You do not necessarily have to travel to Scotland to enjoy all the fun of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Arts correspondent Emma Knights looks at shows from the Fringe heading to Norwich.

Eastern Daily Press: Imbalance is being performed at Norwich Playhouse on September 16 2017. Photo: Moving Productions PhotographyImbalance is being performed at Norwich Playhouse on September 16 2017. Photo: Moving Productions Photography (Image: Moving Productions Photography)

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is said to be the single biggest celebration of arts and culture on the planet.

With more than 50,000 performances of well over 3,000 shows, the three-week festival each August offers a vast kaleidoscope of weird and wonderful entertainment from around the world for festival-goers to enjoy.

The event - which this year is celebrating its 70th anniversary - shines a spotlight on a huge array of quirky and cutting edge acts, making it like a theatrical sweet shop for venues nationwide looking to programme the hottest new shows for their audiences back home.

'The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the most exciting showcase for the arts that I have ever experienced. Each year I am thrilled at the treasure we can bring back to Norwich and Norfolk so that everyone can share in the joy of such creative work,' said Norwich Playhouse director Caroline Richardson.

Eastern Daily Press: Austentatious is being performed at Norwich Playhouse on November 23 2017. Photo: Robert Viglasky PhotographyAustentatious is being performed at Norwich Playhouse on November 23 2017. Photo: Robert Viglasky Photography (Image: Robert Viglasky Photography)

Almost a third of Norwich Playhouse's autumn 2017 line-up is made up of shows from Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Caroline is once again heading to this year's festival with the theatre's manager Andrew Ramsbottom. Between them they will watch 70 shows in five days with the view to programming the best for Norwich Playhouse in the future.

Fellow Norwich venues The Garage and Norwich Arts Centre are also among those that head north to check out what is being showcased and have a history of supporting local acts on the road to Edinburgh.

And so, with the 2017 festival in full swing in Scotland's capital, arts correspondent Emma Knights looks at some of the shows and acts from Edinburgh Festival Fringe past and present that audiences can look forward to in Norwich in the next few months.

Eastern Daily Press: Lee Nelson is performing at Norwich Playhouse on November 29 and 30 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich PlayhouseLee Nelson is performing at Norwich Playhouse on November 29 and 30 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Playhouse (Image: supplied by Norwich Playhouse)

NORWICH PLAYHOUSE

Imbalance, September 16, 7.30pm - Combining acrobatic skills and athletic dance, this energetic, thought-provoking performance from Joli Vyann explores our obsessive dependence with technology, asking whether our lives are in or out of balance?

Ed Gamble, September 21 and 22, 8pm - Comedian and Mock the Week regular Ed Gamble returns with a new stand up show.

Finding Joy, September 26, 3pm - Vamos Theatre look at the subject of dementia with humour and humanity in this story of 83-year-old Joy who is fiesty, loves to dance and is losing her memory.

Eastern Daily Press: The Garage new season - Joan by Milk Presents. Photo: Field & McGlynnThe Garage new season - Joan by Milk Presents. Photo: Field & McGlynn (Image: Field & McGlynn)

Ali Cook, September 30, 8pm - Ali Cook presents his own brand of magic and off-beat comedy in Principles of Deception.

Mark Thomas, October 5, 7.30pm - Mark Thomas sets out to discover what the future holds by collecting his and the audiences' predictions before gambling on the outcome in A Show That Gambles On The Future.

The Gruffalo, October 17-22, various times - Tall Stories presents a magical, musical adaptation of the classic picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

Austentatious, November 23, 7.30pm - From Sixth Sense and Sensibility to Mansfield Shark, every single performance by the Austentatious cast of comic perfomers sees a brand new 'lost' Jane Austen novel conjured up inspired by a title from the audience.

Eastern Daily Press: The Garage new season - In Our Hands presented by Smoking Apples. Photo: Richard DavenportThe Garage new season - In Our Hands presented by Smoking Apples. Photo: Richard Davenport (Image: ©Richard Davenport 2016)

Lee Nelson, November 29 and 30, 7.30pm - Lee Nelson returns with his latest stand-up show Serious Joker.

For more on shows at Norwich Playhouse and to book tickets, visit www.norwichplayhouse.co.uk

THE GARAGE

Eastern Daily Press: Instructions for Border Crossing is to be performed at Norwich Arts Centre on November 22 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts CentreInstructions for Border Crossing is to be performed at Norwich Arts Centre on November 22 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre (Image: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre)

Growth, September 12 and 13, 7.30pm - Paines Plough presents a comedy about growing up and manning up from writer Luke Norris.

In Our Hands, September 22, 7.30pm - Using innovative puppetry, a striking set and an original score, Smoking Apples' production In Our Hands sees Alf the trawler fisherman journey from the depths of despair to rise again and rescue the life he loves.

Joan, October 24, 8pm - Joan, presented by Milk Presents, is a fresh look at Joan of Arc which sees drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson explore what it means to stand out, stand up and stand alone.

For more on shows at The Garage and to book tickets, visit www.thegarage.org.uk

Eastern Daily Press: Reverend Billy & the Stop Shopping Choir are performing at Norwich Arts Centre on October 29 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts CentreReverend Billy & the Stop Shopping Choir are performing at Norwich Arts Centre on October 29 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre (Image: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre)

NORWICH ARTS CENTRE

All The Things I Lied About, September 20, 8pm - In what is described as a fearlessy honest show for the post-truth era, Fringe First winner Katie Bonna undertakes a comic exploration of past mistakes and inevitable future disasters.

Frogman, October 23-28, various times - Curious Directive presents this coming-of-age supernatural thriller experienced in VR headsets.

Eastern Daily Press: All The Things I Lied About is being performed at Norwich Arts Centre on September 20 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts CentreAll The Things I Lied About is being performed at Norwich Arts Centre on September 20 2017. Photo: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre (Image: supplied by Norwich Arts Centre)

Reverend Billy & the Stop Shopping Choir, October 29, 8pm - The choir - described as anti-consumerist gospel shouters and Earth-loving urban activists - return to the UK with the Trump Depression Hotline Tour full of humour, music and an unshakeable belief.

Instructions for Border Crossing, November 22, 8pm - Described as 'the exposed gearbox of a political thriller,' the interactive show from ARC Stockton Production sees a 12-year-old girl sneak across the border into her own country.

For more on shows at Norwich Arts Centre and to book tickets, visit www.norwichartscentre.co.uk