Edinburgh Fringe 2026
BURN
Burnt Flamingo Productions
Genre: Theatre
Venue: The Vault at Paradise in The Vault
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Condemned in history as a brutal queen unfit to rule, ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary converses both with her own historical legacy and the archbishop she has condemned to burn at the stake in this defiant, feminist play. Mary, a queen vilified in history, a delusional madwoman. Cranmer, a historical martyr. History tells us so. But what of the woman behind the bloody reputation? What of the man behind the martyr? BURN gives a voice to the first woman to dare to hold royal power in England – and questions how villains are made and how we write women into history.
Review
As soon as you enter BURN you can see that this venue was a deliberate choice for this piece and it pays off. The first thing that hits you is you’re not watching this from a distance. You’re in a cell with Cranmer. The sound of dripping water. The cold light pressing in. It just sits with you. The walls close in. Time feels suspended.
The writing here is what makes this work so well. It’s historical when it needs to be, but it takes risks. It gives the actors permission to find the humanity in these people rather than just play the versions history gave us. Both the script and the performers understand these people are human first, historical figures second. The dialogue doesn’t feel like theatre; it feels like people are actually talking. That’s what makes it hit.
The directing is really clever. You’d expect big scene changes between Mary’s earlier life and Cranmer in that cell. Instead, there’s a lighting cue. A swap of a hat. That’s it. The transition just happens and you’re somewhere else entirely. It works because it trusts you to follow along.
Mary, played by Frankie Hyde, is extraordinary. You feel the anger running through her, the hatred, the despair, the lust. But what’s brilliant is watching her as a younger Mary. There’s a lightness there, a wit you don’t expect. That makes the contrast even sharper when you see what power and circumstance do to her. It’s the same person, but transformed.
With Cranmer, played by Kelvin Giles, you feel the shift immediately. When he’s moving through the world as an archbishop, there’s authority there. But the moment he’s confined to that cell, something changes entirely. His movements get smaller. He speaks differently. You can feel the desperation not through big gestures, but through the quiet things. It’s subtle work.
The costumes are period perfect and flawless. The set is packed with props but it never feels messy. Everything has a reason for being there. The sound, the music, the narration all work together to pull you into that world.
The technical work here is storytelling. It creates both the weight of what happened and the unease that builds through the piece. Most of the lighting cues land perfectly. There’s one moment where the venue’s size works against the design though. The actors occasionally end up just outside the light when they should be in it, and it pulls you out slightly. In a bigger space you might not notice. Here you do. It’s small, but worth an easy fix.
What really stands out is how these two actors handle these historical figures. They don’t play with history; they live it. You believe they have the depth and complexity that real people have. History comes alive and comes back in front of you.
What you walk away thinking is simple: you forgot you were watching a fringe show. The writing, the directing, the acting. the design all matters.
They’re ready for a much bigger stage than this.
A not to be missed show.
