Winners of the Offies announced

The winners of this year's Offies have been announced in a Twitter ceremony by Patrick Stewart.

The Offies recognise theatre Off West End in London, they celebrate independent venues and recognise producers, directors, technicians and actors.

Winners this year include Chris Urch for Best New Play for The Rolling Stone at the Orange Tree Theatre, while performance artist Dickie Beau took home Best Supporting Male alongside Josh Dylan. Most Promising New Playwright was Zoe Cooper for her piece Joe & Jess Forever while Tom Hughes won Best Director for Punkplay at Southwark Playhouse.

Elsewhere, Belarus Free Theatre was recognised in the Best Ensemble category for Burning Doors at Soho Theatre. Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse starring Jenna Russell and Sheila Hancock took home Best New Musical, while Ragtime won Best Musical Production.

Sasha Regan, artistic director of The Union Theatre was given a Special Achievement Award for her campaign to save the theatre by moving it to a new railway arch.

The winners were pulled together with the help of industry assessors and a panel of judges who helped to hone the final winners list.

Several categories have patron saints - high flyers in the industry who will mentor the winners. Patron saints include Rufus Norris, Jack Bradley, David Howe, Bill Buckhurst, Sonia Friedman, David Lan, Toni Racklin and Stephen Mear.

Categories for Best Foodie Experience, Best Theatre Bar and Most Welcoming Theatre were all voted for by the public.

Read the full list of Offie winners below (winners in bold)

Best Female

Louise Jameson in The Diva Drag at The Hope
Lydia Larson in Skin A Cat at The Bunker
Sarah Ridgeway in Fury at Soho Theatre
Jenna Russell in Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse

Best Supporting Female

Lynette Clarke in Karagula at The Styx
Joanna Hickman in Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre
Sasha Waddell in After October at The Finborough

Best Male

Fiston Barek in The Rolling Stone at The Orange Tree
Phil Dunster in Pink Mist at The Bush
Paul Keating in Kenny Morgan at The Arcola
John Ramm in Sheppey at The Orange Tree

Best Supporting Male

Ken Christiansen in The Fix and Rise & Fall of Little Voice at The Union
Josh Dylan and Dickie Beau in Sheppey at The Orange Tree
David Michaels in The Dishonoured at The Arcola

Best New Play

Patron Saint: Jack Bradley
Sponsored by Edwardian Hotels London
Lucy Catherine for Sea Life at The Hope
Stuart Slade for BU21 at Theatre503
Chris Urch for The Rolling Stone at The Orange Tree

Most Promising New Playwright

Patron Saint: Jack Bradley
Sponsored by Edwardian Hotels London
Zoe Cooper for Joe & Jess Forever in co-production with Farnham Maltings at The Orange Tree
Matt Grinter for Orca at Southwark Playhouse
Isley Lynn for Skin A Cat at The Bunker

Best Director

Patron Saint: Rufus Norris
Sponsored by Masterclass at TR Haymarket
Lucy Bailey for Kenny Morgan at The Arcola
Tom Hughes for Punkplay at Southwark Playhouse
David Mercatali for Blue Heart at The Orange Tree

Best Lighting Designer

Patron Saint: David Howe
Sponsored by White Light
Rob Mills for It Is Easy To Be Dead at The Finborough
David Plater for Deathwatch at The Print Room
Jack Weir for Bad Girls at The Union

Best Sound Designer

Patron Saint: Paul Arditti
Dominic Brennan for Down And Out In Paris & London at The New Diorama
Edward Lewis for Bug at Found 111 Theatre
Jon Nicholls for Pink Mist at The Bush

Best Set Designer

Patron Saint: Bill Buckhurst
Frankie Bradshaw for Adding Machine at The Finborough
Simon Daw for Sheppey at The Orange Tree
Takis for Side Show at Southwark Playhouse

Best Costume Designer

Patron Saint: Catherine Kodicek
Mike Lees for The Toxic Avenger at Southwark Playhouse
Jonathan Lipman for Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse
Shawn Soh for Karagula at The Styx

Best Choreographer

Patron Saint: Stephen Mear
Joanne McShane for Soho Cinders at The Union
Lee Proud for Allegro at Southwark Playhouse
Carole Todd for Babes In Arms at Ye Olde Rose & Crown

Best Ensemble

Patron Saint: Nancy Meckler
Belarus Free Theatre for Burning Doors at Soho Theatre
Engineer Theatre Collective for Run at The New Diorama
Off Stage Theatre Company for Re:Home at The Yard

Best Production

Patron Saint: Mark Goucher
Karagula at The Styx
The Rolling Stone at The Orange Tree
Thebes Land at The Arcola

Best New Musical

Patron Saint: Edward Snape
Sponsored by Theatre.London
Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse
Muted at The Bunker
Toxic Avenger at Southwark Playhouse

Best Musical Production

Patron Saint: Edward Snape
Adding Machine at The Finborough
Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre
The Burnt Part Boys at Park90

Best Musical Director

Patron Saint: Mike Dixon
Nick Barstow for Burnt Part Boys at Park90
Ben Ferguson for Adding Machine at The Finborough
Jordan Li-Smith for Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre

Best Artistic Director

Patron Saint: David Lan
Matthew Parker at The Hope

Best Producer

Patron Saint: Sonia Friedman
Katy Lipson of Aria Entertainment

Best Opera Production

Patron Saint: Nicholas Payne
Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte at The Kings Head
Puccini's Tosca at The Arcola
Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart & Salieri by Time Zone Theatre at The Phoenix Artist Club

Best TBC (for productions that defy traditional categories)

Patron Saint: Toni Racklin
Sponsored by INTENT New Theatre
YOUARENOWHERE at Shoreditch Town Hall
Two Man Show at Soho Theatre
Putting Words in Your Mouth at The Roundhouse

Best Production for Young People (1 – 7)

Patron Saint: John Retallack
Boing! by Travelling Light and Bristol Old Vic at The Unicorn
Otto and The Robin by Angel Exit Theatre at Clapham Omnibus
The Night that Turned Autumn to Winter at Battersea Arts Centre

Best Production for Young People (8+)

Patron Saint: John Retallack
Around The World in 80 Days by New International Encounter at Polka Theatre
Beauty and The Beast by Teabreak Theatre at Sutton House
Treasure Island by Iris Productions at St Paul's Church Covent Garden

Special Achievement Award

Sasha Regan at The Union for her tireless campaign to save the theatre, negotiate with Network Rail and move the venue from one railway arch to two, launching a new cultural hub in South London.