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This project successfully funded on 15th May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
LAUNA @ Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Aim
Following a successful run in Oxford in 2025, Tidal Theatre will stage Launa at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026!
Launa is an original, movement-based production exploring grief, memory, and the fragile boundary between the living and the dead. The play follows Edna, a young mother reckoning with the loss of her daughter one year after her death. Within the cluttered familiarity of her apartment, grief erupts through the mundane: supermarket flowers, intrusive cold-calls, fractured memories, and the quiet, childlike apparition of Launa herself asking if she would like to play. Dialogue, movement, puppetry, shadow work, music, and lighting intertwine to create a world where childhood imagination and devastating loss co-exist, asking a central question: do we have to let go of the past to remain present with the living, or can the two exist side-by-side?
Following a successful, near sold-out run at the Burton Taylor Studio in Oxford, Launa will transfer to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at theSpace @ Niddry St, 7–22 August, with the same cast and creative team. While previously staged, the Fringe production represents a new phase of artistic development: a tighter, more refined exploration of the surreal places the mind travels over the course of a single day at home, and a step toward a fully professional presentation of the work.
Our company, Tidal Theatre, creates visually striking, language-driven physical theatre that embraces play, experimentation, and collaboration. Inspired by companies such as Kneehigh, Gecko, and Complicité, our work blends bold visual storytelling with carefully crafted scripts, challenging the assumption that “serious” theatre must be minimalist or strictly realist. At the heart of our ethos is risk, community, and the belief that theatre is a living art form built through curiosity and collective imagination rather than perfection.
Audience and Impact
Launa is designed to speak across generations and theatrical tastes. Its physical and visual language communicates complex emotion beyond words, while its psychological depth resonates with those drawn to character and narrative. Reviews have described the production as:
- “Awash with emotion and surreal flair” — The Last Act Critic
- “A site of magical, uncanny possibility” — The Last Act Critic
- “Original, witty, bold and colourful” — Cherwell
- “An incredibly authentic portrayal of grief in all its forms” — Cherwell
By presenting grief through imagination and movement rather than silence or realism alone, the show opens conversations around loss and mental health in an accessible yet challenging way, encouraging audiences to reflect on experiences often left unspoken.
Professional and Educational Development
Taking Launa to the Fringe supports the growth of six early-career artists transitioning from student to semi-professional theatre. The project provides hands-on experience in producing, marketing, performing, and sustaining a show within an international arts festival, while allowing us to refine and publicly test our artistic identity. We also aim to inspire other emerging theatre-makers to experiment with physicality, multimedia, and devised processes, demonstrating that risk-taking and play are not only valid but vital within contemporary theatre.
Environmental Responsibility
Sustainability is embedded throughout the production. Puppets, shadow cut-outs, and visual elements are handmade by freelance puppeteer and visual artist Rachael Nicholson using recycled and reclaimed materials. Costumes are sourced from charity shops, and the show’s visual design prioritises reuse and low-waste methods. Thematically, the work also draws parallels between personal grief and collective environmental loss, reinforcing our commitment to responsible theatre-making.
How Your Support Will Be Used
Funds raised will go directly toward venue costs, accommodation, marketing materials, and technical equipment. Your support allows us to present the show at a professional standard, reach wider audiences, and establish Tidal Theatre beyond the student sphere, laying foundations for future touring and collaborations.
Launa is a critically praised, socially engaged piece of new theatre that combines bold visual imagination with emotional honesty. Bringing it to the Edinburgh Fringe is not only an opportunity to share a distinctive artistic voice with new audiences, but an investment in the next generation of theatre-makers committed to experimentation, sustainability, and meaningful storytelling.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made