Mark Thomas wins prestigious The Stage Special Award
Mark Thomas will be presented with the prestigious The Stage Special Award at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Friday, August 26, 2016. The prize, part of The Stage Edinburgh Awards, celebrates sustained excellence at the Fringe. Previous winners of the Special Award include Chris Goode and Pip Utton.
Thomas is a comedian, theatremaker and activist. His Special Award win will be added to multiple prizes for his work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including three Fringe Firsts. He will be presented with the award by The Stage’s reviews editor, Natasha Tripney, and interviewed by Thom Dibdin, Scotland correspondent for The Stage, critic and member of The Stage’s Edinburgh review team.
Tripney said: “Mark Thomas is a deserving winner of The Stage Special Award. His work has always straddled comedy, theatre and activism. His presence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has often made a significant impact and his current show, The Red Shed, is one of his strongest to date, revisiting his political awakening while also exploring the stories we tell ourselves and the ways in which we tell them.”
Thomas’ 2016 show, The Red Shed, is inspired by the Wakefield Labour Club of the same name. In his review for The Stage, Thom Dibdin called it “a wide-eyed tale that has truth at its heart and the need to find the stories which will help shape a better future in its head.” The Red Shed has also been awarded a Fringe First award, his third after Bravo Figaro! (2012), about his opera-loving father, and Cuckooed (2014), about corporate espionage.
The Stage Special Award will be presented at a Q&A with Thomas at the Traverse Theatre in a public event at 2pm on August 26, 2016.
The Stage Edinburgh Awards are in their 21st year and celebrate acting talent at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Special Award, presented to a performer with a significant history of excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe, was introduced in 2014.