Nominees for the Peter Brook Empty Space Awards announced

The nominees for the Empty Space… Peter Brook Award, the Dan Crawford Innovation Award, the Equity Ensemble Award and the Peter Brook/Royal Court Theatre Support Award 2016 have been announced.

Six theatres are in the running for Empty Space… Peter Brook Award, with only one of the six being outside the UK. Found111 – producer Emily Dobbs' pop up space on Charing Cross Road – is up against the New Diorama – commended for its work with emerging companies – Shoreditch Town Hall – which has produced the likes of Kneehigh's Dead Dog in a Suitcase and Grimm Tales – Slung Low – based in the company's Leeds space called The Hub – Soho Upstairs – which features both comedy and theatre and the Young Vic Studio which has staged shows such as Bull and The Queens of Syria.

Nominees for the Dan Crawford Innovation Award, which is sponsored by Nimax, include the Good Chance Theatre – which was based in the Calais Jungle and then arrived on the Southbank – Greenwich and Docklands International Festival – London's leading open air theatre festival and Unlimited, the Southbank Centre and Tramway's festival which showcases the work of disabled artists.

Elsewhere the nominees for the Equity Ensemble Award – which recognises and supports ensemble companies – are Antic Disposition, Bikeshed Theatre, 1927 and Gecko. The nominees for the Peter Brook/Royal Court Theatre Support Award – which is a new award where the Royal Court will provide support for a studio theatre for one year – are the Union Theatre, the Finborough Theatre, Omnibus and The Print Room.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 1 November where a guest will also be awarded with the Peter Brook Special Achievement Award 2016.

This is the 27th year of the Empty Space Awards, which is an annual prize recognising pioneering concepts and innovations in the spirit of director Peter Brook, achieved in smaller theatre spaces with little or no public funding.