Edinburgh Fringe Shows Feted at Total Theatre Awards; 2017 Winners Announced!

Since 1997, the Total Theatre Awards have been recognising innovative and artist-led performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We are delighted to announce today the winners of the Total Theatre Awards 2017.

Over the course of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe 28 peer assessors, comprising artists, producers, programmers, curators, critics and academics assessed 538 shows across the first 11 days of the festival, from which a shortlist of 23 nominated shows was announced on 17 August 2017.

Following this, the nominated shows were viewed by a panel of 20 judges who have awarded seven awards across five categories - one Total Theatre & Farnham Maltings Award for an Emerging Company / Artist, one award for Physical/Visual theatre, one Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus, one Total Theatre & The Place Award for Dance, and three awards for Innovation, Experimentation and Playing With Form. In addition, a Judges Discretionary Award is presented this year for a show opening after the shortlisting process, as well as a Significant Contribution Award.

Speaking about the award winners, Co-Directors Jo Crowley and Becki Haines said; This year's awards recognise exceptional artists creating gentle, bold, risk-taking and visionary work that is diverse, inclusive and accessible. It highlights the vital role theatre plays in communicating, engaging and opening up space for shared experiences. The artistic voices across this festival continue to provide a lens for audiences to understand one another better in an increasingly divided world.

Please find details of all the winners below!

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The 2017 Total Theatre Award Winners are:

Total Theatre & Farnham Maltings Award for an Emerging Company / Artist

Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist
YesYesNoNo (England)
ZOO

Physical / Visual Theatre

Sigma
Gandini Juggling (England)
Assembly

Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus

Fauna
Fauna in association with Aurora Nova and Follow the Rabbit (Sweden)
Assembly

Total Theatre & The Place Award for Dance

Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus
Oona Doherty (Northern Ireland)
Dance Base

Innovation, Experimentation & Playing with Form

Palmyra
Bertrand Lesca & Nasi Voutsas (England)
Summerhall

salt.
Selina Thompson Ltd (England)
Northern Stage @ Summerhall

Our Carnal Hearts
Rachel Mars (England)
Summerhall

Judges Discretionary Award

Slap And Tickle
Liz Aggiss (England)
ZOO

Significant Contribution Award

Lyn Gardner

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Judging panel for the 2017 Total Theatre Awards years awards: Adrian Berry (Artistic Director, Jacksons Lane), Jessica Bowles (Course Leader MA/MFA Creative Producing Royal Central School of Speech & Drama), Kerrie Burke-Avery (Senior Producer, Tobacco Factory Theatres), Matt Burman (Independent Producer and Programmer; Northern Stage and Leeds 2023), Paul Burns (Freelance Consultant and Associate Director, Dance4), Antoine Doukravets (Artist, Deutches Theater Kasachstan) Christina Elliot (Producer Artist Development, The Place), Kelly Fogarty (PR and Events Director, Soho Theatre), Donald Hutera (Critic, The Times), Kevin Jamieson (Senior Producer Theatre, HOME Manchester), Sacha Lee (Artistic Director, The Point & The Berry Theatre), Jaine Lumdson (Theatre Officer, Creative Scotland), Dorothy Max Prior (Editor, Total Theatre Magazine), Mary Roeder (Community Programs Manager, UMS, Ann Arbour Michigan USA), Andy Roberts (Programme Director, The ShowRoom Chichester, Co-Artistic Director Bootworks Theatre & Previous TTA winner), Layla Rosa (Artist, Shunt & Previous TTA winner), Hakan Silahsizoglu (Director and Founder, Atta Festival and Freelance Cultural Operator), Jo Stendall (Executive Producer, Boy Blue), Matt Trueman (Writer & Critic).

Natalie Querol (Director, Empty Space), chair of Judging Meeting.

With huge thanks to our assessors; a peer panel of academics, artists, critics, curators, producers, programmers and other arts professionals: Zeynep Aksoy, Alex Brenner, Leo Burtin, Tom Curteis, Klass Freek Devos, Jyothi Giles, Jessy Jollings, Katherine Kavanagh, Jaye Kearney, Alistair Lownie, Jess Mable Jones, Jo Mackie, Cheryl Martin, Pablo Meneu, Helen Mugridge, Catriona Norval, Melanie Purdie, Nadia Sokolenko, Kathryn Spence, Degna Stone, Karl Taylor, Filip Tielens, Else Van Maldren.

From The Edinburgh Playhouse: "We are delighted to be presenting the Total Theatre Awards Ceremony 2017 in celebration of the phenomenal contributions in both national and international performing arts brought to Scotland's capital each year, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe."

About the Total Theatre Awards / Total Theatre Network: Honouring work by professional artists and companies at various stages in their professional development, the Total Theatre Awards have an international reputation for rigour and excellence. Cherished by artists and programmers alike, the Total Theatre Awards involve a rigorous two-stage peer to peer assessment and Judging process, bringing together artists, critics, presenters, producers and academics to debate and award excellence.

The Total Theatre Awards are produced by Total Theatre Network, an independent charity (Mime Action Group) committed to supporting independent artists and artistic process, Total Theatre Networks ambition is to create the conditions for the UKs' independent theatre sector to be recognised, sustainable & to thrive by: Identifying, celebrating & giving visibility to exceptionally talented artists; Providing networking & professional development activities for independent practitioners; Playing a critical role in exploring artistic excellence, evolving form & developing understanding of an ever-changing contemporary performance landscape.

Please note Total Theatre Awards and Total Theatre Network have operated independently to Total Theatre Magazine for over a decade.

Visit www.totaltheatrenetwork.org or follow @TotalTheatreAwd | #totaltheatreaward.

The Total Theatre Awards and Total Theatre Network is led by Co-Directors Jo Crowley & Becki Haines. Becki and Jo are 2 independent Producers, Jo Crowley is Producer for 1927 and Kazuko Hohki and Becki Haines is Producer for Coney and Bootworks. Jo & Becki have had a long association with the Total Theatre Awards, having prior to taking on the leadership of Total Theatre in 2013, produced the work of a number of previous Total Theatre Award Winning and nominated Artists including Jo: 1927, Kazuko Hohki, Ridiculusmus, The Suitcase Royale & Kristin Fredrikkson; Becki: Bootworks, The Paper Birds and Theatre ad Infinitum. @crowleyjo | @heckibaines

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