OffWestEnd Announces 86 Finalists For Its Offies Awards 2022

26 Categories, covering 46 Shows at 24 venues across London.

By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jan. 13, 2022

OffWestEnd Announces 86 Finalists For Its Offies Awards 2022 Image

OffWestEnd has announced 86 finalists for its Offies awards 2022, across 26 categories, covering 46 shows at 24 venues across London

Exciting times for the OffWestEnd OFFIES who today announce the finalists for the 2022 Offies Awards.

The Offies recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent, fringe and alternative theatres across London, helping to raise their profiles and rewarding the new talent that they nurture, which is essential for the future of the theatre industry.

Though theatre has been slowly recovering from the Covid pandemic in 2021, there have been enough high-quality Offies nominations post lockdown, to enable the judging panel to select 86 finalists across nearly 30 Offies categories. The next Offies awards event, where Offies and OnComm winners will be announced, along with some special awards, will be held online on 20 February 2022 and will be broadcast free to all from the Scenesaver platform. More details about the awards will be released soon.

The finalists include plays ("Lone Flyer" at the Jermyn St Theatre and "Sold" at the Park Theatre), musicals, opera & pantos ("Five Guys Named Moe" at Upstairs at the Gatehouse and "Beowulf" at the Kings Theatre) and shows under the IDEA category which covers Innovative, Devised, Experiential & Atypical work. Amongst the individual finalists are Wendi Peters (for "You Are Here" at Southwark Playhouse) and Reece Lyons (for "Overflow" at the Bush Theatre). Venues covered also include Battersea Arts Centre, Hope Theatre, Jack Studio Theatre, Old Red Lion, Soho Theatre, Wiltons Music Hall as well as site specific work.

Geoffrey Brown, OffWestEnd Director, said: "Post lockdown, there have been many fantastic shows in 2021, and OffWestEnd is delighted that we are able to recognise and celebrate the best of this work."

OffWestEnd also announced the finalists for its OnComm awards for online shows - this is a new award introduced to respond to all the wonderful online shows that emerged during the Covid lockdown. We expect a further 30 OnComm finalists, across at least 8 categories.

LIST OF FINALISTS

DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

Justin Nardella / The Sugar House / A Million Freds Prodns / Finborough

R&R Costumes / The Tragedy of Dorian Gray / Blue Devil Theatre / Drayton Arms Theatre

Sorcha Corcoran / Salome / Southwark Playhouse

LIGHTING DESIGN

Ben Jacobs / Salome / Southwark Playhouse

Oliver Fenwick / The Sun, The Moon and The Stars / Theatre Royal Stratford East

Robbie Butler / Wolves Are Coming For You / Jack Studio Theatre

SET DESIGN

Beth Colley / Abigail's Party / Park Theatre

David Shields / The Pleasure Garden / Above The Stag

Sorcha Corcoran / 21 Round for Christmas / Hope Theatre

Zoe Hurwitz / Deciphering / Curious Directive / New Diorama Theatre

SOUND DESIGN

Alice Boyd / Ghost Walk / Poltergeist / Echoes / New Diorama Theatre

Francis Botu / Overflow / Bush Theatre

Max Pappenheim / Old Bridge / Bush Theatre

Will Thompson / Salome / Southwark Playhouse

VIDEO DESIGN

Damian Hale / Scaramouche Jones & the Seven White Masks / Wilton's Music Hall

George Reeve / The Pleasure Garden / Above The Stag

Paul Barritt / Roots / 1927 / Wiltons Music Hall

MUSICALS & OPERA

LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL

Juan Jackson / Five Guys Named Moe / Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Lewis Cornay / John and Jen / Southwark Playhouse

Rachel Tucker / John and Jen / Southwark Playhouse

Wendi Peters / You Are Here / Southwark Playhouse

SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL

Beth Burrows / Call Me Madam / Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Christian Maynard / Five Guys Named Moe / Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Jacqueline Dankworth / Indecent Proposal / 10 to 4 Productions / Southwark Playhouse

MUSICAL DIRECTION

Benjamin Levy / Godspell / Ye Olde Rose and Crowne

Chris Ma / John and Jen / Southwark Playhouse

Jessica Douglas / Call Me Madam / Upstairs at the Gatehouse

DIRECTOR (MUSICALS)

Fenton Gray / The Pleasure Garden / Above The Stag

Guy Retallack / John and Jen / Southwark Playhouse

Mykal Rand / Five Guys Named Moe / Upstairs at the Gatehous

MUSICAL PRODUCTION

Five Guys Named Moe / Upstairs at the Gatehouse

John and Jen / Southwark Playhouse

The Pleasure Garden / Above The Stag

OPERA PERFORMANCE

Esme Bronwen-Smith; Camilla Harris; Thomas Chenhall / The Marriage of Figaro / Hampstead Garden Opera / Jackson's Lane

