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Edinburgh Reporter

Popcorn Writing Awards 2025 highlighting the best new writing

Popcorn Group, a film, television and theatre production company founded by filmmaker Charlotte Colbert, has once again joined forces with ten renowned Edinburgh theatre venues to spotlight the best new writing at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. There are 26 diverse and compelling plays, each a testament to the power of storytelling on the shortlist – all still available for audiences to enjoy this month – and could be taken as a good guide for anyone looking for a Fringe show this week. In this year's selection, identity and expression take centre stage, with characters fighting for agency in unexpected ways: from the empowering drag persona in KING to the vibrant dual- heritage tensions of LEI-LDN and In The Black's satirical exploration of race, capitalism and the cost of success in corporate America. Joining them is Ohio: The Bengsons, a true story from a real-life folk duo, exploring what it means to live joyfully in the face of loss. Migration and memory echo through in The Land of Eagles, a lyrical reflection on Albanian identity, while Refuse portrays a Ukrainian neighbourhood on the brink of war through the eyes of the local bin man. Consumed brings four generations of Northern Irish women together to clear out the skeletons in the closet. These are stories that honour the weight of the past while questioning who gets to carry it forward. Inequality features sharply across the list, including Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak, which highlights housing inequality through a comedic retelling of a community's journey to stage a historical reenactment. Meanwhile, Brainsluts offers a hilarious yet quiet critique of what lengths we take to find stability in today's landscape of financial precarity. And in true Fringe tradition, some pieces gloriously refuse to be boxed in: HOLE! turns cult dogma into an apocalyptic musical romp through queer discovery, and Hot Mess stages the climate disaster as a messy, millennia-long breakup musical between Earth and Humanity. Unpredictable, political and deeply human, this year's shortlist is a thrilling snapshot of writers redefining what theatre can do. Popcorn Group's founder and filmmaker Charlotte Colbert said: The shortlist this year is exhilarating in its breadth and bravery. These plays interrogate power, challenge societal blind spots, and do so with extraordinary craft and humour. This award has always been about giving writers the space to be unapologetically bold. Now in its seventh year, the Popcorn Writing Award continues to spotlight fearless writers and contribute to a culture of engaged storytelling. Past winners and finalists have transferred their work to major stages including Soho Theatre and The Royal Court and have been commissioned by leading broadcasters. The 2024 Popcorn Writing Award was jointly awarded to VL by Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair, and Weather Girl by Brian Watkins, which recently concluded a successful transfer run at Soho Theatre. Finalists included The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu and Knock on the Roof by Khawla Ibraheem, which transferred to the Royal Court Theatre. A special mention was given to Pop Off, Michelangelo! by Dylan MarcAurele, which recently enjoyed an extended run at Underbelly Boulevard Soho. All shortlisted writers receive one-to-one meetings with both Popcorn Group and BBC and Irish longlistees are invited to submit work to the BBC Writers portal for consideration in BBC Writers Voices 2026. A committee of diverse industry voices, assembled by the Popcorn Group in consultation with BBC Writers, will be announced shortly. This committee will be responsible for selecting this year's finalists and overall winner, with awards presented at the Popcorn Writing Award ceremony on Wednesday 20th August at 11am, taking place at the Pleasance Courtyard Cabaret Bar. This year's ten partner venues are Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Summerhall Arts, theSpaceUK, Traverse, Underbelly, Greenside, ZOO Venues and new for 2024, Paradise Green. The winner of the 2025 Popcorn Writing Award will be announced on 20 August. The Popcorn Award 2025 shortlisted plays are (in alphabetical order): Body Count by Issy Knowles, Pleasance In a time when all it takes to become