Eileen Atkins among winners at 2013 Offies

The winners of the 2013 OffWestEnd.com Awards – ‘the Offies’ – were announced last night (24 February), with Eileen Atkins among those honoured for her performance opposite Michael Gambon in All That Fall.

Elsewhere, the Print Room’s acclaimed revival of Uncle Vanya (which was also nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award) won Best Production, while Best director went to Sean Holmes for Desire Under The Elms and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lyric Hammersmith.

According to press material, “The Offies are where you will find the David and Goliaths of theatre pitted against each other with astounding young actors shortlisted against experienced talents of stage and screen, shows under a railway arch in the same list as shows under a proscenium arch, an emerging playwright in Shoreditch Town Hall up against the legend that is Howard Barker, acclaimed director Sean Holmes sharing the list with barn-storming innovator Mark Leipacher.”

The awards were announced during a ceremony at Battersea Arts Centre hosted by Simon Callow. Guests included Linda Marlowe, Richard Bean and Nicholas de Jongh.

Launched in January 2010 by OffWestEnd.com, the Offies seek to raise the profile and status of
independent theatres in London. For this year’s awards 340 shows were assessed in 86 venues. The judges were theatre critics Daisy Bowie-Sell, Andrzej
Lukowski, Heather Neill, Mark Shenton, Ian Shuttleworth, Rebecca
Stewart, Tom Wicker and Matt Wolf.

Five public voted categories recognising Best Male and Female
performances and Most Welcoming Theatre, Best Theatre Bar and Best
Theatre Foodie Experience were also announced. For more info visit offwestend.com

BEST PRODUCTION sponsored by Masterclass
Uncle Vanya at The Print Room

BEST NEW MUSICAL
A Winter’s Tale at the Landor

BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION sponsored by Media Powerhouse
Floyd Collins at Southwark Playhouse


BEST OPERA PRODUCTION sponsored by Graham’s Port
Cosi fan Tutte by Hampstead Garden Opera at Upstairs at The Gatehouse

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Something Very Far Away at Unicorn Theatre

BEST DIRECTOR sponsored by The Stage Newspaper
Sean Holmes for Desire Under The Elms and Midsummer Night’s Dream at Lyric Hammersmith

BEST ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
George Perrin and James Grieve at Paines Plough

BEST CHOREOGRAPHER
Lee Proud for Mack and Mabel at Southwark Playhouse 


BEST ENSEMBLE
Faction season at New Diorama Theatre

BEST PRODUCER sponsored by SIT
Fuel

BEST LIGHTING sponsored by White Light
Richard Howell for The Hairy Ape at Southwark Playhouse

BEST SOUND
Melanie Wilson for Autobiographer at Toynbee Studios

BEST SET
James Turner for Mercury Fur at Old Red Lion Theatre

BEST COSTUME
Kingsley Hall for Goodnight Mrs Calabash at Upstairs At The Gatehouse

BEST NEW PLAY sponsored by Radisson Edwardian Blu
Lungs by Duncan Macmillan by Paines Plough (Shoreditch Town Hall)

MOST PROMISING NEW PLAYWRIGHT sponsored by Oberon Books
Nicholas Pierpan for You Can Still Make a Killing at Southwark Playhouse

BEST TBC PRODUCTION sponsored by ETC
Brand New Ancients at BAC

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE sponsored by Rainy Day Films
Eileen Atkins in All That Fall at Jermyn Street

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE sponsored by Rococo Chocolate
Thomas Coombes in Barbarians at Tooting Arts Club

SPECIAL PANEL AWARD
Southwark Playhouse