Fake wins two major awards at Prague Fringe 2026

We are delighted to share that Fake has won both the Creative Award and the Inspiration Award at Prague Fringe 2026.

The Creative Award is presented to the company whose production is deemed creatively exceptional, while the Inspiration Award recognises a new piece of work with no more than two previous runs.

For a new show to receive either award would be a huge honour. To receive both is something we never imagined when we first began developing Fake.

Created by Chris Cook and directed by Rhys Williamson, Fake combines magic, comedy and storytelling to explore forgery, fraud, deception and authenticity. The show follows a faker who forged his way to freedom, an artist who may himself be a fraud, a magician whose promise conceals a lie and a mysterious figure who may not even exist. It is a story about why we believe what we believe and how easily we can be fooled.

Prague Fringe marked the show's international debut and its first appearance outside the UK. Across the festival, audiences packed into the intimate venues of Prague's historic Malá Strana district, with many performances selling out.

The response from audiences and critics was extraordinary. Binge Fringe described the production as "a masterclass in storytelling" and praised the show's combination of theatricality, magic and thought provoking ideas.

These awards are particularly meaningful because they recognise exactly what we hoped Fake could achieve. The Inspiration Award celebrates the show's originality and ambition as a new piece of work. The Creative Award acknowledges the unique blend of storytelling, theatre and illusion that sits at the heart of the production.

The journey to Prague began several years ago with a simple question: what happens when a magic show stops being about tricks and starts being about stories? Through countless drafts, rehearsals, workshops and performances, Fake has evolved into a show that uses deception not simply to fool an audience but to explore larger questions about truth, art and belief.

We are incredibly grateful to Prague Fringe, the festival team, the award judges, everyone who bought a ticket and every audience member who joined us for the journey.

Most of all, we are grateful to the many artists, collaborators and supporters who helped bring the show to life.

Winning these awards is a wonderful milestone for Snap the Arrow, but it also feels like the beginning of the next chapter. Following its award winning run in Prague, Fake returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August as part of a major 2026 run at Gilded Balloon.

If Prague taught us anything, it is that audiences everywhere love a good story, especially when they are not quite sure whether they should trust the person telling it.