Bedford Festival Fringe

 

Welcome to our coverage of Bedford Festival Fringe.

Bedfringe boasts some excellent theatre shows that arrived from other Fringes (such as Brighton) and are Edinburgh-bound. There are also plenty of Edinburgh previews and work-in-progress shows. The air of experimentation is a big asset, alongise locally made, national and international work.

Bedford is also very easily accessible by road and train and Londoners can do a day and/or an evening there easily.

So, a staging post to Edinburgh, but also a rich, varied and impressive Fringe in its own right.

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Essential Links

Visit the fringe web site

Find out what’s on

Find a venue

Book tickets

Join them on Facebook

Follow them on Twitter

Watch them on Youtube

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I want to see …  at Bedford Festival Fringe

 

Our quirky-show finding tool. Just choose your preference and find your show, then get booking!

I want to see… 

MUST SEE … the Internationally award winning modern re-teling of an ancient myth. Then see Orpheus

… a magical prank show. Then see James Phelan: Trickster

… some improvised Harry Potter. Then see Spontaneous Potter

… an interactive new play that questions gender constructions in the 21st century. Then see The Trial

,,, some afternoon folk music. Then see Marisa, Jack & Davy

… a xomedy magician and a comedian & ventriloquist. Then see Laughs with Tricks

… the winner of the prestigious BBC New Comedy Award 2018 and the reigning Scottish Comedian of the Year. Then see Stephen Buchanan: Baby Dove

,,, a one-man murder mystery now being used to train NHS staff. Then see Forget Me Not: The Alzheimer’s Whodunnit

… an evening Shakespeare comedy. Then see Comedy of Errors

… some midday children’s theatre. Then see Back in Time for Breakfast

MUST SEE … an outstanding solo theatre piece. Then see Hamlet: An Experience

… a tribute to Joyce Grenfell. Then see Choice Grenfell

… the UK’s leading comedy magician. Then see Pete Firman (Edinburgh Preview)

… award winning adult comedy puppetry. Then see Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre: Roll Up!

… an Edinburgh Fringe preview abot the history of circus. Then see Audacious Mr. Astley

… a game show set in Hell. Then see Hell To Play: Resurrection

… some later afternoon live poetry and prose. Then see Swan Poetry: An Evening of Poetry & Prose

… a  wealth of live words, music and song. Then see Stuff!

… two Multi-award nominated musical-activist-comedians. Then see Jonny & The Baptists: Love Bedford & Hate Bastards

… the world’s first cycling theatre company. Then see The HandleBards: The Tempest

… a multi award-winning comedian and musician. Then see Vikki Stone: Songbird (Edinburgh Preview)

,,, an improvised musical. Then see NOTFLIX: The Improvised Musical

… a family-friendly late morning show that uses puppets, shadow, movement and music to tell the story of Grog the Neanderthal. Then see The Dragon & The Wanderer

… an acclaimed stand-up comedian. Then see Ivo Graham: The Game of Life

… an interactive theatre show for children aged 6+. Then see Kidocracy

…  a steam-powered improv show inspired by the worlds created by Neil Gaiman, Jules Verne and Terry Gilliam. Then see The Penultimate Destiny of New Londinium

...an after lunch show, some splish splashing circus set to drown you in tears of laughter. Then see Splash Test Dummies

… some verbatim theatre. Then see It’s Britney, Bitches!

We’ll be adding more recommendations during the Fringe.

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Bedford Fringe Link Collage

This is a creative, intuitive and wholly visual way to find a show.

Go with your intuition and choose a show from the image that draws you towards it. We’ll be adding more as the Fringe gets closer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll be adding more link collage images in the run up to and during the Fringe.

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Keyword Chaos

 

Another way to find a show at Bedford Fringe.

We’ve trawled the programme and our own knowledge base and selected the most intriguing phrases in programme line up.

So, choose the phrase that draws you in, click on the link and get booking. Eloquent Fringe, recommended by FringeReview, the good fringe guide…

Roy becomes fixated with finding ever elaborate ways of ending their relationship, until he realises that his one solution to breaking the cycle might be to look at his own actions and do the one thing he finds more difficult than anything else – telling the truth. Funny, surprising and touching, be prepared for floral assaults, nosey neighbours and outrageous attempts at breaking up when love is on the battlefield.

Olive doesn’t want to die with 7,000 cats eating her face. Now she’s finally met her dream man, well… he was literally in her dream. Now she’s on a mission to find him.

From the little things that you’d never believe, to the dark humour that keeps you going, it reveals the human truth behind the statistics.

Making comedy-jazz-rap a thing, their songs range from panda repopulation to coming of age to Robot Wars, and they bring love and laughter to a world that needs both more than ever.

looks at disgraced, blacklisted celebrities and historical figures we’re ashamed we once admired. There’s also the small matter of family member arrests, exploding buildings in his home country, and the enterprising Malawian who tried to blackmail him…

Join them on a touching, eggciting and cut-throat journey through friendship and chickenhood. 

 

In 1642 Theatre was made illegal. Theatre didn’t die. Without a stage, without costumes or props, one man made it his mission to keep performing and to keep British theatre alive – stitching together half-remembered Shakespearean scenes and strange medieval interludes, soaking them in sex and violence and bawdy, unintellectual humour.

Welcome to the last Polish/English wedding before the borders close, where you, the audience, play the role of the wedding guests led by a charismatic Mistress of Ceremonies. Before restrictions on mixed marriages are implemented – it’s keep calm and party on! Wesele / Wedding is an immersive one woman show, made in…

Three people are called to a meeting with their boss. One of them is going to be fired. In the course of an hour, we see the nasty, brutish side of workplace politics as two candidates gang up on the other. Where does the line between banter and bullying lie and how far would you go to be successful?

shining a hilarious light on how hard it is to be a good person these days. Can you change the world without offending anyone?

Juliette is full of contradictions: pessimistic optimist? Introverted extrovert? Successful failure? Masculine or feminine? Happy or sad? Mentally ill or healthy? Why must we choose one or the other?

One audience member. 20 minutes. 

supercharged physical comedy and more vampires that you can shake a stake at

What would you say if a super secret agency asked you to be their new codebreaker?

a new show about fake news and freedom of speech, magical realism and transitional capitalism, global politics and dysfunctional relationships

A young, black woman with the head of a bull, roams her labyrinth. Across the sea a warrior sets sail with just one goal. Backstage, the lecturer waits to deliver his thoughts. And the other guy just wants to tell a story. 

Nathan has been a pest control officer for over 30 years. But now he’s had an epiphany, and he’s secretly harbouring a colony of rats in the loft.

You, the audience, are trapped in an interactive, retro gaming nightmare; choose an option, find the way out, and escape The Dark Room! If you succeed, you’ll take home £1000… but if you fail YOU WILL DIE!

We’ll be adding more key word chaos recommendations in the run up to and during the Fringe.