The winners of the Offies have been announced tonight at a star-studded ceremony, marking the awards’ 15th anniversary. Drag-artist superstar Divina De Campo hosted the night with all their glitz and the glamour at Central Hall Westminster.
Special awards were given to Lynette Linton and Daniel Bailey, in recognition for their work with The Bush Theatre, from which they are both stepping down after six years. Lynette is a BAFTA-nominated writer and joined The Bush Theatre as Artistic Director in 2019. Her programming focused on debuts from UK and Irish writers, including three consecutive Olivier Award wins for Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer. Daniel Bailey stepped down Associate Artistic Director in January 2025, after six years of work alongside Lynette. Daniel’s directing work at the theatre included Beru Tessema’s Wolves on the Road (2024) and Lenny Henry’s August in England (2023), which he co-directed with Lynette. The Bush Theatre aims to champion new work and have produced more than 500 premieres since the company was founded in 1972.
Another special award was given to internationally acclaimed Mischief Theatre, who are celebrating ten years of work in the West End. The company are renowned for giving artists a platform to embrace humour and break free from the restraints of reality. Mischief aim to bring joy to audiences of all ages and backgrounds, showcased in their Broadway and West End hit The Play That Goes Wrong.
The evening was a true celebration of everything the Off-West End offers, with performances from the legendary London Gay Men’s Chorus, the award-winning Mischief Theatre, Tony Award-winning Frances Ruffelle and Divina De Campo themself. Previous Offies finalist, Ben
Goddard (Million Dollar Quartet, West End; Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Warner Bros) delivered an exceptional evening of musical direction. Tobias Turley, the winner of ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream also delivered an incredible rendition of The Sheep Chose a Wolf from hit musical White Rose, which he is currently starring in.
Denholm Spurr, Executive Producer of the Offies, comments, The Offies are unique. Nowhere else is there an awards system of this scale, scope, and rigour – assessing thousands of shows across hundreds of venues through an unparalleled cohort of assessors. These assessors – practitioners and enthusiasts alike – make the Offies the most deeply embedded theatre network in existence.
With awards categories celebrating all the Off West End has to offer, marking the incredible and innovative thinking in the industry; this year’s Production winners are Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (Jack Studio Theatre); Run, Rebel (Theatre Peckham); Blood Show (Battersea Arts Centre); Sophie’s Surprise 29th (Underbelly); Sleeping Beauty (Broadway Theatre), and La Bohème (Arcola Theatre).
The winners for Staging are Christopher Haydon’s Never Let Me Go (Rose Theatre Kingston), Hannah Grennell’s Giselle: Remix (Pleasance Theatre) and Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre) from Tom Littler.
The incredible Performance winners included Faye Castelow (Here in America; Orange Tree Theatre); Mariah Gale, Elizabeth Dulau, Alexandra Jensen (The Bleeding Tree; Southwark Playhouse); Jo Fong, George Orange (The Rest of Our Lives; Battersea Arts Centre); Rosalind Ford (In Clay; Upstairs at the Gatehouse); Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Bronco Billy The Musical; Charing Cross Theatre); Heather Agyepong, Tosin Cole (Shifters; Bush Theatre) and Mark Weinman (Captain Amazing; Southwark Playhouse). Further phenomenal performance winners are Milo Twomey (The Harmony Test; Hampstead Theatre); The Cast (Journey of a Refugee; Stanley Arts Centre); Natasha Roland, Chloe Rice (A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First; Kings Head Theatre); The Cast (Dick Whittington And His Cat; Greenwich Theatre); The Cast and Orchestra (Eugene Onegin; Jacksons Lane); Victoria Yeates (Wormholes; Omnibus), and The Cast of Sleeping With Beauty (Unicorn Theatre).
A talented array of designers took home the win for the Design award including Douglas Baker (Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five; Jack Studio Theatre); Helen Skiera (Toto Kerblammo!; Unicorn Theatre); Ryan Day (Now I See: Stratford East); Jack Weir (Remembrance Monday: Seven Dials Theatre); Mona Camille (Kim’s Convenience; Park Theatre); Amanda Ramasawmy (by their fruits: Theatre503); Casey Jay Andrews, Simon Wilkinson, Gareth Fry (Viola’s Room; One Cartridge Place) and The Pantomime of Peter Pan (Harrow Arts Centre).
The winners recognised for their contribution to Sound and Music are Xana (King Troll (The Fawn) & Shifters; New Diorama, Bush Theatre); Liam Holmes (Songs for a New World; Upstairs at the Gatehouse) and Beats And Elements (Romeo & Juliet; Polka Theatre).
Winners for spectacular Creation are Rebecca Simmonds and Jack Miles (In Clay; Upstairs at the Gatehouse); Benedict Lombe (Shifters; Bush Theatre); Ollie Maddigan (The Olive Boy; New Wimbledon Theatre); Khalid Abdalla (Nowhere; Battersea Arts Centre), and Roy Williams (The Lonely Londoners; Jermyn Street Theatre).
The winner for Innovation went to Contra, Le Carré Magique and Cambridge Junction for their incredible work on Spectacle of Herself (Battersea Arts Centre), which was an acrobatic journey through mental health, queerness and rage.
Industry and Inclusion winners for the year are Birds of Paradise Theatre Co (Don’t. Make. Tea.); Alex Hill (Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England; Southwark Playhouse), and Julia Thurston (Paved with Gold and Ashes; Barons Court Theatre).
