Final Fringe Awards: Herald Angels, Tambor & Hardee
September 1, 2009
The final round of Herald Angel awards - which have been running since 1996 and recognise “innovation and excellence across the spectrum of artistic activity” - were announced on Saturday (30 August 2009), presented by new chief executive of the Fringe Society Kath Mainland.The Archangel award went to actor, drag artist and gay rights campaigner Bette Bourne, whose autobiographical show A Life in Three Acts has received great acclaim at the Traverse. The show features Bourne in conversation with playwright Mark Ravenhill, recounting his extraordinary life, including his wartime childhood and friendship with Quentin Crisp. Bourne won an Angel back in 2001 for portraying Crisp in Resident Alien
Other week three awards went to Kathryn Howden for her portrayal of Janet Horne in Rona Munro’s new play The Last Witch (Howden’s second Angel), while fellow EIF production Tondal’s Vision, performed by Dialogos at Canongate Kirk, was also honoured.
David Leddy also collected a gong for his new experiential show David Leddy’s White Tea, as did producer Kate McGrath and her company Fuel, which brought six shows to venues including the McEwan Hall and University medical school.
Zic Zazou’s show Brocante Sonore, featuring a company of music makers who use a “junkyard of scrap” to make their instruments, were also honoured, and Shadwell Opera were recognised for staging a production of Mozart’s Magic Flute in Rosslyn Chapel (which recently became famous as a location in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code).
This year’s Carol Tambor Award, which offers the winning production the chance to perform in New York, went to Dublin writer Elaine Murphy’s debut play Little Gem. Directed by Paul Meade, it premiered at last year’s Dublin Fringe Festival, where it won the Fishamble Award for Best New Irish Writing.
This year’s Holden Street Theatres Award, which sponsors a show to go to Adelaide, went to Heroin(e) for Breakfast at the Underbelly, billed as “a riotous and irreverent look at how heroin can put the Great back into Britain!”
Meanwhile, the Malcolm Hardee Award for ‘comic originality’ went to Otto Kuhnle. Kate Copstick, who co-produces the awards, said: “Otto won because he is a comic genius who due to the particular nature of his genius runs the risk of otherwise going unrewarded. Lederhosen, a leaf blower and Siemens’ vacuum cleaner attachment are not a direct route to an Edinburgh comedy award but Malcolm’s award celebrates the originality and idiosyncrasy in comedy.”
The newly-launched Malcolm Hardee Award for ‘best publicity stunt’ went to comedian Lewis Schaffer, for convincing The List magazine he was sponsoring the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for £99.
- Theo Bosanquet
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EIF: 14 August-6 September
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