The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed a myriad of healthcare, human rights, education, rehabilitation, and capacity issues within the UK criminal justice system. This event brings together speakers from Criminal Justice, Arts and Culture, and the Women’s Sector to reflect on how the coronavirus has impacted the lives of incarcerated women and those encountering the criminal justice system at this time.
Kate Paradine (Women in Prison), Paula Harriott (Prison Reform Trust); and a speaker from Appeal, will each share their perspectives on how the women they work with have been affected by the pandemic. The speakers will also highlight the advocacy and campaigning organisations are undertaking in this moment in order to think about how we might push for change during this moment of crisis.
Anna Herrmann, Yasmin Joseph, River (Clean Break) and Rachel Conlon (Prison Partnership Project, York St John University) will then share the creative arts practice their organisations have been undertaking within and beyond the prison estate during this period of social isolation. They will consider how creative and participatory arts practices can continue to make work that involves and represents incarcerated women under these increased restrictions.
Artists from Clean Break and the Prison Partnership Project will then share short pieces of performance emerging from their creative practice during this period.
There will be opportunities for audience questions and discussion throughout the event.
Speakers:
Kate Paradine (Chief Executive, Women in Prison)
Paula Harriott (Head of Prisoner Engagement, Prison Reform Trust)
APPEAL (Women’s Justice Advocate)
Anna Herrmann (Co-Artistic Director, Clean Break Theatre Company)
Yasmin Joseph (Writer and Artist on 2 Metres Apart, Clean Break Theatre Company)
River (Artist on 2 Metres Apart, Clean Break Theatre Company)
Rachel Conlon (Prison Partnership Project, York St John University)
Chair: Sarah Bartley (University of Reading, AHRC: Women, Theatre Justice Project)
This event will be hosted by the Department of Film, Theatre, and Television at the University of Reading. It is part of the two year AHRC Project Clean Break: Women, Theatre Organisation and the Criminal Justice System, led by academics in theatre and performance studies and work and employment relations to develop new understandings about Clean Break’s impact on contemporary British theatre, its distinctive organisational practices and how this practice can inform policy and practitioner discussions about organisational leadership in arts and criminal justice. The project has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
