Underbelly has announced an impressive theatre program featuring over 40 diverse productions, marking its landmark 25th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Spread across four iconic venues—Bristo Square, Cowgate, George Square, and the Circus Hub—the 2025 slate includes 17 UK premieres and works from over 10 different countries, promising a truly global showcase of contemporary theatre. Tickets are available now at underbellyedinburgh.co.uk.
Leading the charge is the ambitious Mythos: Ragnarök, an innovative blend of Norse Mythology and wrestling, celebrating what the Fringe calls the UK's only predominantly working-class performance art. Also headlining is Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not To Come, a theatrical adaptation of the popular BBC Sounds podcast where hosts Poppy and Rubina explore the complexities of being British Asian women through candid personal stories, from first loves to navigating family politics and racism.
Underbelly continues its commitment to new voices by featuring three Untapped Award winners, supporting early and mid-career theatre companies. JEEZUS! offers an irreverent look at Catholic guilt and unexpected attraction in a South American altar boy. Pigs Fly Easy Ryan delves into a transgressive exploration of connection and survival through the lens of two crash fetishists, while Ways of Knowing presents a surrealist dance-theatre piece exploring the impossibility of predicting the future.
The program also highlights powerful narratives of identity and social justice. WANTED by Eleanor Higgins explores two women’s experiences within the justice system, touching on race and class. Saria Callas is a premiere from Sara Amini, reflecting on her experiences growing up in Tehran where women are forbidden to sing, and now raising a gender-questioning child in London. Queer stories are spotlighted in Cecilia Gentili's RED INK, co-produced by Elliot Page and Sara Ramirez, following a transgender Argentinian artist's search for faith, and The Monkeypox Gospel, where journalist Ngofeen Mputubwele navigates publicly reporting on the Monkeypox outbreak as a gay man and son of Congolese immigrants.
From intimate family dramas like Yes, We're Related to the whimsical absurdity of 3 Chickens Confront Existence, and socially charged pieces like Karen Houge: DREAMGIRL (responding to the refugee crisis) and Don't Tell Dad About Diana (a camp tale set during the Troubles), Underbelly's 25th-anniversary program promises an eclectic and thought-provoking theatrical experience for all Fringe-goers.
