At a festival dominated by performers who naturally just want your attention, the Sauna Theatre’s Aufguss Master’s programme is one of the most unpretentiously world-class shows: you’re experiencing pros at the top of their game and literally at the top of world rankings.
Aufguss is a guided sauna ceremony developed in Central Europe. It literally translates to “infusion” or “a pouring over” in German and features an Aufgussmeister, or sauna master, using essential oil-infused balls of ice, repeatedly pouring water on the heated stones of the sauna stove, and then circulating the scented steam with choreographed towel movements.
If that sounds really technical, it is. And there are not many people in the world who can do it at the calibre seen in Summerhall Sauna Theatre.
Becoming an Aufguss master is not easy, requiring extensive training in safety and heat management, air circulation, the uses of different essential oils, and, of course, the intricate towel movements that move the steam around and make it such a spectacle to behold. They not only have to be able to exert themselves in extreme heat (usually above 90°F/32°C) but also to ensure that their audience is equally and safely heated by their work. If they’re focusing more on Performance Aufguss, a category in which narrative and costume drive a more entertainment-focused sauna experience, they also need to be well-versed storytellers and performers.
While Finland is the origin of sauna, the development of Aufguss is a great example of how fast sauna culture spreads and how it continues to be shaped by different cultures in different parts of the world. There are countless variations of this practice. True to the Sauna Theatre’s mission to bring sauna culture and the theatre arts together, they have programmed an incredibly wide range of performances from world-class Aufguss masters from around the world across the month of August. (They post who will be performing on any given day on their Instagram.) And when they say “world-class,” they aren’t kidding.
Czech master Robert Židek took the first act of our early evening sauna. He also took first place in the singles competition in the Aufguss World Cup in 2023 and the team competition in 2025. In fact, he has regularly placed in the top three in singles for the past few years. He’s no spring chicken when it comes to Aufguss. Combining Aufguss with mime, Židek enacted the story of a child who just wants to make friends, gets bullied, falls into an Aufguss rage (awesome), and then finds a sense of belonging once more. We broke for intermission with our jaws on the benches.
Hungarian master Gergő Lukács took over for the second act, giving us his best Freestyle Aufguss. Unlike Židek, he embodied less character and narrative work and focused more on the technical success of heating the sauna and giving each and every one of us a delightful physical and emotional experience. He improvised all of his movement, taking his cues from the DJ and pulsing lights. It was very hot and very joyful.
I couldn’t say which performance I liked more, as they were so unique in energy and tone. But I will say that I received a far deeper appreciation for the Aufguss tradition. Perhaps the most important thing I’ll take away from the show was the way in which each master created such an intimate environment of care within the sauna. There’s no better feeling than getting a hot blast of air thrown at you by a flying towel, but there’s also something to be said for how much easier it was to surrender to the very physical experience of being in a sauna when it was guided by a master at the top of their game. Directly afterwards, I walked to the Meadows and lay down on the grass, utterly blissed out.
Thanks to the Sauna Theatre’s work to bring Aufguss to more saunas in the UK, we were able to see the best of the best of Aufguss mastery in the world, which is honestly something they could be shouting from the rooftops a bit more.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/international-aufguss-masters
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Summerhall Courtyard
Dates: Aug 6th -31st (exlcuding 18th and 25th)
Time: 18:00
Ticket prices: £26.50/ concession: £23.00
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com
Suitable for 12+