The Scotsman Fringe First Awards, often called the Fringe Firsts, are theatre awards presented by The Scotsman for new writing premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Established in 1973, the awards are presented in several rounds across the festival rather than as a single annual prize.
History The Fringe First Awards were introduced in 1973 to encourage and recognise new writing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The awards were created in response to concern that new plays formed only a small part of the Fringe programme. Owen Dudley Edwards states that 45 new plays were presented at the 1972 Fringe, and that the Fringe Board arranged for The Scotsman to offer awards for new work from 1973.
Allen Wright (journalist), arts editor of The Scotsman and closely associated with the awards, later described new work as central to the character of the Fringe, but difficult to sell because of its uncertainty. Writing in 1987, he stated that the number of new plays at the Fringe had increased from 45 in 1972 to 138 in 1977, and that in some later years more than 300 productions were eligible for Fringe Firsts.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society's retrospective material also dates the awards to 1973 and credits Wright with establishing them for original works of theatre.
Format and eligibility The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society describes the Fringe First Awards as awards for new writing, judged by critics from The Scotsman. The awards are presented weekly during the Fringe, and productions cannot be entered directly.
Current eligibility rules require a production to be new, premiered in Edinburgh, and staged for at least eight days. Eligible works must contain drama, with a significant element of narrative or character exploration. Abstract dance and movement-based work is not eligible.
Criticism and scope The awards' focus on new writing has been criticised by practitioners of physical and visual theatre. Total Theatre Magazine described a 1988 dispute in which mime companies challenged their exclusion from Fringe First eligibility. According to the magazine, Wright replied that "the encouragement of new writing remained our principal objective".
Writing in Critical Stages in 2024, Dermot Daly argued that the awards reflected the choices and biases of reviewers. He noted that a production first had to interest one Scotsman critic before being seen by two further critics and discussed for a possible award.
Sponsorship
In 2024 the awards were jointly sponsored by Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University. In 2025 they were sponsored by Queen Margaret University and Stagecoach.
Winners by year
2015
+ Work Writer(s) Company The Christians Gate Theatre A Gambler's Guide to Dying Gary McNair Going Viral Daniel Bye Dan Bye The History of the World Through Banalities Kopergietery Jennifer Tremblay Trilogy Part III – The Deliverance Stellar Quines Theatre Company Swallow Traverse Theatre Company Underneath Fishamble Citizen Puppet Blind Summit Theatre The Great Downhill Journey of Little Tommy Theater aan Zee & Richard Jordan Labels Joe Sellman-Leava Worklight Theatre Light Boxes Grid Iron Raz Assembly Festival and Riverside Studios Tar Baby Desiree Burch and Platt Productions Trans Scripts Paul Lucas Productions A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing Corn Exchange, Dublin Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour NTS & Live Theatre, Newcastle Penny Arcade: Longing Lasts Longer Penny Arcade A Reason to Talk KunstZ, Big in Belgium and Richard Jordan What I Learned from Johnny Bevan Luke Wright
2016
+ Work Writer(s) Company Angel Henry Naylor Pipeline Productions Counting Sheep Lemon Bucket Orkestra in association with Aurora Nova Expensive Shit Adura Onashile Scottish Theatre Producers in association with Traverse Theatre Heads Up Kieran Hurley with Show And Tell The Interference Pepperdine University (USA) World Without Us Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit, Richard Jordan Productions, Summerhall Daffodils (A Play With Songs) Bullet Heart Club Fabric Robin Rayner, TREMers & The Marlowe Theatre Faslane Jenna Watt in association with Showroom and Contact Mark Thomas: The Red Shed Lakin McCarthy in association with West Yorkshire Playhouse Tank Breach Two Man Show RashDash Us / Them BRONKS, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan, Theatre Royal Plymouth One Hundred Homes Yinka Kuitenbrouwer, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan, Theatre Royal Plymouth Letters to Windsor House Sh!t Theatre with Show and Tell JOAN Milk Presents, in association with Derby Theatre and Underbelly Untapped Growth Paines Plough The Duke Hoipolloi, PBJ Management, Theatre Royal Plymouth with Save The Children Scorch Prime Cut Productions 2017
+ Work Writer(s) Company Nassim Bush Theatre Flesh and Bone Unpolished Theatre Letters to Morrissey Traverse Theatre in association with Tron Theatre Enterprise Americana Absurdum Productions The Believers Are But Brothers Javaad Alipoor Javaad Alipoor A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) Silent Uproar in association with LittleMighty The Shape of the Pain China Plate, Rachel Bagshaw and Chris Thorpe How to Act National Theatre of Scotland Borders Henry Naylor Gilded Balloon and RedBeard Theatre £¥€$ (LIES) Big in Belgium, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit, Richard Jordan Productions Adam National Theatre of Scotland Education, Education, Education The Wardrobe Ensemble Fag/Stag Underbelly and The Last Great Hunt Foreign Radical Theatre Conspiracy with Aurora Nova (More) Moira Monologues Kyle / Bissett Productions Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story 2b theatre company with Aurora Nova Stand By Utter 2018
