Off-West End Awards 2020 winners announced

The winners of the annual Off-West End Awards, also known as the Offies, have been revealed.

Equus proved most successful on the night, picking up three awards including Best Production and Best Director (Ned Bennett). Gemma Barnett collected Best Female Performance in a Play for her role in one-woman show A Hundred Words For Snow at Trafalgar Studios, while Cary Crankson walked away with Best Male Performance in a Play for Country Music at Omnibus Theatre. The Best New Play went to Ross Willis' Wolfie at Theatre503 – Willis is one of the WhatsOnStage theatre faces to watch out for this year.

As another of the 12 upcoming inspirational theatremakers in 2020, SpitLip's Operation Mincemeat at the New Diorama Theatre picked up the award for Company Ensemble. The show also ran at Southwark Playhouse this January and has booked a second run from 14 to 23 May.

In the musicals categories, Amour at the Charing Cross Theatre and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the Union Theatre picked up two prizes each. The former walked away with Best New Musical, while the latter received the award with Best Musical Production. Best Male Performance in a Musical was shared between Bart Lambert and Jack Reitman, the co-leads in The Hope Theatre's Thrill Me, while Jeannette Bayardelle won Best Female Performance in a Musical for Shida at The Vaults.

There were three special awards also given out at the ceremony, which this year was held in Battersea Arts Centre. Mehmet Ergen and Leyla Nazli collected a Special Achievement Award for their tenure at the Arcola Theatre, while the Bunker Theatre's Chris Sonnex collected the Special Award for Artistic Director and Tobi Kyeremateng accepted the Special Award for Producer.

The full list of winners (in bold) and nominees

Special Achievement Award
Mehmet Ergen and Leyla Nazli, Arcola Theatre

Special Award for Artistic Director
Chris Sonnex, Bunker Theatre

Special Award for Producer
Tobi Kyeremateng

DESIGN

Design: Costume
Adrian Gee, Amour, Charing Cross Theatre
Emily Bestow, 42nd Street, Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Hannah Wolfe, Great Expectations, National Youth Theatre/ Southwark Playhouse

Design: Set
Diego Pitarch, Night of the Living Dead – Live!, Pleasance Theatre
Justin Williams, Whistle Down the Wind, Union Theatre
Lee Newby, The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre
Rachael Ryan, Thrill Me, The Hope Theatre

Design: Sound
Benjamin Grant, The War of the Worlds, New Diorama Theatre
Lex Kosanke, Hunger, Arcola Theatre
Matt Eaton, All's Well That Ends Well, Guildford Bard/ Jermyn Street Theatre
Xana, Blood Knot, Orange Tree Theatre

Design: Lighting
Christopher Nairne, Preludes, Southwark Playhouse
Clancy Flynn, An Act of God, The Vaults
Jessica Hung Han Yun, Equus, English Touring Theatre/ Theatre Royal Stratford East
Nic Farman, Night of the Living Dead – Live!, Pleasance Theatre

Design: Video
Andrzej Goulding, The Unreturning, Theatre Royal Stratford East
Ben Bull, Baby Reindeer, Bush Theatre
Douglas Baker, Moby Dick, Jack Studio Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY AND PANTOS

Choreography/ Movement
Oti Mabuse, Ain't Misbehavin' , Southwark Playhouse
Simon Adkins, 42nd Street, Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Zak Nemorin, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Union Theatre

Pantos
Sleeping Beauty, Greenwich Theatre
The Nativity Panto, King's Head Theatre

PRODUCTIONS AT THEATRE FESTIVALS

Voila Europe Fest 2019
Napoli 44, Compagnia Francesca Caprioli
I Will Tell You in a Minute, Nuna Livhaber
We Must Live, The Pushkinettes

Camden Fringe Festival 2019
All the Little Lights, Jane Upton/ Tristan Bates Theatre
Ophelia Rewound, Antigoni Spanou
Red Peter, Grid Theatre
Villain, Interrupted, Dolls in Amber Productions

PEOPLE'S VOTE
Foodie Experience: Park Theatre
Theatre Bar: Arcola Theatre
Facilities: Above the Stag
Most Comfortable: Bush Theatre
Most Welcoming: Chickenshed
Programming Policy: Bunker Theatre
Social Media: Bunker Theatre
Online Info and Booking: Jack Studio Theatre
Programmes: Jack Studio Theatre

PRODUCTIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Aged 0 to 7
The Polar Bears Go, Go, Go!, Unicorn Theatre
The Bed, Little Angel Theatre
The Paper Dolls, Polka Theatre/ New Wimbledon Studio

Aged 8
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Iris Theatre
The Canterville Ghost, Unicorn Theatre
Snow White, Chickenshed

Aged 13
Crowded, Half Moon Theatre
Extremism, Theatre Peckham
Easy, Paradox Theatre/ Blue Elephant Theatre

