The Scotsman Fringe First Awards

Published: 25 August 2013
Reporter: Sandra Giorgetti

Abbey Theatre's Quietly - a winner in the first week
Water Stain from Armazém Theater Company - a winner in week 2
Choose Your Own Documentary By Nathan Penlington - a week 3 winner

Now in its 40th year, the The Scotsman Fringe First Awards continue to celebrate innovation inand challengingall genres at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival.

Although there are no cash awards to winners, Fringe First plaques are a prestigious adornment to a theatre practitioner's wall or mantelpiece; a 1974 winning company included Simon Callow who says of the award “It was great… We transferred to London and were a smash hit all over again, then opened in the West End. But we were always conscious of the halo conferred by the award.”

Other past winners include many now-famous names amongst them Stephen Fry, Rowan Atkinson, John Godber and David Greig.

This year's winners are:

Week 1

  • Feral - Tortoise in a Nutshell in co-production with Cumbernauld Theatre - Summerhall
  • Grounded - Gate Theatre, London - Traverse Theatre
  • Ciara - Traverse Theatre & Datum Point - Traverse Theatre
  • Quietly - Abbey Theatre - Traverse Theatre
  • Nirbhaya - Assembly, Riverside Studios and Poorna Jagannathan - Assembly Hall
  • Donal O'Kelly's Brace - Fionnuala and Skeffy - Donal O'Kelly - Hill Street Theatre
  • Kiss Me Honey Honey - Gilded Balloon - Gilded Balloon Teviot
  • The Events - Actors Touring Company, Young Vic Theatre, Brageteatret and Schauspielhaus Wein - Traverse Theatre

Week 2

  • These Halycon Days - Landmark Productions - Assembly Hall
  • Theatre Uncut - Theatre Uncut - Traverse Theatre
  • Dark Vanilla Jungle - Supporting Wall - Pleasance Courtyard
  • Dumbstruck - Fine Chisel - Zoo
  • Fleabag - DryWrite - Underbelly Cowgate
  • Water Stain - Armazém Theater Company - Venue 150 @ EICC

Week 3

  • For Their Own Good - Untied Artists - Summerhall
  • Gardening: For The Unfulfilled and Alienated - Undeb Theatre - Pleasance Courtyard
  • Credible Likeable Superstar Rolemodel - Bryony Kimmings / Escalator East to Edinburgh - Pleasance Dome
  • Choose Your Own Documentary By Nathan Penlington - CYOD Ltd - Gilded Balloon Teviot
  • Mercy Killers - Harold Clurman Lab Theater - Assembly Hall
  • Freeze! - Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, Drum Plymouth, Theater-aan-Zee, Summerhall - Summerhall

Four decades of the Fringe Firsts has been celebrated with a series of events.

Details of The Scotsman Fringe First Awards and other awards for the year may be found at www.edfringe.com/participants/awards#NSDF

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

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