The Milk Presents and Derby Theatre production of JOAN scooped three awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The show, which reimagines the life of Joan of Arc, was awarded the Scotsman Fringe First award which recognises and celebrates outstanding new work and writing on the Fringe, The Stage Edinburgh Award which recognises outstanding performances and the Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award.
Ruby Glaskin from Milk Presents said, “we're delighted that JOAN was received so well at the Edinburgh Fringe. We’re incredibly proud of the production and are grateful that so many people have engaged in the gender politics of the show.
“As a company, we’ve worked closely together for the past six years and our Fringe success feels like a great acknowledgement of all our hard work. JOAN was developed and premièred in Derby and we’re incredibly grateful for the support Derby Theatre has given us throughout the process.”
Sarah Brigham, Derby Theatre’s chief executive and artistic director, added, “Milk Presents are a company I’ve supported since they first graduated. Their founders have also worked for us at Derby Theatre in a freelance capacity in a number of roles.
“The reason we supported them is because we could see straight from the off that this was a company with promise, and their success at Edinburgh this year has paid testament to this. Milk Presents make work that has the unique combination of being highly entertaining, accessible and with something urgent to say about the world in which we live.”
JOAN was performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, aka LoUis CYfer, and was written and directed by Lucy J Skilbeck, Derby Theatre’s BBC Performing Arts Fellow 2014.