The Etties: Celebrating The Fringe

Championing the Grassroots: The Evolution of The Etties

Everything Theatre has always been, and always will be, a champion of fringe theatre. As we move through 2026, we plan to cement our commitment even further through our annual celebration, The Etties, which next year will be a live in-person event for the very first time. Even more exciting, we’re introducing the ET Creative Kitty, to help emerging creatives, which you can read more about here.

While ‘fringe’ is notoriously difficult to define, for us, it’s about the grassroots: performances at those vital, small-scale venues that often serve as the first stepping stone for new creatives, or are places where real risks are taken as new work is tested. It’s here that The Etties 2026 will focus. You can find a list of what we consider our core grassroot venues here.

Everything Theatre additionally champions Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) in ways that few other organisations do. We’re leading the way in this sector and intend to increase our support further still in this year’s Etties format.

What are The Etties?

The Etties are Everything Theatre’s annual awards, born from a simple desire to cheer for the shows and venues we love. Our extensive team of knowledgeable reviewers are simply invited to vote for their favourite productions. They aren’t designed to compete against other awards; instead, we see them as supplementary, spotlighting the work that often falls outside traditional eligibility criteria, or shows that just get overshadowed by bigger budget productions that can dominate those other awards.

What started as a casual end-of-year roundup in 2021 has grown from a radio show in 2022 to an Instagram Live event in 2026. We’ve been blown away by the response each year. It’s clear that audiences and artists alike value a platform that celebrates even the smallest productions.

But we recognise we can do more to support the fringe. So looking ahead to 2027, we’re going bigger. We will be hosting a live event at The Space to present The Etties in person. True to our roots, this won’t be a stuffy gala, it’s going to be a party where we can savour what has made fringe theatre so great this year. We’ll tell you more about this as we get closer to the time.

And in deciding to grow The Etties, we have also attempted to define who and what they are for. Which is why we have devised our Etties Ethos.

The Etties Ethos: Supporting the Grassroots

As Everything Theatre grows and we find ourselves invited to more high-budget productions at larger venues, we need to ensure we don’t lose sight of what has always been our core mission – supporting the grassroots where creativity so often begins.

We want to celebrate those week-long runs; people working on a shoestring budget, or in experimental spaces. To keep The Etties fair and focused, we are adopting a two-pronged eligibility approach for the 2026 season:

Core Venues: We have curated a list of grassroots venues where every show staged is automatically eligible. You can find our grassroots fringe list here.
Case-by-Case Eligibility: For other fringe and off-West End venues, we will evaluate shows individually based on factors such as, but not limited to:
- Professional Status: We are very much supporters of all levels of theatre, but these awards will be for professional productions only. It’s not that we don’t think amateur productions are worth seeing (and we will still review them) but it is important that we focus on where we believe we need to be.
- Run Length: Eligible shows will have fewer than ten performances (making them ineligible for the Offies).
- Budget: We’re looking out for independent projects rather than ‘test runs’ for major commercial transfers.
- Performance Space: While we aren’t going to include the main spaces at some of the bigger venues, we will consider work in studios or smaller rooms within larger buildings, as well as pop-up spaces and even outdoor events.
- Creative Team: We plan to prioritise emerging artists and small companies just starting their professional journey.

We won’t be judging on seating capacity or location alone, but will use some common sense for each nomination. It may not be a perfect science, but our goal is clear: to recognise the shows and venues that the bigger awards miss. The Etties will always be about championing the heart of the fringe.

The Voting Procedure

Our experienced reviewers will tell us when they feel a show should be eligible, and we’ll then take a simple vote within our dedicated Etties team to decide if we will longlist that show or not. When we announce our shortlists early in 2027, all the finalists will be at grassroots level.

What Happens Next?

In short: nothing changes. We’ll continue to review as many shows as we possibly can, and if a production fits our Etties criteria and a reviewer tells us it needs to be considered, we’ll automatically add it to our longlist.

Early next year, we will narrow those longlists down to official shortlists. There is no need for companies or venues to apply for inclusion; we’ll simply assume you’re happy to be celebrated unless you tell us otherwise!

How Can You Help Us to Support Grassroots Theatre?

Here’s some ways you can support Everything Theatre and those venues and shows for whom The Etties are designed:

Go and see a show in one of the many grassroots venues in London or around the country. Check out our list here of those places we believe are worth catching a show at. Buying a ticket to see a production is the best way you can support and ensure these companies and venues can continue.
Tell your friends. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertisement. If you loved a show, tell someone else to go and see it. Or tell them to come and read about it on our site.
Donate the cost of a coffee here. We promise every donation received will be used towards the cost of putting on The Etties, including the ET Creative Kitty fund (more info here)
Join our team to help us do even more. We’re always seeking new reviewers, editors, and even people to help us with the admin necessary to keep the website up to date. You can find out more about applying to volunteer with us here.
Read our reviews. Yes, it sounds silly but numbers matter. The more visitors we have, the more it helps us spread the word about fringe theatre.
Like and share our social media. We all know about social media algorithms by now surely? The more engagement, the more we might pop up in other people’s feed. It’s very much like word of mouth. So the simple act of liking, sharing, or even commenting on our social media posts can be a great help. Check out our Instagram feed here.