Triple award-winning JOAN embarks on another national tour

Following an incredibly popular preview at Derby Theatre in 2015, and a phenomenally successful, award-winning run  at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, JOAN, a Milk Presents  Production in association with Derby Theatre, has  embarked on another national tour and will play at the Wales Millennium Centre, The Oval House, Camden People’s Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre, Barnsley Civic, Birmingham Rep and at Touchstones Rochdale.  
During its smash-hit festival run, JOAN was awarded the Scotsman Fringe First Award, an award to recognise and celebrate the best and most outstanding new work and writing on the Fringe; The Stage Edinburgh Award, awards which recognise outstanding performances; and The Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award, one of the Festival’s longest running awards whose previous winners include Ross Noble, Ed Byrne, The League of Gentlemen and Omid Djalili. 
 
JOAN also proved hugely popular with audiences, bloggers and the press alike with The Scotsman, maker and breaker of careers, awarding the show four stars, describing it as “Powerful, dynamic and irreverent”;  Festmag published it as number 1 in their theatre reviews giving it a whopping five stars, and saying “a bruising, brilliant show”; four star reviews from The Stage, Broadway Baby, British Theatre Guide, and 4.5 stars in from The Reviews Hub. JOAN was also listed as one of The Guardian's ‘15 Sure-fire Edinburgh Festival hits’ and also appeared in The Stage's ‘Top Edfringe Picks' as “an absolutely storming performance”. 
 
Lyn Gardner from The Guardian described JOAN as a “Magical transformation of a heretical heroine. This clever retelling of the Joan of Arc story has comic fizz, emotional ballast and cross-dressing that looks like sorcery" with Broadway Baby adding  "thoroughly entertaining, cleverly written and immaculately performed" and "beautiful and Lyrical... a rightly reclaimed Martyrdom" from Exeunt Magazine. 

So what is JOAN all about? An earthy story of courage, conviction and hope, this is Joan of Arc. Performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, history’s greatest gender-warrior takes to the stage, dragging up as the men she defies in this smash-hit show.  
 
JOAN fuses lyrical new writing with quick wit and cabaret prowess, performed by Drag King champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, aka LoUis CYfer (WINNER Drag Idol Champion), and written by Milk Presents co-director Lucy J Skilbeck (BBC Legacy Fund recipient).  

What happens when a disguise soon becomes something more real and you have to fight for who you really are? Milk Presents bring you a fearless new show about what it means to stand out, stand up and stand alone.   A figure of both history and legend, the tale of Joan of Arc has spoken to a huge breadth of people for centuries. This is a timely and refreshing look at one of history’s most famous heroines – exploring the salient themes of identity, courage and belief. JOAN is a Drag King theatre show that aims to introduce new audiences to this evergrowing underground art form, placing it within theatre spaces and community settings.  Drag Queens have long been at the forefront of experimental performance and popular entertainment, but Kings (female to male performers) are quickly catching up. This show resonates with an ever-growing dialogue about gender and sexuality and the need to represent a wider demographic in our society.   JOAN unravels the intricacies of Joan’s defiance and subsequent demise, with Lucy Jane Parkinson morphing into the men that put her there. A solo show about belonging, gender and finding our own identity. A captivating new play with uproarious songs that breathes new life into this centuries-old legend. 
 
JOAN is supported by BBC Performing Arts Fund, Arts Council England and Derby Theatre 
 
JOAN and The Difference Engine Every performance of JOAN during the tour will once again be captioned using The Difference Engine, making it accessible for Deaf and hard of hearing audiences, as well as those who struggle with spoken English.  


For full details of the new JOAN tour, and to view the trailer, visit: www.milkpresents.com/production/joan To book tickets, click on the venue you want to see the show at in the tour dates section on the Milk Presents website. 
 

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