About Assembly

2009

2009 – what a year! Some would say, our biggest and best year to date. Assembly defied the doom and gloom of the recession with a jam-packed, award winning programme of incredible performances from over 90 shows. We won Fringe Firsts with The Event, The Hotel, Party, David Leddy’s White Tea and Morecambe and received over 40 5 star reviews! Audiences came from around the world to see Jason Byrne, Camille O ‘Sullivan, Tao, Adam Hills, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and many many more! Roll on 2010!

2008

In 2008 Assembly continued to live up to it’s title of the ‘jewel in the crown of the Fringe’. We presented a varied and successful programme of theatre, comedy, cabaret, dance and music with over 1400 separate performances during the Fringe. In a successful year our shows also picked up 8 major Fringe awards including 3 Fringe Firsts; a Herald Angel Award; the Stage Award for Acting Excellence and the Total Theatre Award for Physical and Visual Theatre. Audiences thronged to see Brazilian dance sensations Bale de Rua, Michael Barrymore, Simon Callow, Jason Byrne, Ed Byrne, Camille O’Sullivan, Soweto Gospel Choir and many others.

2007

In our 28th year, Assembly took another bold step forward creating a magnificent programme of the Festival's best theatre, comedy, dance and music. Our season was more ambitious and innovative than ever before. It was our biggest programme yet with 144 shows from 22 countries, across eight major city venues.  Assembly’s ambition has always been to set the standard for international theatre, comedy and entertainment on the Fringe, by providing excellent temporary theatre spaces in magnificent buildings such as the Assembly Rooms.

2006
In 2006 Assembly saw nigh on 100 productions and 1700 performances, which certainly made it the best Festival to date! There were 4 Fringe First winners Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer, Clean Alternatives, (I Am) Nobodys Lunch, and The Receipt, which also won a Total Theatre Award. The Kransky Sisters - We Dont Have Husbands picked up a Herald Angel and the fabulous David O'Doherty was nominated for the prestigious Intelligent Finance Comedy Awards for his show My Name is David O'Doherty. Not only that, Caroline O'Connor won Best Actor for End of the Rainbow and Nabokov were nominated as Best Ensemble for Terre Haute. We had a fantastic range of comedy from the likes of Jason Byrne and Adam Hills and well as the massive hit Jim Hensons Puppets Improv.

2005
The star of the 2005 festival was The Exonerated, which won five star reviews, a Fringe First, a Herald Angel and the Amnesty International Freedom Of Expression Award. Balagan brought us "devilishly beguiling music, an occasional flurry of splendidly silly, curiously wistful clowning, and some thoroughly eye-catching acrobatic tumbling" - and won a Herald Angel, as did Janusz Wisniewskis stunning Polish version of Faust. Trad garnered innumerable 5-star reviews for its understated, immensely funny and evocative take on Irish mythology and family values, while the furiously fast and bitter screwmachine / eyecandy won plaudits for its take on media morality. Selected photos are available in the 2005 photo archive.