THE Scotsman’s awards ceremony is on Friday morning. Catch performances from some of the most talked-about shows at the Fringe, and find out who’s won the big prizes before anyone else – all for FREE, writes Andrew Eaton-Lewis
TODAY we are delighted to announce the line-up for this Friday’s Scotsman Fringe Awards. Dirty Great Love Story, Vocal Is Lekka, Juana In A Million and Othello: The Remix will be joining us at Assembly George Square this Friday morning, 10:45am, to help celebrate outstanding creative achievement at this year’s festival.
This year’s Scotsman Fringe Awards will feature special live performances from the shows Othello: the Remix (at the Pleasance Courtyard), Dirty Great Love Story (at the Pleasance Dome), Juana in a Million (at the Pleasance Dome) and Vocal is Lekka (at Assembly George Square).
As previously announced, our guest presenter is Miriam Margolyes, currently appearing in Dickens’ Women at the Pleasance Courtyard.
The winners of the following awards will be announced during the show:
THE SCOTSMAN FRINGE FIRSTS
Celebrating their 40th anniversary next year, our Fringe First awards recognise outstanding new writing premiered at the Fringe. We’ll be announcing our final week’s winners on Friday.
THE CAROL TAMBOR BEST OF EDINBURGH AWARD
Every year Carol, a long-time Fringe enthusiast, puts up the money for one Fringe show to be performed in New York, including travel, accommodation and marketing support. For further information visit: www.caroltambor.com/award.
THE HOLDEN STREET THEATRES AWARD
All the way from Australia, this annual award supports one Fringe company each year to take their show to the Adelaide Fringe. www.holdenstreettheatres.com.
THE BRIGHTON FRINGE EMERGING TALENT AWARD
This relatively new award supports one winning company to take its show to next year’s Brighton Fringe. www.brightonfringe.org
THE ARCHES BRICK AWARD
The Glasgow venue is well known for championing and nurturing emerging artists, and the winners of this award will get the chance to restage their show as part of the Arches’ 2013 theatre programme. www.thearches.co.uk
THE JACK TINKER SPIRIT OF THE FRINGE AWARD
Named after the late, much-loved Daily Mail theatre critic, this award, organised each year by Assembly, recognises a show, venue or person who embodies the “spirit of the Fringe”.
• If you’d like to come to the Scotsman Fringe Awards, just cut out the form in today’s Scotsman festival supplement and take it along to the box office at Assembly George Square or Assembly Hall to claim your free tickets.
FRIDAY’S SCOTSMAN FRINGE AWARDS LINE-UP
DIRTY GREAT LOVE STORY
A FRINGE First winner last week, Richard Marsh and Katie Bonna’s simple but sophisticated love story is a masterclass in observational comedy, following their characters as they have a drunken one-night stand, drift apart, meet other people, and finally get together. Catch the show at the Pleasance Dome until Monday - and a short extract on Friday.
VOCAL IS LEKKA
ASSEMBLY’s season of South African theatre, music and comedy has been one of the notable artistic achievements of this year’s Fringe, with the outstanding Mies Julie, in particular, winning rave reviews (and, last week, a Scotsman Fringe First award). One of the stars of that show, Bongile Mantsai, on the left above, is also appearing in a very different guise in Vocal is Lekka, a joyful show of South African harmony singing at Assembly George Square. We’re very pleased to have Mantsai and the rest of the group singing for us on Friday morning.
JUANA IN A MILLION
THIS powerful show at the Pleasance Dome won a Fringe First award two weeks ago. Vicky Araico Casas plays Juana, a young girl growing up in Mexico hoping for a better life in the UK – London, though, tears her dreams and dignity to shreds. If you haven’t seen the show yet, we recommend that you get yourself to the Pleasance Dome before Sunday to catch it – meanwhile, you can get a preview on Friday morning, as Araico Casas performs an extract for our awards show.
OTHELLO: THE REMIX
FIRST seen at the Globe to Globe festival earlier this year, and now at the Pleasance Courtyard, this radical reinvention of Shakespeare’s play is one of the smartest, funniest, and most fast-moving shows at the Fringe. Giving the Bard a hip-hop twist may not be a new idea, but these four Chicago rappers do it with a wit and dexterity that is frequently breathtaking – and are packing audiences in as a result. We’re thrilled to have them opening our show on Friday – and hear rumours that they’re working on a new piece for the occasion...