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Jonah Non Grata – Simon Kane

At the Edinburgh Fringe, surprises come in all shapes and sizes—but few are as gloriously strange, funny, and thought-provoking as Jonah Non Grata.

Simon Kane’s extraordinary one-man show reimagines the Book of Jonah as a surreal, multi-layered performance that’s equal parts absurdist theatre, stand-up comedy, and performance art. With hymns, games, songs, and even a magical choose-your-own-adventure book, Kane explores themes of choice, responsibility, power, and love—while keeping the audience laughing throughout.

The hour is divided into three sections: Fight, Flight, and Mariott. We begin with anarchic, church-like playfulness; move into the mesmerising stillness of Jonah inside the whale, conjured with nothing more than Kane’s extraordinary physical control and atmospheric lighting; and end with Jonah phoning through a hotel directory to deliver God’s word to Nineveh—a finale that is absurd, profound, and strangely moving.

Kane’s performance is a marvel. His physical range and vocal dexterity are astonishing—booming hymn one moment, squeaky prophet the next—while his ability to break and rebuild theatrical illusion keeps the audience gripped. One moment we’re laughing at a deliberately underwhelming magic trick, the next we’re swept into a cinematic spectacle of sound and light.

The comedy lives in contrasts: divine grandeur against human awkwardness, solemn ritual undercut by pop culture, grand themes delivered with slapstick clumsiness. Yet beneath the silliness lies something genuinely contemplative. Kane himself calls it a modern-day mystery play, and it feels exactly that: joyous, unpredictable, and layered with meaning.

Jonah Non Grata is one of those rare Fringe experiences that manages to be both hilarious in the moment and rich enough to ponder long after. An unmissable gem.