Jack Roberts & Mae Heydorn / La Nonne Sanglante / Gothic Opera / Hoxton Hall

Mark Stone / Die Walküre / Grimeborn, Arcola / Hackney Empire

OPERA PRODUCTION

Bluebeard's Castle / Porchester Hall

La Nonne Sanglante / Gothic Opera / Hoxton Hall

Orfeo ed Euridice/Zanetto / Barefoot Opera, Grimeborn Festival / Arcola

CHOREOGRAPHY, PANTO, ENSEMBLE & IDEA

(IDEA: Innovative / Devised / Experiential / Atypical)

CHOREOGRAPHY / MOVEMENT

Dannielle 'Rhimes' Lecointe / The Sun, The Moon and The Stars / Theatre Royal Stratford East

Louise Hoare, Adam Slynn & Max Kirk / Skin Tight / Southern Magpie / Hope Theatre

Robbie O'Reilly / Boys in the Buff / Lambco Productions / Drayton Arms Theatre

PANTO

Beowulf / Charles Court Opera / Kings Head

Dick Whittington and his Cat / Watford Palace Theatre

Pricked / Royal Vauxhall Tavern

The Queen of Hearts / Greenwich Theatre

COMPANY ENSEMBLE

DJ Bazzer's Year 6 Disco / Chewboy Productions / Golden Goose Theatre

Express G&S / Charles Court Opera / Pleasance Theatre

The Game of Love and Chance / Arcola

PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE

A Place for We / Talawa Theatre & Park Theatre / Park Theatre

Grenfell: Value Engineering / Nick Of Time Prodns / Playground Th / Tabernacle

Old Bridge / Bush Theatre

Samskara / Yard Theatre

IDEA PERFORMANCE

Ensemble / Look At Me Don't Look At Me / RashDash, Paines Plough / Roundabout (Brixton)

Lucy McCormick / Life LIVE! / Lucy McCormick / Battersea Arts Centre

Rachel-Leah Hosker, Oseloka Obi & Terry O'Donovan / Skin Hunger / Dante or Die / Stone Nest

IDEA PRODUCTION

Skin Hunger / Dante or Die / Stone Nest

The Language of Kindness / Shoreditch Town Hall

We Are As Gods / James Cousins Co / Battersea Arts Centre

PLAYS

LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY

Alex Mugnaioni / Straight White Men / David Adkin & Panorama Productions / Southwark Playhouse

Amantha Edmead / Sold / Kuumba Nia Arts / Park Theatre

Joshua James / Yellowfin / Southwark Playhouse

Justin Butcher / Scaramouche Jones & the Seven White Masks / Wilton's Music Hall

Reece Lyons / Overflow / Bush Theatre

SUPPORTING PERF IN A PLAY

Angie Amra Anderson / Sold / Kuumba Nia Arts / Park Theatre

Benedict Salter / Lone Flyer / Jermyn Street Theatre

Nicholas Day / Yellowfin / Southwark Playhouse

Rebecca Collingwood / While the Sun Shines / Orange Tree Theatre

Sebastian Chambers / The Wonderful / Theatre Peckham /

PERFORMANCE PIECE

Linda Marlowe / No Fear! / Hoxton Hall

Mika Onyx Johnson / Pink Lemonade / Bush Theatre

Ronke Adékoluejo / Lava / Bush Theatre

MOST PROMISING NEW PLAYWRIGHT

Dipo Baruwa-Etti / The Sun, The Moon and The Stars / Theatre Royal Stratford East

Igor Memic / Old Bridge / Bush Theatre

Mathilde Dratwa / Milk & Gall / Theatre503

NEW PLAY

Archie Maddocks / A Place for We / Talawa Theatre & Park Theatre / Park Theatre

Cordelia O'Neill / Anything is Possible if You Think About It Hard Enough / Southwark Playhouse

Marek Horn / Yellowfin / Southwark Playhouse

Shahid Iqbal Khan / 10 Nights / Graeae & Tamasha Theatre / Bush Theatre

DIRECTOR (PLAYS)

Ed Madden / Yellowfin / Southwark Playhouse

Lucy Betts / Lone Flyer / Jermyn Street Theatre

Tom Brennan / The Sugar House / A Million Freds Prodns / Finborough

PRODUCTION (PLAYS)

...cake / Theatre Peckham