Fringe 2026 – One Million Words

⭐⭐⭐⭐
18th August by Anne-Louise Fortune

One Million Words, a part of the São Paulo showcase at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is a one-person show exploring some of the writings of Rainer Marie Rilke, an Austrian poet of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 

Ivo Müller in One Million Words. Photo: Carol Gherardi

Ivo Müller opens with some moments of repetitive movement. It sets the tone for the whole show – words, phrases, ideas, movements are repeated and built upon to create a hypnotising rhythm from Rilke’s words. 

Müller then immediately breaks the fourth wall, breaking character to introduce themselves, and the show. This is a trend we’ve noticed at this year’s Fringe – with artists obliterating the artificial barrier between creative and audience, and giving a background to their work. In an era when work can seem to just appear on our stages, screen and social media accounts, this is an interesting development.

Textual intent affirmed, Müller returns to the show, and takes us through some of Rilke’s letters. The language, in translation from the original, is poetic and fluid. It speaks of love, and the love of art, and the love of making art. Rilke was predominantly a poet and playwright, but what comes through here is his appreciation for art in mediums other than the ones he was working in. It gave him an understanding of how art is constructed, and how different artists attempted to create meaning. 

Of course, it was useful for Rilke that he was present when many now great artists were developing their practice. It helped that he lived in a time when the arts were seen as a valid pursuit, although questions of class need to be interrogated to a greater extent than they are here. Rilke worked as Rodin’s secretary, a role which gave him access to the sculptor’s inner thoughts, as well as providing him a steady income to support his own creative growth. 

Müller’s performance is terrific. There’s a conversation in progress here, with Müller not just performing Rilke’s words, but structuring them to try to discover meaning. Melodic, lyrical, and poetic, for newcomers to Rilke this is a fascinating introduction. For aficionados, it’s an opportunity to bask in the beauty of Rilke’s words.

One Million Words continues in the Jack Dome at Pleasance Dome (Bristo Square), daily at 12:00 (12 noon) until August 31st (not 18th, not 25th)