North East Bylines was delighted to be invited to review shows at the Newcastle Fringe and to be asked to choose a winner. In fact, we couldn’t select only one winner and so we went for winners of four categories. Our reviewers had a fantastic time seeing a wide range of shows, and were very impressed with the offerings.

Newcastle Fringe

Newcastle Fringe included over 100 shows, which took place from 22 July to 2 August 2025 in eight different venues across the city.

And the winners are…

New writing

The new writing category was won by ‘Letters to Grief’ by Gemma Webster-B and Victoria Zakis-Smith. This is what our reviewers had to say:

 “It was original in terms of topic and delivery. They were speaking from personal experience.  I was a teacher for 40+ years and have personal experience of grief and their performance felt real and genuine.”

For the full review see below.

Letters to Grief at the Cumberland Arms

Cabaret and Comedy

‘The Great Divinator’ by Katie Tranterwon the Cabaret and Comedy ward. Our reviewers described it thus:

“It is a brilliant, funny, classy male impersonation magic and mind-reading act that pays homage to popular Victorian/Edwardian entertainment.”

And the full review:

The Great Divinator at the Cumberland Arms

Music

The music section was won by Katie Doherty and the Navigators. Our reviewers said that it was:

“A lovely warm evening of music and storytelling with some very talented musicians.”

For the full review see:

 Katie Doherty and the Navigators at Alphabetti

Visual Theatre and Puppetry

This section was won by ‘Tales from our revolution’ by ‘Made by Racoons’. This was:

“A beautifully crafted puppet show with live music, inspired by the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, demonstrating the power of art (poetry and song) to offer a call to action for ordinary people to stand up against fascist regimes.“

 Tales from our Revolution at Alphabetti: Review

Awards ceremony livestream

You can watch this here.

Thank you so much to the organisers and performers at Newcastle Fringe and a huge congratulations to the winners!