Countdown to 2012 Evening News Drama Awards

The final nomination for this year’s ENDAs, as they have become affectionately known, opens tonight at St Peter’s Church Hall, Lutton Place, where Edinburgh People’s Theatre present their production of Sparkleshaft, one of 11 shows in the running for one of two awards.

Now in their sixth year, the ENDAs, regarded by many as the Oscars of the city’s amateur theatre calendar, recognise the contribution of Edinburgh’s unpaid actors and backstage crews to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The two awards will be presented in a glittering award ceremony to be held at the Gilded Balloon on Thursday afternoon. On hand to present the awards will be funnyman Les Dennis, who handed over the first ever ENDA way back in 2007.

The awards are: The Evening News Drama Award for Best Production, chosen by Evening News readers and a judging panel of industry experts, and The Evening News Essence of the Fringe award, chosen by the judges.

The 2012 panel consists of Eleanor Brown, producer and director of MAMA, National Operatic and Dramatic Association councillor Gordon Blackburn, and Gary Roden, general manager of the Edinburgh Playhouse.

Evening News entertainment editor Liam Rudden said: “The feedback I’ve received from the judging panel suggests that the 2012 ENDAs are going to be a very closely run affair.

“The standard once more has been extremely high and the judges tell me that seeing the shows has been a enjoyable experience.”

The 11 productions competing for this year’s ENDAs are: Arkle Theatre Company in The Rise And Fall of Little Voice and Proof; Edinburgh Graduate Theatre Group in Doctor Faustus and Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us; Edinburgh Makars in Blithe Spirit; Edinburgh People’s Theatre in Ne’er The Twain and Sparkleshark; Edinburgh Theatre Arts in Macbeth In Scots; Leitheatre in Operation Stork; Saughtonhall Drama Group in Trouble In The Toolbooth; and Forth Children’s Theatre in Once On This Island.