Edinburgh International Children’s Festival (EICF)
Mark Brown in Edinburgh
8 June 2026
It is a truth – which the theatre world should consider self-evident – that, far from being the poor relation of theatre for adult audiences, the best live drama for children and young people is simply unsurpassable. Living and working in Scotland, I have the good fortune to be reminded of this fact in the late springtime every year.
Peyvand Sadeghian in Toto Kerblammo!
Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning.
Then it is that Imaginate – the brilliant producer of, and advocate for, performing arts for children and young people – stages the annual Edinburgh International Children’s Festival (EICF). The festival – which recently appointed Adjjima Na Patalung (an experienced theatre director, curator and producer from Thailand) to replace its excellent, outgoing director Neil Jordan – is the UK’s premiere programme of theatre and dance for young audiences.
I have had the pleasure of following the progress of the EICF for more than 20 years. Every edition of the festival confirms me in my opinion that it is the most consistently high quality theatre programme in Scotland (with apologies to other brilliant Caledonian performing arts showcases, such as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Manipulate festival of puppetry, visual theatre and animation).
As it does every year, EICF 2026 boasted more than its fair share of truly world class productions. These included the quite wonderful Toto Kerblammo! (The Studio: ★★★★★).
Toto Kerblammo!
Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning.
Written and directed by Tim Crouch – who is, surely, one of England’s most restlessly inventive and consistently brilliant theatre creators – this piece (which is aimed, primarily, at children aged 10-13) addresses itself impressively to a series of difficult and sensitive subjects. Young London adolescent Effy (played by astonishing Lily Olufemi-Bywaters) finds herself in a position of great uncertainty.
Her mother – who burned down their home, intentionally or accidentally – has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Now she has to live for an indeterminate period with her aunt and uncle.
The trouble is, her new home is in a block that does not allow pets, like her beloved little dog Toto (who is played by the superb Oliver Baines, also doubling up as Effy’s charmingly eccentric new neighbour Noah). Add to this the ongoing failure of Effy’s dad (who is estranged from her mum and living in Scotland) to deliver on his promises and it is clear that Effy is a girl who has been broken from her moorings.
Crouch tells this story by way of 3D binaural audio technology (i.e. immersive sound using two channels, either simultaneously or separately, as the script requires). The young audience (and their associated adults) wear wireless headsets through which the live performances of Olufemi-Bywaters and Baines are combined ingeniously with recorded voices, music and sound.
This is very much a case of technology being put (brilliantly and seamlessly) at the service of live theatre. The audio material in no way distances one from the live action, but, rather, it draws one ever further into a tale that is emotive, powerful and beautifully told.
Everything/Nothing.
Photo credit: Minh Phan Quaoc.
The object theatre piece Everything/Nothing (Traverse: ★★★★★) could hardly be more different from Crouch’s play, but it is equally impressive. Part of the “Focus on Wallonia” strand in this year’s festival, the piece by the Modo Grosso company of Brussels is fashioned, first and foremost, for children aged seven to 11 (but, one suspects, it is capable of mesmerizing audiences of all ages).
A self-defined “circus of objects”, this extraordinary show accommodates its audience on a gorgeous, purpose-built wooden, arched seating bank. Before us, sitting under a single light, seated at a deceptively simple, raised table is performer Alexis Rouvre.
What Rouvre does – with the assistance of technical manager Joachim Gacon-Douard – over the next 55 minutes is astonishing. Some string and knitting needles in an earthenware pot, a few volcanic rocks, strings of small metal beads: with objects such as these, Rouvre’s sleight of hand combines with Gacon-Douard’s technical know-how to generate a series of extraordinary visual effects.
Chains of beads pour from one teacup to another as if they are liquid. Lights go quickly off, on, and off again creating the illusion that a small rock being juggled by Rouvre is, in fact, in suspended animation.
A long chain of metal beads is manipulated so quickly and brilliantly by Rouvre that it seems to occupy space, like a constantly moving wave. Extremely stylish, often delightfully funny and always captivating, Everything/Nothing is a joyous slap in the face for bigoted British people who say that Belgians are boring.
Among the cream of this year’s EICF were two Scottish shows: or, to be precise, one Scottish show and one Scottish-Danish co-production. The latter, In Time (Traverse: ★★★★★) is a piece for children aged three to seven by Teater Refleksion of Aarhus, De Røde Heste, Andy Manley and East Lothian-based Catherine Wheels.
In Time.
Photo credit: Christoffer Brekne.
This piece – in which two newly appointed caretakers (A and O) have to raise a new plant from seed – is a thing of clever, gentle, humorous beauty. The show is centred on a gorgeous and ingenious set design. This is a little wooden tower from which – doll’s house-like – A and O find their sleeping quarters, and out of which the burgeoning plant grows.
Manley and Claus Mandøe play the caretakers with a lovely, understated kind of slapstick (think Laurel and Hardy for pre-school kids). In Time is a charming reminder of just how great small things can be.
Cringe (Scottish Storytelling Centre: ★★★★★) is aimed at a very different age group (10-15 year-olds). Written by Ross MacKay and directed by Joe Douglas (for Scottish Theatre Producers) it tackles the horribly interconnected subjects of bullying and homophobia (among other important subjects) with tremendous skill and boldness.
The piece boasts a top-notch cast of Scott Fletcher, Scott Hoatson and Kirsty McDuff and a striking, versatile set (on which an old-school overhead projector is put to stunning use). Frank, funny and beautifully written, the play is a credit to MacKay and to the ever excellent festival that is the EICF.
