Just how is Durham Fringe going to squeeze 140+ performances into five days this July/August? Those 11 venues will probably help.

I’ll not waffle on about how amazing this year’s Durham Fringe is (but it really is) because I’d like to dive in with some highlights as they are legion. My own personal “must sees” would include All Hail The Great Cosmic Mother! (pictured) – an immersive hour melding storytelling, music and myth into a show that offers a poetic, and, hey, transformative experience. The festival is also set to thrum to belly-laughs galore and among this year’s roster I’d particularly recommend super-hot stand-up Thao Cao and her ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Funnier’ show. Full of bold and sharp observations Cao will talk about surviving near-death experiences, racism on public transport, and endless teasing about her Vietnamese name. Other top comics doing their thing will include the likes of Rachel Creeger and her ‘Queen Of The Jews’ show (a darkly funny exploration of racism v Rachism), Richard Pulsford (his ‘Yorkshire Dad, Immigrant Mum’ show takes a nostalgic trip around his parents’ lives), and one of the hottest tipped rising stars around, Dom McGovern (who, it’s been said, has been cursed with the caustic wit of Noel Coward and the self-esteem of a young Princess Di). More funnies? How about Adam Flood who is bringing his ‘Life and Death of The Party’ our way – a high-octane genre mash-up that takes in stand-up and rave (yep, a show about the last night on Earth – performed over beats), or the extraordinary Antony Villa. This fella crafts comedy before your very eyes in a Willy-Wonka-meets-Eddie-Izzard kind of way. Away from stand-up, but still with a humorous bent, you’ll find plenty of comedy theatre such as Michael Brunström’s William Tell versus the Algorithm show. This uplifting comedy caper offers a surreal take on the William Tell legend where Swiss folklore meets Artificial Intelligence. I can also heartily recommend Emma Woodhouse’s EMMA: Oops!… I Did It Again. This highly inventive and uproariously funny play sees Emma in control. She can mute Miss Bates, cut scenes short, and even rewind the action. Naturally, the festival will also feature plenty of purely dramatic theatre too, including the electrifying Mabel, an intimate exploration of the final moments of Mercutio – one of Shakespeare’s most compelling characters. Philip Harrison has adapted Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea (with live music performed by Jacob Harrison), while Lament of the Wandering Head is a haunting, female-led migration myth – direct from Taiwan. There will be a plethora of cabaret, spoken word, circus, dance and physical theatre, as well as magic such as Chris Cook’s stellar Fake – a five-star show about trickery, fraud, and lies. Oh – it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the live music programme too, which this year takes in the likes of Florence Andrea, Inglenook, Mills & Farrell, Steve Pledger, Sam Slatcher (with ‘A Pilgrim’s Song’), David Mitchell, Abbie Finn Trio, Jazzy Dystopia, Isabel Maria, Hels Pattison, and oodles more. DP

The Durham Fringe runs from 29 July-2 August. Venues: Assembly Rooms Theatre, Cafédral, City Theatre, Fabio’s Bar, Fellows’ Garden, Leonard’s Coffee House, Gala Theatre, Palace Green Stretch Tent, The Academy, Department of Music. Full programme and ticket details etc from: durhamfringe.co.uk