The Offies Awards 2024:

celebrating the best and supporting inclusiveness

The Offies celebrate the best of independent, alternative and fringe theatre – across Greater London and at selected fringe festivals around the UK. Their 2023 ceremony, on the evening of Sunday, 25 February, at the Woolwich Works, gave out over 50 awards across an exciting range of categories and to a hugely diverse range of recipients. Over 850 people attended to participate in the second live Offies ceremony since March 2020.

This year, the winners from 2023 were invited to return to present the awards to this year’s winners, creating a sense of continuity and community.

Other presenters included Linda Marlowe, actor and OffWestEnd Patron, Paul Roseby OBE, Director, National Youth Theatre, Ronnie Le Drew, Puppeteer and President of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild, Wayne Harrison, freelance director, Duncan Lustig-Prean, Chair, Brighton Fringe, and senior staff from the Vault, Camden, Greater Manchester and Edinburgh fringe festivals.  The Woolwich Works was represented by their Director, Nick Williams, and representatives from the Southbank Centre and the Barbican also presented awards.  Sponsors of this year’s awards included Mischief Worldwide, White Light, Prodermis, Concord Theatricals and Tarento Productions.

Winners came from productions across a wide range of theatres and genres and from diverse backgrounds.  Some productions won several awards, including The White Factory at the Marylebone Theatre and The Flea at The Yard.  Venues recognized with the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to the Riverside Studios, from the Bernie Grant Arts Centre to the new Lavender Theatre, as well as more established theatres such as the Park and the Southwark Playhouse.  The Offies continue to offer a wide range of categories to celebrate the breadth and diversity of the independent theatre sector; this year, for example, the Access award went to High Times and Dirty Monsters at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre and the Community Outreach Youth award to The Realness at The Big House.  Other highlights including recognition of the Grimeborn opera season at the Arcola, and some wonderful shows for young people: the Production award went to The Toymaker’s Child at Chickenshed.

The event included performances from the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (resident at the Woolwich Works), Michael Twaits, cabaret artist and drag queen, and Tom Self, musical director for Sleeping Beauty at Queens Theatre Hornchurch, winner of the Panto award in 2023.   There were also a number of video messages from West End shows – The Mousetrap, The Choir of Man, The Unfriend – from the cast of The Witches at the National Theatre, and from Operation Mincemeat, now in the West End following several runs at OffWestEnd venues.

Three special awards were made – the Producer award to Open Bar for their innovative partnership of open air productions in partnership with Fuller’s Pub; the Artistic Director award to Kate Bannister, Artistic Director at the Jack Studio Theatre; and the Special Achievement award to David Byrne for all his work at the New Diorama theatre which he has just left to become Artistic Director at the Royal Court.

Geoffrey Brown, Director of the Offies, and who is stepping down in July 2024, said “it was a wonderful ceremony which emphasised the extraordinary innovation and creativity that flourishes across independent theatre. This sector is both the seed-bed for performers, writers and other creatives who will achieve great future recognition, and also the basis for ongoing engagement at the grassroots, creating and fostering the audiences of tomorrow.”

The ceremony also introduced Denholm Spurr, the new Director, who takes over from 1 July 2024.  A separate press release is being sent with more information about Denholm and his plans for the future.

The full list of winners can be found below.

NOTES TO EDITORS

more information about TheatresOff / OffWestEnd / Offies Awards follows the list of winners. For additional information, please contact:

Geoffrey Brown, Director | 07793 113 233 | geoffrey@theatresoff.com

Offies Winners 2024

SPECIAL AWARDS 2024

Artistic Director: Kate Bannister, Artistic Director, Jack Studio Theatre

Producer: Open Bar

Special Achievement: David Byrne, formerly at the New Diorama Theatre (now at the Royal Court)

OFFSTAGE – awards for venues, voted by the public

Foodie Experience: Park Theatre

Programmes: Bridge House Theatre

Theatre Bar: Kenneth More Theatre

Facilities: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Most Comfortable: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Most Welcoming: Orange Tree Theatre

Online Info & Booking: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Programming Policy: Orange Tree Theatre

Social Media Presence & Activities: Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

