Extant returns to Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Extant, the UK’s leading professional performing arts company of blind and visually impaired artists, will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer building on the success of its landmark 2025 programme. The company will present three ‘Enhance’ shows alongside a new showcase, in partnership with Underbelly as principal venue partner. Through this programme, Extant marks a significant step forward in embedding accessibility across the festival while raising the profile and visibility of visually impaired-led work.

Now in its second year, the programme signals a sustained shift across the sector, with accessibility becoming part of the creative process rather than something added on later. After growing from under 1% of accessible shows in 2024 to around 2% in 2025, projections suggest that 10–12% of the 2026 Fringe could be accessible to visually impaired audiences. Thanks to this scheme, Underbelly and ZOO have committed to ensuring every show in their programme is 100% visually impaired accessible by including at least one accessible performance. 

Supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Enhance shows at Underbelly (17th August) will demonstrate Extant’s unique ‘Enhance post-production’ offer, featuring work from visually impaired artists and collaborators across theatre and comedy, acts will include Jellyfish by Blah Blah Productions directed by Lillith Freeman and written by Jess Coppen-Gardner and features performer Teddy Walker and Aarian Mehrabani’s debut stand-up show How’s Your Head. Immersive and tailored Touch Tours provide the principal access tool, including presentation of succinct programme notes which get to the essence of the show, and description of any relevant visual elements. 

New for 2026, Extant will host a one-off showcase at Underbelly (18th August) to celebrate the breadth of visually impaired-led performance, The programme will feature some of the UK’s most exciting visually impaired artists working across stand-up, cabaret, dance, theatre and new writing, , including Growing Nostalgia by Ebony Rose Dark, VIP (Visually Impaired Papa) by Tom Skelton and work from Neil Skene, alongside All There Is To See by Shashank Sharma, Half Lights Project by Holly Thomas and An Evening with Tito Bone by Amelia Cavallo.

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