Milk Presents is an LGBTQIA+ theatre company based in Derby in the United Kingdom.
The theatre company is an associate company of Derby Theatre and The Bush Theatre. [1] [2] [3] In addition to producing theatrical works, the company also creates films, audio-plays, and photography, and organizes community residencies, workshops, club nights, symposiums, book groups, etc. Milk Presents tours its productions both nationally and globally. [1] [4]
Milk Presents was founded in 2010 by Leo Skilbeck, Ruby Glaskin, and Adam Robertson after they graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. [5] [1]
The company's very first theatre show was 454 Grams in 2010, a postdramatic retelling of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. [6] [7] Next, the company became an associate company of The Point in Eastleigh in 2011 and produced its first full-length shows: Bluebeard: A Fairytale for Adults and A Real Man’s Guide To Sainthood. [1] [5] [8] [9] Bluebeard: A Fairytale for Adults was based on Charles Perrault’s French folktale Bluebeard. [10] A Real Man’s Guide To Sainthood was powered by bikes and used projectors, and was a retelling of the story of Saint George . [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
It then produced Milk Presents: Self Service (2013 - 2014), which explored the meaning of "queer" with original music, animations, and comedy. [17] [18] [19] The company then became an associate company of Derby Theatre in 2015. [9] At Derby Theatre, the company produced JOAN [20] [21] and BULLISH. JOAN portrayed the story of Joan of Arc and was performed by LJ Parkinson. [22] [1] [23] BULLISH was a retelling of the Minotaur myth. [24] [25] [26] It was launched at the Camden People’s Theatre, who commissioned the production alongside the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. [27] [28] [29] [30] [25] Formerly named BODIY, BULLISH was the Camden People's Theatre's first Home Run commission after an extensive period of selection process. [31] [32]
Milk Presents then became an associate company of the Bush Theatre (2016-17). [9] Around the same time in April 2017, the company was commissioned to host a "Bromance Cabaret" at the Wellcome Collection as part of their "Macho?" late-night event. [1] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]
In August 2021, Milk Presents and Derby Theatre premiered co-production Marty and the Party, a show for young audiences. [38] [39] [40]
In December 2021, in partnership with Derby Theatre, the company launched a new audio cabaret, The Pervert’s Podcast. [41] This audio cabaret is presented by Milk Presents and co-produced by She Wants A Dog, a production company formed by a partnership between arts producers Pippa Frith and Kate Chapman that was focused on commissioning artists and producing creative work for podcasts. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50]
In 2023, Milk Presents co-produced Modest with theatre company Middle Child. [51] [52] [53] [54]
The theatre company's production JOAN won the Scotsman Fringe First Award, The Stage Award, and Spirit of the Fringe Award at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [55] [3] [23] The production also won the Off West End Award in 2018. [24] [56]
Milk Presents also organizes Summer Summit, a paid weekend-long retreat for early-career LGBTQIA+ artists. [57] [58] [59]