In a stunning performance, Egg tells a true story about the journey of egg donation from one friend to another.

In the context of a Fringe that seems, in certain respects, to get more homogenous and commodified every year, it’s a joy to find a work that’s deeply rooted in the messy specifics of Edinburgh and that champions the value of queer difference.

Small cardboard boxes line the edge of the stage, some with letters written on them and some blank. Katherina Radeva appraises her audience, welcoming but with a nervous energy. No one is sure what to expect and this show remains largely unpredictable, Radeva’s energy propelling it forward through monologue, storytelling, game show hosting and even a highly charged movement sequence.

The best shows at the Edinburgh Festival 2018

Katherina Radeva’s play looks back to life in Bulgaria in the times before the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1989, Katherina was seven years old and she paints a vivid picture of a girl who had everything that she needed but with glimpses of the issues that her student parents faced as a young couple in the Communist era.

This experimental, deeply affecting piece of gig theatre is striking in both its imaginative breadth, and the delivery of its message, keeping me rapt. Valerie seamlessly mixes interdisciplinary elements, a heightened cabaret style, stylised narration, performers stepping in and out of character and imaginative visuals to tell the story of Valerie, writer and performer Robin Kelly’s grandmother.

A multimedia show from the Russian punk activists still being persecuted for anti-Putin protest is as funny as it is nerve-shredding

The Midnight Soup is a powerful piece of theatre centred around a diary given from grandmother to grandson in 2006, and her suicide years later.

A city that is loved despite its reputation. Closed Doors takes place in a multicultural neighbourhood in Glasgow. On a cold November night, a tenement is evacuated by the police and four women gather in a nearby sari shop while they wait to find out what is happening.

This dance narrative is a tale of love, loss and sacrifice.

Fears are tapped in an unsettling 20-minute experience that takes place in total darkness

At a fringe where the issues surrounding mental health form a major theme, Where It Hurts, from Edinburgh’s Grassmarket Projects, not only nails the zeitgeist, but reveals it using authentic voices as it takes verbatim theatre to its logical conclusion.

Russian feminist protest group Pussy Riot bring their intense Riot Days show to Edinburgh's Summerhall proving the battle's not over

Sticks and Stones (★★★☆☆), Island Town (★★★★☆), Blackthorn (★★★★☆), The Political History of Smack and Crack (★★★★☆)

LUNG Theatre has been creating some of the most exciting theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe for a number of years. Renowned for their challenging verbatim work, their offering at the 2018 Festival, Trojan Horse, is their most ambitious to date.

Mental health is, once again, a big theme at the Fringe, and these shows tackle it from different angles with great success, says Tim Cornwell

Music making history: Pussy Riot's Riot Days.

Hijinx is back at the Fringe and entirely living up to their name. This year the Wales based troupe, whose cast features three learning disabled actors and three non-disabled actors, have teamed up with renowned Brighton based physical comedy company, Spymonkey, for The Flop.

James Rowland is a magical storyteller. He weaves tales of wonder and woe using just his imagination and a loop pedal. But before Revelations—the third in his "Songs of Friendship" trilogy—begins, he captivates the audience with an earnest plea to record a song for his niece’s birthday. It unveils the person behind the narrator.