Geoffrey Brown is standing down at 30 June 2024, after 7 years as Director of OffWestEnd and the Offies.  His successor will be announced at the 14^th Offies Awards Ceremony on 25 February.

In Geoffrey’s 7 years, OffWestEnd and the Offies have grown and developed significantly:

• New Offies categories have been added: Solo & Duo Performances, Cabaret, Pantomime and Video Design – in addition, some categories have been expanded – for TYA (theatre for young audiences) and for IDEA (Immersive / Devised / Experimental / Atypical)
• An “Access” category has been introduced for productions breaking down barriers and also one for “Community Outreach Youth” work.  In addition, the Offies were the first major theatre or film awards to scrap the gender split in key performance categories in 2020.
• In response to Covid, 8 new categories were introduced for online productions, and 2 of these continue today.
• The Offies now send 2 assessors to over 400 shows per annum.
• The OffComm (Offies Commendation) was introduced to recognise the best of the many productions with short runs.  The OffFest award was introduced for theatre performances at festivals, and we now have the participation of fringe festivals in Brighton, Camden, Manchester and Edinburgh.  Finally we also now offer the occasional OneOff award to recognise special achievements.

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In a matter of days, the BAFTA Awards will descend on one of the UK’s most prestigious arts venues – the Royal Albert Hall. The annual celebration an acknowledgment of Britain’s finest filmmakers and their undeniable storytelling skillset at both a televisual and filmic level. With a total of 25 categories in all, the nation’s emerging, as well as high profile stars will don the red carpet in anticipation of the evening’s results, and overall, in appreciation of art and how art is expressed. Having honed his craft as an animator at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) on the Directing Animation MA course, Ross Stringer’s coastal themed film Crab Day is one of this year’s ‘British Short Animation’ finalists awaiting Sunday’s result. An exploration of self acceptance, nurturing our differences and going against the status quo, the film follows a fishing community’s annual ritual, whereby a young boy must kill his first crab in order to become a man and gain his father’s approval. Ahead of the award ceremony on Sunday 18th February, Ross tells us more about what it means to make it as a finalist, exploring the film’s themes further and the creative process.

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Pearl Jam will release their twelfth studio album, Dark Matter, on Monkeywrench Records/Republic Records on April 19, 2024. The album’s title track is available now HERE. Produced by GRAMMY® award winning producer Andrew Watt, Dark Matter, marks the band’s first release since critically-acclaimed Gigaton (2020).

Dark Matter is now available for pre-order HERE.

In 2023, the members of Pearl Jam—Eddie Vedder [vocals], Jeff Ament [bass], Stone Gossard [rhythm guitar], Mike McCready [lead guitar], and Matt Cameron [drums]—retreated to Shangri-La Studios in Malibu where they simply plugged in and played under the careful watch of producer Andrew Watt.

The musicians faced one another in the same space and communicated sonically at the highest level. Writing and recording in a burst of inspiration, Dark Matter was born in just three weeks.

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In line with the general election set to take place later this year AEG Presents, Goalhanger and WME are thrilled to announce that the iconic podcast series The Rest Is Politics is returning to the live stage with their biggest live tour to date – The Election Tour. Kicking off in Brighton on Sunday 6th October, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart will then embark on a further 6 shows in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff before closing at London’s iconic The O2 on Tuesday 15th October. The London show is set to be extra special, with the show being hosted ‘in the round’ at the venue – bringing audience members even closer to the political action. This is a first for The O2 hosting a live podcast as well as the first time Alastair and Rory will have taken to The O2 stage

Presale tickets are available from Wednesday 14th February at 8am with individual venue presales taking place on Thursday 15th February at 10am. General on sale begins on Friday 16th February at 10am with tickets available from www.aegp.uk/TheRestIsPolitics.

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Today, Trippie Redd the multi-platinum-selling, Billboard chart-topping artist announces his highly anticipated 2024 tour dates across the UK and Europe this summer. The tour kicks off on Friday, June 28 at 02 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester with stops across the continent in London, Tilburg, and Paris before wrapping up on Wednesday, July 10 in Milan. General on-sale tickets will be available on Friday 16th February at 10 AM local time at LiveNation.co.uk.

