Clean Break is a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

started in 1979 by Jenny Hicks and Jackie Holborough, while inmates of HMP Askham Grange. They expanded the prison's annual Christmas show into Efemera, a two-hour show about prison life. It was later performed for a two-night run at York Arts Centre, which made its 21 cast members the first British prisoners to perform onstage outside of a prison. Upon their release Hicks and Holborough formed the theatre company, Clean Break in order to tell the hidden stories of women in prison. The company also organises residencies in women's prisons in the UK, using directors, playwrights and actors to work with inmates to create their own work. In 1998 the company moved from its base in Camden to a refurbished building in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the ope ...

. The playwright

Lucy Kirkwood Lucy Ann Kirkwood (born October 1983) is a British playwright and screenwriter. She is writer in residence at Clean Break. In June 2018 Kirkwood was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative. Early life ...

, was writer in residence at Clean Break. Productions include

Sam Holcroft Sam Holcroft is a British playwright. Early life Holcroft studied Biology at the University of Edinburgh. During her time as a student she wrote two plays for the Edinburgh University Theatre Company and was part of the Traverse Theatre's young ...

's ''Dancing Bears'' at the

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

, ''Little on the inside'' by

Alice Birch Alice Birch is a British playwright and screenwriter. Birch has written several plays, including ''Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.'' for which she was awarded the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright, and ''Anatomy of a Suicide' ...

at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 and ''Pests'' by

Vivienne Franzmann Vivienne Franzman (born 1971) is a British playwright from Walthamstow, whose first play, ''Mogadishu'', was critically acclaimed on its première at the Royal Exchange, Manchester and on its transference to the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in ...

(a co-production with

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

& Royal Exchange Theatre 2014. LANK a play by

, premiered at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

in October 2019. In 2019 ''Inside Bitch'' was performed at Theatre Upstairs at The

. In 2021, ''Typical Girls'' by

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm The Apathists were a collective of British playwrights who staged plays and happenings in London between March 2006 and March 2007. The events generated a cult following on the London theatre scene. The collective had a festival of their work at t ...

ran at

Sheffield Theatres Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It comprises three theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse. These theatres make up the largest regional theatre complex outside the ...

, and in 2022 ''Favour'' by Ambreen Razia premiered at

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...

. Clean Break trustee Alice Millest was named Young Board Member of the Year at the 2014 Arts & Business Awards. Clean Break were shortlisted for the Guardian Charity of the Year Awards in 2014 and received a Highly Commended Award from the

Longford Trust Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

References

External links

Clean Break Official Website
{{authority control Feminist theatre Charities based in London Theatre companies in the United Kingdom