Fringe First

We couldn’t be happier for lovely Suffolk theatre company HighTide, who have just received a prestigious Fringe First award for their Edinburgh Fringe show Lidless.

As part of our Ideas Fund, we gave HighTide £10,000 to help take the production north of the border, with part of that going towards expert mentoring by the National Theatre of Scotland’s John Tiffany.

Artistic director Steven Atkinson said our backing had been "pivotal" in getting the show to Edinburgh. "At that time the project was just an idea," he explained. "To know there were people willing to fund an idea that hadn’t yet been realised meant we were able to get more support from other partners and stakeholders."

Lidless, set in a Guantanamo prison cell, tells the story of a guard trying to come to terms with her behaviour and experiences. The Independent called it "punchy" and "vital" and the Telegraph agreed, calling the script "very strong" and the characters "well-drawn".

Steven, who hopes there will be a future for the show beyond Edinburgh, added: "IdeasTap is all about young emerging practitioners and I want this play to be seen by young audiences interested in our work."

We’re also extremely chuffed for Tortoise In A Nutshell, who won the Ideas Fund’s first prize of £20,000 for their puppetry show The Last Miner. It’s just picked up a nomination for The Arches Brick Award – we expect great things out of this lot in the future.