Celebrating its 20th birthday as a company which started out by creating a centralised hub where people could more easily locate smaller London shows, OffWestEnd comes into its 16th year of awards to recognise the talent found in less prestigious venues. In the programme’s welcome notes, Managing Director Denholm Spurr states clearly, ‘Independent theatre has never had a talent problem. It has an infrastructure problem’. And these awards are a remedy for that.
This is the first time the awards take place in the grandeur of Central Hall Westminster, and the first time it’s been live broadcast. Some of the changes to this year’s awards include the omission of speeches so that there is more time to recognise all the winners. The vast number of nominees is in part due to the streamlining of categories, as they have gone from 60 to 8. In some categories where there is a higher volume of nominees, there is a separation of winners between those from specialist categories (Theatre for Young Audiences, Opera, Panto, Idea, Cabaret and Performance Piece) before the Play winners are announced. However, Musical Theatre is now a protected specialism. A final change is that the minimum run length of a show has been reduced to three performances for eligibility.
Host Divina De Campo opens the ceremony with a theatrical number before Justine Simmons, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, announces the winners for the Industry and Inclusion awards. By way of explaining the awards’ purpose, she talks of the simultaneous grit and glitter that make theatre so necessary and how talent is everywhere but not necessarily opportunity. The winners are: Futures Theatre for Argos Archives; Liam Holmes for Mr Jones; Georgia Brenchley, Louis Edwards, Alex Marshall and Giada Rocca for Peter Pan: A Pantomime Adventure; Joanna Turner, Baseless Fabric for The Elixir of Love (Re – imagined); Alexandra O’Neill for Too Many Books; and Oily Cart for When the World Turns.
After a performance from Offie-nominated Skedaddle theatre, who bring us a comedic mime/dance of their show A Brief Case of Crazy, the sound awards are announced by singer and actor Ilan Evans. The specialist winners are: Ashton Moore and The Band for Cry-Baby The Musical; Jonathan Darbourne and HGO Orchestra for La Cenerentola; Esteile Charlier and Martin Kaspar Orkestar for La Manekine; Leo Geyer for The Elixir of Love (Re-Imagined); Gerel Falconer and 3D Williams for Tones – A Hip Hop Opera. The play winners are: Max Pappenheim, Tendai Humphrey Sitima and Max Runham for Brixton Calling; ABH Beatbox for Dracapella; and John Patrick Elliot and Giles Thomas for KENREX.
Announcing the staging awards is Offie winner Gerel Falconer and actor Nikesh Patel. The winners are: Rowan Armitt-Brewster for A Brief Case of Crazy; Jamie Hals, Marcella Rick and Clair Beerjeraz for Transpose Pil Party: SUBVERSE; Ashley Pearson for L’incoronazione di’Poppea; and Tim Supple for The Passenger.
Ilan Evans, who has just announced the sound and music category, gives us a beautiful performance of Nature Boy by Nat King Cole before the performance awards are announced. The specialist winners are: Rochelle Rose for Black Power Desk; Ben J Packer for Dick Whittington Pantomime; Theano Papadaki for L’incoronazione di Poppea; and Anthony Spargo and Louise Cielecki for Peter Pan: A Pantomime Adventure. The play winners are: The Cast of After Sunday; Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates for Ben and Imo; Paul Keating for Clive; Rachael Bellis for The Sea Horse; and Julia McDermott for Weather Girl.
The OffFEST Award is announced by critics Tom Wicker and Matt Wolf. The winners are: The Conor Baum Company for Electra; Berserk Theatre for Spin Cycle; Extraterrestrial, Em Tambree and Kyra Ryan for ALTAR; Francesca Moody Productions for Ohio; Sharper/Caper for Small Town Boys; and Iogica picnic for Naran Ja.
Offie winner from that very night, Francesca Moody, presents the Innovation awards. The winners are: Khadija Raza, Malakaï Sargeant and Will Monks for …blackbird hour and Oil Savage for The Lost Library of Leake Street.
We then have a performance from Offie winner from that evening, Gerel Falconer, from his winning piece Tones, before the Design awards are presented by actors Georgie Henley and Victoria Yeates. The specialist winners are: David Shields for Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story; Isabella Van Braeckel for Die Rheinnixen; The Design Creative Team of Not A Word; Oliver Hymans and Dan Southwell for Overheard in a Towerblock; and Anisha Fields, Jonathan Chan and Maia Kirkman-Richards for The Firework Maker’s Daughter.
The play winners are: Derek Anderson for Brixton Calling; Mydd Pharo and Cheng Keng for Loop; Katie Scott and Eve Oakley for Period Parrrty; Mona Camille for The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn; and Kari Swinyard and Kate Bannister for The Mystery of Irma Vep – a Penny Dreadful.
Original founder of Off West End Sofie Mason presents the Creation awards. The winners are: Diane Samuels and Titania Krimpas for As Long As We Are Breathing; David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger for Cry-Baby The Musical; Jack Holden and Ed Stambollouian for KENREX; Megan Prescott for Really Good Exposure; Katsiaryna Snytsina for Small Forward; and Philip Ridley for Tarantula.
An incredible one-man band performance from Offie Winner that night, Martin Kaspar Orkestar precedes the final award of production. The specialist winners are: St Paul’s Opera for L’elisir d’amore; Stratford East for Mama Goos; Flo & Joan And Avalon for One Man Musical; Little Angel Theatre and Polka Theatre for The Paper Dolls; and Oily Cart for When the World Turns. The play winners are: Kick It Anywhere for Brixton Calling; Hampstead Theatre for Letters From Max; Gate Theatre for Scenes from the Climate Era; and Jack Studio Theatre for The Mystery of Irma Vep – a Penny Dreadful.
Closing the night is a musical performance of Never Getting Rid Of Me from Redcliffe, which will premiere in Southwark Playhouse this May.
