These awards are open to theatre shows – please see the details of each award for entry specifics and sub-genres.
The Carol Tambor Award
The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award considers all productions given four or five stars by the Scotsman newspaper's team of critics. The only other criterion that must be met is that productions must be new to New York. The winning company or performer is offered $25,000 for a transfer to New York. Carol will advise which NY theatres will be best for the show, with the final decision left to the company. $1,000 will be given to each shortlisted company for the excellence of their work.
For more information visit bestofedinburgh.org.
2022 award winners
- Burn, Ottawa Little Theatre (theSpace @ Niddry St)
- Ghosts of the Near Future, emma + pj (Summerhall)
- Hotel Elsinore, PLANT[UNLTD] / Susanna Hamnett (theSpace on the Mile)
- LIGHTHOUSE, Early Doors Productions (Greenside @ Infirmary Street)
- Sandcastles, Brite Theater (Assembly Rooms)
- Swell, Tom Foreman Productions (Underbelly, Cowgate)
- The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much, Voloz Collective (Pleasance Dome)
- The Mistake, Michael Mears' Essential Theatre (theSpace on North Bridge)
- The Poetical Life of Philomena McGuinness, Moon Rabbit (Greenside @ Infirmary Street)
- Ultimatum, Treehouse (Pleasance Courtyard)
David Johnson Emerging Talent Award
The David Johnson Emerging Talent Award aims to celebrate the life of maverick producer David Johnson and to create a legacy in his memory.
A cash award of up to £11,000 will be presented to the show / performer / creative independent annually, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, that best reflects David’s discerning eye for new and emerging talent. David’s flair for commercial theatre was matched by and often combined with his fervent support for new and emerging artists. The award will be made in that spirit.
How it works
A team of scouts chaired by Helen Hawkins (arts and culture journalist) will recommend potential recipients during the first three weeks of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A winner will be selected during the last week of the festival and inaugural DJ ETA presentation will take place on Sunday 28 August at 18:00 during a mixed-bill Fringe show in the Gordon Aikman Theatre in George Square.
Eligibility
A show / performer / creative independent performing at least 10 performances in Edinburgh in August on edfringe.com or on the Free Fringe.
2022 award winners
- An Audience with Milly Liu, François Pandolfo (Pleasance Courtyard)
- Eve: All About Her, Keith Ramsay (Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose)
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.
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.
2022 award winner
- Chloe-Ann Tylor, Svengali (Pleasance Courtyard)
FringeReview Award
Each year we give up to three FringeReview Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2019 we were also delighted to announce the FringeReview Rialto Theatre Award which includes space at the Rialto and support for a chosen show to perform at Brighton Fringe 2020.
We also give out impromptu awards in other parts of the world.
But we don’t give them out lightly.
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.
2022 award winner
- Bloody Elle – A Gig Musical (Traverse Theatre)
The Infallibles
The Infallible Awards are the brainchild of Stefania Bochicchio, UK co-director of the International Theatre Institute, part of UNESCO and the world's largest performing arts organisation.
Now in its seventh edition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, its jury is composed of performing Arts practitioners, academica and journalists.
The Jury is honoured to announce the 2022 edition winners:
Best Play
JEKYLL AND HYDE, a One Woman show
By John David Henshaw for SWEET Production
Special recommendation: Heather-Rose Andrews for her dual portrait of the main character
Best National Presence
Danish Showcase @EdFringe 2022
Novel, Unexpected voices and works
Best gig Theatre show
Oedipus Electronica
By Pecho Mama Productions
This show managed to maintain the very high bar set by the Company's preceding production, Medea Electronica
The LET Award
Designed with emerging artists in mind, the LET Award from theatre company Les Enfants Terribles exists to provide both financial and professional support to new theatre companies looking to present their work at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Les Enfants Terribles will shortlist 10 companies to perform in a showcase at the Greenwich Theatre, London, on Wednesday 26 January 2022 in front of an expert panel and a live audience. After the judges have deliberated, the winner of the first and second prizes will be announced on the night.
Find out more and apply
Musical Theatre Review Best Musical Award
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.
