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    The Etties: Best Fringe Venue Nominations

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    The Etties really are just our way of rounding of 2022 with a nod to some of the best shows we’ve seen. But of course you can’t see a good show without a good venue, so we thought we also needed to include a Best Venue category.

    Of course we all have our favourite venues, and often for very different reasons. It might be because of the welcome you always receive there, or it may be because the view is great, or if could be because they never let you down with their shows.

    So we asked our team to nominate their favourite venues to come up with our shortlist below. The only real criteria is that it had to be a venue we visit regularly, and one we would call a Fringe Theatre (which as we all know, is a broad church!).

    We’ll be announcing the winner on 18 January during our Runn Radio show.

    Battersea Arts Centre

    Why? Because “BAC have absolutely leading edge work, they are totally inclusive with their Pay What You Can performances and relaxed policy. The bar is lovely – you always meet someone interesting and unusual there, the staff are friendly and the Press contacts couldn’t be more helpful.”

    Finborough Theatre

    Why? Because “Finborough have a standard of quality pretty much unmatched in London pub/fringe theatre. Even the rare shows that I have not enjoyed so much have had such a strong cast and technical work behind them. A real testament to all involved.”

    Lion and Unicorn Theatre

    Why? Because “The Lion and Unicorn always feels the most welcoming of venues, not just for the audience, but the artists as well. It’s rare to go along for press nights and not to bump into artists coming along to support others.”

    Southwark Playhouse

    Why? Because “the welcome we receive there is always so friendly, and you suspect it isn’t just because we are there to review. And their programming has delivered regularly quality all year round.”

    The Space

    Why? Because “The Space really is a place that does what fringe theatre should do, encourage new voices and offer support to all the artists that pass through their door. And their move into live streaming has opened it up to a whole new audience.”

    Turbine Theatre

    Why? Because “their front of house staff were absolutely lovely when I couldn’t get there on time because of transport and the staff and crew dealt with a show stop amazingly!” More

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      The Etties: Best Comedy Shortlist

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      The Everything Theatre Fringe Theatre Awards, or Etties for short, are simply our fun round up of the past year. Previously, come the end of the year we’ve asked our reviewers to pick some highlights which we would publish as a round up of the best of the year. But in 2022 we decided we should do things a little differently. And that led us to the Etties.

      Obviously we don’t have a team of assessors to go and watch every show, so we aren’t going to pretend these are anything more than a fun way to highlight some of the shows our team have loved in the past year. The shortlists have been put together by looking back at our 4- and 5-star reviews, and then with the help of some of our reviewers, whittling them down to a shortlist. It’s not the most scientific approach but what awards ever are?

      We’ll be announcing the winners on Wednesday 18 January as part of our Runn Radio show that evening.

      The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much

      Photo credit @ Jake F Wadley

      Omnibus Theatre, March 2022

      I can’t remember the last time I came out of the theatre wanting to book to see the same show again.
      Dave Bushe

      Project Dictator

      Photo credit @ De Giglio

      New Diorama Theatre, April 2022

      Project Dictator was outrageously energetic and terrifyingly audience-inclusive. Given the starting point of talking to artists who live under oppressive regimes, it was both worryingly hilarious and seriously worrying.
      Dean Wood

      Qrumpet

      Camden People’s Theatre, April 2022

      Qrumpet draws deeply from the ideas of 20th-century absurdism – at times feeling like an Ionesco for the modern day – and applies them to the weirdest scientific theories of our time
      Matt Aldridge

      Experiment Human

      Credit: Michael O’Reilly

      Cockpit Theatre, July 2022

      Experiment Human is an extremely well made, bold, unique, surreal comedy that explores the things that make us human, and what makes us happy.
      Aaron-Lee Eyles

      Crone

      The Hope Theatre, August 2022

      The tone is set almost before the first sentence is completed, leaving us laughing at the absurdity of it all.
      Rob Warren

      Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story

      Photo credit @ Dave Bird

      The Pleasance, November 2022

      Oh Linus, you extraordinary beast you. This is a magnificent piece of work – whacky, wayward and totally unique. If Diana is looking down now I am certain she’ll be joining in the fun!
      Mary Pollard

      Winners will be announced on 18 January. More

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      The Etties: The Above and Beyond Award

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      The Etties are simply our little bit of fun to round up the past twelve months. We’ve already announced (most of) the main awards for the shows themselves, but we also have a couple of fun awards for our reviewers. They are Best Review (shortlist to come soon) and The Above And Beyond Award.

