Seven Dials Playhouse is delighted to announce a brand-new season of new work preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe, including this year’s selected shows for Seven Dials Playhouse’s ‘7from7‘ programme.
This year’s Summer Edinburgh Festival Preview Season features two key strands:
7from7, an artist development programme run in partnership with Pleasance Theatre Trust, which supports seven chosen emerging theatre companies by providing free rehearsal space, mentoring and financial support as they prepare for the Edinburgh Fringe.
The full lineup includes: Brainsluts: a psychological farce set in a clinical drugs trial. Kanpur: 1857: a biting satirical retelling of India’s uprising. Hold The Line: a gripping NHS call-centre drama based on real events. Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x): a sharp comedy about a working class Liverpudlian who earns a place at Cambridge. House Party: a dance-fuelled, one-woman show about gentrification and the housing crisis. Dusty Creases: Dance Your Life Away: a wild, surreal masterclass in movement. United: a live football mockumentary featuring a relegated club, a billionaire child owner, and a host of hilarious characters.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Previews strand showcases new work-in-progress performances from a range of established and up-and-coming names across theatre, comedy and performance. Highlights include a double bill from viral sensation Jazz Emu and character comic Adrian Gray, The Pink List – a haunting musical about queer persecution in post-war Germany – and a new show from Chortle-tipped standout John Tothill.
Running from 24th June – 27th July across both performance spaces – The House and The Pen – the season offers a first look at a wide range of new work, from first-time fringe makers to returning award-winners.
Both strands reflect Seven Dials Playhouse’s ongoing commitment to artist development, sustainability, and access. As part of its continued evolution, Seven Dials Playhouse is committed to removing financial and structural barriers that can limit access to the industry, working to become a key incubator for the next generation of theatre makers and performers. The venue champions work that reflects the full breadth of contemporary Britain – supporting bold, original ideas across new writing, devised performance, sketch comedy, cabaret, and beyond. With a programming model that actively prioritises diversity of voices and forms, the organisation is grounded in a deep commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. This ethos informs every strand of activity — from artist development to audience engagement — ensuring that all creatives feel supported, seen, and empowered to make work on their own terms.
7FROM7: NEW WORK FROM FUTURE FRINGE STARS (Developed through Seven Dials Playhouse’s support programme with Pleasance Theatre Trust):
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BRAINSLUTS
22nd July | 7.00pm | The House
Brainsluts: a slang term used for participants of clinical drugs trials. Five Sundays. Five strangers. One mystery drug. Come observe these underprepared guinea pigs overshare in a new comedy play by Dan Bishop.
KANPUR: 1857
1st July | 7.00pm | The House
A biting satirical retelling of the Indian uprising of 1857, featuring revolution, a trans love story, interrogation and a cannon that could go off anytime.
HOLD THE LINE
10th and 24th July | 8.30pm | The House
Hold The Line is a brand-new comedy drama based upon true events of working in a NHS111 call centre. Meet Gary, a health adviser for NHS111 in Barking, East London, who faces the shift from hell when a patient unexpectedly dies during a routine assessment over the phone. Gary now faces the heat as both his job and livelihood are brought into disrepute following this work place incident. Who’s to blame? What repercussions will there be? Will Gary get to redeem himself?
Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x)
23rd July | 7.00pm | The House
Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) is a sharp, socially conscious comedy drama in the spirit of Sex Education and Big Boys, with the satirical tone of Chewing Gum. It follows a working-class Liverpudlian student who earns a place at Cambridge, only to secretly take a job as a cleaner – risking everything if she’s caught breaking university rules and social codes.
House Party
18th & 19th July | 7.00pm | The House
A one woman show about the housing crisis, gentrification, and the state of Britain today, House Party is all about how the future looks really bleak right now, and how one great party can change the world.
Dusty Creases: Dance Your Life Away
8th & 15th July | 7.00pm | The House
Join legendary dance teacher Dusty in her groundbreaking masterclass and discover how to box step like a jellyfish, ball change like a banana and show everyone your grapes… big, dumb high energy fun!
United
2nd & 24th July | 7.00pm | The House
Crubchester United Football Club are at rock bottom: relegated to non-league. Now, purchased by a 6 year old billionaire, can the club win promotion? Join award-winning character comedian, Ted Milligan, for this live mockumentary following Crubchester’s fervent fans, oligarch owners and pitiful players.
EDINBURGH PREVIEWS: WORK-IN-PROGRESS PERFORMANCES FROM FRINGE FAVOURITES
A double-bill work-in-progress show from Jazz Emu and Adrian Gray:
22nd and 23rd July | 7.15pm | The Pen
Jazz Emu: The Pleasure is All Yours (Work-in-Progress)
Musical meteor Jazz Emu was born to please you. Total and Utter Audience Satisfaction is his middle name – finally, after a long and financially ruinous Deed Poll process. But he’s feeling uneasy. A review described his last show as ‘a bit much’. What? Was his seventeenth stage-dive too tastefully executed? Not this time. This time, he’s living up to his middle-namesake.
