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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Robyn Vinter

Hot ticket: UK’s first sauna theatre draws swimwear-clad audiences

People inside the Sauna theatre
The Sauna theatre brings together aufguss, a type of sauna ritual, with traditional art forms such as theatre, literature, music and poetry. Photograph: Victoria Haydn/Therme Manchester

Tucked away behind the Summerhall arts centre is the hottest new venue at the Edinburgh fringe … quite literally. The Sauna theatre has proved popular among theatregoers at the world’s largest performing arts festival, with shows inside its purpose-built, 80-seat sauna drawing sweaty, swimwear-clad crowds.

Visitors may be forgiven for thinking the sauna is a gimmick, especially at the fringe where absurd, experimental and ludicrous performances are not uncommon. This year they include a man drinking his own urine, someone singing the same song over and over, physical feats of exertion and several fully naked shows.

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