Perhaps I should ask that posh bloke who runs the Pleasance if I can shelter under the brim of his enormous Panama hat. Tee hee, now there’s an idea]I’m sorry, I’m starting to act the fool now, aren’t I? I think it’s because I’m hungry. Of course, there’s only one thing worse than being with a fool, and that’s fooling with a bee]Thankfully, the opportunity doesn’t arise in Edinburgh because, to my knowledge, there are no bees. Could it possibly be too windy for them? Well, yes, I suppose it could Edinburgh is unpleasantly windy at times Personally I believe it’s the hills. Bees don’t like hills, you see.John Shuttleworth is appearing at the Pleasance, 031-556 6550, Sat-28 Aug, 5.20pm.(Photographs omitted). Abducting Diana (Pleasance, 031-556 6550, 15 Aug-3 Sept).

British premiere of Dario Fo’s high-financial farce, with Susan Penhaligon and Benedict Taylor

Actress (Church Hill Theatre, 031-447 0111, Fri-3 Sept). Josh Lazar, winner of the 1993 Connecticut Playwright’s Festival, presents his play about a runaway girl who returns home a successful actress, seeking recognition from the father and sister who shunned her.
A Kiss in the Gutter (Traverse, 031-228 1404, 23 Aug-3 Sept). An outsize canof Brazilian worms, opened by one of Latin America’s most prolific playwrights, Nelson Rodrigues.Babel (Pleasance, 031-556 6550, Thurs-3 Sept). Our critic Robert Butler described The Acting Initiative’s 1993 show, Othello, as ‘exhilarating’, so check out this play about a civilisation on the brink of destruction.Blue Helmet (Assembly Rooms, 031-226 2428, 15 Aug-3 Sept). Jack Klaff and Mark Arden man a UN outpost in a three-faction Balkan civil war Richard Llewellyn boldly lists his play as a comedy.

See panel, page 36.Bow to the Beast (Traverse, 031-228 1404, Thurs-21 Aug). A one-man show from Scotland’s Boilerhouse theatre company suggests the saviour we deserve: the Christ Psychopath.Conventional Demons (Pleasance, 031-556 6550, Wed-27 Aug). After the breakdown of his marriage, a man returns from America to his native London. By Richard Davidson, the author of last year’s acclaimed Storybook.Darkness at Dawn (Theatre West End, 031-228 9292, 15-20 Aug).