Edinburgh success for Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me

As we roll into the last weekend of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate the success of our homegrown production Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me, written by Philip Stokes. But first, let me tell you how we became involved in the show.

We first joined this project towards the end of last year. Local producers Ketchup Productions led by Ryan Hogan, invited our programming team to see an initial preview of Philip Stokes' new play, designed by Craig Lomas. We were aware of Phil's work, following the come back in 2019 of his hard-hitting play Hero(ine) for Breakfast. Me and the rest of the team were blown away by the raw talent of the then seventeen-year-old Jack Stokes and the sheer grit of the script.

That was early days for this show, but from it, we decided we wanted it to be the focal point of our spring season. We set aside some time and budget, offered design, technical and marketing support. We turned our main stage into a front room and tested the show in front of the Huddersfield audience. They came for Jane McDonald and left in love with the main character, Daniel Valentine, giving actor Jack Stokes standing ovations after every show. It proved what we felt in our gut, that this was a phenomenal show.

This was the perfect show to take to Edinburgh Festival Fringe to give the international audiences a taste of the art coming out of Yorkshire. We found another supporter in Richard Jordan Productions who has an array of fabulous contacts who have proved invaluable. The Pleasance were chosen to host the show and we started talking marketing with them straight away. We refreshed the poster design for the show, working with photographers and graphic designers. We brought another designer on board in Annie May Fletcher, who had just finished working on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, to elevate the sound design. And up the team went.

Now a month later, with rave reviews and award nominations for Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me, we are absolutely thrilled with it's success. Here's what the reviewers have been saying:

"Thrilling crafted one-man drama featuring an authoritative debut performance from Jack Stokes" 5 Stars from The Stage

"A tight script and energetic central performance" 4 Stars from The List

"Fills you with heartache and urges your humanity and compassion" 4 Stars from Broadway World

"An unforgettable, edge of your seat 60 minutes" Must See Show from Fringe Review

"Pretty much perfect" 5 Stars from Three Weeks 

"Jack Stokes gives a true tour-de-force performance" 5 Stars from Theatre Weekly

And I'm also pleased to report that Jack Stokes has won Theatre Weekly's award for Best Solo Performance! What a great professional debut performance for Jack.

In 2023 Jesus, Jane, Mother and Me is heading out on an international tour, starting off at our place in February. For tickets head over to the webpage.