Assembly @ George Street
6 - 31 Aug (not 17, 24), 12:40pm (1:50pm) 

The world never tires of Winston Churchill; a new clutch of films, biographies, and TV documentaries shed fresh light on this greatest of national heroes each year.  But My Darling Clemmie, which (bar a few local previews) premieres at the Fringe, adds an intriguing twist to the well-known story.  For this play is not about Winston - but his wife.

Musical Theatre @ George Square
6 - 10 Aug, 13 - 16 Aug, 20 - 23 Aug, 27 - 31 Aug; 6:30pm (8:30pm)

There's almost nothing we can add to the acres of newsprint already splurged on Jerry Springer: The Opera.  The target of an unprecedented campaign from the itself-controversial group Christian Voice, the show's brief UK tour led to picketing at theatres, complaints to the BBC... and even a ruling at the High Court in London.

C soco
5 - 31 Aug, 8:00pm (8:50pm)

It's a real Marmite show, this one; we can't be sure if you'll love it or hate it, but we promise you won't have seen its like before.  Billed as a cowboy tale set in the Arctic, it's a curious one-man adventure, featuring a talking moose head and an invisible polar bear.  But it's also an intriguing psychological drama: touching, funny and thoughtful, too.

Stage by Stage at Edinburgh Academy
8 - 23 Aug (not 12), times vary 

One of the few genuine Fringe institutions, musical double-act Kit and the Widow are back again for an astonishing 26th year.  With Kit providing the vocals and the oddly-named Widow on the piano, there's one obvious way to summarize their act: step forward, the successors to Flanders and Swann.

Pleasance Courtyard
5 - 31 Aug (not 15, 22); 7:25pm (8:25pm)

Known for their Victorian-themed sketch show Aeneas Faversham, comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls bring us something completely different this year.  A modern-day mock-thriller romp, The Never Man revels in all the hackneyed stereotypes of the genre: a busted copper, an evil overlord, a man who's lost his memory and a some of the most girly fisticuffs ever seen on stage.

St Cuthbert's Parish Church
17 - 23 Aug, 6:00pm (7:00pm); 17-19 Aug, 21-22 Aug, also 1:00pm (2:00pm); 20 Aug, 23 Aug, also 2:30pm (3:30pm)

It's nice to know, in these brash and commercial days, that there's still room for shows like this one.  Actor Lance Pierson has an obvious enthusiasm for the work of John Betjeman; and in the charming city-centre setting of St Cuthbert's church, he'll be bringing the former poet laureate's work to life for a third successive Fringe.