Renowned for being one of the most versatile and creatively daring recording artists around, Trippie Redd’s music blends wild experimentation with a broad audience appeal. A self-professed workaholic who’s now debuted five consecutive projects in the top 5 of the Billboard 200 charts — Trippie got his start as a teenager “living in a basement with roaches recording music,” as he tells it. Born Michael Lamar White IV and raised in Canton, Ohio, he grew up on hip-hop icons like Tupac Shakur, Nas, and Jay-Z, but later became fascinated with the shock-rock of Slipknot, Rob Zombie, and fellow Canton native Marilyn Manson.

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In a matter of days, the BAFTA Awards will descend on one of the UK’s most prestigious arts venues – the Royal Albert Hall. The annual celebration an acknowledgment of Britain’s finest filmmakers and their undeniable storytelling skillset at both a televisual and filmic level. With a total of 25 categories in all, the nation’s emerging, as well as high profile stars will don the red carpet in anticipation of the evening’s results, and overall, in appreciation of art and how art is expressed. Multi-award winning writer and director Yasmin Afifi is one of this year’s finalists, having been acknowledged for her profound watch Jellyfish and Lobster – a tale of grief told from the eyes of two terminally ill patients faced with this existential reality. Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday 18th February, Yasmin tells us more about exploring this heartfelt narrative further, working alongside a devoted creative team to realise the film and what she’d like for viewers to take away from the film.

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International singer-songwriter/rapper, The Kid Laroi, has announced The First Time tour in Europe and the UK, supporting his latest album, The First Time (Columbia). The 12-date headline stretch, produced by Live Nation, kicks off on Thursday 4 April at Stockholm’s Annexet, before heading to Norway, Denmark, Poland, Netherlands, Ireland, UK, Germany, France, before closing the tour in Italy at Fabrique on Saturday 27 April 2024.

Of the tour announcement LAROI said; “I can’t wait to play Europe & the UK in April! I’m so excited to bring the tour to my EU/UK fans. I promise it’ll be worth the wait! I love you all and I’ll see you very soon.”

Tickets are now on sale.

The First Time Tour Dates:

Thurs 04 April 2024 Sweden Stockholm Annexet
Fri 05 April 2024 Norway Oslo Sentrum Scene
Sun 07 April 2024 Denmark Copenhagen Forum

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Triple BAFTA winning stand up sensation Mo Gilligan announces a huge 2025 UK leg of his highly anticipated World Tour In the Moment due to phenomenal demand. Following on from his 2024 UK leg Mo will head back out on the road starting March 13th, 2025 in Croydon, before closing out the tour April 13th, 2025 in Glasgow.

In The Moment will be Mo’s biggest tour to date, bringing his phenomenal stand up show across the globe, taking on the US, Canada, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, throughout Europe with additional names recently announced at Just for Laughs Vancouver and Netflix is a Joke Festival in Los Angeles in May 2024.

Tickets are on sale now!

IN THIS MOMENT WORLD TOUR (2024 UK DATES)
September
Thu 5th                        Leeds, Grand Theatre
Thu 12th                      Oxford, The New Theatre
Fri 20th                        Cambridge, Corn Exchange

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At a ceremony tonight at The London Palladium hosted by Bonnie Langford and Melanie La Barrie, the winners of the 24^th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards were announced – the only major theatre awards decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves.

WhatsOnStage’s Darius Thompson and Alex Wood said today, “What a year for UK theatre this has been. Looking at the winners, voted for by WhatsOnStage readers, it is striking just how audiences are keen to lend their support to bold, experimental takes on classic tales – from solo versions of Chekhov to immersive takes on classic musicals, or radical re-imaginings of Andrew Lloyd Webber shows. Long may this continue – theatre would not be able to thrive without challenging and forward-thinking creativity.

“We’ve had a complete blast at The London Palladium – and the team at LW Theatres have been incredible in accommodating everything we’ve thrown at them, including the installation of an auditorium ramp in order to facilitate step-free access to the stage.”

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