OffFest – awards for theatre at fringe festivals

Vault Festival

How We Begin / Surfacing Acts Theatre / Pit at the Vaults

Brighton Fringe

Experiment Human / Hooky Productions

Camden Fringe

Scavengers / Etcetera Theatre

Greater Manchester Fringe

Wasteman / Joe Leather / Kings Arms Salford

Edinburgh Fringe

MUSICALS & CIRCUS

Godfather Death: A Grimm’s Musical / Greenside

LGBT

52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals / Pleasance Courtyard

NEW WRITING

Mark Thomas’s ‘England & Son’ / Summerhall

SOLO PERFORMANCE

SAD-VENTS / Underbelly

THEATRE

Diana the Untold and Untrue Story / Pleasance Dome

Offies

DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

Lambdog1066 / The Flea / Yard Theatre

SET DESIGN

Galya Solodovnikova / The White Factory / Marylebone Theatre

LIGHTING DESIGN

Ryan Joseph Stafford / Bacon / HFH Prodns / Riverside Studios

VIDEO DESIGN

Oleg Mikhailov / The White Factory / Marylebone Theatre

SOUND DESIGN

Sam MacDonald / Colossal / Soho Theatre

MUSICALS / OPERA / CABARET / PANTO

CHOREOGRAPHY / MOVEMENT

Matt Cole / Police Cops: The Musical / Southwark Playhouse

CABARET

Thick&Tight / Tits & Teeth: A Retrospective Of An Outstanding Career / Shoreditch Town Hall

PANTO DESIGN

Emily Bestow, Henry Slater, Liam McDermott, Pavlov’s Puppets / Snow White / Greenwich Theatre

PANTO PERFORMANCE

Ensemble / Tossed / Royal Vauxhall Tavern

PANTO PRODUCTION

Odyssey / Charles Court Opera / Jermyn St Theatre

OPERA PERFORMANCE

Heming Li / Turandot / The Opera Makers & Ellandar Prodns / Arcola: Grimeborn

OPERA PRODUCTION

Trouble in Tahiti / Arcola: Grimeborn

NEW MUSICAL

Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson, Tom Roe, Ben Adams / Police Cops: The Musical / Southwark Playhouse

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Rio Kai / Recognition / Talawa / Fairfield Halls

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL

Annie Wensak / Flowers for Mrs Harris / Riverside Studios

Allie Dart / Unfortunate: the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch / Southwark Playhouse

LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL

SuRie / Annie Get Your Gun / Lavender Theatre

Lauryn Redding / Bloody Elle / Soho Theatre

DIRECTOR (MUSICALS)

Hannah Chissick / Eugenius / Turbine Theatre

MUSICAL PRODUCTION

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / Southwark Playhouse

THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES

TYA DESIGN

Toby Olié, Daisy Beattie / Wolves in the Walls / Little Angel Theatre

TYA WRITING / ADAPTATION

Magero Otieno-Magero / He Said She Said / Kiln Theatre

TYA PERFORMANCE

Marijn Brussaard, René Groothof, Kim Karssen / The Invisible Man / Theater Artemis / Unicorn Theatre

TYA MUSIC / SOUND

Conrad Murray / Pied Piper / Battersea Arts Centre

TYA PRODUCTION

The Toymaker’s Child / Chickenshed

CROSS-GENRE

ACCESS

High Times and Dirty Monsters / Bernie Grant Arts Centre

COMMUNITY OUTREACH YOUTH

The Realness / The Big House

ONLINE PRODUCTION

Father Unknown / Northern Stage

The Silence & The Noise / Pentabus & Rural Media

IDEA DESIGN

Sound Design by Persis-Jade Maravala & Ross Flight / Binaural Dinner Date / ZU-UK / University of Greenwich

IDEA PERFORMANCE

Gemma Paintin / The Talent / Action Hero & Deborah Pearson / Battersea Arts Centre

IDEA PRODUCTION

Kim Noble / Lullaby for Scavengers / Soho Theatre

NEWCOMER

Kasper Hilton-Hille / That Face / Orange Tree Theatre

PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE

Sasha Wilson, Joseph Cullen, Lawrence Boothman, Clare Fraenkel, David Leopold / The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria / Arcola

