Riverside Studios in London has announced the winners of its third annual Bitesize Awards, celebrating the standout performances from the sixth edition of the 2025 Bitesize Festival.

Spanning theatre, comedy, cabaret, and short film, the Bitesize Festival ran at the Riverside Studios from 7 July to 3 August 2025, presenting more than 100 bite-sized shows, a three-day short film festival, three work-in-progress performances and an art exhibition.

Rhys Williamson, Head of Programming at Riverside Studios said in a statement: “Bitesize was born out of a desire to spotlight the freshest, boldest voices in performance – and 2025 delivered that in abundance. From intimate solo shows to riotous musicals and daring short films, this year’s festival has been our most exciting yet. We’re so proud to recognise these exceptional artists – and we can’t wait to see what they do next.”

Bitesize Awards 2025 – Winners

Best Writing

Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working

  • A controversial comedian. A money hungry manager. Nothing is off limits for this dirty, dangerous climb-to-the-top. But when a joke is mistaken for a call-to-arms, a fan commits a violent crime, and Rodney’s head is on the chopping block… Tackling cancel culture, misogyny and freedom of speech in an age of outrage: this is not a comedy, it’s an interrogation of it.
  • Writer: Sadie Pearson
  • Cast: Rodney Black: Ben Willows; Manager: Bertie Taylor-Smith; Woman: Merida Beasley
  • Director: Hen Ryan
  • Production: Full Frontal Theatre
  • Upcoming performances: Edinburgh Fringe (18 – 25 August at the Gilded Ballroom)

Best Writing Runner Up

Happy Ending

  • Based on two women, who escorted in their twenties in London, Happy Ending follows Ariel, newly 30 years old, and recounting how she became an escort, following freshers at Central Saint Martins. Talking about the highs and lows: how she fell in love with one man, and how events unfolded, leading her to the recognition that she had opted out of the Disney happy ending. Candidly discussing what’s being seen less and less as taboo, Happy Ending confronts sex, the industry, sexual health, mental health and the objectification of sex workers.
  • Writer: Cameron Corcoran
  • Performer: Helena Harrison
  • Directed: Anastasia Bunce; Assistant Director: Isabelle Tyner; Lighting Designer: Hannah Clancy; Sound Designer: Flick Isaac Chilton
  • Production: OffMainstage

Best Show

Clean Slate

  • Blowjobs, bleach and beef bourguignon. A women’s domestic life crumbles as she is pushed to the breaking point by her boyfriend’s relentless domestic incompetence…and you’ve been cast as the boyfriend. She navigates the full weight of cooking, cleaning, planning and hosting all while questioning how much more she can take. Clean Slate doesn’t let you sit comfortably in the dark, it drags you into the mess.
  • Writers: Louisa Marshall & Amber Charlie Conroy
  • Performer: Louisa Marshall
  • Director: Amber Charlie Conroy; Designer: Ali Hagan; Associate Producer: Sadie Mears; Sound Designer: Ava Zarate
  • Producer: Amber Charlie Conroy
  • Upcoming performances: Edinburgh Fringe: Friday 1 – Monday 25 August 2025 (not 11 , 18 ) Former Gent’s Lockeroom @ Summerhall, Summerhall Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL

Best Show Runner Up

Are you even Indian?

  • A surreal dance-theatre piece set in a courtroom, where a couple on the verge of divorce faces a bigger question: What makes us Indian? Mixing legal drama with Bollywood, contemporary, and interpretive dance, the show dives into the messy, complicated layers of identity and belonging. It flips the usual narrative of the cultural divide between Indian and British South Asians, exploring what we hold onto, what we leave behind, and who gets to decide what “being Indian” even means.
  • Director: Leigh Toney
  • Cast: Mohit Mathur; Nisha Aaliya

Best Comedy

Arrogant Soft

  • Set in modern-day South London, Arrogant Soft follows a games night that unravels into an evening of revelations as two couples discover the games they play aren’t all on the table.
  • Writer: Alphonso Brown
  • Cast: Alphonso Brown; Warren Graham; Savannah Kityo; Martine Harrison
  • Director: Elizabeth Ayodele; Sound / Lighting Designer: Jahmiko Marshall; Technical Stage Manager: Vivi Wei; Stage Manager: Emeka Diamond
  • Producer: Lucie Lutte

Best Directing

Flush

  • “This cubicle, it’s like a confessional. If I tell you all my sins will you buy me a drink?” Set in the heart of a Shoreditch club, FLUSH unfolds entirely in the women’s bathroom – a space of eyeliner touch-ups, whispered confessions, and fleeting connections. Over the course of one night, stories slip between the cracks of the cubicles: teenage drama, thirty-something fatigue, love, loss, career spirals, sex, motherhood, bad dates, and worse decisions.
  • Writer: April Hope Miller
  • Director: Merle Wheldon
  • Produced by: Launch Box Productions
  • Upcoming performances: Edinburgh Fringe (‘Upstairs’ in the Pleasance Courtyard 12:15pm, from the 30th July – 25th August (excluding 11 & 18)

Technical Award

Sunland

  • Sunland is a world on the edge of extinction. Four friends, stranded on a Thai beach resort, seemingly wait out their final days before an asteroid collides with Earth. Orbiting above them after escaping the impending destruction, the Arc space station, contains the “best”, brightest, and richest of humanity. Those back on Earth attempt to continue their lives, seeking solace, comfort and above all – hope.
  • Written by and designed by: Madeline Whitby
  • Cast: Isaiah James-Mitchell, Gigi Downey, Bex Goddard and Lily Walker
  • Director: Madison Cole; Sound design: Dan Sinclair; Composed by: Isaiah James-Mitchell; Movement Director: Dan Hardwell
  • Produced by: Gigi Downey and Alicia Gilmartin

Best solo show

Door Bitch

At 18, aspiring singer Daisy Cashew finds herself standing on the door of The Club. Clipboard in hand. Dreams in tow. What starts as a temp job quickly spirals into chaos when she’s unexpectedly handed the responsibility of running the place, alongside the owner’s daughter, Peach. Completely under-qualified, unapologetically reckless, and unable to taste the difference between Vodka or Gin (because who can at 18?), this partnership is a recipe for disaster.
Written and performed by: Poppy Almond

Bitesize Short Film Festival Awards 2025 – Winners

  • Storytelling Award: Now That You’re Back
  • Visionary Story Award: Meow!
  • Vanguard Award: The King of Forks
  • Honourable mention Award: The Steak
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Main photo: Bitesize Awards 2025. Photo by Douglas Ives

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