SpaceUK put on shows 19 theatres in 6 venues.
The company held a press preview on the first Friday following which there was a bit of a stir as there was a power cut in several areas of the city centre. This did nothing to daunt the 3,569 artists from more than 40 countries performing in 453 shows during the month.
Audiences of around 8,300 were recorded and at every show there was an average of about 61% of seats filled. a third consecutive Fringe First for Xhloe and Natasha, who were part of theSpaceUK’s artists development programmewith their brand new show, A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First. The duo was also awarded the prestigious Broadway Baby Bobby Award and were shortlisted for the Holden Street Theatre Award, The Brighton Fringe Excellence Award and the Fringe Encore Series Award.
Artists at two shows at theSpaceUK won critical acclaim and picked up Theatre Scotland’s coveted awards. Alexander Tait for Kev Campbell Was He, and Fraser Allan Hogg and Lorna Panton for Shotgunned won the Bright Spark award, which is given to Scottish actors or theatre-makers just embarking on their careers. A further three shows were shortlisted for Theatre Scotland’s award, including Lads of the Flies, Man of War: The Secret Life of Nadezhda Durova,and The Shadow Boxer.
Parky Players, a theatre group for people with Parkinson’s, also celebrated after their show, Shaken Not Stirred, picked up the Garry Robson Memorial Award at the Neurodiverse Review Awards, which aims to recognise disabled and neurodiverse acts at the Fringe. Black Bright Theatre company was also celebrating after its new folk horror about the female experience, Birdwatching, won the Edinburgh Horror Festival Spookies award for Best New Writing and was runners-up in the Best Stage Play and Best Poster Design categories.
Speakbeast, a queer/trans-led theatre company, picked up the Binge Fringe Queer Performer’s Award for The Freemartin. The award honours the commitment of performers to furthering LGBTQIA+ representation. Trawled (Eoin Ryna) was nominated for the BBC Popcorn writing award.
Charles Pamment, Artistic Director of theSpaceUK said: “What a year, we are so very proud to have been able to host another fabulous festival at theSpaceUK. Our locations have hosted record numbers with 198,000 audience members attending shows.
Our unrivalled new writing programme boasts a long line of 5 star reviews and not to mention an array of top awards for our shows, from Fringe First, Best of Scottish Theatre to the iconic Bobbly Awards and award debutantes the Queeries @ Bringe Fringe. We also broke producing records with Xhloe and Natasha winning yet another fringe first to add to their Fringe First awards in 2022 and 2023!!
We celebrate with all our shows and now look forward to planning our 2025 festival and curating a programme to match that of this year!”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
