Watchlist

What's on in London: The Offie Awards

A celebration of independent theatre.

Gaydar

06 Mar 2025 — 6 min read

The Offies are the OffWestEnd Awards - a celebration of independent theatre in the UK.

Marking their 15th anniversary, the Offie Awards have revamped their approach - moving away from award categories into broad themes that showcase excellence in theatre-making.

For our podcast, How To Date Men, we caught up with Denholm Spurr and Julian Bird for a behind-the-scenes look at the Offies.

We talk about the importance of independent theatre, why award shows matter, and the power of a red-carpet moment.

Listen to the conversation

The Offie Awards will be presented in London on 17 March.

The Offies: Finalists

Production

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First / Natasha & Xhloe (Kings Head Theatre)
Blood Show / Battersea Arts Centre, Chapter Arts Centre, Colchester Arts Centre (Battersea Arts Centre)
Follow The Signs / Fuse Theatre (Soho Theatre)
Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah / JW3 (JW3 London)
In Clay / Design & Canvas Co (Gatehouse Theatre)
Journey of a Refugee / Theatre Rites (Stanley Arts Centre)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) / So It Goes Theatre (Brockley Jack Theatre)
L’Addition / Forced Entertainment (Battersea Arts Centre)
Monica Salvi: Spirits In My Closet / Crazy Cat Dive Productions (Stage Door Theatre)
Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime / Charles Court Opera (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Run, Rebel / Pilot Theatre (Theatre Peckham)
Shifters / Bush Theatre (Bush Theatre)
Sleeping Beauty / Broadway Theatre (Broadway Theatre, Catford)
Sophie's Surprise 29th / Three Legged Race Productions (Underbelly)
The Big Life / Stratford East, Chuchu Nwagu Productions (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
The Lonely Londoners / Jermyn Street Theatre (Jermyn Street Theatre)

Staging

Dkfash, Rebecca Solomon / by their fruits (Theatre503)
Hannah Grennell / Giselle: Remix (The Pleasance)
Toby Clarke / I Love You, Now What? (Park Theatre)
Grace Taylor / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Iskandar Sharazuddin / King Troll (The Fawn) (New Diorama Theatre)
Christopher Haydon / Never Let Me Go (Rose Theatre)
Lanre Malaolu / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Robert Mcwhir / The Story of My Life (Stage Door Theatre)
Tom Littler / Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre)4

Performance

Natasha Roland, Xhloe Rice / A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson Or God: Whoever Reads This First (Kings Head Theatre)
Kate Donnachie / Aladdin (Watford Palace Theatre)
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt / Bronco Billy The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre)
Mark Weinman / Captain Amazing (Southwark Playhouse)
James Alexandrou, Kate Kelly Flood / Casserole (Arcola Theatre)
Frances Ruffelle / Closer To Heaven (The Turbine Theatre)
Virginia Gay / Cyrano (Park Theatre)
The Cast / Dick Whittington And His Cat (Greenwich Theatre)
Faye Castelow / Here In America (Orange Tree Theatre)
Rosalind Ford / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
The Cast / Journey of a Refugee (Stanley Arts Centre)
Ins Choi / Kim’s Convenience (Park Theatre)
Sam Mitchell, Enyi Okoronkwo / King James (Hampstead Theatre)
Bertrand Lesca, Nasi Voutsas / L’Addition (Battersea Arts Centre)
Alexa Davies / Lady Dealer (Bush Theatre)
Kai Luke Brümmer / Moffie (Riverside Studios)
Anna Russell Martin / No Love Songs (Southwark Playhouse)
Nnabiko Ejimofor / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Oliver Alvin-Wilson / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
The Cast / The Belt - Past and Future (Coronet Theatre)
Mariah Gale, Elizabeth Dulau, Alexandra Jensen / The Bleeding Tree (Southwark Playhouse)
Ellena Vincent, Peter De Jersey, Daniel Francis-Swaby / The Book of Grace (Arcola Theatre)
Joseph Millson / The Forsyte Saga (Park Theatre)
Milo Twomey / The Harmony Test (Hampstead Theatre)
Michela Murphy, Darcey O’Rourke, Felicity Sparks / The Littlest Yak (Polka Theatre)
Ollie Maddigan / The Olive Boy (New Wimbledon Theatre)
Danielle Bird, Nathan Johnston, Robert Penny, Rhiannon Skerritt / The Princess and the Pea (Unicorn Theatre)
Jo Fong, George Orange / The Rest of Our Lives (Battersea Arts Centre)
Skye Hallam / The Voice Of The Turtle (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Thomas Oxley / [Title of Show] (Southwark Playhouse)
Heather Agyepong, Tosin Cole / Shifters (Bush Theatre)
The Cast / Sleeping With Beauty (The Union Theatre)
Phoebe Ladenburg / Surrender (Arcola Theatre)
Joshua Malina, Caroline Catz, Dorothea Myer-Bennett, Simon Yadoo, Gabriel Howell/ What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank (Marylebone Theatre)
Ciaran O'Breen / Wonder Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Victoria Yeates / Wormholes (Omnibus Theatre)

