The winners of the Off-West End Awards, also known as the Offies, have been revealed by OffWestEnd, with the Best New Play prize being awarded to two plays jointly to recognise the challenging year theatre has faced due to the global pandemic.
Athena Stevens’ Scrounger and Sergia Blanco’s The Rage of Narcissus shared the top prize, while the former picked up two other awards to make it the biggest winner of the night.
The Last Five Years was awarded with both Best Director of a Musical and Musical Production. The Canary and the Crow also picked up two awards – for Best Performance Piece and Performance Ensemble.
Geoffrey Brown, Director of OffWestEnd, presented the event which also encompass the OffFest, OnComm and OneOff Awards – paying a special tribute to the various online projects created over the past year.
Several iconic faces in the industry made a virtual appearance to send messages of support after what has proved to be a challenging year for the industry. Brian Blessed, Sharon D. Clarke, and Judi Dench all made an appearance, as did Sonia Friedman, Stephen Fry, Sadiq Khan and Michelle Terry.
Winners for the OnComm Awards include Complicité’s The Encounter, The Poltergeist at Southwark Playhouse, Rose starring Maureen Lipman and The House Of Bernarda Alba by Graeae and the Royal Exchange.
Also winning OnComm Awards are Lawrence Batley Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre and The Barn Theatre’s What A Carve Up! and Tim Crouch’s I, Cinna.
Full List of Winners:
Design Categories – Lighting:
Malcolm Rippeth / Afterplay / Coronet Theatre.
Tom White / Macbeth / Wiltons Music Hall.
Jamie Platt / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Set:
Lucy Osborne / Afterplay / Coronet Theatre
Casey Jay Andrews / Lockdown Town.
Patrick Connellan / The Incident Room / New Diorama with Greenwich Theatre.
Sound:
Max Pappenheim / Sunnymead Court / Tristan Bates Theatre.
Yaiza Varona / The Incident Room / New Diorama with Greenwich Theatre.
Neil Bettles / Petrichor / Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Plays / Musicals / Idea Categories – Ensemble: Performance:
Joanne Clifton, Dan Krikler, Harry Francis, Tanisha Mae-Brown, Tsemaye Bob-Egbe, Ryan Anderson / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle.
Rachel Barnes, Laurie Jamieson, Nigel Taylor, Daniel Ward / The Canary and The Crow / Arcola Theatre.
Stephanie Booth & Hannah Livingstone / We Were Having A Perfectly Nice Time / Omnibus Theatre.
IDEA Performance:
FK Alexander / I Could Go on Singing / Southbank Centre.
Lucy McCormick / Post Popular / Soho Theatre, Johnson & Mackay & United Agents.
Abraão Kimberley, Pedro Verissimo & 13 others / When It Breaks It Burns / Battersea Arts Centre.
IDEA Production:
I Could Go on Singing / Southbank Centre.
The Lost Hours / Vault Festival.
Sound Cistem / Plaster Cast Theatre & Vault Festival.
Musicals: Director:
Bronagh Lagan / Rags / Park Theatre.
Jonathan O’Boyle / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Musicals: Lead Performance:
Frances Barber / Musik / Leicester Square Theatre.
Carolyn Maitland / Rags / Park Theatre.
Molly Lynch / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Oli Higginson / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Musicals: Musical Director
Michael Bradley / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle.
Joe Bunker / Rags / Park Theatre.
George Dyer / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Musicals: Production:
LAMBCO Productions / Pippin / Garden Theatre at the Eagle.
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment / Rags / Park Theatre.
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment / The Last 5 Years / Southwark Playhouse.
Musicals: Supporting Performance:
Beaux Harris / Blitz! / Union Theatre.
Rachel Izen / Rags / Park Theatre.
Dave Willetts / Rags / Park Theatre.
Plays: Director:
Jim Pope / Can I Help You? / Omnibus Theatre.
Lily McLeish / Scrounger / Finborough.
Phoebe Barran / Tryst / Chiswick Playhouse.
Evan Lordan / We Were Having A Perfectly Nice Time / Omnibus Theatre.
Plays: Lead Performance:
James Demaine / Nuclear War | Buried | Graceland / Old Red Lion.
Sam Crane / The Rage of Narcissus / Pleasance.
Jessica Rhodes / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre.
Plays: New Play:
Athena Stevens / Scrounger / Finborough.
Sergio Blanco / The Rage of Narcissus / Pleasance.
Sam Steiner / You Stupid Darkness! / Southwark Playhouse.
Plays: Performance Piece:
Lucy McCormick / Post Popular / Soho Theatre.
Miguel Hernando Torres Umba / Stardust / Roundhouse.
Daniel Ward / The Canary and The Crow / Arcola Theatre.
Plays: Supporting Performance:
Leigh Quinn / Scrounger / Finborough.
Ali Barouti / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre.
John Hollingworth / The Sugar Syndrome / Orange Tree Theatre.
Words by Katie Heyes.
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Image: OffWestEnd