About Us!
Theatre Paradok, Edinburgh’s premiere experimental theatre society return with Paradok Platform at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.Featuring ten brand new experimental pieces of theatre, ranging from one-woman comedies to Scottish folklore inspired dramas – view the full lineup below! With Paradok Platform, we aim to create an exciting, accessible and experimental platform for everyone at the Fringe.
All Paradok Platform shows operated using the Pay What You Can model. You can buy tickets for 4 or 7 pounds to guarantee entry, or turn up at the venue for free, with the option of donating at the end of the show. All Platform shows will take place at Just the Tonic at The Caves, Just Up the Road.
And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter @theatreparadok
So you can stay up to date on all our incredible shows and catch some behind the scenes content from our wonderful casts and crews.
Please note that all tickets are sold under ‘Paradok Platform’, instead of the name of the individual shows.
Our Shows
Water Fruit Loops (3 August and 4 August)Theatre Paradok presents: “Water Fruit Loops” by Rorke Eloff Wilson. You know that friend that won’t stop sleeping with their ex? This play is about that friend, if that friend was stuck in a time loop. Also, you might get to meet God. We have mimosas too. We asked an oracle to review our play, they said: ‘ma’am, this is a Tesco’. What are you waiting for? Buy your tickets.View Details 3 August Tickets 4 August Tickets |
Totally Fucking Fine (5 August and 6 August)Theatre Paradok presents: “Totally Fucking Fine” by Rose Murray. The comedic one-woman show invites the audience on a journey of self-acceptance. The partly autobiographical show has Iris share her non-linear story of anxiety and depression through sketches, imagery, and soundscapes.View Details 5 August Tickets 6 August Tickets |
This Play Has an Iguana For a Protagonist (7 August and 8 August)Theatre Paradok presents: “This Play Has An Iguana For A Protagonist” by Liz Dooley. Mari is just your average twenty-something year old girl with an iguana named Arthur for a pet. And she’s on her period. Sensing that something is off, Arthur questions her boyfriend, Jeff. Being unable to utter the word ‘period’, let alone explain what that is to an iguana, Jeff blurts that she is ‘bleeding out’. What ensues from this misunderstanding are Arthur’s continuous attempts to relieve Mari from her pain in some… unconventional ways.View Details 7 August Tickets 8 August Tickets |
Operating Theatre (9 August and 10 August)Theatre Paradok presents ‘Operating Theatre’ by Elliana Craig. The nightshift is dragging on at a nondescript hospital. Carine wants a doctor to tell her what’s wrong with her. Lottie wants Talia tostart speaking to their mother again. Em wants to quit nursing and Marina wants a nose job. Or maybe she doesn’t. Kate and Tash mostly just want boyfriends. As the hours tick, the women in the hospital find their lives intermeshing, caught in a spiderweb of crossed wires and ludicrous coincidences. ‘Operating Theatre’ takes one look at the question of womanhood and rolls its eyes.View Details 9 August Tickets 10 August Tickets |
ANERDYFANGIRL394 (11 August, 12 August and 13 August)Theatre Paradok presents: ANERDYFANGIRL394, by Lola Miller. It’s 2014 and Lola spends her hours crafting fanfiction and dreaming of love – or being rammed up against a wall. Almost a decade down the line Lola has some questions for her younger self. Why do you keep playing 21 questions with him? When will you stop googling Am I Gay? Why have you written so much about ‘the simple art of lovemaking’? And why do you think it involves pinching the clitoris? There are many tongues battling for dominance, terrible sexual fantasies and tearful teenage years to rediscover.View Details 11 August Tickets 12 August Tickets 13 August Tickets |
The Commute (15 August and 16 August)Theatre Paradok presents: “The Commute” by Annabelle Rand & Elle Willcocks” Henry, an isolated English teacher, reflects upon the past five years he has spent with his lover Adam as he trundles homeward bound. Fleeting images of a love once had rush by him at the speed of a racing train as Henry wrestles with the truth and his own obsessive reweaving of the past. In this experimental piece, Henry spirals through a surreal journey of love and lust, until there is no choice, but to leave it all behind.View Details 15 August Tickets 16 August Tickets |
Last Night at Loco’s (17 August and 18 August)Theatre Paradok presents: “Last Night at Locos” by Sebastian Elder. Maeve, Theo, Fabian and Indi are flatmates at university. Last night they went out. This morning they’re paying the price, though none as much as Maeve. After blacking out, she wakes up on the couch mortified, demanding to know the details. As they each contribute to piecing together the night – through their respective eyes – Theo eventually stumbles upon a realisation that changes everything. This is a play about youth culture and how our pursuit of identity, validation & connections creates a fine line between truth, trust and toxicity.View Details 17 August Tickets 18 August Tickets |
Pilgrimage (19 August, 20 August and 21 August)Theatre Paradok presents “Pilgrimage”, by Cameron Dalgleish. “Pilgrimage” follows the story of a disillusioned boy, Palmer, who runs from his blasphemous crimes into the ominous forest, where he is viciously blinded by an unknown attacker. He is pursued by the Gods-fearing warden of his village, Bridget. Grappling with their faith and survival, Bridget and Palmer desperately try to escape the woods, each other and the cunning beast that watches over them. “Pilgrimage” is heavily inspired by Scottish folk tales, traditional music, and explores religion, questioning how far one would go for their faith and what we can blindly worship.View Details 19 August Tickets 20 August Tickets 21 August Tickets |
This Is How It Happened (22 August, 23 August and 24 August)Theatre Paradok presents “This Is How It Happened” by Lauren Green, an original comedy which follows a dysfunctional family’s relationship with their therapist who can’t say the word ‘Lesbian’. Jay and his two mums, Alice and Bryony, storm into therapy with the predicament that Jay’s parents do not believe he’s straight. What could possibly go wrong?View Details 22 August Tickets 23 August Tickets 24 August Tickets |
With a Smile (25 August, 26 August and 27 August)Theatre Paradok presents “With a Smile” by Izzy Ponsford as a Co-Production with The Counterminers. “With a Smile” is a brand new comedy following the lives and stories of four people as they work together in a bar and they navigate the various difficulties of the modern world. The play follows the waiters serving and imitating clientele from every walk of life and provides a wickedly funny glimpse of the world as seen through the eyes of the four long-suffering workers. Join us for a fascinating view of the reality that lurks behind the neon signs and Negronis.View Details 25 August Tickets 26 August Tickets 27 August Tickets |