These awards are open to theatre shows – please see the details of each award for entry specifics and sub-genres.
The Filipa Bragança Award
Filipa was only 25 when she graduated from Drama Studio London and was cast as Samira in Henry Naylor’s Echoes, a two-hander where she played a radicalised British schoolgirl. The production was a critical and commercial hit, and subsequently toured the world for over a year, with her performances helping the show collect over 10 major international fringe awards. The following year, she returned to collaborate with Naylor on Angel, and was in the midst of a second world tour when she passed away. Her last appearances were at the Brisbane Festival and Melbourne Fringe. Filipa was renowned for her generosity of spirit, her dedication to compassionate politics and as a tireless campaigner for the environment, the homeless and refugees. As well as this, she was a vocal champion of women in the arts, and in her name the Filipa Bragança Award will endeavour to honour her legacy in the performing arts.
- The inaugural winner of The Filipa Bragança Award was Selina Thompson, in the production Salt at Summerhall (2017).
- The sophomore winner of The Filipa Bragança Award was Emma Dennis-Edwards, in the production Funeral Flowers at Pleasance (2018).
- The winner in 2019 was Ameera Conrad for LIV Studios' Tales from the Garden at Assembly.
- The winner in 2022 was Chloe-Ann Tylor in Svengali (Pleasance).
- The winner in 2023 was Eva O’Connor in Chicken (Summerhall).
For further information relating to the award, please contact [email protected].
Edinburgh Festival Fringe productions that are registered in the theatre genre and feature a solo performance by an emerging female, female-identifying or non-binary artist will be eligible for consideration for the award.
2023 shortlist
- Alexa Davies in Lady Dealer (Summerhall)
- Alexandra Donnachie in When We Died (Summerhall)
- Sophie Joans in Ile (Pleasance)
- Lula Mebrahtu in OommoO (Summerhall)
- Eva O’Connor in Chicken (Summerhall)
- An(dre)a Spisto in An(dre)a Spisto: El Dizzy Beast (Assembly)
2023 award winner
- Eva O’Connor in Chicken (Summerhall)
Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award
The Holden Street Theatres’ Edinburgh Fringe Award is an annual award program that invites a production to perform at the Holden Street Theatres in Adelaide, South Australia, as the headline show of its Adelaide Fringe program.
Holden Street is known as the ‘Home of Theatre’ in Adelaide, with a strong and loyal following of patrons and artists. We have a reputation for presenting fantastic theatrical work from around the corner and around the globe. We pride ourselves on not only looking after our artists, producers and patrons, but on presenting some of the best work at the Adelaide Fringe. Productions are shortlisted by HST’s Artistic Director Martha Lott, along with a panel of international producers, programmers and arts practitioners. With the team viewing hundreds of shows between them, the winning work is selected on artistic merit, production values, touring possibilities, venue compatibility and marketing viability. The winner is then presented at the final Scotsman Fringe First Award ceremony in the final week of the Edinburgh Fringe.
2023 shortlist
- Ben Target: Lorenzo (Summerhall)
- BLUE (Assembly)
- Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz (Summerhall)
- England and Son (Summerhall)
- Horizon Showcase: Birthmarked (Assembly)
- In Loyal Company (Pleasance)
- The Insider (ZOO)
- It's a Motherf**king Pleasure (Underbelly)
- Lady Dealer (Summerhall)
- A Mountain For Elodie (Gilded Balloon)
- A Portrait of Ludmilla as Nina Simone (French Institute)
- Public - The Musical (Pleasance)
- Shadow Boxing (Assembly)
2023 winner
- England and Son (Summerhall)
The LET Award
Designed with emerging artists in mind, the LET Award was set up by theatre company Les Enfants Terribles to provide both financial and professional support to new theatre companies looking to present their work at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Ten companies will be shortlisted to perform 10 minutes of their work at a London showcase in front of an expert panel and a live audience. After the judges have deliberated, the winner will be announced on the night, receiving mentorship, venue and financial support to take their show to Edinburgh Festival Fringe later that year.