+ Work Writer(s) Company Angry Alan Penelope Skinner Francesca Moody with Underbelly The Basement Tapes Stella Reid, Jane Yonge, Thomas Lambert and Oliver Morse Zanetti Productions Class Iseult Golden and David Horan Abbey Theatre, Dublin First Snow/Premiere Neige Davey Anderson, Philippe Ducros and Linda McLean National Theatre of Scotland, Theatre PÀP and Hotel-Motel Status Chris Thorpe Chris Thorpe, Rachel Chavkin, China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz Ulster American David Ireland (playwright) Traverse Theatre What Girls Are Made Of Cora Bissett Traverse Theatre Company and Raw Material with Regular Music Dressed Josie Dale-Jones, Lydia Higginson, Nobahar Mahdavi and Olivia Norris This Egg, MadeMyWardrobe, Untapped Underbelly and New Diorama DUPed John McCann Ambergris Mark Thomas – Check Up: Our NHS at 70 Mark Thomas Lakin McCarthy My Left Right Foot – The Musical Robert Softley Gale, Scott Gilmour, Claire McKenzie, and Richard Thomas Birds of Paradise and the National Theatre of Scotland On the Exhale Martin Zimmerman China Plate and Audible Square Go Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair Francesca Moody Underground Railroad Game Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard Soho Theatre and Ars Nova of New York Archive of Educated Hearts Casey Jay Andrews Lion House Theatre It's True It's True It's True Breach Theatre Breach Theatre, Untapped by Underbelly and New Diorama Power Play: Funeral Flowers Emma Dennis-Edwards Power Play Trojan Horse Helen Monks and Matt Woodhead Lung & West Yorkshire Playhouse Unsung Valentijn Dhaenens Skagen/KVS, Big In Belgium, Richard Jordan, TRP and Summerhall Valerie Robin Kelly, Cherie Moore and Tom Broome Last Tapes Theatre Co 2019
+ Work Writer(s) Company Arthur Daniel Bye Daniel Bye, One Tenth Human, and ARC, Stockton Enough Stef Smith (playwright) Traverse Theatre How Not to Drown Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrati ThickSkin with Traverse Theatre, Tron Theatre and Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield Mustard Eva O'Connor Eva O'Connor Raven Still Hungry Collective (Berlin) Chamaleon Theatre and Aurora Nova Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Teheran Javaad Alipoor Javaad Alipoor and HOME Manchester in association with Traverse Theatre Are We Not Drawn Onward To New Era Ontroerend Goed Ontroerend Goed, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Vooruit and Richard Jordan Productions in association with Zoo Bobby & Amy Emily Jenkins Emma Blackman Productions and Emily Jenkins Everything I See I Swallow Mary Taylor and Tamsin Shasha Shasha and Taylor Productions Lipsync Kirsty Young with Jenna Watt Cumbernauld Theatre The Patient Gloria Gina Moxley Gina Moxley and Abbey Theatre with Pan Pan Theatre Company Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum with Expats Sh!t Theatre Soho Theatre in association with Show and Tell Subject Mater Nadia Cavalera Woven Voices Until the Flood Dael Orlandersmith Arcola Theatre Production Company The Afflicted Jake Jeppson and Groupwork Groupwork Baby Reindeer Richard Gadd Francesca Moody Productions The Desk Reetta Honkakoski Reetta Honkakoski Company in association with Start To Finnish Dispatches on the Red Dress Rowan Rheingans Rowan Rheingans E8 Marika McKennell The North Wall, Oxford in association with the Pleasance 2020
The 2020 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no Fringe First awards were presented. 2022
+ Work Writer(s) Company Happy Meal Tabby Lamb Breathless Laura Horton And Then The Rodeo Burned Down Chloe Rice and Natasha Roland The Beatles Were a Boyband Rachel O'Regan Masterclass Feidlim Cannon, Gary Keegan & Adrienne Truscott Brokentalkers The Last Return Sonya Kelly Druid Ode To Joy James Ley You're Safe Til 2024: Deep History David Finnigan Brown Boys Swim Karim Khan Manic Street Creature Maimuna Memon Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel Tim Crouch Aberdeen Cassie Workman Age Is A Feeling Haley McGee Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen Marcelo Dos Santos This Is Memorial Device Graham Eatough Silkworm Vlad Butucea Pearlfisher This Is Not A Show About Hong Kong Max Percy 2023
+ Work Writer(s) Company Lorenzo Ben Target Strategic Love Play Miriam Battye Paines Plough Beasts (Why Girls Shouldn't Fear the Dark) Mandi Chivasa The Insider Anna Skov Jensen Teater Katapult What If They Ate the Baby? Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland Gunter Dirty Hare Dirty Hare Club Life Fred Deakin Davie Miller / Fred Deakin Blue June Carryl The Last of the Soviets Spitfire Spitfire Choo Choo! StammerMouth StammerMouth Everything Under the Sun Jack MacGregorO'NeillRoss for Army at the Fringe Square Peg Simeon Morris The Grand Old Opera House Hotel Isobel McArthur Traverse Theatre Heaven Eugene O'Brien Fishamble England and Son Ed Edwards and Mark Thomas Mark Thomas Funeral Ontroerend Goed Ontroerend Goed JM Coetzee's Life and Times of Michael K Lara Foot (adapted from J. M. Coetzee) Baxter Theatre A Funeral for My Friend Who Is Still Alive Kasen Tsui Kasen Tsui x Cathy Lam 2024
+ Work Writer(s) Company Batshit Leah Shelton The Border Studio Wachowicz-Fret Studio Wachowicz-Fret Cyrano Virginia Gay A History of Paper Oliver Emanuel and Gareth Williams Traverse Theatre June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music And Me Charlene Boyd So Young Douglas Maxwell Traverse Theatre VL Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair Francesca Moody Weather Girl Brian Watkins Son of a Bitch Anna Morris Mairi Campbell: Living Stone Mairi Campbell A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland Comala, Comala Pulpo Arts Pulpo Arts My Mother's Funeral: The Show Kelly Jones Paines Plough A Knock on the Roof Khawla Ibraheem Instructions Nathan Ellis Revenge: After the Levoyah Nick Cassenbaum A Little Inquest Into What We Are All Doing Here Josie Dale-Jones 2025