Contact aeaton-lewis@mentalhealth.org.uk for more information.

An award for the Edinburgh Fringe show that most compellingly explores the subject of mental health is to return for its second year.

The Mental Health Fringe Award 2018 will be presented by the Mental Health Foundation, in partnership with the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and the Scotsman newspaper. Shows from all categories in the Edinburgh Fringe programme are eligible.

The winner will be invited to perform at the Tron in May 2019 as part of the annual Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF), in partnership with the Tron’s Mayfesto programme.

Andrew Eaton-Lewis, arts lead for the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, said: “The response to our first Mental Health Fringe Award in 2017 was overwhelming, with over 60 Fringe shows getting in touch within days of the announcement. We were delighted with our first winner, Mental by Kane Power, which went on to have a very successful run at SMHAF 2018, so we are very excited to discover what the Edinburgh Fringe has to offer this year. The Fringe programme suggests that mental health will once again be a big theme this August.”

The winner of the Mental Health Arts Fringe Award will be chosen by a judging panel of leading theatre critics, festival programmers and mental health activists, and announced at the Scotsman Fringe Awards, the biggest awards ceremony at the Edinburgh Fringe, on Friday 24 August.

Kane Power, winner of the 2017 Mental Health Fringe Award, said: “It was an honour to be nominated along such fantastic work and of course to be the inaugural winner. But more importantly, we were so pleased that the Fringe is acknowledging mental health in the arts and hope that companies continue to make work to inspire and educate.”