A Toy Theater Atlas
A Toy Theater Atlas by Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities is a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, performing at C ARTS | C venues | C alto. It has 25 performances listed, running from Wed 5 Aug, 19:30 to Sun 30 Aug, 19:30. The run has finished — every listed performance has taken place.
About this show
Calvino’s stunning language springs to life in a cascade of trapdoors, surprises and reveals. As Kublai Khan feels his empire eroding beneath him, Marco Polo forms the slipping sands into the cities of the emperors dreams. This adaptation in miniature casts a dreamlike spell over the audience using live projection, puppetry, paper mechanics and living sculpture as two performers manipulate tiny cameras on a small table. This show has been stunning audiences in theatres and barns across the United States, including a sold-out run at the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.
Details
- Performer: Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities
- Venue: C ARTS | C venues | C alto
- Space: theatre
- Genre: THEATRE, Puppetry, Adaptation
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Running time: 60 minutes
- Room size: about 68 seats (theatre) — the Fringe box office sells a share of the room, not all of it
- Performances listed: 25, of which 0 still to come and on sale
Accessibility
- Wheelchair access: lift
- Access features: Step-free access, Accessible toilet
- Venue notes: Accessible entry: Enter building from Victoria Terrace using permanent ramp. Take stairs or lift up one level to first floor. There is level access to space. Accessible toilets at rear of ground floor foyer. 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 2 published reviews and 37 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.
Some of Calvino’s complete web of structural echoes is inevitably lost when each city receives a particular physical answer. What Gawryk and Kerr-Hobert gain is unmistakably theatrical.
— Broadway Baby (4 out of 5 stars)
Every part of this show, no matter how small, from the words spoken, to the music, to the staging feels as much the product of hours and hours of careful and considered craftsmanship as the miniature cities themselves.
— One4Review (5 out of 5 stars)
Performance dates and ticket availability
- Wed 5 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £13.00
- Thu 6 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £13.00
- Fri 7 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sat 8 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sun 9 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Mon 10 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Tue 11 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Wed 12 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Thu 13 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Fri 14 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sat 15 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sun 16 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Tue 18 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £13.00
- Wed 19 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Thu 20 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Fri 21 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sat 22 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sun 23 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Mon 24 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £13.00
- Tue 25 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £13.00
- Wed 26 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Thu 27 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £15.00
- Fri 28 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sat 29 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00
- Sun 30 Aug, 19:30 — Already performed — £17.00