a millionaire porn star is an iPhone and a dream, Body Count zeroes in on this cultural shift to explore whether it's ever truly possible to separate emotion from sex. Bog Body by Jen Tucker, Paradise Green Love, death, decay and desire. As the grieving Petra begins to trawl through the lonely marshes of Lindow Moss, she finds more than she bargained for. She finds him. An experimental and bizarre dark comedy, Bog Body is a solo piece about a young woman's marriage to the Lindow Man. Brainsluts by Dan Bishop, Pleasance Five Sundays. Five strangers. One mystery drug. Oversharing ensues, secrets emerge and the stresses of their precarious lives are laid bare. This may not be the dream, but if the participants listen to each other, they might just learn something. Or maybe they won't. Cara and Kelly Are Best Friends Forever For Life by Mojola Akinyemi, Pleasance Cara and Kelly are best friends, soulmates even. It's 2013, they're 14 and in their prime! But when a strange new face arrives, unprecedented chaos ensues. Things that once seemed certain are no longer clear, forcing the girls into action… Consumed by Karis Kelly, Traverse Four generations of Northern Irish women, reunited at the family home, celebrating a 90th birthday party that no-one seems to want. A house full of hungry ghosts, with more than one skeleton in the closet. Make sure you turn your phones off at dinner. Don't Tell Dad About Diana by Conor Murray & Hannah Power, Underbelly Dublin, 1997. Two friends prepare a Princess Diana drag act for Alternative Miss Ireland, hiding it from their hardline nationalist families. As Diana's death rocks the world, secrets unravel, friendships strain, and escape plans falter in this fast-paced two-hander packed with comedy, courage, and coming-of-age chaos. Fuselage by Annie Lareau, Pleasance 21st December 1988: Annie Lareau was meant to be on Pan Am 103 with 35 of her classmates, heading home for Christmas. The lives of a tight-knit group of friends intertwine with the voices of Lockerbie locals – set against a ticking clock of prophetic nightmares and a terrorist plot. HOLE! by Jake Brasch & Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, Underbelly HOLE! is a musical about a religious sect in Nebraska who think they must wear butt plugs at all times, or they'll be sucked up to burn on the sun. Turns out, they're right. Two young men who are definitely not in love venture out to discover life outside their cult. Hot Mess by Jack Godfrey & Ellie Coote, Pleasance Hot Mess: a new musical. After a billion years of bad dates, Earth's finally found the one… Humanity. Sparks fly. Wheat is harvested. Technology flourishes. But what begins as a passionate love affair between the universe's most iconic couple quickly descends into a Hot Mess. From the creative duo behind 42 Balloons comes a new pop musical about love, hope, and the ultimate break up. I Dream in Colour by Jasmine Thien, Underbelly Sophie has a choice: surgically remove her one remaining eye, or keep it and risk eye cancer. Again. As her world and relationships collapse around her, Sophie is forced to confront past memories and present-day experiences that have taught her to believe she has no agency over her own body. In the Black by Quaz Degraft, theSpaceUK In The Black is a dark comedic solo show about Kofi, a first-generation Ghanaian American navigating Wall Street. Caught between ambition and family pressure, he begins to question how far he'll go to succeed. The play explores identity and ambition in a world that was never built for him to win. In the Land of Eagles by Alexandra Reynolds, Pleasance Her and Grandpa are different and not the same. She's got MySpace, he's got his bench by the back gate. When Grandpa asks to go home, he doesn't mean next door. Albania is far, he can't go alone. Soon they'll journey together, into the heart of a place unknown. JACKIE!!! A New Musical by Max Alexander-Taylor, Nancy Edwards & Joe McNeice, Gilded Balloon Jacqueline Bouvier dreams of becoming the first American Royal, but discovers that life atop the throne might not be worth the curse that hangs over it. This new musical comedy blends shocking history with punchy jokes and an original score to shine a light on Jackie's tenure as First Lady. KING by Jo Tan, Summerhall Arts Geok Yen is a public relations executive whose safe stable life gets upturned when on impulse, she attends the party in the guise of a man, Stirling da