Celebration of the weird, Auckland Fringe closes festival

The 2019 Auckland Fringe festival is thrilled to announce the winners of the Auckland Fringe Awards. The awards, held at Basement Theatre, closed the festival on Sunday night were a celebration of the two-week fest, which saw 52 venue spaces across Tāmaki Makaurau play host to over 90 unique events, performances and installations.

Audiences were lucky enough to experience a Russian protest art collective, bollard enthusiast, flamenco artists, a band creating an album in 12 hours, real life dress up dolls, silent discos, and plenty of theatre, dance, comedy, music, and everything else in between.

And the winners are:
Best Newcomer Awards
• Best Newcomer (Collective) - which includes free rehearsal space thanks to Studio One Toi Tu: I Am Rachel Chu
• Best Newcomer (Individual): Andrew Choate for Bollards and the Comedy of Hyperindustrialisation

Production Element Awards
• Best Sound Design: Hamerkop
• Best Costume: Desperate Late Night Energy
• Best Production Design: Boss of an Office & Movement of the Human

Best Performance Awards
• Best Performance (Ensemble): Movement of the Human
• Best Performance (Dance): Liana Yew (Movement of the Human)
• Best Performance (Music): Hamish Kilgour (Outsider Sounds)
• Best Performance (Theatre): Victoria Abbott (Run Rabbit)

Best in Category Awards
• Best Comedy: I Can Make You Irish!
• Best Contemporary Performance & Live Art: Boss of the Office
• Best Dance: Rosemary
• Best Music: Desperate Late Night Energy
• Best Spoken Word: Long Distance Phone Calls
• Best Theatre: Only Bones v1.0
• Best Visual Arts: Bub Club Film Archive

Auckland Fringe Community Awards
• Best “Off-Broadway” Venue: Selwyn Village
• Outstanding Community Engagement: Māui
• Intergenerational Award: The Stoat, The Kererū and the Karaka Berries
• Auckland Fringe Hero: goes to the incredible gutsy programming of Anders Falstie-Jensen for Fringe Town at large & Matthew Crawley for Outsider Sounds

Development Awards
• Auckland Live ‘Free Your Mind’ Award presented by Georgina Cervin
The winning Artist/Company of the ‘Free Your Mind’ Award will be given $1500 of cold hard cash to fuel a pitch for a project that they would like to put on at one of Auckland Live’s venues.

This award will also entitle its bearer to at least one complimentary flat white at the Box café, and a philosophical discussion about a topic of your choosing with our contemporary programmer, Anders Falstie-Jensen.
Winner: I Am Rachel Chu

• A new one for this year, the PANNZ Tour Ready Award which entitles the winner to a pitch slot in the 2020 PANNZ Arts Market, which includes a 3 day registration at the market.
Winner: Run Rabbit

• The Auckland Arts Festival Fringe Award recognises a truly excellent production in the 2019 Auckland Fringe, and awards the recipient $2,000 cash, as well as access to Auckland Arts Festival producing staff for mentorship and advice.
To present the Auckland Arts Festival Award, chosen by the team of Auckland Fringe judges, is Senior Programme Manager Steph Walker.
Winner: Vanessa Crofskey for Long Distance Phone Call

Overall Awards
• Unfuck the World (Social Impact Award). Previously won by Jane Doe and Drowning in Milk goes to: Pussy Riot

• A once off award for this year. Pussy Riot 2019 Award to perform as part of Pussies at the Pah - mini FemFest w PussyRiot & Friends on the 9th March, goes to: Long Distance Phone Calls’ Carrie Rudzinski
• Spirit of the Fringe: Hobson Street Theatre’s That’s What Friends Are For

• Best in Auckland Fringe: Only Bones v1.0

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