British theater company focused on women in prison
Clean Break is a women's
theatre company based in
London, focused on telling the stories of imprisoned women.
History
Clean Break was started in 1979 by prisoners at
HMP Askham Grange,[1] who 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.[2] Upon their release, founders Jenny Hicks and Jackie Holboroug formed the theatre company, Clean Break, in order to tell the stories of women in prison.[3][4]
In 1998 the company moved from its base in
Camden to a refurbished building in
Kentish Town.[5][6]
Clean Break's first co-production with the
National Theatre, Dixon and Daughters by Deborah Bruce, premiered in April 2023.[13]
Residencies
The company also organises
residencies in women's prisons in the UK, using directors, playwrights, and actors to work with women in prison to create their own work.[citation needed]