Five years ago, Yvonne Hughes was preparing for the end. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a baby, she had spent her life battling the disease’s relentless grip—struggling to breathe, enduring frequent hospital stays, and losing friends to the same condition. The idea that she would one day take the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, delivering comedy to a crowd, would have seemed like the punchline to a cruel joke. Yet, as she stands under the lights this August, it’s no joke at all. It’s the result of a medical breakthrough, personal resilience, and a festival increasingly committed to accessibility for all kinds of performers and audiences.
According to BBC Scotland, Hughes’s journey was shaped by the harsh realities of cystic fibrosis, the UK’s most common inherited life-threatening condition. The disease disrupts the body’s ability to transport salt and water, causing sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. “People were dying around me when I was young, like my friends I’d been going to Yorkhill children’s hospital with,” Hughes recalled in a recent interview. She described how, as a child, she loved dancing, swimming, and joining the Brownies, but was often sidelined by sudden illnesses and lengthy hospitalizations. Medical research even revealed that cystic fibrosis patients should avoid one another, as their lungs harbor bacteria dangerous to others with the same disorder—a lonely twist that set her apart from other patient communities.
As she grew older, the disease’s toll became more pronounced. Hughes’s lung function dwindled to just 30% of what she needed. The average life expectancy for someone with cystic fibrosis was only 31 when she was young, and, by her mid-40s, she felt she had already beaten the odds. “I think I’ve got survivor’s guilt in a way,” she admitted, recalling the funeral of a childhood friend. She had quietly made plans for her own funeral, convinced her time was running out.
Then, in 2020, a turning point arrived. Kaftrio, a new modular drug that targets the root cause of cystic fibrosis by bypassing the genetic errors responsible for the disease, was approved for use in Scotland. Hughes was skeptical at first, fearing she was too ill to benefit. But the impact was immediate. “I just remember I opened the door to the delivery guy and said, ‘you’re about to save my life’—and it did,” she told BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings programme. Within hours, she was coughing up mucus, and, over the following days, her energy soared. The drug, which must be taken with fatty foods, became a lifeline. “Now I’ve got all this energy—sometimes I forget I’ve had something wrong with me.”
With her newfound vitality, Hughes decided to pursue a long-held dream: making people laugh. She enrolled in a comedy course at a university’s centre for lifelong learning, and soon found herself crafting her own shows. This year, she brings “Absolutely Riddled” to the Edinburgh Fringe, weaving her health struggles into the material. It’s not, as she admits, the most obvious source for easy laughs, but she believes her story is “warm and life affirming.” Her show runs until August 15, 2025, and, five years after starting Kaftrio, she hasn’t looked back.
Hughes’s story is one of personal triumph, but it also unfolds against a backdrop of growing awareness about accessibility at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival itself. For many, the festival—with its pop-up venues, labyrinthine layouts, and jam-packed schedules—can be overwhelming. For blind and visually-impaired audiences, it’s often even more daunting. “With pop-up venues, jam-packed schedules and minimal thought given to access, it often feels like an afterthought, if it’s considered at all,” wrote a BBC reporter covering accessibility at this year’s Fringe.
This year, however, one venue is seeking to change that. ZOO Playground, a space known for championing emerging artists and smaller productions, has teamed up with Extant, the UK’s leading professional company of visually impaired artists, to put accessibility centre stage. Their mission? To show that inclusive practices can be built into the very fabric of a production, not simply tacked on as an afterthought.
Three headline shows at ZOO Playground, including “Big Little Sister” by Holly Gifford, are part of Extant’s Enhance programme. Each show offers a touch tour before the performance, allowing blind and visually-impaired audience members to explore the stage, handle props, and get a sense of the space. “Because the show was built to be accessible, I didn’t need audio description,” one attendee reported. “It flowed without visual reliance.” Staff at ZOO Playground received training in visual awareness and guiding techniques, making the entire experience—from arrival to departure—welcoming and supportive.
Maria Oshodi, Extant’s founder and a blind theatre director, emphasized the importance of embedding accessibility from the start. “We’re showing that accessibility can be built in from the start, not tacked on at the end. Once you work this way, you don’t go back.” This philosophy shaped Gifford’s “Big Little Sister,” a solo show based on her relationship with her older brother Patrick, who is deafblind and has cerebral palsy and severe learning disabilities. The performance includes pre-recorded lines from Patrick’s communication aid, and Gifford herself plays multiple roles, including her father—complete with a full drag beard, one of the props featured in the touch tour.
Gifford explained that making her show accessible didn’t require a huge budget or technical overhaul, just effort and a willingness to adapt. “People assume it’s going to be expensive or really difficult. It’s not. It just takes a bit of effort and a willingness to try.” Her approach, supported by Extant, demonstrates that even small venues at the world’s busiest arts festival can successfully implement inclusive practices.
James Mackenzie, ZOO’s artistic director, echoed this sentiment: “We can’t alter buildings or knock down walls, most spaces are temporary, but we can change attitudes and the way we operate.” Other shows at the venue were encouraged to include audio introductions or describe their stage settings at the start, further breaking down barriers for disabled audiences.
The impact of these efforts is profound. For one blind audience member, the experience at ZOO Playground was a revelation. “As a blind audience member, this felt different, not just because I could follow the show without strain, but because someone had thought about what I might need. It’s rare at the Fringe to feel that way.”
As Hughes’s laughter fills the room and Gifford’s storytelling resonates with audiences of all abilities, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025 stands as a testament to the power of inclusion—on stage and off. With medical advances like Kaftrio transforming lives, and venues like ZOO Playground reimagining what accessibility can look like, the festival is inching closer to being a place where everyone, regardless of their challenges, can take part and feel truly seen.
In a city renowned for its creativity and resilience, these stories remind us that the most meaningful breakthroughs—whether in medicine or in the arts—are those that open doors for others and invite everyone to share in the celebration.
