Exciting times for the OffWestEnd OFFIES who today announces the finalists for the 2020 OFFIES AWARDS.
The Offies recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent, fringe and alternative theatres across London, helping to raise their profiles and rewarding the new talent that they nurture, which is essential for the future of the theatre industry. Though theatre has been devastated by the Covid pandemic in 2020, there were enough high-quality live shows receiving Offies nominations before lockdown, and between lockdowns, to enable the judging panel to select 47 finalists across 16 of the 28 Offies categories. The winners will be announced at the Offies Awards Ceremony, being held online on 21st February 2021.
The finalists include plays Scrounger at the Finborough and The Sugar Syndrome at the Orange Tree Theatre; musicals Rags at the Park Theatre and The Last Five Years at Southwark Playhouse; and shows under the IDEA category which covers Innovative, Devised, Experiential & Atypical work. Amongst the individual finalists are Frances Barber for Musik at Leicester Square Theatre, and Sam Crane for The Rage of Narcissus at the Pleasance. Venues covered also include Battersea Arts Centre, The Old Red Lion, Roundhouse, Soho Theatre, Wiltons Music Hall and the new (outdoor) Garden Theatre at the Eagle.
Geoffrey Brown, OffWestEnd Director, said: “In spite of live theatre being closed for most of 2020, there were still some fantastic shows at the start of the year, and between lockdowns, and OffWestEnd is delighted that we are able to recognise and celebrate the best of this work.”
Next week, OffWestEnd will also announce the finalists for its new OnComm Awards for online shows – OffWestEnd’s new award introduced to respond to all the wonderful online shows that emerged during the Covid lockdown. We expect a further 40 OnComm finalists, across at least 10 categories.
The next Offies Awards event, where Offies and OnComm winners will be announced, along with some special awards, will be held online on 21st February and will be broadcast free to all from the Scenesaver platform.
More details will be released before the end of January.
LIST OF FINALISTS
DESIGN
Design: Lighting
Malcolm Rippeth / Afterplay / Coronet Theatre
Tom White / Macbeth / Wiltons Music Hall
Jamie Platt / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Design: Set
Lucy Osborne / Afterplay / Coronet Theatre
Casey Jay Andrews / Lockdown Town /
Patrick Connellan / The Incident Room / New Diorama with Greenwich Theatre
Design: Sound
Max Pappenheim / Sunnymead Court / Tristan Bates Theatre
Yaiza Varona / The Incident Room / New Diorama with Greenwich Theatre
Neil Bettles / Petrichor / Theatre Royal Stratford East
PLAYS / MUSICALS / IDEA
Ensemble: Performance
Joanne Clifton, Dan Krikler, Harry Francis, Tanisha Mae-Brown, Tsemaye Bob-Egbe, Ryan Anderson / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle
Rachel Barnes, Laurie Jamieson, Nigel Taylor, Daniel Ward / The Canary and The Crow / Arcola
Stephanie Booth & Hannah Livingstone / We Were Having A Perfectly Nice Time / Omnibus Theatre
IDEA Performance
FK Alexander / I Could Go on Singing / Southbank Centre
Lucy McCormick / Post Popular / Soho Theatre, Johnson & Mackay & United Agents
Abraão Kimberley, Pedro Verissimo & 13 others / When It Breaks It Burns / Battersea Arts Centre
IDEA Production
I Could Go on Singing / Southbank Centre
The Lost Hours / Vault Festival
Sound Cistem / Plaster Cast Theatre / Vault Festival
MUSICALS
Musicals: Director
Bronagh Lagan / Rags / Park Theatre
Jonathan O’Boyle / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Musicals: Lead Performance
Frances Barber / Musik / Leicester Square Theatre
Carolyn Maitland / Rags / Park Theatre
Molly Lynch / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Oli Higginson / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Musicals: Musical Director
Michael Bradley / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle
Joe Bunker / Rags / Park Theatre
George Dyer / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Musicals: Production
LAMBCO Productions / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment / Rags / Park Theatre
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse
Musicals: Supporting Performance
Beaux Harris / Blitz! / Union Theatre
Rachel Izen / Rags / Park Theatre
Dave Willetts / Rags / Park Theatre
PLAYS
Plays: Director
Jim Pope / Can I Help You? / Omnibus Theatre
Lily McLeish / Scrounger / Finborough
Phoebe Barran / Tryst / Chiswick Playhouse
Evan Lordan / We Were Having A Perfectly Nice Time / Omnibus Theatre
Plays: Lead Performance
James Demaine / Nuclear War | Buried | Graceland / Old Red Lion
Sam Crane / The Rage of Narcissus / Pleasance
Jessica Rhodes / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre
Plays: New Play
Athena Stevens / Scrounger / Finborough
Sergio Blanco / The Rage of Narcissus / Pleasance
Sam Steiner / You Stupid Darkness! / Southwark Playhouse
Plays: Performance Piece
Lucy McCormick / Post Popular / Soho Theatre
Miguel Hernando Torres Umba / Stardust / Roundhouse
Daniel Ward / The Canary and The Crow / Arcola
Plays: Supporting Performance
Leigh Quinn / Scrounger / Finborough
Ali Barouti / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre
John Hollingworth / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre
The following categories are not going forward for 2021 awards as there were insufficient nominations due to theatre closures arising from Covid-19 lockdowns:
- Design: Costume
- Design: Video
- Choreography
- Company Ensemble
- Musicals: New Musical
- Opera
- Panto
- Plays: Most Promising New Playwright
- Plays: Production
- Theatre for Young People: Production (0-7)
- Theatre for Young People: Production (13+)
- Theatre for Young People: Production (8+)
For more information about Off West End and the Offies Awards please visit:
https://offwestend.com/
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