Inaugural EFFTA Awards Announced at the Edinburgh Fringe

First Edinburgh Festival Fringe Theatre Awards Announced
Inaugural Edinburgh Festival Fringe Theatre Awards 2025 go to Dan Ireland-Reeves' Sauna Boy, Annmarie Cullen's Remember That Time? A Musical and BiLLO Studio's Mary's Daughters

Clockwise from the top left: Sauna Boy by Dan Ireland-Reeves, Remember That Time? A Musical by Annmarie Cullen, and Mary's Daughters by BiLLO Studios The first ever Edinburgh Festival Fringe Theatre Awards have been awarded to three productions from theSpaceUK; Dan Ireland-Reeves' Sauna Boy, Remember That Time by Annmarie Cullen, Mary's Daughters by BiLLO Studios.

Sauna Boy
Dan Ireland-Reeves' semi-autobiographical show, Sauna Boy stars Dan as himself, reflecting on his time working at one of the UK's most successful and infamous gay saunas. Full of raw, frenetic energy and charged with the spark of sexual tension, Sauna Boy draws back the curtain one of the world's most secretive and seductive industries, exploring a hidden world of lust, friendship and unorthodox working arrangements.

Winner of the Oscar Wilde Award for Best Writing in 2024, Ireland-Reeves' show has been described by The Stage as 'an animated one-man play that obliquely taps into a burgeoning gay community crisis.'

Ireland-Reeves said of his achievement, 'I’m so thrilled to have received an EFFTA Award for Sauna Boy at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. This show has been on such a journey of personal experience and creative development, and it really means the world when that’s acknowledged and recognised. As always, none of it can happen without the incredible venue staff and my fantastic technician, Aaron. For a few weeks a year I get the pleasure of going from a solo artist to being surrounded by an invaluable team of talented people who make the show happen every night.'

★★★★★
'Exceptional storytelling'
Brig Newspaper ★★★★
'Fringe theatre doesn't come any better'
ScotsGay Catch Sauna Boy at theSpaceUK @ Surgeon's Hall, running until 16th August, tickets here.

Remember That Time? A Musical In her one-woman musical, Remember That Time? A Musical, seasoned musician Annmarie Cullen reflects on leaving behind her life in LA in pursuit of love, and returning to her native Dublin after 25 years away. Winner of Best Performance at International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, Annmarie's bold writing and direction marries heartbreak with humour, using multi-media stagecraft and digitally supported sequences to present a fresh, bold perspective on love, loss and reinvention.

'A thought-provoking and raw storytelling performance with key messages of perseverance' (Everything Theatre), Cullen's work is poignant and thought-provoking, blending her breathtaking vocals with raw yet charming confessionals. ★★★★★
'Poignant and thought-provoking'
Everything Theater ★★★★
'An extraordinary experience'
Musical Theatre Review Catch Remember That Time? A Musical at theSpaceUK @ Surgeon's Hall, running until the 23rd August, tickets here.

Mary's Daughters In Mary's Daughter's, 'Britain's first feminist' Mary Wollstonecraft reunites with her two daughters, Mary Shelley and the forgotten-by-history, illegitimate love-child Fanny Imlay. This historical feminist ghost story centre's Wollstonecraft's advocacy of radical kindness, an 18th century Enlightenment ideal that holds as much urgency and relevancy to our times today.

BiLLO Studios aim to celebrate collective humanity in the process of theatre-making, as writer Kaya Bucholc in collaboration with Will Wallace produces a tender, meticulously researched biography infused with moments of fitting speculative imagination.

With 5 stars from the likes of Ed Fringe review and receiving an 'Excellent Show' attribution from FringeReview, Bucholc said of her achievement, ★★★★★
'Don't miss it'
EdFringe Review ★★★★
'Excellent'
Theatre Weekly