All-woman company Smooth Faced Gentlemen’s version of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus picked up the award for top production at Buxton Festival Fringe.
It was the second year in a row that Smooth Faced Gentlemen had scooped the award after winning in 2012 with Romeo and Juliet.
Titus Andronicus also collected the new John Beecher Memorial Award for original, challenging work with high production values.
Fringe vice-chair Keith Savage paid tribute to John Beecher, a historian and writer who was a supporter of the Fringe and Underground Venues but died of cancer last year aged 25.
Acting awards went to Sian Weedon for Jordan and Liam King for The Zoo Story while Mark Reid picked up the new writing accolade for intense drama The Gambit.
In youth theatre, two awards went to REC Youth Theatre Company: Red Red Shoes won the production award and Siobhan Piercy picked up the young actor prize for Pan-o-rama.
Stephanie Billen announced that it was her last year as Fringe chair.
“In these sizzling two weeks or so your shows have moved me, made me laugh and excited me—sometimes all in one performance.
“Over the five years I’ve been chair, I’ve been privileged to have a great team behind me and that has enabled me to give the Fringe an even more solid foundation on which to build for the future.”