The Scotsman's Fringe First Awards – Everything You Need to Know

The Scotsman's prestigious Fringe Firsts are the longest running awards at the Edinburgh festivals, and are recognised all over the world. This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the awards, which were established in 1973.

The Fringe Firsts were designed to encourage performers to bring new work to Edinburgh in the spirit of adventure and experiment. Each year they recognise outstanding new writing premiered at the Fringe, and winners are decided by a panel consisting of several of the Scotsman's highly experienced team of critics. The awards are now presented in partnership with the University of Edinburgh.

The Fringe Firsts were the brainchild of Allen Wright, The Scotsman's first and longest-serving arts editor. Following the 1972 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, when only 45 new plays were premiered, the need to encourage more new work was raised at the Fringe Society's annual general meeting. Wright subsequently met the then-administrator of the Fringe, John Milligan, and the Fringe Firsts were launched in August 1973.

Wright took the awards very seriously, and supervised them personally until ill health forced his premature retirement in 1993. Any reviewer who saw a piece of work which they considered deserving of a Fringe First notified him immediately so it could be seen by a second and third critic, and then a discussion of its merits would ensue – a system that continues today, guided by The Scotsman's chief theatre critic, Joyce McMillan.

Maimuna Memon performs an extract from her Fringe First-winning play Manic Street Creature at the final Fringe First awards ceremony of 2002 PIC: Phil Wilkinson

By 1977 the number of new plays on the Fringe had jumped to 138, and that upward trajectory has continued ever since, just as the Fringe has continued to grow its reputation as a proving ground for talented writers. Past Fringe First recipients include John Byrne, Billy Connolly, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, John Godber, David Harrower, Liz Lochhead, Edwin Morgan, David Greig, AL Kennedy, Zinnie Harris, Steven Berkoff, John McGrath, Daniel Kitson, Stef Smith, Mark Thomas, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cora Bissett and Adura Onashile.

READ MORE ABOUT THE FRINGE FIRSTS

Past Fringe First winners on what the awards meant to them

https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/50-years-of-scotsman-fringe-firsts-celebrating-the-festivals-longest-running-awards-4238360

Photography exhibition charts 50 Years of The Scotsman’s Fringe First Awards

https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/photography-exhibition-charts-50-years-of-the-scotsmans-fringe-first-awards-4244516

Fringe Firsts: Rules for eligibility

The show must be new and not the reworking of existing work. Adaptations of novels or other existing work / works will not be considered unless they show clear evidence of a creative transformation of the original material.

In order to qualify for consideration, the show must be listed in the theatre, dance & physical theatre, musicals & opera or the children's shows sections of the Fringe programme. Shows listed in the comedy, spoken word, events, exhibitions or music sections will not be eligible. Shows in the Fringe's cabaret section will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

It must be drama. The Scotsman Fringe First Awards have relaxed their former rules (accepting purely text-based work in the past), but abstract dance and movement remain ineligible for consideration. There must be a significant element of narrative and / or character exploration.

The show must be premiered in Edinburgh. All shows are entitled to a maximum of six previews, but the work should not have been reviewed before its run on the Fringe. This rule does not apply to performances outside the UK – however, international work that was premiered more than three years before its first performance on the Fringe will not be considered.

There is no set number of awards and you cannot enter directly.