2022 award winners
- Best Musical
Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder, Francesca Moody Productions (Roundabout @ Summerhall)
- Special Award
Goya Theatre Company
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.
2022 award winners
Week one:
- Breathless, written by Laura Horton (Pleasance Courtyard)
- And Then the Rodeo Burned Down, written by Chloe Rice and Natasha Roland (TheSpace @Niddry Street)
- The Beatles Were a Boyband, written by Rachel O’Regan (Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose)
- Happy Meal, written by Tabby Lamb (Traverse Theatre)
- Masterclass, written by Feidlim Cannon, Gary Keegan & Adrienne Truscott (Pleasance Dome)
- The Last Return, written by Sonya Kelly (Traverse Theatre)
Week two:
- Ode To Joy, written by James Ley (Summerhall)
- You're Safe Til 2024: Deep History, written by David Finnigan (Pleasance Courtyard)
- Brown Boys Swim, written by Karim Khan (Pleasance Dome)
- Manic Street Creature, written by Maimuna Memon (Summerhall)
- Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel, written by Tim Crouch, (Royal Lyceum Theatre Studio)
- Aberdeen, written by Cassie Workman (Just the Tonic at the Nucleus)
Week three:
- Age is a Feeling, written by Haley McGee, (Summerhall)
- This is Not a Show About Hong Kong, written by Max Percy, (Underbelly, Cowgate)
- This Is Memorial Device, adapted by Graham Eatough from the novel by David Keenan (Wee Red Bar)
- Silkworm, written by Vlad Butucea, (Assembly Roxy)
- Feeling Afraid as If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen, written by Marcelo Dos Santos (Summerhall)
The Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe
Each year, the Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe, supported by the Scottish Arts Club, award two prizes recognising the best in Scottish theatre.
The main prize is awarded to the best Scottish theatre production appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Productions with a Scottish director, writer or cast, or a Scottish-based theatre company, are eligible. Bright Spark Awards are awarded to young actors or theatre-makers just embarking on their career.
The nominations for these awards are selected by a panel of eight 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.
2022 award winners
Best Scottish theatre production
- Bits ‘N’ Pieces, Saltire Sky Theatre (Leith Arches)
Runners up for Best Scottish theatre production:
- About Money, 65% Theatre (Summerhall)
- The Chosen Haram, Sadiq Ali (Summerhall)
Bright Spark Award
- Rhys Anderson Beg For Me, Rosa Maria Alexander (Underbelly)
The SIT-UP Awards
£5,000 prize for a production that achieves audience impact.
The SIT-UP Award was first launched in 2018 and is an initiative of the charity Changing Ideas.
It is given to a theatre production that affects change in audience perceptions, understanding and empathy for a social issue. We also take into account engagement with audiences by the production.
The winner is announced at the end of the third week of the Fringe and the winner receives £5,000, of which £1,000 is cash – to use as they like – and £4,000 of support to extend the social impact of the piece after Edinburgh and widen its audience reach. The support is tailored to suit the company and issue.
For more information and application form vist situpawards.com.
2022 award winner
- The Beatles Were a Boyband, F-Bomb Theatre (Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose)
The Stage Edinburgh Awards
The Stage Edinburgh Awards ran for the 23rd year at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The awards are designed to recognise outstanding performances on the Fringe, whether solo or as part of a company. Ensembles are also eligible. Previous winners include Jade Anouka for Chef (2014), Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Fleabag (2013) and Daniel Kitson for C-90 (2006).
Since 2014, they’ve been awarded on a rolling basis. The judging panel is headed by Natasha Tripney and The Stage makes announcements every Monday throughout the Fringe.
For the latest information about The Stage Edinburgh Awards visit thestage.co.uk.
Total Theatre Awards
Developed for the benefit of artists, the sector and audiences, the Total Theatre Awards have, over the last two decades, blazed a trail of recognition for independent artists and companies creating innovative, artist-led theatre and performance.
Resisting too narrow a definition of the term ‘total theatre’, the awards focus on artists and companies leading innovative work beyond the classical canon and new writing – working within the fields of devised theatre, live art, visual performance, mime, puppetry, physical theatre, experimental theatre, dance, clown, circus, street, immersive, outdoor, site-specific performance and more.