At Summerhall, Sex and A Sauna

Summerhall had some of the buzziest shows of the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, including Roleplay, which, with its titillating premise and tastemaker Francesca Moody attached as producer, sold out before the festival even began, as well as a bevy of productions set at Sauna Theatre, an actual sauna that was built in Summerhall’s courtyard that required its audiences to change into bathing suits. Ironically, the one Summerhall play entirely set in a sauna, Thermodrama, was presented at the Old Lab.

Roleplay ★★★★★ 5 stars

Hannah Reilly appears topless in Roleplay’s opening minutes, likely so that audiences will stop waiting for skin and can better focus on her audacious show about a sweet podcaster who decides to brave sexual worlds unknown in order to become a media phenomenon, a viral “slutfluencer”. She’s not a natural for the job: “My favorite thing about casual sex is that it makes me feel dead inside.”

It’s a provocative opening gambit in a play that could stand more such provocations. Not more nudity, but rather, more unpredictability in structure and scope. As it stands, the show, tightly directed by Paige Rattray and amiably, sassily performed by Reilly, is entertaining and well-structured but doesn’t yet dig deep enough.

Hopefully it will, and will garner larger audiences, because the talented Reilly’s got something valuable to say. “Attention is the new oil,” she announces, ready to be seen.

Tell Me ★★★★ 4 stars

In Tell Me, the Sadiq Ali Company takes a circus-dance approach to tell dual HIV stories in different decades, the two diagnosed combined theatrically by cubes large and small. Striking choreography and beautiful aerial artistry communicate sex, fear, and sadness, and performers Ali, Phoebe Knight, and Jonah Russell, who all devised the piece, climb, fly, and fall, their movements matching their emotions.

The first half of Tell Me is mesmerizingly strong, so much so that this reviewer was trying to imagine what the company would do if paired with a classic theatre company that wanted to do a hugely ambitious version of Angels in America. How theatrically exciting it would be, the antithesis of Ivo von Hove’s minimalistic take presented at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Narrative clarity descends into blurriness in the show’s second half. While this loss of focus somewhat lessens production’s impact, Tell Me is nonetheless a triumph of both the mind and the corporeal.

Bubble Schmeises (Remixed) ★★★★ 4 stars

Bubble Schmeises (Remixed) was the most theatrical of the offerings presented at Sauna Theatre, and the experience was, no surprise, hot.

Literally hot. By show’s end, the metal key attached to this reviewer’s locker wristband (participants must wear bathing suits, so clothes, phones, and unwanted flyers have to be placed in provided lockers) was burning. For those without sauna apparel, suits are sold at cost at the sauna, as are towels.

Sauna Theatre is the brainchild of longtime theatre director James Grieve, former artistic director of Paines Plough, and set designer Lucy Osborne, and the actual sauna, which sits where the Paines Plough tent used to be during Fringe, is beautifully done. It can seat around 80 people, so it’s big — UK’s largest mobile/purpose built sauna space — and features three large stoves that heat the air to 90°.

Many questions and a bit of trepidation about this venue have arisen in conversation during the festival; standing around in one’s bathing suit in a public courtyard is certainly the perfect idea of hell for many. But since everyone is doing it, modesty quickly passes, and participants are quickly sent to the relative privacy of the sauna once the show is ready to begin.

Bubble Schmeises (Remixed) is returning to the Fringe ten years after its debut (when it was called Bubble Schmeises; the sauna twist is the remix), and this anniversary production is a great fit for Sauna Theatre and the show’s performer Nick Cassenbaum, who, alongside live klezmer musicians (who sit in a built-in sound booth that’s slightly cooler than the sauna), skillfully tells coming-of-age stories about his Jewish identity. When Cassenbaum gets to the ritual of his first “schmeiss” (a traditional soapy wash and massage), an audience member is recruited to actually give one to Cassenbaum.

It’s a sudsy, fun moment in a show that is equally charming and informative (this New Yorker particularly liked the lesson on the different cultural pronunciations of “bagel”), and Cassenbaum thrives in this site-specific setting.

Did the audience? Yes, mostly. For a few it got too hot during the hour, but Cassenbaum and the sauna operators make it clear that participants can move around, or exit to hydrate and get some air. And afterwards, showers are available to cool off, as are two cold-plunge tubs. The entire experience was very relaxing, and a great break from the madness of Fringe. Perhaps too relaxing. It wasn’t that easy to get back in the crazy swing of things after so much calm unwinding.