A Non-Exhaustive List of Arab Art and Talent at the Fringe 2024

A Non-Exhaustive List of Arab Art and Talent at the Fringe 2024

The first week of the Edinburgh Fringe has come and gone, with three more weeks of shows and events ahead. Every year, the Fringe draws thousands of audiences, industry professionals, and programmers from around the globe, all faced with the difficult task of choosing what to watch from over 1,600 shows. As I was exploring this year’s programme, I found it quite challenging to track down performances by or featuring Arab artists. Only a handful of shows featuring Arab artists are categorized under the “Artists of Colour” tag, and even fewer appear when filtering by country. But don’t let the search results deceive you—there is a wealth of Arab talent at the Fringe this year!

To make a start, I’ve put together this list, which is by no means exhaustive, but a starting point. The breadth of work by Arab artists at the Fringe is remarkable, from A Knock on the Roof, a highly relevant piece that speaks to the lived realities of Palestinians today, to My English Persian Kitchen, written by the award-winning and beloved Irish-Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil. There’s also Dummy in Diaspora by Esho Rasho, a touching solo show that explores the experience of growing up as the child of refugees in America.

I want to give a special mention to Cosmos by Ashtar Muallem, which I saw last week. This poignant mix of dance, acrobatics, and storytelling weaves together Ashtar’s memories of growing up in Jerusalem, reflections on her persecuted homeland, and the blurred lines between reality and imagination, bringing a powerful awareness of Palestinian struggles to an international stage. Though Cosmos only ran until August 11th, it will be touring internationally, and I highly recommend catching it at one of its future presentations. Word on the street is it might be making its way to London in 2025.

While I haven’t had the chance to watch every show on this list, I wanted to share what I’ve found so far. This is just a way to highlight the incredible talent present at the Fringe, and there may be even more shows by Arab artists that I haven’t yet discovered. If you come across any, feel free to send us a note and we’ll add to the list!