Clive
Clive is a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, performing at Assembly Rooms. It has 24 performances listed, running from Thu 6 Aug, 16:55 to Sun 30 Aug, 16:55. The run has finished — every listed performance has taken place.
About this show
Thomas loves his job and working from home. All the while talking to his best friend – a cactus called Clive. He's not going mad at all. When a new boss takes over, work becomes stressful, life starts to unravel and he grows even more reliant on his spiky friend. A funny and moving exploration of isolation and technology in modern life. A new play by Olivier Award-winner Michael Wynne reunites two time Olivier nominee Paul Keating with visionary director Lucy Bailey. The OffWestEnd Awards 2026 Nomination – Best Performance, Paul Keating.
Details
- Venue: Assembly Rooms
- Space: Drawing Room
- Genre: THEATRE, Dark Comedy, New writing
- Country: UNITED KINGDOM - ENGLAND
- Running time: 60 minutes
- Room size: about 104 seats (Drawing Room) — the Fringe box office sells a share of the room, not all of it
- Performances listed: 24, of which 0 still to come and on sale
Accessibility
- Wheelchair access: lift
- Access features: Step-free access, Accessible toilet
- Venue notes: Accessible entry: There is lift access into the performance space. If not taking the lift there are 23 steps into the venue. Wheelchair access type:Lift (Building Lift) Stairs: 20+ 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 4 published reviews and 25 audience 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.
Michael Wynne’s insightful, inventive and surprisingly moving play gets a riveting performance from Paul Keating, smartly staged, using a range of cupboards to contain all the elements of Thomas’ life
— The Real Chrisparkle (5 out of 5 stars)
Sometimes a Fringe show will turn out to be something so completely different to what you expected. For example, Clive at Assembly Rooms is about a man whose best friend is a cactus.
— Theatre Weekly (4 out of 5 stars)
Clive is a timely, thought-provoking play that makes you want to take a good look at your own garden, even if there are no cacti there. And give it a good clean, getting rid of all the invasive weeds.
— Broadway Baby (4 out of 5 stars)
Performance dates and ticket availability
- Thu 6 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £8.00
- Fri 7 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sat 8 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sun 9 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Mon 10 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Tue 11 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Wed 12 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Thu 13 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Fri 14 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sat 15 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sun 16 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Tue 18 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Wed 19 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Thu 20 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Fri 21 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sat 22 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sun 23 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Mon 24 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Tue 25 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Wed 26 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Thu 27 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £14.00
- Fri 28 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sat 29 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00
- Sun 30 Aug, 16:55 — Already performed — £16.00