Greater Manchester Fringe Award winners announced

The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival came to a close on Friday after a month of performances throughout the city, and the winners of the awards have just been announced.

The festival saw 96 shows take place throughout the month, with over 230 perforamnces and events overall.

Alan Stockdill won the award for best new writing for Le Grand Return, a play about an incarcerrated D-Day veteran determined to breakout and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the landings with his comrades. The play was performed at The Swan in Dobcros, which also won Best Venue.

It was the fourth year of the annual event, which co-founder Zena Barrie hailed a "great year".

"All of Manchester's finest left-field thinkers, artists, playwrights, dancers, actors, writers and everything else in between sticking their head out of the water to join in.

"Onwards and upwards, can't wait for next year!"

The patrons for this year’s festival included Tim Firth (Calendar Girls); comedian Justin Moorhouse; Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street and Dinnerladies) and Arthur Bostrom (‘Allo ‘Allo).

Director Iain Scott also co-founded the event, and hopes as the partcipation from creatives across the city grows, as will the "family feel" of the event.

"The success of the Fringe is due to many factors including the collaboration of fellow performers, writers and venues."

The Festival also includes ten days of comedy in November.

The ceremony was hosted by actress Jeni Williams, who rocked up to the event in a vintage bus.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Best New Writing: Le Grand Return by Alan Stockdill at the Swan in Dobcross

Best Drama: Back Seat Betty by Joshua Val Martin at Joshua Brooks, performed by Jo Dakin.

Best Comedy: Bump, Buckle Up Theatre at The King’s Arms, performed by Andrew Hollingworth and Oriana Charles.

Best Newcomer: Quina Chapman for Banjo Man at the King’s Arms in Salford

Best Spoken Word: Mouth, written by Christopher Bowles and performed at Taurus on Canal Street, Manchester.

Best Revival/Adaptation: Under Manc Wood, by Chris Kelly and Penny Edwards at The King’s Arms in Salford.

Most Innovative Use of Space: A Dream Play, Déjà vu Ensemble at Nexus Art Café, director Nuala Cavanagh and writer Rachel Connor.

Spirit of the Fringe: Daniel Thackeray who starred in both Under Manc Wood and his own play Together in Electric Dreams.

Best Venue: The Swan in Dobcros.