And the winners are…

After an incredibly tough decision process, the judges have decided. Here are the winners of tonight’s ABSOLUT Fringe Awards 2011.

Fishamble New Writing Award
Winner: The Flamboyant Bird
Nominees:

You Can’t Just Leave – There’s Always Something by Dan Colley, James Hickson, Louise Melinn & Mairin O’Grady
Luca & the Sunshine by Nick Lee
The Flamboyant Bird by Damian Kearney
The Year of Magical Wanking by Neil Watkins
In My Bed by Veronica Dyas

Bewley’s Café Theatre ‘Little Gem’ Award
Winner: Pocket Music
Nominees:

The Wheelchair On My Face: A look back at a myopic childhood (Sonya Kelly/Show in a Bag)
Luca & the Sunshine (donjuandemonaghan)
The Yellow Wallpaper (Then This Theatre)
Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About (Kalle Ryan, Stephen James Smith & Colm Keegan)
Pocket Music (Donncha O’Dea & Camille Ross/Show in a Bag)

Spirit of the Fringe Commissioning Award
Winner: FOLLOW
Nominees:

Eternal rising of the Sun (HotForTheatre)
FOLLOW (WillFredd Theatre)
You Can’t Just Leave – There’s Always Something (Spilt Gin)
Criminal Queers (Maurice Joseph Kelliher)
Seekers (50% Male Experimental Theatre)

Best Female Performer
Winner: Amy Conroy
Nominees:

Amy Conroy (in HotForTheatre’s Eternal rising of the Sun)
Liv O’Donoghue (in junk ensemble’s Bird with boy)
Lauren Larkin (in THEATREclub’s Twenty Ten)
Stefanie Preissner (in With An ‘F’ Productions’ Our Father)

Best Male Performer
Winner: Tim Watts
Nominees:

Paul Reid (in The Corn Exchange’s Man of Valour)
Shane O’Reilly (in WillFredd Theatre’s FOLLOW)
Tim Watts (in Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon Productions’ The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer)
Neil Watkins (in THISISPOPBABY’s The Year of Magical Wanking)

Best Design
Winner: Man of Valour
Nominees:

Man of Valour (The Corn Exchange) – for set and lighting design by Aedín Cosgrove, music and sound design by Denis Clohessy and video design by Jack Phelan.
Autobiographer (Melanie Wilson) – for sound design by Melanie Wilson, lighting design by Ben Pacey and set design by Peter Arnold.
Jumping Off The Earth (Rough Magic SEEDS) – for set design by Aedín Cosgrove.
Bird with boy (junk ensemble) – for visual design by David Fagan and Valerie Reid, music and sound design by Tom Lane and Bryan O’Connell, and costume design by Emma Downey.
FOLLOW (WillFredd Theatre) – for lighting by Sarah Jane Shiels and music and sound design by Jack Cawley.

ABSOLUT Award for Best Off-Site Production
Winner: Fergal McCarthy, No Man’s Land
Nominees:

In My Bed (Veronica Dyas)
Body Electric (The Collective Theatre Company/Revolting Bodies Theatre Company)
No Man’s Land (Fergal McCarthy)
You Can’t Just Leave – There’s Always Something (Spilt Gin)

Best Production
Winner: Bird With Boy
Nominees:

Bird with boy (junk ensemble)
FOLLOW (WillFredd Theatre)
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer (Tim Watts, presented by Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon Productions)
Man of Valour (The Corn Exchange)
Body Electric (The Collective Theatre Company/Revolting Bodies Theatre Company)