The Wee Review started reviewing at the Fringe in 2010, covering just seven shows. Last year, we got round nearly 400. And this year, with the site newly redesigned, we hope to do as many, if not more.
So now that we’re all grown up and that, we felt it was time The Wee Review joined the ranks of Fringe gong-givers, not only dispensing our ratings willy-nilly all over the place, but also capping it all off at the close of the Fringe by bestowing titles upon shows. As if the Fringe needed any more awards…
Actually, we did feel the Fringe could use some extra awards. Among all the Best This and Best That and Most Something-or-other, we felt there were some shows worthy of recognition that fell through the cracks come laurel bequeathing time. As Fringe-goers, we never just seek out the best. Sometimes we also want to see the significant, the different, the inexplicable. With that in mind, we introduce the three inaugural The Wee Review awards…
Fringe Zeitgeist Award
As well as all the fun, the Fringe is a place to discuss the big issues of our times. A few years ago, it was feminism that was making all the waves at the Fringe. Then it was the independence referendum. This year, take your pick. There is no shortage of post-Brexit, pre-Trump, inter-Recession angst to mine. Hence, The Wee Review Award number one…
The Fringe Zeitgeist Award will be given to the show that, in the eyes of our team, best captures the social and political issues of the day.
Fringe Groundbreaker Award
There is a moment in every Fringe where you see something you’ve genuinely never seen before. It might be something that pushes the artform in a new direction, it might be a feat that defies explanation, or it might just be something that stretches the boundaries of taste beyond the reaches of polite society. Hence The Wee Review Award number two…
The Fringe Groundbreaker Award will be given to the show that, in the eyes of our team, advances perception of what is possible in a performance.
Fringe Experience Award
You know the show. It’s the one where you’re not really sure what just happened, but you know you are going to be telling the story about it for weeks, months, even years. It’s the show that lets you know you’ve had a Fringe. Hence The Wee Review Award number three…
The Fringe Experience Award will be given to the show that, in the eyes of our team, provides the most memorable and extraordinary experience at the Fringe, be it good, bad or plain strange.
There will be a shortlist for three announced for each award, with the winner of each announced on the final weekend of the Fringe. There will be no trophy, no gala ceremony. We are all unpaid reviewers, meaning there’s no budget to spend on frippery. But there will be massive kudos, warm feelings, and maybe even some sort of cack-handed back-slapping exercise at the The Wee Review end of Fringe drinks.
If you are in a show you think worthy of consideration for an award, or you’re a member of the public who’s seen something worthy, then please e-mail or tweet the editor on robert@tvbomb.co.uk or @peaky76, and we will do our best to add it to our long list. We will never get round everything, but will do our utmost to consider everything we can.
Here’s to Fringe 2016!