PLAYS

MOST PROMISING NEW PLAYWRIGHT

Rafaella Marcus / SAP / Soho Theatre

NEW PLAY

Mojisola Adebayo / Stars / Tamasha Theatre / ICA

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY

Dorothea Myer-Bennet / Possession / Arcola Theatre

Thomas Judd / Sense & Sensibility / Open Stage / Fullers Pub Gardens

PERFORMANCE PIECE

Sutara Gayle / The Legends of Them / Hackney Showroom & Brixton House

SOLO PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY

Samuel Barnett / Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen / Bush Theatre

LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY

Ned Costello / Leaves of Glass / Park Theatre

Sally Paffett / Vermin / Arcola

DIRECTOR (PLAYS)

Jay Miller / The Flea / Yard Theatre

PRODUCTION (PLAYS)

The White Factory / Marylebone Theatre

ABOUT THE VARIOUS OFFIES AWARDS

The Offies are a hugely successful aspect of the work of OffWestEnd – they recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent theatres across London (and beyond), helping to raise the profile and status of independent theatre by giving venues and companies greater power to promote their work individually and collectively and to reward the new talent that they nurture and that is essential to the future of our theatre industry.

The “core” Offies cover not only plays and musicals, but also opera, cabaret, online theatre, theatre for young people and work that involves “community outreach youth”. There are also the IDEA awards for theatre that is Immersive / Devised / Experiential / Atypical.  Finally, the Access award has been introduced, which recognises the contribution of theatre in providing both access to the arts and a platform for creative individuals and others with lived experience of disability or social disadvantage.

We have also now expanded our awards beyond London and have introduced the OffFest award to

celebrate theatre at a number of “fringe” festivals – in 2022 there has been an OffFest for each of the Vault, Brighton, Camden, Greater Manchester and Edinburgh Fringe festivals. As a result of this expansion, there is now an umbrella organisation, TheatresOff, encompassing the work of OffEWestEnd and the various Offies awards.

In addition, we have introduced the OffComm award for short run shows at venues across London and the OneOff awards to recognise outstanding achievements across the sector and the OffStage award where the public can cast their vote for the best aspects of London’s independent theatre venues.

Each year, finalists for all Offies awards are announced in early January, followed by the winners announced at the Awards Ceremony in late February / early March. The “core” Offies awards were created in 2010, and since then there have been around 4,000 nominations, of which around 750 have been selected as finalists, and nearly 300 as winners – there is now a database of all nominees, finalists and winners online at www.offies.london. For the “core” Offies, over 130 theatres and other venues have been visited for an assessment – and these theatres and venues are not just in central London – they include venues located in Bromley, Enfield, Greenwich, Havering, Haringey, Kingston, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Richmond, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, and Wandsworth.

ABOUT THEATRESOFF & OFFWESTEND

TheatresOff and OffWestEnd exist to celebrate the full spectrum of independent and alternative theatres and to draw increasing numbers of the general public into the heady darkness and dangerous passion of these little powerhouses perched above a pub, tucked under a railway bridge, packed into a disused warehouse, built around a butcher’s shop or suspended above a shopping centre. Off West End theatres play a in society as a whole – important on stage in taking risks to push the boundaries of live performance, important for the audience in entertaining the intellect and stretching the imagination and, most of all, important as a breeding ground for new talent and new ideas that feed into our culture, reinventing and reinvigorating us.

The goal of TheatresOff is to ensure that culturally diverse performances in independent & alternative theatres are presented in an equal, positive and unbiased manner to people interested in seeing new work and supporting new talent.

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ABOUT WOOLWICH WORKS

Woolwich Works is a multi-disciplinary cultural hub on the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. The landmark venue opened its doors in September 2021 after a multi-million-pound restoration project by the Royal Borough of Greenwich and has recently been named London’s ‘best new culture spot’ by Time Out. Our programme includes cutting-edge contemporary music, award-winning stand-up comedy, as well as theatre, dance, cabaret and everything in between.

With large-scale, flexible performance and event spaces, rehearsal studios, rooms for community events and celebrations, bars and a café, the site is also home to a number of local, national and internationally-renowned resident artistic companies including the Acosta Dance Centre and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.