Design

Sam Wilde / Boxville (Little Angel Theatre)
Sarah Mercade / Bronco Billy The Musical (Charing Cross Theatre)
Amanda Ramasawmy / by their fruits (Theatre503)
Cameron Gleave / Club Life (Omnibus Theatre)
Shay Barclay, Yvonne Gilbert, Cleo Pettitt / Dick Whittington and his Cat (Hackney Empire)
Rachael Ryan / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Simon Daw, Mark Doubleday / Journey of a Refugee (Stanley Arts Centre)
Mona Camille / Kim’s Convenience (Park Theatre)
Douglas Baker / Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five (or the children’s crusade) (Jack Studio Theatre)
Lambdog1066 / Metamorphoses (Cockpit Theatre)
Ryan Day / Now I See (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Stewart J Charlesworth / Pinocchio (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Jack Weir / Remembrance Monday (Tristan Bates Theatre)
Laura Mcewen, Keith Fredrick, Oliver Hymans, Aaron Dootson / Rosie Robin and the Christmas Post (Little Angel Theatre)
Luke Adamson / That Girl vs The World (Battersea Arts Centre)
Jasmine Swan / The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Richard Evans, Rochelle Parry Clifford / The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan (Harrow Arts Centre)
Alex Marker / The Silver Cord (Finborough Theatre)
Helen Skiera / Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre)
Casey Jay Andrews, Simon Wilkinson, Gareth Fry / Viola's Room (One Cartridge Place)

Sound & Music

Matt Herbert / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Xana / King Troll (The Fawn), Shifters, Guards at the Taj (New Diorama/Bush Theatre/Orange Tree)
Beats And Elements / Romeo & Juliet (Polka Theatre)
Liam Holmes / Songs for a New World (Gatehouse Theatre)
Aaron Clingham / Stephen Sondheim's Marry Me a Little (Stage Door Theatre)
Ian Oakley / The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Barra Collins, Joseph Hardy / The Littlest Yak (Polka Theatre)
Naomi Hammerton, Nina Segal / The Odyssey (Unicorn Theatre)

Creation

Emily Woof / Blizzard (Soho Theatre)
Che Walker / Burnt Up Love (Finborough Theatre)
Maddie Dai / Captain Sandy and the Sea Monster (Puppet Theatre Barge)
Rob Drummond / Don't. Make. Tea. (Soho Theatre)
Rebecca Simmonds, Jack Miles / In Clay (Gatehouse Theatre)
Ruairi Conaghan / Lies Where it Falls (Finborough Theatre)
Cal-i Jonel / No More Mr Nice Guy (Broadway Theatre, Catford)
Khalil Abdalla / Nowhere / Fuel (Battersea Arts Centre)
Manjeet Mann / Run, Rebel (Theatre Peckham)
Benedict Lombe / Shifters (Bush Theatre)
Roy Williams / The Lonely Londoners (Jermyn Street Theatre)
Ollie Maddigan / The Olive Boy (New Wimbledon Theatre)
Neil Bartram, Brian Hill / The Story of My Life (Stage Door Theatre)
Tim Crouch / Toto Kerblammo! (Unicorn Theatre)

Innovation

Soho Theatre, Impatient Productions / Julia Masli: Ha Ha Ha (Soho Theatre)
Soho Theatre / Natalie Palamides: WEER (Soho Theatre)
Contra, Le Carré Magique, Cambridge Junction / Spectacle of Herself (Battersea Arts Centre)