      The Above and Beyond Award is just what it says, for those reviewers who went above and beyond in 2022 for a variety of reasons. The only real criteria for nomination is that they reviewed at least ten shows. We’ll tell you more about the main reason each has been nominated below.

      You can find out more about the Etties and all our other categories here.

      We’ll announce all our winners on 18 January.

      Dave Bushe

      Nominated for being a one-man reviewing machine.

      Dave joined us in 2022, and within a few weeks we had already realised he was quite the theatre addict. In fact he has proven to be a bit of a one-man reviewing machine. In 2022 he squeezed in a quite frankly crazy 70 reviews, and it’s already looking like that will be drawfed in 2023.

      In addition to reviewing, Dave’s also been a great help in working on our website and some interviews, which frees up more time for us to edit all those damn reviews.

      Lily Middleton

      Nominated for fighting the corner of Musical Theatre.

      As well as contributing a fantastic 27 reviews this year, Lily really is one of our musical experts. For certain people who will remain nameless within ET (you know who you are), musical theatre is a swear word. But Lily stands her ground and puts up with all the abuse she receives everytime she gets a little too excited about her next musical outing and going out of her way to stick up for them. She even braved the Excel Centre and thousands of other musical fans to check our Musical Con for us in October!

      In addition to this, Lily is now our Head of Recruitment, taking on the fun role of onboarding all our new recruits. So if you happen to want to apply to be a reviewer with us (you can do so here), you’ll soon be hearing from Lily.

      Marianna Meloni

      Nominated for making Edinburgh happen year after year.

      Marianna brings some Italian flair to ET. Ok, she may not have been around in London to do any reviews this year, but when it came to Edinburgh, she was right there again. It was due to Marianna we started doing our Edinburgh coverage a few years back and she has returned every year since. Spending three weeks there balancing work and fun, somehow finding the time to review 26 shows. We could share some stories of the weird and wild emails she was sending us by the end of the month when the madness started to creep in, but instead we’ll just say that without her we wouldn’t have managed to get others up to Edinburgh this year, which lead to us publishing an incredible 84 reviews, our best ever Fringe coverage.

      Mary Pollard

      Nominated for her editing prowess and for braving the worse show of the year.

      First things first. Without Mary’s increcible contribution this year in editing around 80% of all our 543 reviews (our best year ever), we aren’t sure how we would have survived. Yet somehow inbetween all her editing duties, she also managed to review 58 shows, many of which were spent supporting Theatre for Young Audiences.

      But beyond all that, Mary deserves her nomination simply for braving what was very clearly the worse theatre experience of the year, The Queen of Ocean, all three and a half hours of it!

      Mike Carter

      Nominated for consistently making us smile with his reviews.

      Mike’s been with ET for a while now, and we’re so glad he stays. He consistently produces some wonderful and fun reviews as well as doing his best to encourage us all to go along to The Space, where he may or may not have a slight vested interest.

      Nathan Blue

      Nominated for services to keeping the mystery alive.

      We call Nathan our man of mystery, because no one actually knows who he really is. But what we do know is that he can write a brilliant review, so the 13 he has contributed this year have all been treats. We’re not sure anyone else could slip the phrase “comfort wank” into a review so casually.

      Zoe Pfaller

      Nominated for getting into the real spirit of the Rocky Horror Show.

      When we were invited to review The Rocky Horror Show, Zoe was overjoyed to be the lucky one set to go. We jokingly told her she could only go if she dressed up for the occasion, and wow, she didn’t fail us on that front, with the team at New Wimbledon Theatre even sending us a photo to prove she had gone full Rocky Horror for the evening! It was an effort that we really felt showed her commitment to the cause.

      Special Mentions

      We had 19 reviewers cover 10 or more shows this year, so a special mention as well to Anna Robinson, Matt Aldridge, Scott Wddell, Sara West, Dean Wood, Lucy Boardman, Charlotte Boreham, Kit Bromovsky, Gabriel Wilding, Xi Ye and M Jacob. More

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      The Etties: Best Regional Show

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      The Everything Theatre Fringe Theatre Awards, or Etties for short, are simply our fun round up of the past year. Previously, come the end of the year we’ve asked our reviewers to pick some highlights which we would publish as a round up of the best of the year. But in 2022 we decided we should do things a little differently. And that is the Etties.