Silva. Emboldened by the alter ego, Yen discovers a newfound confidence to be whatever she could be without self-judgement. LEI – LDN by Na-keisha Pebody, Pleasance A vibrant exploration of identity, culture, and belonging. Set between Leicester and South London, LEI-LDN follows Chardaye, a mixed-race teen with opinions, attitude, and no clue where she fits in. This isn't a smooth coming-of-age tale—it's loud, funny, and full of culture shocks. Lovett by Lucy Roslyn, Pleasance Newly widowed, Mrs Lovett 'recalibrates' her relationship with God. The scales of social justice may be tipped against her, but Eleanor has counterweights of her own: creativity, a can-do spirit, and a dream of joys to come. A darkly comic tale of a young woman before she meets Sweeney Todd. MILES. by Oliver Kaderbhai, Summerhall Arts MILES. delves into the life of Miles Davis, creator of the influential jazz album – Kind of Blue. Charting his life as a black musician in pre-civil-rights America, heroin addiction and obsession with music, MILES. explores what it takes to be an artist in a world designed to hold you back. Ohio: The Bengsons by Shaun and Abigail Bengson, Assembly When Shaun turned his back on the church, he found a new home in music. Confronted now with acute degenerative hearing loss, he's choosing to live joyfully in the face of life's unanswerable questions. An exhilarating and celebratory true story by real-life folk musician couple Shaun and Abigail Bengson. Ordinary Decent Criminal by Ed Edwards, Summerhall Arts Set in the years following the Strangeways Prison Riot, meet recovering addict Frankie, as he enters the new world of a liberal prison experiment. None of Frankie's fellow convicts are what they seem. In the most unexpected of places, he discovers that the revolution is not dead. It's just sleeping. PEOPLE WE BURY ALIVE by Anna Krauze, Zoo Rita, a Polish immigrant and mortuary worker, runs a support group for people who have been buried alive. But can she practice what she preaches? Because the thing is, she just buried her ex alive. A dark comedy with slam poetry; exploring immigration, grief and lost connections. r/Conspiracy by Ella Hällgren, Gilded Balloon Alex tumbles headfirst into the rabbit hole when she spots a Reddit thread documenting a mysterious machete man roaming her local park. But the harder she digs, the deeper she falls… Meet your next digital obsession – a virtual mystery romp for 20-somethings, with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Refuse by Lucy McIlgorm, Assembly Week in, week out, Maks collects bins. He knows his neighbours and trusted route like the back of his hand. Set in the run up to the war and inspired by a news story about Ukrainian refuse workers, this play explores how ordinary people refuse to break under unimaginable circumstances. Rodney Black: Who Cares? It's Working by Sadie Pearson, Gilded Balloon Rodney Black is an up-and-coming stand-up. Thanks to a two-fingers-up-to-polite-society approach, and a money-hungry manager, his career is at its peak as he titillates and aggravates with equal measure. But, when a joke of his inspires a violent crime, Rodney must grapple with the ethical implications of his new found spotlight. Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak by Victoria Melody, Pleasance Victoria Melody joined a historical re-enactment society because we all deal with divorce differently! Ever the obsessive, she uncovered the story of the17th-century Diggers, who occupied common land. This investigation into their modern-day equivalents – community organisers and campaigners uses storytelling and stand-up to explore land, power and working- class resistance. Wanted by Eleanor Higgins, Underbelly Two girls from opposite worlds are fated to meet on the London 2009 queer scene. Bonded by rage, trauma and Tony Soprano, the duo launch a morally dubious revenge spree. But when consequences come knocking, they must decide: double down, or walk away? A darkly funny tale of queer friendship, survival, revenge and just enough chaos to make you wonder if you'd have done the same. Woman in the Arena by Jen DiGiacomo, Greenside A neurodivergent parent discovers a suicide note and unravels under the weight of trauma, nightmares, and secrecy. What better ingredients for a comedy? Woman in the Arena is a raw, darkly funny solo play about shame, survival, and selfhood — and the dangerous cost of silence. Like this: Like Related