David Greig's THE EVENTS Wins Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award

The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation has announced 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 23 at 10:45 AM BST (5:45 AM EST).

This year, The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award goes THE EVENTS by David Greig.

THE EVENTS is David Greig's daring new play that asks how far forgiveness will stretch in the face of atrocity. Featuring local choirs and soaring voices, THE EVENTS tells of tragedy, obsession and our futile desire to fathom the unfathomable.

"THE EVENTS by David Greig searches for the motives behind a mass shooting of a local multi cultural choir. The presence of the ghostly singers and their glorious voices onstage contrast with the inexplicable act that decimated their ranks," says Carol Tambor. "Once again, Mr. Greig's breadth of understanding and talent shine through, creating a memorable play of great beauty and wit as well as despair."

Writing in The Scotsman, Joyce McMillan called the play "a serious, beautiful, and sometimes oddly humorous play about how we respond, in a modern liberal world, when we are confronted with an act of such evil." The Guardian said it was "quiet, compassionate and restrained." The BBC called it "thought-provoking and moving."

THE EVENTS will come to New York, dates and venue to be determined, in a co-production with The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh foundation.

To be eligible for The Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the show must be an original work, never seen in New York City, and have received a 4-star or 5-star review from The Scotsman, Scotland's foremost daily newspaper.

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 10th 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". This showcase resulted in both shows being picked up for productions in the US and Canada.

In 2005, The Carol Tambor Theatrical Foundation presented the critically acclaimed NYC premiere of Andrew Dawson's "unbearably beautiful" (NY Times) "Absence and Presence".

The 2006 winner, Michael Redhill's "Goodness", which deals with understanding and forgiveness, performed in Rwanda in 2009 as part of the 15th anniversary commemoration of the genocide there.

2007's winner "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," a surreal satire that used animation and live performance to tell 10 startling and funny tales, was the recipient of two Drama Desk nominations and toured around the world for two years. Their second work, "The Animals and The Children Took To the Streets," has received wide acclaim in the UK and Australia, played at Spoleto USA 2012 and The National Theatre in London.

The 2008 winner "Eight" returned to the US after its NY premiere, to the Ringling Festival in Sarasota Florida-curated by Mikhail Baryshnikov then ran in Washington, DC and again in London. Playwright Ella Hickson's second play "Precious Little Talent" performed in the West End to much success, with the UK critics calling her "the voice of her generation." Her latest, "Boys", opened in May 2012 on London's West End.

Guna Nua's production of Elaine Murphy's "Little Gem," the 2009 winner, had a sold-out London run, and toured the UK, Ireland and Australia. It recently returned to Dublin where it played at the 1150 seat Olympia Theatre. Elaine's second play "Sush" recently completed a run at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin.

Pants on Fire's spectacular retelling of Ovid's "Metamorphosis" was the 2010 winner. They returned to the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe for an encore performance. This year, they returned to the Fringe with their second devised piece, based on Pinocchio.

In 2012, the Foundation presented the US premiere of the gravity defying "LEO," by German company Circle of Eleven. "LEO" has since toured to Montreal, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Iran and the Spoleto Festival in the US. It is currently enjoying a sold-out return engagement to this year's Edinburgh Fringe before it tours the US mid-west, Hong Kong, and another 3 months in Australia and New Zealand. It is back at the Fringe again this year and selling out for the third year in a row.

Last year's award was shared between MIES JULIE, a searing adaptation of Strindberg's Miss Julie set during South African aparthaid, and David Grieg's delightful romp through Edinburgh in his play with music, MIDSUMMER. MIES JULIE had a New York bow already on its schedule, so MIDSUMMER, the 2009 Edinburgh Festival favorite, was able to finally make the trip.

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. The 2012 Festival sold more than 1.8 million tickets during its 3 weeks, the ninth consecutive year the Fringe sailed past the one million-ticket barrier. 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.

Photo by: Greg Macvean