At the heart of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Venue 13 has always been more than just a stage—it’s a launchpad for bold voices, boundary-pushing performances, and international exchange. Podcast 13 extends that spirit into the digital space, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes journey into the world’s largest arts festival and the global creative networks it inspires.
Each episode features conversations with artists, producers, and cultural leaders who have made Venue 13 their home, exploring how theatre, performance, and live art intersect with community, technology, and climate consciousness. From intimate stories of artists’ first Fringe experiences to deep dives into the future of sustainable cultural production, the podcast captures the energy and experimentation that define the venue.
Whether you’re a festival-goer, an emerging artist looking for insight, or simply curious about how performance can shape the way we understand our world, Podcast 13 opens the doors to one of the Fringe’s most artist-centered spaces.
This week on Podcast 13 we welcome Philadelphia solo performer Chris Davis to Venue 13. Chris brings us the world premiere of The 40 Year Old Ballerino this August, his first new Fringe show in seven years, and his first return to Edinburgh since 2019.
Before we get to Chris, Ian and Vanesa run through what’s worth catching in June across Scotland, with Eden Festival in Moffat, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo at the Festival Theatre and The Karate Kid The Musical all on the diary. They also have a bit of fun in an agony aunt style segment about the five types of Fringe goer, with pros, cons and shameless recommendations for our 2026 programme.
Chris then joins us for a twenty minute conversation about ballet, heartbreak, John Cusack and what it means to come back to the Fringe after a long pause. He closes the episode with a ten minute live teaser from the show itself.
This week we are skipping the Climate Change Theatre Action reading and handing that slot over to Chris for an excerpt from The 40 Year Old Ballerino.
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube
RSSEpisodes
-
Episode 11 – Chris Davis is The 40 year Old Ballerino
This is the big one. Episode 10 of Podcast 13, and Ian and Vanesa use the milestone to reveal the full 2026 Venue 13 programme: eleven shows across theatre, comedy, musical theatre, dance fitness, immersive digital performance, and workshops. Five world premieres. Ten of the eleven companies are making their Edinburgh Fringe debut. Seven productions…
-
Episode 10 – The Full Venue 13 2026 Programme + Here in the Long Now by Isla Cowan
This is the big one. Episode 10 of Podcast 13, and Ian and Vanesa use the milestone to reveal the full 2026 Venue 13 programme: eleven shows across theatre, comedy, musical theatre, dance fitness, immersive digital performance, and workshops. Five world premieres. Ten of the eleven companies are making their Edinburgh Fringe debut. Seven productions…
-
Episode 9 – A Hydrogen and Solar Vegan Food Trailer at the Fringe: How You Can Help Make It Happen + Undertow by Keith Barker
Venue 13 is joining forces with Soft Serve Cartel and Renewable Energy Vendors to bring the Edinburgh Fringe’s first carbon-conscious vegan food trailer to the festival this August 2026—and we are launching a crowdfunding campaign to make it happen!
-
Episode 8 – Prague Quadrennial: Immersion, Infrastructure and the Scenography of the Unseen + Pond Life by Elyne Quan
Ian and Vanesa continue their UAE journey after World Stage Design 2025, reflecting on Ian’s NYU Abu Dhabi talk and exploring the university’s performance spaces. They also visit TeamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi’s vast immersive environment, sparking ideas about ecological and hybrid design, and share this week’s CCTA reading, Earth Duet by E.M. Lewis.
-
Episode 7 – AI in Performance: From Malta to Toronto + The Project Hope by Catherine Banks
Ian and Vanesa return from two international conferences held at opposite ends of the world, both exploring the rapidly evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and the arts. Vanishing Acts: AI, Performative Knowledge and Sustainable Memory at the University of Malta,and the Creative AI Symposium at Toronto Metropolitan University.
-
Episode 6 – We’re Back: Fringe Preparations, Cultural Futures and What’s Happening in Scotland This March + Laila and the Wolf by Hassan Abdulrazzak
After a brief winter hibernation, Podcast 13 is officially back in the studio! Ian and Vanesa have returned with renewed energy, a few more stamps in their passports, and a massive to-do list as we sprint toward the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
-
Episode 5 – A Venue 13 Carol: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future 13 + Appealing by Paula Cizmar
In this special end-of-year episode of Podcast 13, hosts Ian Garrett and Vanesa Kelly reflect on an extraordinary year by borrowing a familiar seasonal structure: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The conversation becomes both a retrospective and a roadmap, tracing the revival of Venue 13, the ideas shaping its present, and the…
-
Episode 4 – Inside the Theatre Green Book + So Beautiful Today, So Sunny by Marcus Youssef and Seth Klein
In this episode, Vanesa and Ian focus on sustainable theatre practice after Vanesa’s visit to the National Theatre event on the 14th November in London, where the Theatre Green Book took centre stage in an incredible event. They unpack the discussions, the international perspectives, and the sense of collective responsibility that shaped the day.