Aidan Quinn in The Exonerated
Tweet

Exonerated Leads Second Round of Fringe Firsts

The second round of winners of this year's prestigious Fringe First Awards, celebrating high quality new theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe, are announced today (19 August 2005) in the Scottish capital, with five shows being singled out, including The Exonerated (See The Goss, 17 Feb 2004) - the hit Off-Broadway drama about living on death row performed by a starry American ensemble featuring Aidan Quinn (pictured).

The rest of this week’s winners are: Basic Training about a military entertainment troupe and Breakfast at Audrey’s, merging the life of an anorexic Scottish teenager with that of Audrey Hepburn, both at Gilded Balloon Teviot; Stories for the Wobby Hearted, about loneliness and love and starring comedian Daniel Kitson, at the Traverse; and Guardians, Peter Morris’ new play written as two monologues, one about a soldier accused of torturing an Iraqi prisoner and the other about a journalist who gets caught up in the events. Guardians is playing at the Pleasance Courtyard.

Last week’s winners were: East Coast Chicken Supper, Children of the Sea, The Devil’s Larder, Give Up! Start Over! and Switch Triptych (See News, 12 Aug 2005).

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 more than six performances in the UK, prior to the Fringe.

The Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest arts festival and now in its 59th year, opened on 7 August and continues to 29 August 2005 (See News, 5 Aug 2005). The Fringe’s parent event, the Edinburgh International Festival opened last Sunday, 14 August 2005. It continues until 4 September 2005.

- by Caroline Ansdell

Related Content