Finborough Theatre Wins Fringe Theatre of the Year

The Finborough Theatre has been awarded The Stage 100's Fringe Theatre of the Year award in the inaugural Stage 100 Awards, recognising outstanding achievement in UK theatre, launched this year by the UK theatre industry's weekly newspaper.

The award is the fourth to be given to the Finborough Theatre in the last few months, together with London Theatre Reviews' the Empty Space Peter Brook Award, and a Writers' Guild New Writing Encouragement Award for Artistic Director Neil McPherson; while the Finborough Theatre's Pearson Playwright-in-Residence Anders Lustgarten won the Catherine Johnson Award for Best Play from The Pearson Playwrights' Scheme.

Five categories were awarded by a judging panel of industry experts. The judges - Brian Attwood, AK Bennett Hunter, Susan Elkin, Mark Shenton, Aleks Sierz and Alistair Smith said:

"This year, the Finborough Theatre near Earl's Court in west London marked its 30th anniversary with a season boasting 44 premieres of new plays and musicals. This would be a staggering achievement for a well-funded subsidised rep, but for a diminutive fringe venue above a bar, it is nothing short of staggering. New writing highlights have included James Graham's The Man, Anders Lustgarten's Day at the Racists and Peter Nichols' Lingua Franca (which went on to transfer to New York), while it also manages to attract a little star power onto its stage with Janet Suzman appearing in Dream of the Dog earlier in the year, which went on to secure a transfer to the Trafalgar Studios. And it isn't just new work that Finborough has helped to discover, with a season unearthing lost classics from the likes of Graham Greene, Walter Greenwood and Ronald Gow, alongside Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair (another Trafalgar Studios transfer). It is really quite remarkable what this theatre achieves on a shoe-string and without state support. Ongoing problems with the bar below appear to be sorted with the opening of the new Finborough Wine Cafe and there's even talk of air conditioning being installed. Hurrah."

The Finborough Theatre will be presented with its award at The Stage's New Year Party at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in January.

The prizes, launched this year and to be held on an annual basis, are run in conjunction with The Stage 100 - the paper's yearly analysis of the most influential movers and shakers in the industry. However, while The Stage 100 recognises the achievements of individuals, The Stage 100 Awards recognises performing arts organisations and the teams behind them.
www.thestage.co.uk

Photo Credit: Matthew Turner