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 14th 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.