MUSICALS and OPERA

Musicals: New Musical
Amour, Charing Cross Theatre
Shida, The Vaults
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse

Musicals: Female in a Supporting Role
Ashlee Young, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Union Theatre
Claire Machin, Amour, Charing Cross Theatre
Georgie Lovatt, Bare: A Pop Opera, The Vaults

Musicals: Male in a Supporting Role
Cedric Neal, The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre
Jerome Pradon, Aspects of Love, Southwark Playhouse
Oliver Savile, Falsettos, The Other Palace

Musicals: Female Performance
Abigayle Honeywill, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Union Theatre
Jeannette Bayardelle, Shida, The Vaults
Lauryn Redding, The Hired Man, Queens Theatre Hornchurch

Musicals: Male Performance
Bart Lambert, Thrill Me, The Hope Theatre
Jack Reitman, Thrill Me, The Hope Theatre
Keith Ramsay, Preludes, Southwark Playhouse

Musicals: Musical Director
Benjamin Cox, Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre
Darren Clarke, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse
Jordan Li-Smith, Queen of the Mist, Jack Studio Theatre/ Charing Cross Theatre

Musicals: Director
Bill Buckhurst, Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre
Hannah Chissick, Amour, Charing Cross Theatre
Jethro Compton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse

Musicals: Production
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Union Theatre
Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre
High Fidelity, Turbine Theatre

Opera Production
HMS Pinafore, Charles Court Opera, King's Head Theatre
Partenope, Hampstead Garden Opera, Jacksons Lane
The Elixir of Love, King's Head Theatre

IDEA/ PERFORMANCE PIECE/ ENSEMBLES

IDEA Production (productions which are innovative/ devised/ experiential/ atypical)
Bullet Tongue Reloaded, Big House
Crisis? What Crisis?, Colab Factory
Dear Elizabeth, Gate Theatre
Sex Sex Men Men, Pecs Drag Kings/ Yard Theatre

Performance Piece
Baby Reindeer, Bush Theatre
Queens of Sheba, Battersea Arts Centre
What Girls Are Made Of, Soho Theatre

Company Ensemble
Neck or Nothing, Pleasance Theatre
Operation Mincemeat, New Diorama Theatre
Ubu, Shoreditch Town Hall

Performance Ensemble
Dinomania, New Diorama Theatre – Janet Etuk, Hamish MacDougall, Sophie Steer, Harriet Webb
Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre – Carly Bawden, Niccolò Curradi, Maimuna Memon, Zubin Varla
Little Baby Jesus, Orange Tree Theatre – Anyebe Godwin, Rachel Nwokoro, Khai Shaw
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse – Matt Burns, Rosalind Ford, Joey Hickman, Philippa Hogg, James Marlowe

PLAYS

Plays: Most Promising New Playwright
Dylan Coburn Gray, Citysong, Soho Theatre
Samuel Bailey, Shook, Southwark Playhouse
Zia Ahmed, I Wanna Be Yours, Bush Theatre

Plays: New Play
Matilda Ibini, Little Miss Burden, Bunker Theatre
Rose Lewenstein, Cougar, Orange Tree Theatre
Ross Willis, Wolfie, Theatre503

Plays: Female in a Supporting Role
Marina Bye, The Lady from the Sea, Coronet Theatre/ Print Room
Patience Tomlinson, Go Bang Your Tambourine, Finborough Theatre
Sheila Atim, Time Is Love, Finborough Theatre

Plays: Male in a Supporting Role
Bart Lambert, The House of Yes, The Hope Theatre
Ben Woods, A Christmas Carol, Bridge House Theatre
John Sackville, Go Bang Your Tambourine, Finborough Theatre

Plays: Female Performance
Gemma Barnett, A Hundred Words for Snow, Trafalgar Studios 2
Lucy Briggs-Owen, Out of Water, Orange Tree Theatre
Pia Tjelta, The Lady from the Sea, Coronet Theatre/ Print Room
Redd Lily Roche, Box Clever, Bunker Theatre

Plays: Male Performance
Cary Crankson, Country Music, Omnibus Theatre
Danny Kirrane, We're Staying Right Here, Park Theatre
Irfan Shamji, The Arrival, Bush Theatre
Kalungi Ssebandeke, Blood Knot, Orange Tree Theatre

Plays: Director
Debbie Hannan, Little Miss Burden, Bunker Theatre
Ned Bennett, Equus, English Touring Theatre/ Theatre Royal Stratford East
Tom Littler, All's Well That Ends Well, Jermyn Street Theatre
Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, Little Baby Jesus, Orange Tree Theatre

Plays: Production
Equus, English Touring Theatre/ Theatre Royal Stratford East
Shook, Southwark Playhouse
Wolfie, Theatre503