In our ongoing Edinburgh Fringe 2026 interview series, we are speaking to artists and creatives who are bringing their shows to the Scottish capital this summer.
In this interview, we speak with Richard Marsh about his show Top Gunchained.
What can you tell me about your show?
It’s a one-person retelling of Top Gun. All the rivalry, romance and action of the movie plus a heartfelt tale of father and son Top Gun fans. Can one Fringe First-winning nerd (me) reenact the movie's signature dogfights – alone?*
It’s a one-person retelling of Top Gun. All the rivalry, romance and action of the movie plus a heartfelt tale of father and son Top Gun fans. Can one Fringe First-winning nerd (me) reenact the movie's signature dogfights – alone?*
*Hopefully, yes.
How would you describe the style of your show to anyone who has never seen you before?
I’m retelling Top Gun, on my own, via a combination of storytelling, comedy, dialogue, poetry and movement. You’ll get all of Top Gun, with a parallel story alongside it. My hope is the audience will laugh a lot but also be moved. I love that combination of laughter and emotion when I’m watching plays or movies or TV and I aspire to the same in my writing.
I’m retelling Top Gun, on my own, via a combination of storytelling, comedy, dialogue, poetry and movement. You’ll get all of Top Gun, with a parallel story alongside it. My hope is the audience will laugh a lot but also be moved. I love that combination of laughter and emotion when I’m watching plays or movies or TV and I aspire to the same in my writing.
Part of the fun for the audience is they are complicit in the pretend of it all. There’s a very natural human joy in make believe that we mostly don’t get to indulge after childhood. It’s a lot of fun being part of that in a room full of other adults.
What was the lightbulb moment that led to the creation of this piece?
Watching Top Gun: Maverick. I knew I wanted to tell a personal story alongside retelling the movie and the sequel gave me a way in.
Watching Top Gun: Maverick. I knew I wanted to tell a personal story alongside retelling the movie and the sequel gave me a way in.
What makes 2026 the perfect year for this specific story or performance?
They re-released Top Gun in cinemas earlier this year, in honour of Top Gunchained’s world premiere at the Fringe. (It was also possibly connected to the 40th anniversary of Top Gun’s original release).
How will you mentally and physically prepare for a run at the Fringe?
Other than rewriting the script and working on the performance, it’s mostly physical.
Other than rewriting the script and working on the performance, it’s mostly physical.
I learned making Yippee Ki Yay (my previous show, retelling Die Hard) that I need to be fit to perform an action movie solo on stage. I couldn’t give my best performance if I was breathless after fight scene.
I can tell you what’s a very bad way to prepare for the fringe and that is to watch Toy Story 3 with your young children the day before leaving. Absolutely ridiculous behaviour. What was I thinking?
I can tell you what’s a very bad way to prepare for the fringe and that is to watch Toy Story 3 with your young children the day before leaving. Absolutely ridiculous behaviour. What was I thinking?
If you couldn’t use a flyer to attract audiences, what ridiculous object would you hand out to people to get them into your show?
A paper plane.
A paper plane.
What is the one item in your Fringe Survival Kit that you can’t live without at the Fringe?
Tupperware. For slightly-less-unhealthy, slightly-less-expensive meals.
Tupperware. For slightly-less-unhealthy, slightly-less-expensive meals.
What would you deem as success at the end of the Fringe?
Feeling happy with the show and enjoying performing it.
Feeling happy with the show and enjoying performing it.
Being inspired from having seen loads of other shows, with my creative batteries charged up. For me, the fringe is an absolute feast of art with, for most of it, zero childcare. I can’t wait.
Not getting any major illness.
My children not completely slating my show when they see it. (This is the most unlikely item on this list).
Great queue conversations. I love being part of this huge community of people gathered to watch and make shows. Those queue conversations about what to see - you don’t get that watching one-off shows elsewhere.
Good reviews would be nice. You don’t make a show for reviews, but they are incredibly helpful to the future life of the show.
And I hope the show gets better. Doing a show every day for a month shows you what it can ultimately be. I (along with Benjy Adams, our LX designer and sound and LX operator) will be working on the show throughout the fringe, tweaking and improving, making it better and better. (The last show we worked on, Yippee Ki Yay, is still touring more than four years after debuting at the Fringe and part of that is due to what was learned in that first Edinburgh run). At the fringe, you also get to talk to audience members after they’ve seen your show. That can be great – or can be tough – but it’s incredibly valuable for a writer.
Other than your own show, are there any other shows you would recommend at the Fringe this year?
I haven’t started looking yet (I’m writing this in June) and I really like finding out what’s on beyond acts I already know about. But here are some I already know about:
I haven’t started looking yet (I’m writing this in June) and I really like finding out what’s on beyond acts I already know about. But here are some I already know about:
Rachel Twigg (as Amanda Royce) – Your Choice Amanda Royce https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/your-choice-amanda-royce
Rob Auton – Jupiter https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/rob-auton-jupiter
Margaret Thatcher Queen of Hollywood https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/margaret-thatcher-queen-of-hollywood
How To Fix A Fairytale https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/how-to-fix-a-fairytale
When my kids come up, The Listies https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-listies-110-ready
As someone retelling Top Gun every day, how could I not see this? https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/olga-koch-fat-tom-cruise
I haven’t begun researching what else is on, but those are some acts I’m excited to see at this point.
What is one Edinburgh spot that you would recommend people to visit when they're not watching performances?
Mary’s Milk Bar. The best ice-cream
Can you describe the show in 5 words?
Top Gun + jokes, rhymes, feels.
Top Gun + jokes, rhymes, feels.
Tickets for Top Gunchained are available from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/top-gunchained
Post a Comment