HAUNT is Poltergeist Theatre's one-day festival of theatre, comedy and music offering audiences new theatre and tasters of what will be seen next month at the Edinburgh Fringe. The day will begin with a trio of theatre workshops exploring a diverse range of topics, before the evening kicks off with Ghost Night, a one-hour showcase that offers a free look at four projects currently in progress. These will include a folk tale told with puppets, a one-woman retelling Joan of Arc, and a devised piece looking at eating disorders. It offers a taster of four exciting young companies from Oxford and beyond.

Next up is the award-winning Lights Over Tesco Car Park, previously seen last autumn at the North Wall. The play tells the story of Robert whose encounter with mysterious lights leads to an alien coming to stay. It is a docu-comedy for the post-truth age. The evening climaxes with the much praised comedian Ahir Shah, who will preview his Edinburgh-bound show that deals with life, death and Bohemian Rhapsody. All the theatre, comedy and workshops you need to, briefly, dull your jealousy of anyone off to this year's Fringe.