National Youth Theatre's POPE JOAN Celebrates Church of Wales' Motion to Allow Female Bishops

The governing body of the Church in Wales yesterday accepted a motion to allow female bishops, a move which was celebrated by the cast of the National Youth Theatre's production of Pope Joan at last night's performance.

Sophie Crawford, who plays the title role of the disputed female pontiff, dedicated the performance to "whoever becomes the first female bishop in Wales" during the curtain call, and held a sign reading "Well Done Wales".

Pope Joan, by Louise Brealey, tells the story of the legend that is Pope Joan - the first and only woman to achieve Papal status, according to 15th Century myth. It runs until Sunday 15 September at St James' Church, Piccadilly.

Louise Brealey is an acclaimed actress on stage and screen, with recent credits including The Stone (Royal Court), Sixty Six Books(Bush), The Government Inspector (Young Vic) and The Trojan Women (Gate), as well as the role of Molly Hooper in BBC TV'sSherlock. This is Louise's first play.

St James' Church, Piccadilly, is the parish of Rev Lucy Winkett, formerly Canon Precentor of St Paul's cathedral, and a vocal supporter of the introduction of female bishops.

The show is directed by NYT associate and former Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar Warehouse, Paul Hart.

POPE JOAN by Louise Brealey runs at St James's Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL, 31 August - 15 September. Evenings 7.30pm: 31st August, 3rd - 6th, 10th - 14th September; Matinees 5pm: 1st, 8th, 15th September. Box office: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk / 020 7452 3000.

National Youth Theatre: The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain is a world-leading youth arts organisation. It was established in 1956 as the first youth theatre in the world and over the past 57 years it has nurtured the talent of hundreds of thousands of young people.

The National Youth Theatre inspires, trains, and showcases exceptional performers and theatre technicians aged 14-25 from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Each year it reaches out across the UK to discover diverse new talent.

The National Youth Theatre had a very successful Olivier Awards in 2013, with two of its former members, Dame Helen Mirren and Luke Treadaway winning acting prizes

Alumni also include: Daniel Craig, Colin Firth, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Day-Lewis, Orlando Bloom, Catherine Tate, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ashley Jensen, Sir Derek Jacobi, Timothy Dalton, David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville, Matt Smith and many more. Former NYT members also include sector leaders in politics, business, law, the media and medicine.

Earlier this year NYT auditioned over 4,000 young people around the UK and over the year will offer over 25 acting and technical theatre training courses, including EPIC STAGES a new six-week course designed to equip young talent with the skills they need to create and stage their own work. NYT's free flagship social inclusion programme Playing Up will also recruit a new cohort of young people at risk this summer.

Pictured: Sophie Crawford as Pope Joan. Photo by Ellie Kurttz.