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Spoken Word

Spoken Word Shows

Have a look through our selection of Spoken Word Shows! We are sure To have something you'll want to see in Edinburgh this August - from children's shows to cabaret; standup comedy to tragic drama. There's something for everyone at the Free Festival!


List Shows: By Name | By Start Time

Shows sorted by Show Name

Burns Banter - Your Bard

Burns Banter - Your Bard

Spoken Word

Burns Banter - Your Bard

Spoken Word

The Three Sisters / The Live Room
AUG 18-24 at 13:45 (60 min) - Pay What You Can Tickets - from £2.50

Book a PWYC Ticket in advance for this show to guarantee entry, or turn up at the venue for free with the option of donating at the end of the show

Burns Banter - Your Bard! is a deep dive into the parts of Robert Burns life the scholars don't want you to know about. There are great stories about Drinking Clubs and competitions Robert was involved in and some of the rudest, funniest poems he ever wrote. Throw in a couple of drinking songs and a poem about a hangover and you are starting to understand what you can expect. Come along and have a drink and a laugh with Alastair Turnbull and 'Burns Banter - Your Bard!' ...


Eating Satsumas in the Sun and Forgetting About Heartbreak

Eating Satsumas in the Sun and Forgetting About Heartbreak

Spoken Word

Eating Satsumas in the Sun and Forgetting About Heartbreak

Spoken Word

Brass Monkey / The Games Room
AUG 4-12 at 11:30 (60 min) - Pay What You Can Tickets - from £5

Book a PWYC Ticket in advance for this show to guarantee entry, or turn up at the venue for free with the option of donating at the end of the show

Emily started writing poetry for the incredibly healthy reason of trying to impress a boy. Now he’s long gone and she’s reclaiming her words. This writer, storyteller, mum, and general liability dives into her debut hour of honest, argumentative, optimistic, brutal, loving and (dare we say it) funny poetry to untangle the threads of love, identity, parenthood, friendship, loss, belonging and the pure unadulterated joy of eating satsumas in the sun and forgetting about heartbreak....


Sectioned – Schrödinger's Mental Health

Sectioned – Schrödinger's Mental Health

Spoken Word

Sectioned – Schrödinger's Mental Health

Spoken Word

West Nic Records / Little Cellar
JUL 31, AUG 1-12 at 13:00 (60 min) - Free & Unticketed

Just turn up at the venue, entry is first-come, first-served for everyone. Donations at the end of the show

Poppy Radcliffe returns with the followup to her 5* show SECTIONED, seamlessly interweaving crushingly honest poetry with prose to paint a picture of life under the mental health services. Sectioned at her peak, Poppy spiralled as she tried to come to terms with what happened and found herself in an ever enclosing web of interventions. Where physical health care focuses on recovery and independence, a diagnosis of serious mental health is considered a condition for life, one that must be managed, monitored and medicated, but when the illness is born from trauma, surely true recovery is pos...