Edinburgh Fringe preview: George Grant on Operation Blank

Scottish writer George Grant is bringing two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe this year – Operation Blank is absurdist, comedy theatre.

Someone has dropped an atom bomb on Copenhagen! With all-out war looming, one junior minister in the British Government must somehow stimulate a response from his hopeless superiors. There’s just one thing standing in his way: Microsoft Teams. Welcome to Operation Blank, the subversive dark comedy debut from up-and-coming Scottish writer, George Grant. Delve into this biting critique of modern online working, that weaves laugh-out-loud humour to themes of unfulfillment and existential dread. It’s the show where nothing happens, and nothing has ever been more entertaining. Leading Light Prize nominee, Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe 2025.”

Where: Fleming Theatre at theSpace

When: 7-29 Aug (not 16 or 23)

Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/operation-blank

What can you tell us about your show? What is it about, and where did the idea come from? 

Operation Blank follows a junior minister in the British government attempting to respond to a totally incomprehensible problem: the atomic bombing of Copenhagen. Every time he tries to formulate a plan, he is bombarded with distractions and useless input from his superiors, who seem content just doing nothing. Gradually, as the show progresses, it becomes clear that the events we’re watching are not quite as they seem, and the “crisis” needing a response may be a bit more personal.

Hopefully this isn’t too much of a spoiler, but the show was inspired by my own experience of unfulfillment and isolation whilst working as a bridge engineer on HS2. I wanted to leave, but didn’t know how and increasingly became frustrated at my own inactivity. The outcome of said frustration was Operation Blank, which ironically gave me the confidence to quit my job and head to the Edinburgh fringe. All’s well that ends well eh?

How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph? 

A sentient potato on Microsoft Teams tries to pin the destruction of the Danish capital on Meghan Markle – need I say more?

Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe?  And do you have any moments you particularly remember? 

I’ve only done it once before, but yes, I loved it. You’ll have heard this from plenty of folk already, but there’s such a buzz wherever you go that you really do get swept up in it all. One memory that stands out (probably for the wrong reasons) was my opening night. As a rookie, I definitely got a bit of a baptism by fire: about 10 minutes into the show, the fire alarm went off in the venue next door, and all the emergency house lights came on. 

In a show that relies on projection, not being able to see the screen was a bit of a downer… Oh, and then my chair broke, so I had to perform the final scene doing a weird half squat, semi-hovering above the remains of my seat. FringeReview was in-house and were kind enough to still give me a “Recommended show” rating, so that’s something, I suppose!

What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh? 

A pint of Tennent’s at The Golf Tavern and a round of putting on the links. 

What’s next for the show?

Hard to say. I still haven’t made up my mind whether I’ll perform it again in 2027 or put it out to pasture. Not to sound like a footballer giving a bad post-match interview, but I’m just taking it show by show, and I’ll worry about the West-end debut once I’ve finished with EdFringe2026.