Feature: The Return of The Etties

Launched in 2023, The Etties are very much our fun little celebration of what we love so much; fringe theatre and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA). They also allow us to celebrate those smaller shows that don’t usually qualify for other awards. After a year off in 2024, they are now back for 2025, and we’re already planning what we can do for next year, when we hope to make them even bigger.

This year we’ll be announcing our shortlists over the next few days, with the winners to be announced during our Runn Radio show on 3 March.

Categories for the 2025 Etties are:

• Best Drama (in a fringe venue)
• Best Comedy (in a fringe venue)
• Best Musical (either touring or in a fringe venue)
• Best Theatre for Young Audiences
• Best of the rest: The Category without portfolio
• Best Fringe Venue
• Best of Camden Fringe
• The Above and Beyond Award – this is a rather self-indulgent award to celebrate the contribution our reviewers have made to keep ET the amazing site it is! We’ve listed the nominees below.

There’s always lots of debate about what makes a fringe venue. Is it everything outside the West End? Is it any venue under a certain size? Is it pub theatres? To be honest, it’s something we can never quite define, but for our awards, we wanted to focus on those smaller venues that put on lots of short run shows that are never eligible for other awards.

If you want to be part of our reviewing team and help us select next year’s Ettie winners, we’re always looking for new people. You can find out more about joining us here.

If you want to get involved in any other way, we’re also always looking for people to help with editing, write features, put together interviews, or even help with the website. Again check our the Join Our Team page for further info. It can be a lot of fun, and look very good on your CV!

And do join us when we announce all our winners on 3 March here.

The Above and Beyond Award Nominees

This is very much a self-indulgent award for our favourite reviewer of 2024. What makes a favourite reviewer? Well, it can be many things, and yes, we accept bribery for this one. But it’s also for our reviewers who dive headfirst into what is at our very core, fringe venues, or one that has amused us with something they have written during the year, or done something that has stood out in our minds. For example, in 2023 we gave this award to a reviewer who attended a press night of The Rocky Horror Show dressed for the occasion, much to the delight of New Wimbledon Theatre’s press team who sent us a photo and a thank you!

This year our shortlist of our six favourite reviewers are:

• Alastair Ball – What we’ve loved about Alastair is his willingness to just try something new, whether that be subject matters he has no prior knowledge about, or interviews, even going as far as organising a meet up with one creative he was eager to chat to and turning their chat over a coffee into a fantastic interview.
  
• Amelia Braddick – It’s always our aim to support every new reviewer, helping them to produce reviews that are full of strong opinion and critical thought, and Amelia has absolutely been one of those we’ve loved seeing improve almost review by review since joined our ranks at the end of 2022. It’s been a delight to watch her find her reviewing feet, whilst at the same time working towards her ambition of working in journalism.
  
• Lucy Carter – Joining at the tail end of 2023, it meant 2024 was Lucy’s first full year writing for us. She threw herself in feet first, covering a wide range of shows, from big dance shows at Sadler’s Wells to the tiny confines of fringe venues such as Etcetera and Hen and Chickens. It also helps that she is an editor’s dream, her reviews requiring the minimal of work ahead of getting them published!
  
• Michael Taylor – We always say the most important thing for a reviewer is enthusiasm to give anything a go, and Michael is the absolute definition of that. Joining us early in 2024, he seems to have taken on the challenge of working his way around every venue he can find in Islington, whatever the show happens to be! It’s an enthusiasm that he then puts into his reviews, finding the positives in every show he has seen so far.  
  
• Mike Carter – An ET Old hand, Mike’s been with us for six years. If we have one complaint about him thought, it’s that our editors get rather bitter about the fact he seems to be able to turn in almost perfect reviews full of humour and insightfulness on the same evening. In fact, our editors get so bitter they delight when they find a single spelling mistake or a slight typo in his reviews.
  
• Sara West – Since joining the team in 2022, Sara is another reviewer who has always thrown herself into the full fringe and ET experience, using reviewing as a chance to really dig deep into what London Fringe Theatre has to offer. In 2024 that meant reviewing at 20 different venues all across London, and covering just as wide a range of shows, from children’s shows to dance to emotional dramas, she even found time to take in a poetry night!

Winners of this and all our awards will be announced on our Runn Radio show on Wedneadsay 3 March from 8pm.