The Maltese production, The Trials of Magnus Coffinkey, has won the Outstanding Theatre Award at this year’s Brighton Fringe Awards.

The Brighton Fringe is the largest annual arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world. This year, there were over 700 acts present at the fringe, but the play written by Malcolm and Angele Galea won the Fringe Review Outstanding Theatre Award.

“We are still coming to terms with it. It was an award we always hoped to win, so we are very happy to have received it.” said Malcolm Galea.

Described as a broken fairy tale for broken people, the play follows Magnus Coffinkey, who must repair an ancient bell atop a lofty spire to meet the one that he’s destined to love.

But a fall leads to his untimely death and the beginning of his dark ordeal.

The play explores themes of grief and life after loss.

Malcolm Galea stressed that the award would not have been possible without having such a talented cast. The cast and director of the play have remained the same since the original production in May of last year, which was held at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta. Galea said this decision to retain the cast was due to the piece being written with the actors in mind.

The play, directed by Philip Leone-Ganado, stars Joseph Zammit and Becky Camilleri and was produced by Give or Take Productions. 

Galea previously won the Best Newcomer Award at the Brighton Fringe in 2022 for his solo show, Plastic and Chicken Bones. He said he is very pleased with the new award and hopes to return to more Fringe festivals after taking a well-deserved break.