News

The New-York based fund was designed to encourage new writing and live performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

We're delighted to announce the winners of the Carol Tambor Incentive Award, chosen by the Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation, based in New York. 

The £10,000 ($13,000 US) fund was divided between a number of shows selected by the Foundation, which were registered in the theatre category for live, in-person performance at the Fringe in 2022. To be eligible for the annual fund, the work needed to be new, not previously performed at the Fringe or in New York, and featured a cast of at least two performers. Children’s work and monologues were not eligible.

The winners are as follows: 

Burn – Ottawa Little Theatre
“Three longtime friends have had little contact since the death of the fourth member of their close-knit group, a best-selling horror writer. Now his estranged daughter has brought them all together again – but why?”

Ghosts of the Near Future – emma + pj
“In Vegas, a magician performs a final disappearing act. The end of the world is a magic trick – are you watching closely? Ghosts of the Near Future is a cowboy-noir fever dream about extinction.”

Hotel Elsinore – PLANT[UNLTD] / Susanna Hamnett
“Denmark. 2am. A hotel room. Three weary travellers, an unexpected will and a production of Hamlet to rehearse before morning. Tragedy and humour blend in this new play about the challenges of family, forgiveness and Shakespeare.” 

Lighthouse – Early Doors Productions
“Off the coast of Angus in the North Sea is Caillte Lighthouse. Set just after WWI, the story follows two keepers and their training of a third before strange things start to occur that question their loyalty, honour, friendship and ultimately – their existence.”

Sandcastles – Brite Theater
“Sandcastles by Steve McMahon moves back and forth in time and memory to depict the tumultuous lifelong friendship of millennials Hannah and Beth. Beth is moving to New York. Hannah should be happy for her. When Beth goes missing Hannah can't reconcile how she reacted with the fact that Beth might be gone.”

Swell – Tom Foreman Productions
“In 2014, residents of Fairbourne were watching their local news when they found out they were to be Britain's first climate refugees, with their town set to be decommissioned and depopulated by 2054. Housing prices dropped over night, insurance disappeared and life savings were lost in the chaos.” 

The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much – Voloz Collective
“Wes Anderson meets Hitchcock meets spaghetti western in this multi award-winning, intercontinental, inter-genre, cinematic caper of accusations, accidents and accents.”

The Mistake – Michael Mears' Essential Theatre
“1942. On an abandoned squash court, a dazzling scientific experiment takes place that three years later will destroy a city and change the world forever... Told through the lives of a brilliant Hungarian scientist, a daring American pilot and a devoted Japanese daughter."

The Poetical Life of Philomena McGuinness – Moon Rabbit
“It’s 1939 and Philomena McGuinness, a reluctant nurse, is on her way from Dublin to London. Newly recruited for the British war effort, she finds herself facing the challenge of a lifetime.” 

Ultimatum – Treehouse
“Two strangers have one hour to split £1m. Sounds easy, but what happens when one of them refuses to play fair? What is fair? Who deserves money? Why?”

Carol Tambor said: “I had greatly anticipated coming back to Fringe 2022 after two impossibly long years away. As ever, I wanted to see well-developed work, suitable for transfer to New York and elsewhere. Because the two-year hiatus was so dispiriting, I wanted to provide an extra incentive for companies to present their plays, postponed and postponed again. All these works promise to be the excellent, polished pieces I'd want to see. I hope the Incentive Awards provided the extra funds to make them even better. Break a leg!”

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 Carol Tambor Incentive Award, which champions live performance and supports new theatre at the Fringe. After the ups and downs of the last two years, generous funds such as this are vital in supporting artists both financially and creatively. We are massively grateful for the generosity of The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation in recognising these artists and supporting them in taking new work to Edinburgh’s stages this August.”

Thumbnail photo credit: David Monteith-Hodge.