Anatomy of Survival
Anatomy of Survival is a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, performing at Assembly @ Dance Base. It has 5 performances listed, running from Tue 25 Aug, 19:45 to Sat 29 Aug, 19:45. The run has finished — every listed performance has taken place.
About this show
A woman walks into a cafe. She orders a coffee. The barista doesn't understand her request. The woman loses her sh*t. Chaos reigns. This off-beat collaboration between award-winning playwright Vivienne Franzmann, and choreographer and psychotherapist Frauke Requardt, brings together 22 very different eyewitness accounts of one everyday altercation to show how our nervous systems are stuck in the Stone Age. Performed by two dancers, an actor and a drummer (and one bear), Anatomy of Survival is a show for all the nervous systems in the auditorium. Come and feel the rise and fall of yours.
Details
- Venue: Assembly @ Dance Base
- Space: DB3
- Genre: CIRCUS, Dance, Theatre
- Country: UNITED KINGDOM - ENGLAND
- Running time: 60 minutes
- Room size: about 90 seats (DB3) — the Fringe box office sells a share of the room, not all of it
- Performances listed: 5, of which 0 still to come and on sale
Accessibility
- Wheelchair access: lift
- Access features: Step-free access, Accessible toilet, Hearing loop
- Venue notes: Wheelchair access type:Lift (Building Lift) Stairs: None Number of stairs is provided as guidance and is not in addition to any wheelchair access type (lift/ramp etc) stated above.
What the reviewers said
We have captured 3 published reviews for this show from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s own listing. The excerpts below are the reviewers’ words, not ours — follow each link for the full review.
Playwright Vivienne Franzmann and choreographer-psychotherapist Frauke Requardt combine for this engrossing and thought-provoking inquiry into the human nervous system and those moments where you just ‘lose it’,…
A woman orders a coffee. The barista gets it wrong. She loses it. From this seemingly insignificant encounter, Anatomy of Survival takes us somewhere altogether more surprising: into the strange, unpredictable…
— Theatre Now (4 out of 5 stars)
A coffee order, 22 versions of the truth and a bear: Anatomy of Survival is anything but ordinary. A woman orders a coffee. The barista gets it wrong.
Performance dates and ticket availability
- Tue 25 Aug, 19:45 — Already performed — £14.00
- Wed 26 Aug, 19:45 — Already performed — £14.00
- Thu 27 Aug, 19:45 — Already performed — £14.00
- Fri 28 Aug, 19:45 — Already performed — £15.50
- Sat 29 Aug, 19:45 — Already performed — £15.50