      For our Regional Theatre category, the criteria was simple; a show anywhere outside of London, but excluding Edinburgh. We’ve been trying to expand our coverage outside of London, although we didn’t do as well as we’d hoped in 2022. However we did see enough great shows to more than justify an award for them.

      We’re always looking for reviewers around the country, so if you want to help us in 2023 to see more, and never know, maybe help us with next year’s award for shows outside London, then get in touch.

      We’ll be announcing the winners of all our awards on our Runn Radio show on 18 January.

      Cherry Jezebel

      Photo Credit @ Marc Brenner

      Everyman Playhouse, Liverpool – March 2022

      The atmosphere flowed with the feelgood factor and applause. Glitter confetti rained from the ceiling while colourful lights illuminated the room, with an audience unanimously on its feet, suggesting a night with Cherry Jezebel is not to be missed. 
      Ezzy LaBelle

      Wonder Boy

      Photo credit @ Steve Tanner

      Bristol Old Vic – March 2022

      Shakespeare’s words, ‘Answer me. Stand and unfold yourself’, take on a new significance here, as Wonder Boy gradually sees Sonny speak up and unfold himself, his trauma and his relationships, to the audience. We are privileged to watch his unfolding and his liberation.
      Polly Allen

      The Taxidermist’s Daughter

      Photo credit @ Ellie Kurttz

      Chichester Festival Theatre – April 2022

      The production neatly treads the line between suggestive and visible gore. Though some viewers might find later scenes a bit much, I felt it was tastefully done; to be fair, you can’t expect a play about taxidermy and trauma to be completely sanitised.
      Polly Allen

      Dog/ Actor

      Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool – May 2022

      Smith seamlessly become a range of different characters, differentiated through his movements, expressions and voice. The live transformations he makes are an acting masterclass.
      Ezzy LaBelle

      Sleeping Lions

      Hanger Farm, Totton – September 2022

      The closing image is one that will stay with audiences as they leave, both visually and emotionally. With what is revealed, we can’t help but try to examine the clues that were dropped along the way, and be impressed with the cleverness with which they were curated.
      Anna Robinson

      The winner will be announced on 18 January More

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      The Etties: Best Immersive Experience

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      The Everything Theatre Fringe Theatre Awards, or Etties for short, are simply our fun round up of the past year. Previously, come the end of the year we’ve asked our reviewers to pick some highlights which we would publish as a round up of the best of the year. But in 2022 we decided we should do things a little differently. And that is the Etties.

      Obviously we don’t have a team of assessors to go and watch every show, so we aren’t going to pretend these are anything more than a fun way to highlight some of the shows our team have loved in the past year. The shortlists have been put together by looking back at our 4- and 5-star reviews, and then discussing within the team which feel are the very best of the bunch. It’s not the most scientific approach but what awards ever are?

      We aim to publish all our shortlists during the w/c 2 January, and then we’ll be announcing the winners on Wednesday 18 January.

      Viper Squad

      CoLab Tavern – February 2022

      If you’re prepared to roll your sleeves up to the elbows, barge in with your padded shoulder pads and join in the excitement then you’ll have a great time. 
      Steve Caplin

      One NIght Records

      London Bridge Vaults – February 2022

      Set under the tunnels of London Bridge, One Night Records presents its fusion of immersive, theatrical fantasy producing, quite frankly, a feast of sumptuous singing and tremendous talent.
      Steve Caplin

      The West

      Co Lab Factory – August 2022

      Having now visited The West twice, I have still not experienced it all. I have helped to rebuild the town, have found clues and solved riddles. I’ve been a deputy, caught bandits, interrogated nefarious characters in a cell and – of course – I’ve relied on my trusty six shooter for a full-on gunfight.
      Dave Bushe

      Stranger Sings

      The Vaults – October 2022

      I’m holding back slightly on the star rating as the Duffer brothers have done a bit of the leg work here, but my daughter was in a five stars Hawkins heaven. 
      Simone Green

      Trainspotting Live

      Riverside Studios – October 2022

      It’s probably the most full on, offensive and challenging production you will ever attend. But it is magnificent and it is timely.
      Mary Pollard

      Peter Pan’s Labyrinth

      Photo credit @ Alex Brenner

      The Vaults – November 2022

      It’s a clever combination of classic stories, brilliantly executed with perfect comic timing by a highly talented ensemble. And they are clearly having so much fun. You can’t help but join in.
      Mary Pollard

      Winner to be announced 18 January. More