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.

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)

 

PEOPLE’S VOTE – 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

LGBTQIA
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
Euan Wilson, Chioma Uma, Alice E Mayer, Harry Curley, Tom Crabtree, Christopher Atkinson / 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

To find out more about this year’s awards, visit here…

To read former director of The Offies, Geoffrey Brown’s announcement of departure, visit here…