The 2015 Fringe World Festival has come to a close, marking five weeks of cultural mayhem throughout the city.
To close the festival, Fringe World celebrated its best acts in an awards ceremony at the Budgie Smuggler last night, honouring performers, venues and shows from Perth and around the world.
Over 2,600 artists participated in the Fringe World festival, over 70% of which were West Australian.
Fringe World Director Amber Hasler spoke highly of the prevalence of local work in the festival.
“The Festival showcased the immense talent of our Westralian artists, as well as some of the best from around the world. We’re so happy that Perth audiences took a punt and embraced the diverse range of shows on offer throughout the Festival, and we’re overjoyed to have introduced the wonderful world of Fringe to thousands of new audiences, along with welcoming back our Fringe Fans who’ve been with us from the start.” she said at the ceremony last night.”
Variety show ‘La Soiree’ took out the Cabaret Award, and will extend its season for two weeks until March 7th. The Best West Australian Cabaret Award was awarded jointly to ‘Speak Easy’ and ‘An Old Fashioned Affair’.
The Childrens’ Event Award was given jointly to ‘Lords of Strut: The Family Show’ and ‘The Bookbinder’, with ‘The Greatest Childrens’ Story Ever Written’ named the WA winner.
The Circus Award was given to ‘Fright or Flight’, with the WA Circus Award given to overall second runner up ‘Elements’.
Trygve Wakenshaw took the overall Comedy Award for his show ‘KRAKEN’, with local favourite ‘Pirate Church’ named the WA winner.
The coveted Dance Award was given to Carmen Choreodrama, with ‘Every/Nowhere’ named the WA winner. The Visual Arts winner was WA project ‘Mate’.
The category for WA Emerging Artist was hotly contended for this year given the prevalence of local artists. Three performers were jointly given the award: Mikaela Westall for ‘Moving On Inc.’, Clarence Ryan for ‘Metalhead’, and Felicity McKay for her role in The Black Swan Theatre Company’s production of ‘Venus in Furs’.
‘FAG/STAG’, the tale a gay man and straight man’s friendship in the wake of a break up was awarded the Melbourne Tour Ready Award. Creators and performers Chris Isaacs and Jeffrey Jay Fowler of The Last Great Hunt will be given the opportunity to perform the show at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Tim Watts, also a member of The Last Great Hunt was awarded the Martin Sims Award for ‘Monroe and Associates’, a unique one-on-one performance that took place in a caravan outside The Blue Room Theatre. The Martin Sims award recognizes the best local work and awards its recipient $10,000 and touring opportunities at other fringe festivals through the World Fringe Alliance.
UK theatre maker Bryony Kimmings emerged with great acclaim, having been awarded Best Theatre for ‘Fake It Till You Make It’, her collaboration with partner Tim Grayburn, as well as The West Australian Arts Editor Award for her one woman show, ‘Sex Idiot’. The WA winner of the The West Australian Arts Editor Award is ‘In the Shadow of Venus’.
Local theatre maker Joe Lui was awarded The Spirit of the Fringe. The Blue Room Summer Nights once again took the award for Best Independent Program, followed by Connections Nightclub as first runner up.
Best Independent Venue was jointly awarded to Sunset Verandah and Noodle Palace. A full list of the winners and nominees can be found at the Fringe World website.