Adrian Gray (Work-in-Progress)
With 1 million YouTube subscribers and 1 billion online views, Adrian Gray thought he would be happy by now. But he’s still on 50mg of Sertraline and that’s why he’s doing a character comedy show! Expect 45 minutes of concepts, themes and ideas.
John Tothill
25th June | 7.15pm | The Pen
In 2024, John Tothill’s appendix burst onstage, just days after Trump was almost assassinated. Both men claimed that these near-death experiences changed them. Both were lying. Now join John in his own personal paradise as he attempts to monetise what body parts he has left.
Rory Marshall
16th July | 7.15pm | The Pen
A work in progress show from South East Dartmoor’s fifth-most promising character comedian. Rory Marshall has dug deep into his extremely sad and pathetic soul to create an hour of extremely sad and pathetic characters. He adamantly claims that they’re nothing like him at all, but you can be the judge of that.
As seen on Starstruck, Ellie & Natasia, Channel 4 and heard on Radio 4.
The Pink List
19th July | 8.30pm | The House
1957, West Germany. The battle against the Nazis ended twelve years ago – but for Karl, a gay concentration camp survivor, the war never truly ended. Still criminalised under Nazi law, his life is on trial. A haunting one-person musical inspired by untold stories of queer men in post-war Germany – names recorded in the Pink Lists, then erased.
Bairns
4th and 5th July | 7.15pm | The Pen
Lottie’s just made the mother of all promises and needs to grow up: fast. She’s twenty-something, she’s amounted to nothing, and having a ‘belly buddy’ is sort of ruining her life.
BAIRNS is a funny piece of new writing that follows Lottie as her chaotic life takes a sharp turn when she agrees to be a surrogate for her sister, Freya. But when Lottie starts to form a bond with the cargo she’s carrying, the lines between selflessness and selfishness blur – and under UK law, the baby is legally hers until the parental order is signed post-partum.
Tom Brace Saws Himself in Half
9th July | 7.00pm | The House
Houdini. Brown. Blaine. Brace? Tom Brace is aiming to enter the Magic Hall of Fame by attempting a world first. Sawing HIMSELF in half. Join him on a journey through the best tricks and illusions from magical history as he navigates what it really takes to become a legend of magic.
Yes We’re Related
16th and 17th July | 7.00pm | The House
Hailed as a comedy echoing the best episodes of Only Fools and Horses (Everything Theatre), Lace-Evans’ smash-hit dark comedy returns to The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Awarded the Keep It Fringe Fund and developed by SOHO Theatre Labs, Yes, We’re Related became an immediate hit later going on to enjoy a sell-out London run at The Other Palace.
Dysfunctional sisters Sara and Saskia are forced to confront the unpredictable stages of grief. Sara is living in denial, and Saskia is determined to celebrate the anniversary of their mother’s death with her quirky partner Mark and a party to die for. But when a jaw-dropping secret is revealed, things go from bad, to worse, to catastrophic.
This production is partnered with Sue Ryder Charity, “because no-one should face grief or death alone”.
Ozzy Algar Speed Queen
27th June | 7.00pm | The House
Set in the fictional Last Launderette on the Isle of Wight, Speed Queen is the debut character comedy from Sketch Off! Finalist, Ozzy Algar. In an hour of dark character and storytelling, we follow Pet, the ancient proprietor, as she divines the fates of the Island’s inhabitants through their dirty laundry. As we meet more characters, a picture of an Island ill-at-ease unfolds. Intertwining untold myths and
hidden histories of the Isle of Wight with new writing and original music, Speed Queen is a dark solo comedy hour that explores the state of contemporary England. With folk stories from the Island and bold new narratives, the show touches on economic decline in seaside communities, rise of the far right amongst young men, and female aging. Defying traditional theatre formats, Speed Queen draws from folk-horror, cabaret, clowning and storytelling techniques to create a bold, edge-of-your-seat hour of entertainment. For fans of League of Gentlemen and iconic documentary Grey Gardens.
Courier
25th July | 7.00pm | The House
One courier. One impossible delivery. How far will he go to complete the order?
Fresh from sold-out performances and five-star reviews at Perth and Adelaide Fringe, Courier is a gripping dark comedy based on Piers’ time as a Deliveroo cyclist. This solo show dives into a fractured mind where isolation, identity, and obsession collide as the brakes come off. Strap on your helmets and grip those handlebars tight – this ride is full of sharp twists, sudden turns, and plenty of bumps along the way.
