Young theatre director Ibrahim Shote receives Unicorn’s first Joanna David Award

The announcement was made on Wednesday during a reception at Clarence House hosted by the Duchess of Cornwall who is the theatre's patron.

The Duchess said that the Tooley Street theatre is "the best children's theatre in the country – and probably in the world" and described how her grandchildren, who normally have short attention spans, had been spellbound by productions they had seen at the Unicorn.

Ibrahim Shote was chosen by a panel of judges consisting of artistic director Purni Morell, production manager Phil Clarke and director of the Young Company Nadia Fall.

Ibrahim's ambition is to be a theatre director and this award will give him the opportunity to assist a guest director on one production in the next Unicorn Theatre season under the artistic leadership of Purni Morell.

During his ten‐week placement, he will be mentored by the artistic director and the whole Unicorn team. The Unicorn believes this will offer him a genuine opportunity to further his career and place himself on the next rung of the theatre ladder.

Ibrahim grew up locally and recently left Lewisham College with a triple distinction in the National Diploma in Performing Arts.

He attended the Globe Academy in Harper Road and has worked on projects at the Young Vic and National Theatre Studio. He is also a co‐founder of Southwark Playhouse Young Company.

The Joanna David Award will be presented each autumn to a young adult who has proven his or her dedication to theatre but is in need of further support to achieve his or her artistic ambitions.

Joanna David has been involved in the development of the Unicorn for more than 20 years. On stage she played opposite Derek Jacobi in the original production of High Whitemore's Breaking the Code and more recently has appeared in West End productions of Ring around the Moon and Alan Ayckbourn's A Woman in Mind.

Her many television appearances have included the title role in Rebecca, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Foyle's War and Inspector Morse.