2023 winner
- Scaredy Fat by SkelpieLimmer (Pleasance)
Find out more and apply
Musical Theatre Review's Pick of the Fringe
This award for excellence in musical theatre promotes the range of musical theatre in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme and celebrates the best of the genre. Eligible shows are presented by professional theatre companies or aspiring professional companies where a level of skill and craft is evident. The work must be considered a dramatic work using music and song to advance the plot, narrative or character. In accordance with encouraging excellence in the form, new works will be prioritised.
2023 award winners
- Too Big For Her Britches, theSpaceUK
- Benjamin Scheuer's A Mountain for Elodie, Gilded Balloon
- Never Trouble Trouble (Till Trouble Troubles You), Tynecastle Park
- Lena, Assembly
- Public: The Musical, Pleasance
Popcorn Writing Award
The Popcorn Writing Award champions brave and imaginative writing which playfully and artistically questions and addresses current affairs and societal trends and contributes positively to public debate.
Partnering venues include Assembly Festival, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance, Summerhall, Traverse Theatre, Underbelly.
2023 awards
Shortlist
- Lie Low
- The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria
- Public – The Musical
Winner
- Dugsi Dayz by Sabrina Ali
The Scotsman Fringe First Award
Designed to encourage performers to bring new work to Edinburgh in the spirit of adventure and experiment, the Scotsman Fringe First Awards celebrate the best new writing on the Fringe, as judged by the team of critics from Scotland’s national newspaper, the Scotsman.
The Scotsman Fringe First Awards are presented weekly throughout the Fringe.
2023 award winners
Week one:
- The Grand Old Opera House, Traverse
- A Funeral for my Friend who is Still Alive, theSpaceUK
- JM Coetzee’s Life and Times of Michael K, Assembly
- England & Son, Roundabout @ Summerhall
- Funeral, ZOO
- Heaven, Traverse
Week two:
- Blue, Assembly
- Choo Choo, Pleasance
- Club Life, Summerhall
- Everything Under the Sun, Army @ the Fringe
- Gunter, Summerhall
- The Last of the Soviets, Zoo
- Square Peg, Paradise Green
Week three:
- Beasts, Zoo
- LORENZO, Summerhall
- The Insider, Zoo
- Strategic Love Play, Summerhall
- What If They Ate The Baby?, theSpaceUK
The Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe
Each year, the Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe, supported by the Scottish Arts Club, award prizes for Scottish theatre productions and individuals appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Every Scottish theatre show appearing on the Fringe is reviewed – normally a list of over 100 productions.
The Leading Light prize is awarded to the best Scottish theatre production. Productions with a Scottish director, writer or cast, or a Scottish-based theatre company, are eligible.
Bright Spark prizes are awarded to Scottish actors or theatre-makers just embarking on their career.
The nominations for these awards are selected by a panel of judges drawn from the Scottish arts world. The prizes include cash and a certificate and the winners are presented at a formal awards ceremony held at the Scottish Arts Club.
2023 award winners
Leading Light Award (for the best Scottish production)
- Winner: Everything Under the Sun by Army at the Fringe Company (Army @ The Fringe)
- Runner up: Concerned Others by Tortoise in a Nutshell (Summerhall)
Bright Spark Award (for emerging Scottish talent)
- Winner: The cast of The Grandfathers by Reconnect Regal Theatre (Hill Street Theatre)
The Sit-Up Awards
In 2023 we are making up to two awards of £5,000 each to help theatre productions achieve audience and social impact.
These will be given in advance of the start of the Fringe to help the company engage with audiences and also achieve wider societal impact with their production.
Applications to be received by 30 June. For more information and application form vist situpawards.com.
The SIT-UP Award was first launched in 2018 and is an initiative of the charity Changing Ideas.
2023 shortlist
- Tending (Greenside) by El Blackwood Productions, for looking at the NHS crisis.
- Bitter Lemons (Pleasance) by RJG Productions, Bristol Old Vic and Pleasance, for looking at abortion rights
- Woodhill (Summerhall) by LUNG in Association with North Wall, for looking at suicides in prison.
- MANikin (Leith Arches) by Saltire Sky Theatre, for looking at obesity and body image.
- Chatham House Rules (Pleasance) by Louis Rembges, for looking at political activism.
- waiting for a train at the bus stop (Summerhall) by Mwansa Phiri, for looking at domestic abuse.
2023 award winner
- Woodhill (Summerhall) by LUNG in Association with North Wall, for looking at suicides in prison.