We continue with our Edinburgh Fringe 2026 coverage and speak to Alistair Maxwell who has written the show 58 To Go and is bringing it to the fringe this year. ”Ed was a normal guy, at least until his Growing Old Syndrome diagnosis. Now he’s a mess on a mission to achieve a lifetime’s worth of goals ASAP. Cue a hysterical romp through French lessons, 24 hour raves and a unique kind of bank robbery. He’ll either live forever, or die trying! ‘Filtering mortality through humour, denial, and a gently buoyant absurdity.”
How would you describe your show to someone discovering it for the first time at the Fringe?
It’s about Ed, a guy who’s just been struck down with a terrible diagnosis: Growing Old Syndrome (it can affect 10 in 10 people y’know). Watch as he desperately tries to turn his entire life around in 55 hysterical minutes.
What moment, idea or frustration first sparked this show into existence?
About a year ago I was in a beer garden on a lovely day with a few friends a year older than me. The sun was hot, the chat was good. But when I returned from the bar they were deep in depressing discussion about how fat and bald they were going to get. I thought “Is this what happens when you turn 27?” Then I thought ‘What if you were to really latch onto this thought and let it ruin your life?” And finally: “What if I were to write a play about it?”
How has the show evolved from its earliest idea to what audiences will see now?
It’s grown arms, legs and a thousand more jokes. We were lucky enough to have Balancing Act stage the initial 15 minute draft at the Traverse last Winter. The feedback we received that night (the hysterical laughter, the not quite perfect pacing), convinced myself, the director and the cast that there was a longer version in there. So audiences this month will see something similar, but sharper. Something recognisable but brand new.
What makes Edinburgh Fringe the right place for this show right now?
As George Mallory said when asked why he wanted to climb Everest: “Because it is there”. Also I’m lucky enough to live in Edinburgh so Fringe mountain is a little easier to scale given that I live at base camp. Theoretically the Fringe is when Scotland shows off it’s theatre to the world. It’s a damn good play with top-notch actors that explores anxiety about issues seemingly too monumental and irreversible to tackle. The time is right for this play. The world is in town, so it must be the right place too.
What does bringing this particular show to the Fringe represent for you personally?
The first step in a successful playwrighting career. An opportunity to work with some hysterically funny actors as well as a top-notch director. But most importantly the Fringe is a rare chance to think a £7.50 pint is reasonable.
What has been the most unexpectedly challenging part of getting this show to Edinburgh?
Money. It’s vulgar to talk about of course. Talking about it implies you don’t have it which in turn implies you don’t belong at the Fringe or in the arts. So that’s the challenge, how relentlessly expensive everything from Fringe registration to even the most badic advertising is. But hey, maybe there’s an opportunity for Scottish creatives to band together and set up a hub same as every other country does at the Fringe?
If audiences leave the venue holding onto one thing, what do you hope it is?
Their sides, for surely they’ll have split them laughing!
How do you think performing this show during a Fringe run will shape it?
A good joke is sharp and a good audience is a whetstone. But truthfully I think the show is in perfect form as is, it’s the audience we hope to shape.
Who do you hope this show finds at the Fringe?
People in need of a laugh. People in need of hope.
Finally, if this show came with a warning label, what would it say?
Trigger Warning: Two expletives and one existential crisis throughout.
58 To Go runs at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 24th – 29th August 2026.