We're excited to report that we have been awarded second place in The Big Give's Christmas Challenge Awards. We won this prestigious award because of the creativity of our campaign and the ways in which we engaged with our donors. Many thanks to all of you who spread the word and gave to the campaign - your support funded our four specialist courses for women with mental health needs for a whole year!
We’re delighted to announce the appointment of our incoming Head of Artistic Programme: Charlotte Gwinner. She will be with Clean Break until January of 2018 while Róisín McBrinn is on maternity leave. Charlotte was a founding member and the artistic director of Angle Theatre has held associate director positions at The Bush Theatre and Liverpool’s Everyman and Playhouse Theatres. She received a Peter Brook Award for her work with Angle Theatre in 2009, and the Quercus Award for Theatre Directors 2013.
Charlotte commented: "Clean Break is an inspiration in life and art; its unique combination of artistic excellence and social change gives it a far reaching relevance. I am thrilled to be able to join its inspirational team, consolidating on Roisin McBrinn's excellent and diverse programme of new work, at this time of acute political uncertainty."
Charlotte's time at Clean Break will be spent primarily in developing the large number of commissions we are currently engaged with, and working closely with our stable of playwrights to create a programme of plays for production in 2018. The company is pleased to welcome her into this vital role.
The Ministry of Justice announced today that a record 119 people have killed themselves while in custody in the last year, a devastating statistic. Overcrowding, and the cutting of staff numbers in addition to a lack of emphasis on mental health support have made the UK's prisons an unsafe place to be. It seems incredible that 10 years have passed since Baroness Corston made her recommendations for reform of the women's prison estate in The Corston Report, and in the face of such overwhelming evidence supporting her findings, so little has been done.
It has also been more than six years since celebrated playwright Chloë Moss, responding in part to the Corston Report, and inpartnership with Inquest wrote Fatal Light as part of Clean Break's Charged. In the playwright's own words:
"Something that came up a lot during the research process for writing Fatal Light was that, although prison sentences are often utterly devastating to the families of women in prison, there was an assumption that at the very least, their loved ones would be safe inside. Even though prison was the last place that their sister, mother, daughter should be, they trusted that they couldn’t come to any harm. That’s clearly not the case at all. The vulnerable are constantly being criminalised for having mental health problems.
The Corston report (a review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system) was published in March 2007, following the deaths of six women at HMP Styal in just over twelve months. Four years later, there has been slow progress in implementing its recommendations for the sentencing and treatment of female prisoners. There are still so many cases of women who’ve spent their lives dealing with mental health problems and abuse, who are then incarcerated miles from families, support networks… their kids. Prison is the final straw for them.
The subject matter of Fatal Light is bleak of course, but that’s because the reality of the situation is bleak and therefore it’s hugely important to tell these stories and to question why deaths in custody keep happening. I actually think the play itself is, strangely, quite hopeful. The piece plays backwards in time and ends with Jay in a positive situation. Starting with her death and working backwards serves to highlight how avoidable these tragedies really are."
We can only hope that perhaps with the stark figures released this week behind them, the recommendations made in the Corston Report will at last be recognised as urgent.
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can find support with Women In Prison, a charity devoted to supporting the needs of women in prison, and Inquest a charity specialising in providing free advice to people bereaved by a death in custody.
Click here to download the 2016/7 prospectus and view our wide range of free courses.
This week we celebrated with our students as they graduated from a variety of courses completed this term. The certificates were handed out by long-term friend of the company Zawe Ashton, who said
“[I am] Always proud to be involved with Clean Break and your truly life-changing work.”
It’s been an exciting few months for graduates from our education programme.
One of our Make-Up for Theatre students has been offered a bursary by The London College of Fashion; three Clean Break graduates have completed their Masters in Applied Theatre at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; a fourth has begun a BA in Applied Theatre, whilst a fifth has been offered a bursary onto their Acting Diploma. Two further students have been offered bursaries to the Rose Bruford Summer School in preparation for beginning undergraduate degrees there in autumn 2017. Huge congratulations to them all!
Our students can achieve a huge amount if they get the right support and our goal is always to reach as many women as possible. If you missed out on The Big Give, please don't be discouraged from giving: every donation, no matter what size, helps us work to transform women’s lives through theatre.
Click here to make a donation or call Emily Goodyer on 020 7482 8604 to discuss how your support can help the company.
We’re delighted to announce that thanks to the generosity of those who donated, as well as GMS Estates and The Reed Foundation who matched those donations, we not only hit our target of £15,000 but exceeded it! The grand total raised during The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2016 was £21,555, allowing us to completely fund our four specialist courses for women with mental health needs.
If you missed out on donating during the campaign, please don’t be discouraged: you can still support our work here – every donation, no matter what size, helps us work towards our goal of transforming women’s lives. An enormous thank you to everyone who shared the campaign, donated or told their friends!
We are excited to announce that Clean Break has been chosen to take part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge! We aim to raise £15,000 in support of women with mental health needs, providing them with specialist support, training and guidance to overcome barriers and achieve goals.
Thanks to GMS Estates and the Reed Foundation, every donation will be DOUBLED, making your support even more valuable for vulnerable women. A donation of £10 will be worth £20 to Clean Break, if you give £100 it will be an amazing £200 and a gift of £200 doubled will pay for a full place on our specialist courses.
Please put a reminder in your diary: the campaign begins at 12pm on 29 November 2016. Go to SUPPORT CLEAN BREAK to find out more.
#GivingTuesday
The 2016 Longford Prize has been awarded to the Donmar Warehouse, Clean Break and York St John’s University’s Prison Partnership Project for work carried out over the last 4 years in women’s prisons and as part of the Donmar’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy
Clean Break has worked alongside The Donmar Warehouse at each stage of its all-women, prison-set Shakespeare trilogy. All three productions have starred Clean Break patron, Dame Harriet Walter alongside performances from graduates of Clean Break’s education programme.
