NEWS
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WEDNESDAY 31ST MAY 2006
Latest Festival Awards
The Festival ended in one final flourish as the Latest Awards descended upon the Spiegeltent on Monday in a flurry of star-studded splendour with a sprinkling of the glittery decadence that tends to circle the Spiegeltent like roving bees. All the stars and characters of the Festival and the Brighton Festival Fringe gathered to see who had won one of the seventeen prestigious awards.
Hosted by Brian Mitchell and Dave Mountfield (aka "The Cheeky Boys"), the occasionally-chaotic awards ceremony soon got into the swing of things, and amidst musical performances from Sam Brown, Chris Difford and Los Albertos, not to mention the cryptic and delicate mime-theatre of Gamajobat, the awards were presented by a host of Festival stars.
The Best Open House award went to Dragonfly House, whilst the Fringe picked up the Best Comedy award with The Ornate Johnsons. The Best Male Performer went to Tim Crouch from An Oak Tree, and Erin Parks won the Best Female Performer for her hit Fringe show, Bonnie in Brighton.
Due to, well, them being in Budapest, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra were unable to turn up in person(s) to collect their Best Classical Music Event award, whilst the Best Venue award certainly didn't have to travel far, with The Spiegeltent winning this prize. The Lost and Found Orchestra won the Best Musical Act, whilst the Best International Act award was shared between French pyrotechnic artistes Groupe F, and Japanese mime Fringe stars, Gamarjobat.
The Shoe Baby Puppet Theatre, another Fringe favourite, won the Best Children's Event, while the Star of the Festival went to Camille, definately a Fringe favourite (actually, the other two nominees for Star of the Festival are certainly also Fringe favourites, being Movin' Melvin Brown and our very own Holly Payton. If only they all could win!)
The Latest 7 award for Best Show ended up going to two shows, the Ten Thousand Several Doors at the Nightingale Theatre, and the Spiegeltent Fringe extravaganza, La Clique. The Theatre Truck down Hove Seafront won the Three Weeks Editors Award, whilst Julian Clary won the Best Literature / Workshop award.
The Marlborough Theatre took home the prestigious Fringe Favourite award (quite an achievement considering the large number of Fringe Favourites competing for the place), whilst, as previously reported, Finlay McInally won the Visual Arts Prize for his print; "Sit Yourself in a Quiet Cell" (see the next page of this news column for our interview with Finlay). Sam Brown won the Carousel Award for Best Songwriter, whilst the City Running Event and Exhibition took home the prize for Best Innovation in the Festival.
With a bit of luck, we should have some photographs from the awards ceremony by tomorrow, but until then, you'll have to imagine what it looked like.
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