The four winners of New Diorama and Underbelly’s 2022 Untapped Award, supported by Methuen Drama, can today (Wed 4 May) be revealed. All four productions will be playing at Underbelly Cowgate as part of Edinburgh Fringe 04 – 28 August.
The recipients of the award are:
Blanket Ban: Chalk Line Theatre blend physical, verbatim and multimedia theatre with cabaret-style direct address and to tell the harrowing story of Malta’s total ban on abortion based on the testimonies of those affected.
Propelled by three years of interviews with anonymous contributors and their own lived experience, actors and activists Marta and Davinia interrogate Malta’s restrictions on the freedom of women.
Big Belly, Underbelly Cowgate, 17:00
Caligari: Off West End Award-winning Chewboy Productions present a stylish new adaptation of cult classic German expressionist horror film ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ with five actor-musicians telling the story from the point of view of the victims.
Embracing the long shadows and broad brushstrokes of German expressionism, Caligari exposes parallels between post-war Weimar Germany and the UK today; an ever-widening class divide, the subconscious invitation for a tyrant to seize power, and an unwillingness to rebel against deranged authority.
Big Belly, Underbelly Cowgate, 18:30
Good Grief: Ugly Bucket’s outrageous techno-clown-funeral uses real-life testimonies about death and mourning to create a hilarious and moving gut-punch of a physical performance.
Multi award-winning physical comedy company Ugly Bucket process the death of a friend the only way they know how: a kinetic maelstrom of outrageous clowning and personal testimony, with a thumping techno soundtrack.
Iron Belly, Underbelly Cowgate, 15:40
This is not a show about Hong Kong: Max Percy + Friends’ visually stunning dance-theatre spectacle is not about Hong Kong, its people, democracy, or human rights.
And it most certainly is not about the effects of censorship brought by the National Security Bill, nor is it about the loss of freedom in the Special Administrative Region. This is just a show about that deep, sinking, helpless feeling that we can’t quite put into words.
Big Belly, Underbelly Cowgate, 14:00
David Byrne, Artistic Director of New Diorama Theatre said: “After two years away, we had a record number of applicants for the 2022 Untapped Award. Competition was fierce, and our national selection panel did an expert job of helping us shortlist from the wealth of strong applications.
The final four shows are as varied and diverse as the Fringe itself – with some of the UK’s best new companies tackling big topics from democracy to reproductive rights, authoritarianism to death itself. It’s going to be a truly legendary year for the award. See you there.”
Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood, Directors of Underbelly said: “Underbelly is delighted to once again be supporting the Untapped award alongside New Diorama and Methuen Drama. New work plays such a crucial part in the Fringe landscape, we can’t wait to showcase these four challenging, intriguing and bold pieces at this year’s festival.”
The Untapped Award is aimed at early-mid career companies looking to take outstanding, highly original work to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has been run by Underbelly and New Diorama Theatre since 2018.
