Scotsman Fringe Firsts: we reveal our final award-winners of 2026

Today we are delighted to announce our third and final week of 2026 Scotsman Fringe First award-winners.

These six shows join our week one winners and week two winners in being awarded the most sought after and long-running theatre prize at the Edinburgh Fringe. The winners will receive their prizes at the Scotsman Fringe First Awards at Pleasance Grand this morning.

The Scotsman Fringe Firsts were established in 1973 to encourage artists to premiere new shows at the festival. This year the awards are sponsored by Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, and we are very grateful to QMU for supporting us to continue seeing hundreds of eligible shows premiering across the Fringe’s many venues. We are also very grateful to the Pleasance for hosting our three weekly award ceremonies, including today’s final event.

HOW IT WORKS

The Fringe Firsts recognise outstanding new writing premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe. Shows in the theatre, dance & physical theatre, and musicals & opera sections are eligible, and winners are announced on each Friday of the Fringe.

There is no set number of winners each week. Shows are nominated by The Scotsman’s team of critics, and winners are then decided on by a highly experienced judging panel consisting of, this year, our chief theatre critic Joyce McMillan (as chair) plus writers Susan Mansfield, Mark Fisher, Sally Stott, David Pollock, Fiona Shepherd, Jackie McGlone and Fergus Morgan.

This week’s winners are:

One Hundred Voices (Scottish Parliament, until 28 August)

The One Hundred Voices interactive installation is part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Caring Scotland project. | Kirsty Anderson

What we said: “Part installation, and part audio drama based on real-life conversations with a group of care-experienced people in Scotland, the National Theatre of Scotland’s One Hundred Voices is a show where the element of live theatre is created by the audience members themselves, as they make their way through this guided immersive experience. What we experience is the sense of absolute powerlessness of which care experienced young people complain; the feeling of being caught up in a system that makes little sense, that is entangled in bureaucracy, that struggles even to keep siblings together when they need one another most, and that costs a fortune, while often failing to meet the most basic needs.” (Joyce McMillan)

Little Animals (Traverse Theatre, until 30 August)

Little Animals | Chew Boy

What we said: “The scale of the climate crisis now facing humanity, and our overheating planet, is so huge that relatively few Fringe shows have the courage to tackle it head on. Stripped back to the barest theatrical essentials, Little Animals features just one performer, writer Paul Ready, and an audience of perhaps 30 souls, sitting in a double circle in the natural light of an otherwise empty Lyceum Studio. The occasion, the speaker tells us, is a memorial event for his best friend Richard, who has recently drowned while swimming in a local river; and as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Richard’s death may have been suicide. His monologue matures into a brilliant exploration of what constitutes sanity and rational behaviour, in a civilisation apparently bent, in its pursuit of money and economic growth, on destroying the natural abundance on which all life depends.” (Joyce McMillan)

SLAYERS (Assembly George Square, until 30 August)

SLAYERS by Corrine Salisbury | Getty Images

What we said: “On a trip across the Meadows, Edinburgh Mum Liane has an encounter with a strange man of the kind that many women will be familiar with; he’s creepy but in an opaque way that leaves her wondering if he was just being friendly – that is, until she finds out what he’s been posting about her online. Corinne Salisbury’s twist-filled script, performed by a mesmerising Zoe Hunter, powerfully captures Liane’s building anger at what she discovers and takes her on an empowering but also destructive journey to the heart of hatred and revenge that, it becomes clear, not only consumes strangers in the ‘manosphere’.” It’s a furious but also, at times, very funny rebuttal to sexism and misogyny, as well as a beautifully observed unpacking of human nature.” (Sally Stott)

Adam Riches: The Captain (Summerhall, until 31 August)

Adam Riches in his Fringe First winning show The Captain | Claire Haigh

What we said: “Veteran character comedian Adam Riches tells the story of Captain Matthew Webb, who, in August 1875, became the first person to swim across the English Channel, from the perspective of his coach Fred Beckwith. There are some powerful undercurrents here about masculinity, obsession and athleticism, and what happens when the afterglow of achievement fades. Let’s hope Riches continues to plough a furrow in the theatre section of the programme in future years.” (Fergus Morgan)

Tether (Summerhall, until 30 August)

A scene from Fringe First winner Tether, created by Scottish company Wonder Fools with South Korea’s Theatre SAN | Eoin Carey

What we said: “Co-created by the brilliant young Scottish company Wonder Fools with South Korea’s Theatre SAN, Tether is a true international co-production. Set in three time-periods between 1918 and 1970, it tells the story of young Dae Han, a Christian convert from South Korea who arrives in Glasgow in 1918 to study the Presbyterian faith, only to find the life of the city much more diverse and unruly than he expected. The high technical demands of the story - combining music, surtitles, movement, dialogue and songs - are handled with impressive skill by the whole Tether team; in a show that is full of energy, entertainment value, and real collaborative passion.” (Joyce McMillan)

Turn Your F*cking Phones Off (Summerhall, until 31 August)

Hannah Maxwell in her Fringe First winning show Turn Your F*cking Phones Off | Lucasz Izdebski

What we said: “Hannah Maxwell’s one-woman show is about as far-reaching an investigation as can fit into a Fringe hour about how digital society has been weaponised against us. It’s also very funny, fast and audience-interactive in the most enjoyable and least threatening way possible. While Maxwell’s right that tech is a problem humanity needs to solve before it can solve any other, this is a show which gets that point across with no small amount of hope, laughter and human connection. It’s the perfect way to cut through the endless scroll.” (David Pollock)