In this final year of the trilogy, Clean Break collaborates with the Donmar on a project that sees a group of young women working with both companies to explore the links between the lives of Shakespeare’s characters and the lives we live today, creating a brand new piece of theatre by blending Shakespeare’s text with their own words. The programme will climax by giving students an opportunity to perform their own original work on the Donmar stage on 2 December.
The Longford Prize recognises the contribution of an individual, group or organisation working in the area of penal or social reform in showing outstanding qualities in the following areas: humanity, courage, persistence and originality.
The Longford Prize is awarded annually by a prize committee on behalf of the trustees and patrons of the Longford Trust. From 2016, the prize winner will receive £5,000, thanks to sponsorship from The McGrath Charitable Trust, founded by Kevin and Kate McGrath. The awards' ceremony takes place as part of the annual Longford Lecture on Wednesday 16 November. The Longford Prize is organised in association with The Prison Reform Trust, for more information please visit www.longfordtrust.org.
Santa Claus has brought you a very merry early Christmas present: a huge discount when you book 5 days or more in our lovely studios between 15 December 2016 – 13 January 2017!
Contact hires@cleanbreak.org.uk
Celebrating Success was a research project commissioned by Clean Break in partnership with Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Funded in 2015 by CreativeVouchers, a scheme run by CreativeWorks London, the researchers, Dr Selina Busby and Dr Nicola Abraham, focused on the impact of Clean Break’s education programme on women entering the creative and cultural industries. The research was published in 2015 following a special photography exhibition, The Changing Face of the Arts, which was on view at the Free Word Centre July-October 2015. The exhibition featured a series of portraits of graduates involved in the research by artist Tracey Anderson.
We've so enjoyed working alongside The Donmar Warehouse at each stage of their fantastic, all-women, prison-set trilogy of Shakespeare. The productions star our patron, Dame Harriet Walter and feature performances from two graduates of our education programme, Jennifer Joseph and Sarah-Jane Dent.
In this final year of the trilogy, we're going one step further and collaborating with the Donmar on a side project. A group of young women will be working with both companies to explore the links between the lives of Shakespeare’s characters and the lives we live today, with a chance for everyone taking part to create a brand new piece of theatre by blending Shakespeare’s text with their own words. The programme will climax by giving students an opportunity to perform their own original work on the Donmar stage on 2 December!
We're excited to see the results of this fantastic project!
Our purpose built studios are centrally located just off Kentish Town Road. The four versatile spaces also benefit from a peaceful secluded outdoor patio garden area and kitchen facilities, and right now, we're offering 20% off for bookings this August. Bargain!
Click here for more details, including rates, amenities, and dimensions for each studio.
To make a booking, please contact Clean Break on
020 7482 8600 or email us: hires@cleanbreak.org.uk
Clean Break is pleased to be taking part in B!RTH Festival, a global festival of theatrical provocation and debate.
The festival will present an exciting and varied programme at the Royal Exchange over the four days of B!RTH from 19 - 22 October, 2016. Headlined by 7 commissioned plays from 7 leading female playwrights from across the globe (Kenya, India, China, Syria, UK, USA and Brazil) the festival will also host a series of debates with experts from the world of science, art, academia, politics and charities, as well as an incredible programme of supporting events.
Clean Break is excited to contribute a rehearsed reading of These Four Walls by Laura Lomas on 20 October. The play examines what it's like for mothers who are in prison, and deals with their experiences of separation, loss and loneliness with sensitivity and humour. It will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Mahala McGuffie, Governor of HM Prison Styal, and chaired by director Roisin McBrinn.
Clean Break was overwhelmed when the cast of Henry V at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park decided to do something different with their cards and gifts money.
Two of Henry V’s leading actresses, Michelle Terry (playing Henry V) and Charlotte Cornwell (playing Chorus) are old friends of Clean Break and reached out to us to make a generous offer - that instead of buying the cast and company the usual first night cards and gifts, they would donate that money to us - raising about £400! They also invited a group of Clean Break students to come and meet the cast of Henry V to be presented with the cheque, and stay to see Monday night's performance. Our students were delighted to see this fantastic show!
Thank you again to everyone at Henry V and the Open Air Theatre!
The double bill was produced in association with The Yard Theatre and Clean Break are excited to continue this partnership with a run in their home theatre this September.
HOUSE by Somalia Seaton
Pat returns to her childhood home after a five year absence, ready to forgive her mother. But first she needs acknowledgement of the neglect she suffered at the hands of a woman who believed she was only ever following the teachings of her close-knit Nigerian church - and the word of God. Somalia Seaton’s HOUSE is an explosive new play about family, culture clashes, memory and truth.
AMONGST THE REEDS by Chino Odimba
Oni and Gillian have made their home in a disused office block, finding dangerous ways to stay hidden without the authorities catching up with them. But now Gillian is heavily pregnant and visibility might be the only way to give her baby a chance. Chino Odimba’s AMONGST THE REEDS follows two friends struggling in the shadows.
Clean Break was overwhelmed when the cast of Henry V at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park decided to do something different with their cards and gifts money.
Two of Henry V’s leading actresses, Michelle Terry (playing Henry V) and Charlotte Cornwell (playing Chorus) are old friends of Clean Break and reached out to us to make a generous offer - that instead of buying the cast and company the usual first night cards and gifts, they would donate that money to us - raising about £400! They also invited a group of Clean Break students to come and meet the cast of Henry V to be presented with the cheque, and stay to see Monday night's performance. Our students were delighted to see this fantastic show!
Thank you again to everyone at Henry V and the Open Air Theatre!
