The awards were presented by Lyndsey Jackson Depute Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and composer Richard Lewis. The event at MOXY Fountainbridge was masterminded by Jim Orr.

The highly acclaimed Kanpur: 1857, written and co-performed by Edinburgh-based Niall Moorjani and showing at the Pleasance until Sunday, won the award for Outstanding Production. Set at the time of the Kanpur uprising, this new play “comically satirises contemporary conflicts around gender, colonial violence, and making art in times of crisis”. The award was collected by the production’s musician, Sodhi.

Sodhi collected the award for Kanpur

Sanjay from Chai Tea with Richard Lewis left and Lyndsey Lyndsey Jackson Deputy Chief Executive Edinburgh Festival Fringe Societry on right

Shows by Sanjay Lago (Love me Like a Chai Tea Latte and Dance Ihayami (Dansa Rickshaw) also won awards for Highly Commended performances. Sanjay and the members of Dance Ihayami are from the Scottish Indian community, and Sanjay is from Glasgow (“Ibrox, don’t judge me” he says).

Hahaha-Hamlet from Hong Kong, playing at the Paradise Green venue on George IV Bridge until Saturday, won the award for Outstanding Show. The award reviewers simply loved this “captivating reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic tale, blending original musical with dark humour, intertwining the struggles of contemporary Hong Kongers with Hamlet’s timeless tale”. Energetic, inventive and incredibly moving with some reviewers moved to tears as the tales of Hamlet and Hong Kong coincided at the end. The whole cast were in attendance to receive the award and they were delighted. 

Chelsea Zhou trustee of Asian Art Fund Scotland and the cast of Hahaha Hamlet

Mayuri Bhandari of the Anti “Yogi”  (playing until Sunday) won the award for Outstanding Female while Jeremy Rafal won Outstanding Male for The Boy from Bantay “a heartwarming journey of growth and self-discovery”.

Mayuri was in attendance with her renowned percussionist Neel Agrawal while Jeremy sent a video message to the audience. Both shows were hugely popular. At the Anti “Yogi” the audience were invited to “Join Mayuri Bhandari and Kali, the Goddess of Death every day as they navigate the absurdities of Western Yoga culture. Liberation, not Lululemon!” 

Anti Yogi

The Outstanding Youth Performance was won by the show “Landscape of the Other Shore” from Shenzhen University  which was also inspired by a European classic: Géricault’s painting and Georg Kaiser’s play The Raft of the Medusa. 

Shenzhen University

The Asian Arts Special Award was shared between GENDAI TOKYO and Up-cycle Music  by Creative Art of Korea. Gendai Tokyo have a simply incredible laser show playing at WU Asia Pacific until Sunday while Up-cycle Music is a “response to climate change from a uniquely artistic perspective. They use waste to make music – cellos from abandoned equipment from rural areas, stringed instruments of thrown away plastic toys – and compose piano songs based on the characteristics of endangered animals, to ask vital questions about the climate crisis”. Their run has ended.

All the winners Photo credit: Matt Sime

Jim Orr organiser of Asian Art Fund Scotland

  • Outstanding Show
  • Winner: Hahaha–Hamlet – Chai Wan Rabble (Hong Kong)
  • Highly Commended
  • 1Shoulder Pad: Galaxy Train, Japanese Musical Theatre (Japan)
  • Practice of Zen – Theatre Ronin (Hong Kong)
  • Outstanding Production
  • Winner: Kanpur: 1857 – Niall Moorjani Storyteller and Pleasance (Scotland / India) 
  • Highly Commended
  • 1457, The Boy at Rest – Poem and Star / Korean Season by GCC & AtoBiz (Korea)
  • Relaxing and Balancing – Ying Yang – On/Off Theatre (Hong Kong)
  • The Time Painter – ACC, ACCF, Haddangse / Korean Season by GCC and AtoBiz (Korea)
  • Outstanding Male Performer 
  • Winner: Jeremy Rafal, The Boy from Bantay (Philippines / USA)
  • Highly Commended
  • Zheng Xiaofan Dance Theatre, PERSONALLERY 4.0 (China)
  • Kumar Muniandy – Second Class Queer (Malaysia / UK / Germany)
  • Eden Choi – Proust Effect (Korea) 
  • Sanjay Lago – Love me Like a Chai Tea Latte (Scotland / India)
  • Outstanding Female Performer
  • Winner: Mayuri Bhandari – The Anti “Yogi” (USA / India)
  • Highly Commended
  • Dansa Rickshaw – Dance Ihayami (Scotland / India)
  • Elisabeth Gunawan and KISS WITNESS – Stampin’ in the Graveyard (UK / Indonesia)
  • Afreena Islam-Wright – Lucky Tonight! (UK / Bangladesh)
  • Chi-An Chen – Sole to Soul (Taiwan, China)
  • Outstanding Young Performer [Winner] 3
  • Winner: The Landscape of the Other Shore – Shenzhen University School of Arts 201 Theatre Company (China)
  • Highly Commended
  • Dream Space – Creative Group SSAK / Korean Season by GCC & AtoBiz (Korea)
  • Jasmine Thien – I Dream in Colour (UK / China)
  • Asian Arts Special Award – Joint Award (two winners) 
  • GENDAI TOKYO (Japan) and Up-cycle Music, Creative Art (Korea)

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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