Photo credit: COGGIA Productions / Instagram
The energy, community and idealism of New York City’s underground rave culture are heading to the stage this summer with the debut of The Late Utopians at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Written and directed by Alfie Jones and produced by theatre company COGGIA, the new production follows Emma, a journalist who spends her nights immersed in New York’s underground dance music scene while navigating life in a politically and socially fractured America.
The production will premiere on 5 August at Iron Belly, part of Underbelly Cowgate, during the Edinburgh Fringe, with performances running daily until 30 August, excluding 18 August.
The play joins a growing number of artistic works that explore electronic music culture beyond the dance floor. As club spaces continue to influence conversations around identity, activism and mental wellbeing, theatre has increasingly become another medium through which the stories of underground music communities are told.
For dance music fans, The Late Utopians promises a perspective rarely seen on stage: one that captures the optimism, vulnerability and collective spirit that have defined underground rave culture for decades.
