his West End hIt, THUNDERBIRDS F.A.B. (first seen at Edinburgh in 1987!) and Nicholas in the award-winning ‘Black & White Tea Room’ in 2019.

★★★★ Broadway Baby “Comedy gold” ★★★★ Bath Echo “Great fun”

Listings information

Venue:                         theSpace Triplex

Dates:                          Aug 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27

Time:                           17:05 (1hr)

Ticket prices:                   £11.50 / concessions £9.50 / children £8.50 / Family £8.00 Student £8.50

Fringe box office:           0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com