About Us

“The jewel in the crown of the Fringe” (Scotsman)

We are based in Edinburgh at Assembly Roxy, run Assembly Festival at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (we are the longest running of the curated multi-venue operators) and tour with the best of our programme.

Throughout the year, we host theatre, music, comedy and events in the beautiful Roxy in the heart of the Old Town. An example of our previous credits include Nirbhaya, which we premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and we have since toured to London’s Southbank Centre and to New York, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in India. In short, we bring the best talent in the world to Edinburgh.

After the cancellation of events in 2020 and a small-scale festival in 2021, 2022 was our delayed 40th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We were delighted to be able to celebrate the past, present and future of Assembly with yet another diverse and exciting programme.

Our 2019 season was a roaring success with over half a million tickets sold (up 30% on the previous year) including two sell-out weekends, five-star reviews, and a multitude of awards.

Chamäleon Productions kicked the awards off, with the all-female Berliner circus collective, Still Hungry, winning a Scotsman Fringe First in the first week for its production of Raven, a thrilling and humorous blend of circus and theatre which honestly confronted the challenges of modern motherhood. The production bookmarked its festival with a Three Weeks Editor’s Award in the final weekend.

There was early recognition for Assembly Festival’s Disruption series, produced in collaboration with HighTide, with the first Stage Award of the month going to Breffni Holahan for her performance in the funny and furious monologue Collapsible. The final Stage Award also went to this series of new work, for Nigel Barrett and Sophie Melville’s performances as father and daughter caught in a cycle of addiction in Pops.

Home-grown work proved popular with the critics, as David Colvin took home a Herald Angel for Thunderstruck, the tragic and comic tale of the greatest bagpiper who ever lived. The play was also named First Runner-Up at the Scottish Theatre Awards, arranged by the Scottish Arts Club.

Assembly’s international performers also enjoyed success; there were two Mervyn Stutter’s Spirit of the Fringe Awards, for Ukranian company 2Theatre and their debut of INTERBEING – Stories From a Current War, a visual rhapsody of physical theatre to tell a story about the root of human conflict; and the Divet Show: The Greatest Divas performed by Marko Vanio and his drag backing dancers.

Assembly Festival’s Korean Season received high praise in its fifth year, with a Three Weeks Editor’s Award for Brush Theatre, Doodle Pop, and Asian Arts Awards for Spray for Best Directing and Best Technical Production.

At the final Scotsman Fringe Awards, The Fall actor Ameera Conrad won the Filipa Bragança Award for her performance in Tales From the Garden, exploring life as a young woman raised in a world that makes women targets for aggression and violence.

Away from theatre, Knot won a Total Theatre Award for Circus for its finely crafted theatrical journey through the absurdity and joy of a very modern affair; while Scottee earned a Judges Discretionary Award for his dance show about flab, Fat Blokes.

While in comedy West End Producer won a Malcolm Hardee Award for Most Cunning Stunt, for his “audacious subversion for the perfect poster quote” appearing to be from national critics, when in fact they are from similarly initialled members of the public, and Police Cops won Best Comedy Group in Theatre Weekly’s Best of the Fest Awards for their latest comedy blockbuster Badass Be Thy Name.

 

Our Team

Chairperson – Luke Johnson
Artistic Director/CEO – William Burdett-Coutts OBE
General Manager – Dani Rae
Operations Director – Nik Whybrew

Senior Programmer & Producer – Alex Hall
Senior Programmer & Producer – Jodie Adams
Programme Coordinator – Rachel Harris

Finance Manager – Jana Dearn
Head of Ticketing – Pete Patel
Sponsorships and Partnerships Manager – Ellie Miles
Marketing Manager - David McGinlay
Roxy Manager – Caroline Fraser