The Etties are very much a bit of fun to celebrate those smaller shows and venues that all too often will get overlooked in the bigger awards. We’ve put together our shortlists with the help of our team of reviewers and much like all awards, it’s very subjective!
Our award for Best Drama is absolutely an award for the real grassroots of London’s theatre scene. Here we’ve defined a fringe venue even more strictly than normal, so this is only eligible for venues of 100 seats or less. Whilst we love all our OffWestEnd venues equally, let’s be honest, those larger ones (we’re looking at you Arcola, Riverside Studios etc) are well catered for. So here when we say fringe we really mean FRINGE!
And with that in mind, our shortlisted shows for Best Drama in a Fringe Venue are:
Cold, Dark Matters @ The Hope Theatre
We are very aware that at times we have a very London-centric look on the world, so it’s always refreshing to be reminded there is life outside of the M25! As we said about this play “having lived in the West Country, I can testify to the somewhat strange occurrences that occasionally befall “emits”: the West Country word for ants, often used as slang for tourists. Jack Brownridge Kelly cleverly draws us into the naïve world of Colin, a writer who has recently moved to the area.“
Strings @ Lion and Unicorn Theatre
Good theatre should make us feel strong emotions, something this one did well for our reviewer, who called it “detailed, intimate, heartbreaking and disarmingly real, Strings is a must-see play with an abundance of heart which will have you pondering over the love you feel for those in your life.“
The Comfort Woman @ Rosemary Branch
Fringe theatre is also a place where you will learn about our past, and not just the good things. It’s a place where unheard voices can tell their stories, such as this play about the sexual enslavement of women by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. We said it was “a gut-wrenching exploration of one of history’s darkest atrocities” and that it “serves as a sobering reminder of the true cost of dehumanization.“
The Dirt @ Camden People’s Theatre
Sometimes odd things happen at any theatre, so considering that “at this performance an audience member was taken ill and Tuckman had to deliver her final monologue in the lobby of the theatre, which demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the theatre maxim of ‘the show must go on’” it’s testament to its strength that even that didn’t distract from what we felt was “a powerful performance“.
The Greatest Play Of All Time @ Old Red Lion Theatre
With a title like that, a play really is setting itself up for a big fall, and yet it avoided that because “as theatre becomes more politically complex by the second, it’s a wonder anyone’s capable of writing anything new. Still, Robin Hughes has managed it.“
Vanya Is Alive @ The Space
This was another play that we felt proved that some of the best and most challenging work happens in Fringe Theatre, and so when we say a play “is not an easy watch, challenging the audience both through its premise and the ways it presents it” that’s a compliment and not a negative.
We will announce all our winners of our Ettie Awards during our live Runn Radio show on 3 March.
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