A month of incredible fringe theatre came to an end last night with the 2019 GM Fringe Awards. Across July, there were over 250 productions that showcased local emerging talent. A multitude of venues welcomed artists, from pubs to train station platforms, and Manchester was a buzzing hive of creativity.
Every single person involved in this festival deserves a huge amount of credit for putting their heart and soul into the work they produced on stage, whether they are writers, directors, performers or the supporting technical crew.
This is why I felt a little uncomfortable at some unsuccessful pitches being openly mocked by the hosts throughout the night. It takes a lot of courage to submit a piece of work to a festival. Considering that the GM Fringe is supposed to be an inclusive festival, “for the many, not just the few“, mocking unsuccessful work for a few laughs is distasteful. Certainly not very supportive towards emerging creatives, bearing in mind that they could’ve poured everything into their plays, only to be dubbed failures, and openly ridiculed.
Despite this, the evening still boasted some fantastic plays being rightfully honoured by being nominated for these prestigious awards.
Here is the full list of nominees and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold.
Audience Choice Award
A Quick Guide to Ruining Your Life
Carole Queen Tapestry
Fifty & Nifty
Cruelty
Most Innovative Use of Space
Patient 4620
Frozen Peas in an Old Tin Can
When Liam Met Emmeline in Manchester
Clouds
Barred
Cruelty
Best Comedy
The F**k It Button
Don’t Bother
Madame Chandelier’s Rough Guide to Opera
The Yank is a Manc
Juliet Meyers: This Flipping Rescue Dog Has Ruined My Life
Maisie Adam: Hang Fire
Big Box Aliens
Best Physical Theatre
Sister
Punk Sandwich
2 Clowns 1 Cup
This Way Up
Best Revival
All The Bens
Pramkicker
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea
Carole Queen Tapestry
Best Newcomer
People are Happy on Trains
Synchronicity
The Joy of Cam (Gemma Davies)
Frozen Peas in an Old Tin Can
Mojo
Don’t Bother
Madame Chandelier’s Rough Guide to Opera
Black, And…
The Decriminalisation Monologues
Punk Sandwich
Boots and Braces
Best Comedy Play
Mistress to Midnight
My Fitbit Called Me a Fat Bitch
A Touch of Magic
Fifty and Nifty
Pramkicker
A Quick Guide to Ruining Your Life
Kasterborous in Bolton
Canal Street Online Pick of the Fringe
The Little Pink Book of Masculinity
Bette: Bathhouse to Broadway!
Box Box to Aliens
Best Ensemble
The Melting of a Single Snowflake
A Touch of Magic
Unbreakable
‘What If…?’
The Death of a Muse
This Way Up
Fifty and Nifty
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Best Children’s Show
Mama G’s Story Time Roadshow
This Way Up
The Extraordinary Time Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen
My Bottom did a Burp in Class
Best Spoken Word
The Hull Poets
Socially [Un]acceptable
Thick Richard Presents: Swear School
Black. And
70s, A New Decade of Fun
The Empathy Experiment
Don’t Bother
Write for the Stage Award for Best New Writing
A Quick Guide to Ruining You Life, by Laura Harper
Holy Land, by Matthew Gouldesbrough
Our Kid, by Taran Knight
My Fitbit Called Me A Fat Bitch, by Ronnie Leek
Fifty and Nifty, by Beverly Green
Best Actor
Jenna Sian O’Hara
Nicole Evans
Ali Kahn
Lois Mackie
Hannah Ellis-Ryan
Danny Solomom
Coral Sinclair
Tilly Sutcliffe
Deane Dixon-Foster
Taran Knight
Claire Moore
Kasey Christian
Best Drama
The Riot Act
All The Bens
Our Kid
Holy Land
The Death of a Muse
Drowning in Silence
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea
Best Girl
The Greek
A Quick Guide to Ruining Your Life
Oldham Coliseum’s Pick of the Fringe Award
All The Bens
A Quick Guide to Ruining Your Life
Clouds
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea
My Fitbit Called Me a Fat Bitch
The winner, Clouds will appear alongside Men Chase, Women Choose in the main stage takeover at Oldham Coliseum in September.
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, particularly Ali Kahn, who thoroughly deserved the awards for Best Comedy and Best Actor for The F**k It Button.
Controversially named, I stayed clear from reviewing her show because I already got served a 24 hour ban from Twitter for ‘inciting hatred’ by reviewing Skank. That was certainly my highlight of the Fringe! I can’t wait to do it all again next year!
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