Milk Presents is an LGBTQIA+ theatre company based in Derby in the United Kingdom.
The theatre company is an associate company of Derby Theatre. [1] [2] 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] [3]
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. [4] [1]
The company's very first theatre show was 454 Grams in 2010, a postdramatic retelling of Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. [5] [6] 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] [4] [7] [8] Bluebeard: A Fairytale for Adults was based on Charles Perrault’s French folktale Bluebeard. [9] A Real Man’s Guide To Sainthood was powered by bikes and used projectors, and was a retelling of the story of Saint George . [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
It then produced Milk Presents: Self Service (2013 - 2014), which explored the meaning of "queer" with original music, animations, and comedy. [16] [17] [18] The company then became an associate company of Derby Theatre in 2015. [8] At Derby Theatre, the company produced JOAN and BULLISH. JOAN portrayed the story of Joan of Arc and was performed by LJ Parkinson. [19] [1] [20] BULLISH was a retelling of the Minotaur myth. [21] [22] [23] It was launched at the Camden People’s Theatre, who commissioned the production alongside the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. [24] [25] [26] [27] [22] Formerly named BODIY, BULLISH was the Camden People’s Theatre's first Home Run commission after an extensive period of selection process. [28] [29]
Milk Presents then became an associate company of the Bush Theatre (2016-17). [8] 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] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]
In August 2021, Milk Presents and Derby Theatre premiered co-production Marty and the Party, a show for young audiences. [35] [36] [37]
In December 2021, in partnership with Derby Theatre, the company launched a new audio cabaret, The Pervert’s Podcast. [38] 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. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]
In 2023, Milk Presents co-produced Modest with theatre company Middle Child. [48] [49] [50] [51]
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. [52] [53] [20] The production also won the Off West End Award in 2018. [21] [54]
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