Fringe Festival Announces Award Winners And Celebrates The End Of Its 2022 Festival Programme Under ‘Red Light’ Setting

Pōneke, NZ –– The New Zealand Fringe Festival completed its 2022 programme last night with an online digital awards ceremony celebrating the outstanding efforts and achievements of the boldest and brightest artists during the festival under ‘Red Light’. Proudly celebrating its unique position as one of the only national arts festivals to deliver a majority of its live programme this Summer, the festival wrapped it’s three week run showcasing 321 live performances across 30 venues as well as 28 digital shows as part of the 2022 programme for audiences to enjoy.

Festival Director Vanessa Stacey says “In another unprecedented year for the arts and the New Zealand Fringe Festival, I couldn't possibly be prouder of all of the remarkably hard-fought mahi and endless aroha from our passionate festival team, all of our outstanding venues, each and every incredibly talented, tenacious artist, and all of our front of house and volunteers, who participate in the safe delivery of this 2022 season of NZ Fringe. We are so delighted, that against all odds, we were still able to have put nearly $180,000 back into the pockets of our Fringe artists thanks to box office profit, funding and donations support. Last night’s online awards were a chance for us to come together safely and celebrate this community, the artists and their cutting-edge, innovative new works, while also honouring all of those works that are yet to come. It was a joyful way to end what can only be described as an incredible season.”

The digital awards ceremony were hosted online via social media channels and saw the eighteen coveted awards presented in tandem with shoutout videos from festival partners, sponsors and even a camp video skit submission from His Worship, Mayor Andy Foster.

Fringe award highlights included the Most Promising Emerging Artist and Most Promising Emerging Company awards. This year these accolades were presented to Viki Moananu for their haunting work at BATS Theatre, The Ghost Show (Most Promising Pacifika Artist). Jacob Banks also took out an Emerging Artist award for their outstanding projection and lighting design across the shows WendyBird, Music Sounds Better Out Here and the outrageously messy production Milk of the Gods. Ghostlight Productions took out the award for Most Promising Emerging Company for their dazzling debut of their all singing, all dancing takatapui drag girl group The Tiwhas which premiered at both BATS Theatre and the newly created Roxy Live stage at The Roxy Cinema.

Unique to the Fringe Festival, the award for Most Innovative Work was awarded to Band Sensations with Stanley Manthyng, Scenic Album Tour at Sea, a show staged on the water itself. And the award for Spectacular Organised Chaos was given to Raw, ASMR! A new performance art piece that saw a fruit and vegetable mukbang haul converted into a satirical and sensory tingling art and endurance piece.

The Australian Fringe Tour Partnership awards for Melbourne Fringe, Sydney Fringe, and Adelaide Fringe were awarded to the three following groundbreaking works respectively: Loops by circus theatre Company Hireath, ScatterGun by the celebrated artist Ana Chaya Scotney and Gag Reflex by newcomer, but no stranger to danger, Rachel Atlas.

To complete the ceremony, the award for Best in Fringe, supported by his worship, Mayor Andy Foster was awarded to the daredevil, solo-show destigmatising sex work, all while performing death defying acts such as knife throwing, stunts with fire and even live sword swallowing, Gag Reflex by Rachel Atlas, directed by Sabrina Martin and produced by the cabaret and drag powerhouse, George Fowler/ Hugo Grrrl.

The 2022 New Zealand Fringe Festival stood defiantly against the challenges of covid-19 this year and proudly supported the staging of over 300 live performances with $180,000 of box-office, funding and donation profit and support going directly into artists pockets amidst capacity restrictions. The Birthplace of Brilliance, New Zealand Fringe Festival has now completed it’s three week long 2022 season in the creative capital and looks forward to supporting the demand and victory laps of return seasons and postponed debuts of this year's Fringe festival shows.

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