This year’s OffFest winners for show’s at theatre and arts festivals are A Series of Introductory Lectures On Psychoanalysis (Producer: Zoe Hartland, in association with Musketeer Productions; Kings Head Theatre); Spit In My Face (Something Queer Productions; Camden People’s Theatre); Ni Mi Madre (VagaMundo Productions, Laura Zlatos in association with Paul Morrissey Ltd; The Pleasance); PRETTY, WITTY NELL (Rogue Shakespeare; Rotunda Theatre); NeuroChatter (Sara Jane Harvey; The Fitzgerald); I Wish You Well (StoryWorks & Paul Taylor- Mills; Underbelly), and μεταδραματικό / Postdramatic (EXPERIMENTA ART COMPANY AND THEKLA GAITI; Cockpit Theatre).
Also named at the ceremony was the new critics panel, who is made up of Anya Ryan, Arifa Akbar, Hugh Montgomery, Matt Wolf and Tom Wicker.
Throughout the evening there was a live red-carpet show produced in association with The Theatre Channel and a socials area presented by ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream and White Rose Rising Star Tobias Turley.
This year’s sponsors for the Areas of Exceptional Contribution included Mischief Theatre for Production, The Theatre Channel for Innovation and White Light for Design. Further support came from John Good, Tarento Productions and Central Hall Westminster.
The Offies’ Charity Partner was The Royal Variety Charity – founded in 1908, the charity assists those who’ve worked professionally in the entertainment industry and are in need of help. The charity strives to support all those, both young and old, who’ve worked on the stage, in the wings, in front of a camera, or behind it, as well as all those who have spent their lives working in the numerous support industries dedicated to entertainment.
The Offies were produced by Julian Bird OBE through his production company Green Room Ents Ltd, alongside Denholm Spurr for OffWestEnd.
The scale of the new awards ceremony marks the Offies as the at the forefront of spotlighting groundbreaking theatre before it reaches mainstream acclaim. This event unequivocally reflects the importance of celebrating this work and taking a moment to look back at the year of Off West End.
Winners:
PRODUCTION
- Blood Show / Battersea Arts Centre, Chapter Arts Centre, Colchester Arts Centre (Battersea Arts Centre)
- Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) / So It Goes Theatre (Brockley Jack Theatre)
- La Bohème / The Opera Makers (Arcola Theatre)
- Run, Rebel / Pilot Theatre (Theatre Peckham)
- Sleeping Beauty / Broadway Theatre (Broadway Theatre, Catford)
- Sophie’s Surprise 29th / Three Legged Race Productions (Underbelly)
STAGING
PERFORMANCE
| • Hannah Grennell / Giselle: Remix (The Pleasance) |
|
- Natasha Roland, Xhloe Rice / A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First (Kings Head Theatre)
- Victoria Hamilton-Barritt / Bronco Billy the Musical (Charing Cross Theatre)
Playhouse)
|
|
DESIGN
- Amanda Ramasawmy / by their fruits (Theatre503)
- Mona Camille / Kim’s Convenience (Park Theatre)
- Douglas Baker / Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) (Jack
Studio Theatre)
- Jack Weir / Remembrance Monday (Tristan Bates Theatre)
- Ryan Day / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
- Richard Evans, Rochelle Parry Clifford / The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan
(Harrow Arts Centre)
- Helen Skiera / Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre)
- Casey Jay Andrews, Simon Wilkinson, Gareth Fry / Viola’s Room (One Cartridge Place)
SOUND & MUSIC
CREATION
|
- Rebecca Simmonds, Jack Miles / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
- Khalil Abdalla / Nowhere / Fuel (Battersea Arts Centre)
- Benedict Lombe / Shifters (Bush Theatre)
- Roy Williams / The Lonely Londoners (Jermyn Street Theatre)
- Ollie Maddigan / The Olive Boy (New Wimbledon Theatre)
INNOVATION
INDUSTRY & INCLUSION
OffFEST
- A Series of Introductory Lectures On Psychoanalysis (Producer: Zoe Hartland, in association with Musketeer Productions; Kings Head Theatre)
- I Wish You Well (StoryWorks & Paul Taylor-Mills; Underbelly)
- NeuroChatter (Sara Jane Harvey; The Fitzgerald
- Ni Mi Madre (VagaMundo Productions, Laura Zlatos in association with Paul Morrissey
Ltd; The Pleasance)
- Spit In My Face (Something Queer Productions; Camden People’s Theatre)
- μεταδραματικό / Postdramatic (EXPERIMENTA ART COMPANY AND THEKLA GAITI;
Cockpit Theatre)
- PRETTY, WITTY NELL (Rogue Shakespeare; Rotunda Theatre)
2025 SPECIAL AWARD
- Mischief Theatre 2025 SPECIAL AWARD Lynette Linton & Daniel Bailey
OffWestEnd Awards (Offies)
OffWestEnd was founded in 2005 with the aim of recognising and supporting the independent theatre sector in London, giving it a unified identity to rival Off-Broadway. The OffWestEnd Awards (Offies) has been recognising outstanding work in London’s off-West End theatres since 2010. The awards aim to provide a platform for independent theatre that may otherwise go unrecognised in more mainstream awards systems. Celebrating the best of independent theatre, the Offies promotes inclusivity, creativity, and excellence within the theatre community.