Film-bound Perfect Days Wins Fringe First

Liz Lochhead's new play Perfect Days was recognised today in the second round of the Fringe First Awards at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. At the same time, The Scotsman reported that the comedy, which is a sell-out at this year's festival, is to be made into a film by Channel 4's film division, Film Four. According to the newspaper, the stage production is also readying to transfer to the West End.

Perfect Days, which had its world premiere last week at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre as part of the Fringe festival, tells the story of thirty-something Glasgow hairdresser Barbs Marshall who is desperate to have a child, with or without a man. It stars Siobhan Redmond as Barbs and is directed by John Tiffany. Scottish playwright Lochhead's previous plays include Mary Queen of Scots Got her Head Chopped Off and an adaptation of Molière's Tartuffe..

Other productions recognised in this week's doling out of Fringe Firsts include: Kill the Old, Torture Their Young, the latest play by Knives in Hens author David Harrower; an amateur production of Hatches, Matches and Dispatches by Alan Cochrane at the Edinburgh People's Theatre; and A Little Requiem for Kantor, written and directed by Zofia Kalinska at the Ariel Theatre. Jeremy Weller's Grassmarket Project also won its fifth Fringe First since 1990 for its new stage docu-drama, Soldiers, which describes the horrors of battle through the eyes and voices of real-life combatants..

The Fringe First Awards, presented by The Scotsman newspaper in conjunction with the Fringe Society, are the festival's most prestigious recognition for drama. They were established in 1973 when there was concern that the Fringe was not attracting the right quantity and quality of shows. The awards are announced weekly during the festival. There is no fixed number given and the only requirement for consideration is that the work must be new - having had no fewer than six performances in the UK, prior to the Fringe. This year, 75 per cent of theatre shows on the Fringe are eligible..

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