ArtistAwardsNewsTheatre
Assembly Theatre, in association with Assembly Festival, has revealed the winner of its ART (Assembly Roxy Theatre) Award for 2026 with Prophets chosen as the recipient of a guaranteed slot and additional support, as part of Assembly’s wider Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme. Created in 2017 to support new Scottish writing at the Fringe, this year the ART Award has also awarded a runner-up prize to BearGirl due to the strength of applications.
The ART Award supports Scottish or Scotland-based independent theatre companies or performance practitioners. Now in its 10th year, the ART Award has supported Scottish artists take new work to the world’s largest arts festival by removing upfront costs, and providing financial support for tech, marketing and more. Previous winners include Love Me Like A Chai Tea Latte (2025) by Sanjay Lago, Gracie and the Start of the End of World (Again) (2024) by Zoe Bullock and She Wolf (2022) by Isla Cowan.
Both Prophets and BearGirl will receive slots in Assembly’s Fringe programme, with support and resources provided by the festival team including free rehearsal and development spaces in Assembly Roxy and a transfer option to Assembly Roxy for Autumn 2026/Spring 2027. Both Scottish productions will perform full runs at the Fringe this August with the prize for the winner including contribution to Fringe marketing and press costs, paid-for Fringe marketing and registration fees, tech operator and contribution to living costs during the Fringe.
Prophets - winner of ART Award 2026
Jack MacGregor (writer), Fraser Scott (director), and Leah Byrne (producer) will join forces in this new two-hander exploring systemic abuse and colonial violence, addressing questions about faith and forgiveness. Hailing from Inverness, Jack MacGregor has previously won a Fringe First in 2023 with his play ‘Everything Under the Sun’ whilst Fraser Scott had huge success with multi-year Fringe show ‘Athens of the North’.
17.45, 05 – 31 August, Roxyboxy
BearGirl - Runner-up
Emery Schaffer (writer) and Kate Stamoulis (director) are multi-disciplinary collaborators based in Edinburgh, focussing on stories centred around female protagonists, using dark humour to work through traumatic experiences. ‘BearGirl’ takes inspiration from ’The Bear’ by Anton Chekhov, examining a widow’s mid-grief spiral in this dizzying dramatic-comedy-horror about love and hate, grief and desire.
16.20, 05 – 31 August, Roxyboxy
William Burdett-Coutts, Artistic Director Assembly Festival said
We’re delighted to announce this year’s ART Award winners, especially in a year where applications were so strong that we have also awarded a runner-up. An award that supports and champions Scottish creative work is more important than ever and we’re thrilled to have these incredibly talented Scottish artists performing at Assembly Festival, showcasing their work at the world’s largest arts festival.
Jack Macgregor, Writer of Prophets said
The Assembly ART Award is a unique platform for Scottish artists - this support takes a lot of financial pressure off artists and it means our amazing team can focus on bringing the best show possible to the Edinburgh Fringe this year. ‘Prophets’ is my third play at the Fringe and feels the most personal. Coming back with something new is a huge challenge and the support from Assembly means we don't have to do it alone. The Fringe is all about these kinds of partnerships between organisations and individuals, coming together to make something really special – our shared passion for this strange, dark story makes ‘Prophets’ a natural collaboration and we are proud to be supported by this year's ART Award.
Emery Schaffer and Kate Stamoulis, Writer and Director of BearGirl said
“As two theatre makers in the early stages of our careers and longtime admirers of the work programmed by Assembly, we couldn’t be more thrilled to have ‘BearGirl’ be presented in association with the prestigious ART Award. The logistical and artistic support we’ve received will be instrumental in giving our play a full life both during the festival and beyond, and we are so grateful to the Assembly team for their belief in our company and our work. We are looking forward to this partnership and can’t wait for our play’s debut this August!”