Early morning, early August 2015: my first full Fringe as an Edinburgh resident. I arrived on the Royal Mile before the box office opened so I could beat the queues. I may have been the only Fringe-goer at this hour, but I was not alone…

What does it mean to be perceived? I have been thinking about this question more than is probably healthy since watching Tia Kofi at the Edinburgh Fringe. The occasion was The Final FronTia, a live recording of Tia's podcast, with comedy duo Flo and Joan joining her to talk about their Andrew Lloyd Webber show. Tia, who won RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs The World, has spent the years since becoming one of British drag's most recognisable figures.

Having been in therapy for several years now, I am no stranger to the question, “What would you say to your inner child?” I am never prepared to answer it, though. In the small room that hosts Legendary, we are greeted by this question, beamed onto a backdrop from an old school projector. Yellow balloons hover along the edges of the stage and an ethereal character – loose hair, clad in a long white lace dress – stands amongst the audience, gently welcoming those that walk in.

For years, I have wanted to write an essay on how the closing credit cards that come up at the end of biopics always make me cry. You know the ones. “Turing’s work inspired generations of research” from The Imitation Game. “That same year, John and June were married and settled into the lake house” from Walk the Line…

Heungbu tending to an injured swallow. The youngest pig building his house out of bricks. Fairytales teach children culture and values in ways few other things can. Hard work bears fruit. Bravery brings reward. Kindness begets beauty.

I cannot pinpoint when I started oscillating between anger and despair. Another racist attack in Scotland, another empty statement. Another precarious creative opportunity, another exhausting conversation with an institution. A cycle of feeling unsafe or unheard. As far-right violence became more normalised and the arts remained indifferent, I felt fewer pulses of hope. In the month preceding the Edinburgh Fringe, I flatlined into rage.

Haneul Lee responds to Falling: A Disabled Love Story by Aaron Pang, exploring the mainstream media’s obsession with disabled bodies and why disabled people get to be seen as “cute” but rarely “sexy.”

Elete N-F responds to How I Learned to Swim by Somebody Jones, embracing the darkness of water and its properties of healing and communality.

Rho Chung interviews theatremakers Diana Feng from Don’t Call Me China Doll and Sierra Sevilla from For the Love of Spam about their Edinburgh Fringe shows, unpacking racial stereotypes, tropes, and the histories that have maintained them.

Anthony V. Capildeo responds to Precious Cargo, a story about the children affected by Operation Babylift during the Vietnam war, by Australian writer-performer Barton Williams (Huynh van Cuong) and Hebridean composer Andy Yearley (Nguyen Tang).

In this Response to Rat Tails (WIP) by Jeremy McClain, Eilidh Akilade details the journey of art criticism, from the inception of an idea in June, to the witnessing of an Edinburgh Fringe show, before the long bus ride home in August.

Katie Goh responds to A History of Fortune Cookies by Sean Wai Keung, looking back on previous iterations of the performer’s work and of her own writing to find value in repetition.

Xandra Sunglim Burns responds to Charlene Kaye’s show ‘Tiger Daughter or: How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame’, on music, mothers, and breaking the generational curse of assimilation and propriety.

Arusa Qureshi

Beyond the constructs and confines of gender, the divine feminine exists deep within us all. It’s the energy that allows for compassion, nurturing and devotion; an embracing of softness and stillness in all its varying guises. In Danny Bailey’s short film Soft Bwoi, the notion of the divine feminine is beautifully encapsulated through the use of folklore and imagery from Caribbean carnival culture and queerness.

Rho Chung responds to Selkie, a visually sumptuous short film exploring issues of identity and belonging through visual and oral storytelling, by collaborative siblings Niall and India Moorjani.

Lisa Williams responds to The Drift by Hannah Lavery, a poetic journey through history, Scottishness, belonging and grief, and a Fringe of Colour 2020 Commission.

Memuna Konteh responds to Race Cards, a filmic re-production of an in-person installation and performance piece by Selina Thompson, created as a Fringe of Colour 2020 Commission.

Theophina Gabriel talks about the vasts possibilities of virtual theatre, from access to imagination.

Katie Goh responds to FORTUNE online, in which sean wai keung adapts his stage performance about navigating Western and Eastern identities.

Elete N-F responds to CLUB, a vibrant exploration of queer black women forging space for themselves against the landscape of London's nightlife, by Esme Allman.