The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation is proud to announce the winner of this year's The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the highest honor at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The winner of The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award was announced at the closing ceremonies of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Friday, August 26th.
The 2016 Best of Edinburgh Award goes to Life According to Saki, written by Katherine Rundell and directed by Jessica Lazar. Life According to Saki will have a New York run courtesy of the
Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation from February 9 - March 5 at
New York Theater Workshop's 4th Street Theater (83 East 4th Street, just west of First Avenue).
1916. In the trenches of the Battle of Ancre, a soldier tells stories. That soldier is Saki. Beginning with early misrule and playful rebellion, his stories show us the world with a sharp humor, alternately light and dark, as Saki and his fellow soldiers bear witness to a world turned on its head.
'Saki' was the pen name of the early Twentieth Century Scottish writer Hector
Hugh Munro whose creations are witty, absurd, and peculiarly optimistic. Both a journalist and master of the short story, Saki is a classic cornerstone of British literature. He is credited with influencing many writers, including
A.A. Milne, Noel Coward, P.G. Wodehouse and
Roald Dahl. Award-winning writer Katherine Rundell and Atticist Productions bring his world to the stage through physical theatre, drama, and elements of clown, puppetry and music.
"I was astonished by the play's thoughtful depiction of Saki, the man, and his fantastical short tales," says
Carol Tambor. "Life According to Saki transported me to the magical world Saki created to ease the horrors war, for his men and himself. It was a privilege to be in Saki's company-- if only for the length of the play."
Katherine Rundell (playwright) is the author of Rooftoppers (Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2014), Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms (a Boston Globe- Horn Book Award winner), and The Wolf Wilder. Life According to Saki is her first play.
Carol Tambor and members of her Foundation, along with The Scotsman Newspaper's Arts Writers Joyce McMillan, Jackie McGlone and
Mark Fisher chose the winning production.
Now in its 13th year, The
Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award builds a bridge between New York City and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. Created by
Carol Tambor in 2004, the inaugural award winners were Sister's, Such Devoted Sisters and Rosebud: The Lives of
Orson Welles. Subsequent winners include
Andrew Dawson's Absence and Presence, Michael Redhill's Goodness, 1927's Between
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; Ella Hickson's Eight, Elaine Murphy's Little Gem, Pants on Fire's retelling of Ovid's Metamorphosis, Circle of Eleven's LEO,
David Greig's Midsummer and The Events, The Object Lesson by
Geoff Sobelle, and last year's award-winner Key Change by Catrina McHugh.
Carol Tambor is a portrait artist by trade and a theater aficionado. For over a decade prior to creating the award, she had traveled to Edinburgh to enjoy the Festival offerings. Dismayed that so many fine plays never transferred to NYC, she decided to create an opportunity for New York audiences to get a taste of the Edinburgh magic.
The
Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation was established to bring excellent dramatic work to the New York audience by funding the New York run. The mission to support artists in their desire to be seen and produced is carried out with no financial or commercial involvement in their future success. For more information, visit
www.bestofedinburgh.org.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, has been ongoing since 1947. There were 49,497 performances of 3,193 shows in 299 venues during the 2014 Festival, selling over 2 million tickets. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has served as a launching pad for the careers of stars such as
Craig Ferguson,
Mike Myers,
John Cleese,
Hugh Grant,
Emma Thompson,
Jude Law and
Eddie Izzard as well as renowned playwrights like
Tom Stoppard. For more information, visit
www.edfringe.com.
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