We're chuffed!

Here's what The Stage had to say:

'The New Diorama celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Despite the many challenges of the pandemic, it kept doing what it does best: pushing the boundaries of what a fringe theatre can do, finding new ways of making work and –crucially –supporting artists.

Under artistic director and chief executive David Byrne, it has continually looked to reinvent the fringe model and invest in independent artists. In 2021, it took one of its biggest steps yet. It announced the generous and ambitious NDT Broadgate project, a 20,000 sq ft space for making and rehearsing that is available to freelance artists to use for free. To date, it has gifted more than 50,000 hours to artists.

The theatre reopened its newly refurbished building in July and continued to commission devised work, while acting as an insurance safety net to ensure everyone was paid.

In terms of the work, NDT shows Tokyo Rose and Operation Mincemeat, winner of The Stage Debut Award for best composer/lyricist in 2019, transferred to London’s Southwark Playhouse. The War of the Worlds toured the UK, while Civilisation won the jury prize at Dresden’s Fast Forward festival.

The theatre announced that, as the culmination of its 10th-anniversary season, it would provide free food for every audience member every night. This was typical of the NDT model: a generous gesture, designed to make people think about what can be achieved if you continue to question and challenge existing systems and ways of working.'

Here's what our Artistic Director David Byrne had to say:

'With these speeches I’ve learned you can either thank everyone or you can use them to make an appeal, to ask for something.

So here goes. This is for the critics in the room, the journalists, and the editors. Independent theatre needs your help now than ever before. And since lockdown we and our counterparts across the country have seen a considerable drop in coverage and reviews.

We need critics who know the value of new work, by new artists, to make a stand, to make the difference. Not just at NDT. But for every theatre on this shortlist. For every theatre eligible to be on this shortlist.

Small theatres have survived and got this far. But without your spotlight, much of our talent will wither in shadow. We don’t have the big names, we don’t have the big marketing campaigns. But small theatres: we’ve got something much more valuable, much more rarified: we’ve got the future of theatre. Please support it.

Thank you.'

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