In another year defined by uncertainty, we are deeply proud of the ways Clean Break has continued to innovate and grow with creativity, courage and care. With challenges faced on our doorsteps and across the globe, the community we have built together has never felt more vital.
We would like to start our 2025 reflections by paying tribute to an incredible community member who we tragically lost this year. Eddy Queens was a phenomenal actor, singer and artist. She was a founding member of Clean Break associate company Nubian CoheARTs, and a beloved Member of Clean Break who is deeply missed by us all.
We have achieved so much as a company this year - too much to fit into this round-up - but we have selected some highlights that we would like to share and reflect on as we wrap-up for the year.
In the first half of the year, we toured our production Scenes from Lost Mothers, written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. Based on the Lost Mothers research project by Professor Laura Abbott, the play was a call to action for those responsible for the care of pregnant women and new mothers in prison. Highlights of the tour include performing at the House of Commons and the British Library; selling out shows at the Embassy Theatre at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; bringing an extract to a ‘No Births Behind Bars’ protest outside the Ministry of Justice; and the Lost Mothers Project winning Research Excellence Award at the Criminal Justice Alliance Awards.
This year 62 Members participated in our programme of theatre workshops and wrap-around support. Alongside the core programme, our long-standing partners The Place delivered dance and movement workshops, and new partners the Royal Literary Fund provided additional writing workshops for those looking to develop this skill further.
After a fruitful outreach and recruitment process over the summer, this October we welcomed our new Young Company. The programme has got off to a fantastic start, with weekly ‘grow n’ glow’ wellbeing workshops, theatre training from our wonderful drama school partners, and even an appearance in the press. We have loved getting to know our nine new Members and having young voices in the building. Bring on 2026!
Our work in prisons continued in 2025, with an ongoing partnership with Goldsmiths College’s Open Book initiative. We were lucky to work with a brilliant group of young women at HMP Downview, who developed a play titled Now Tell Me If I’m Guilty, raising awareness of the injustices of Joint Enterprise law. The play tells the story of the deep harm caused to young Black and Brown women who are disproportionately criminalised by association.
Clean Break is proud to be part of the Remand Collective, a group of criminal justice sector organisations and women with lived experience who are working to end the unjust use of remand for women. Alongside the work we did as a collective this year, a two-day retreat took place to onboard women with lived experience, where the group’s constitution was created. We look forward to expanding this important work next year.
Amongst lots of exciting creative projects, our Artistic Team have been busy preparing for our next main-stage production in 2026. We are grateful to be working with a group of uniquely talented playwrights on commission, including babirye bukilwa, Emma Dennis-Edwards, Yasmin Joseph, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Somebody Jones and our seed commission writers Ro Florence and Shona Babayemi.
In autumn, our Development Team launched an exciting new initiative for supporters who want to get closer to our commissioning process. Clean Break’s Commissioning Circle invites individuals to donate a minimum of £1,000 per year to directly contribute to our new writing programme. We celebrated the new scheme with an event at the Marylebone Theatre, hosted by founding member Lucy Kirkwood. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to our first cohort of Commissioning Circle supporters.
In the summer, when the weather was much nicer, we invited Clean Break's supporters and funders to come and celebrate with us in our beautiful courtyard garden. It was wonderful to host and connect with the people who make our work possible, and we look forward to creating more moments to gather next year.
Our Trauma Informed Practice work expanded this year. Over the summer we launched an arts and culture sector-wide survey, gathering information on what trauma informed practice means within the sector, and how we can improve staff and audience care across the board. We heard from fifty organisations and shared some of our findings publicly. We are now using these insights to develop an exciting new offer for organisations who want to embed trauma-informed practice into their workplaces. Watch this space!
Two important films were released this year, both shining a light on experiences of women who are criminalised and directed by Daisy May Hudson. Lollipop is a feature film, starring several Clean Break Member artists, including Posy Sterling as lead. Posy delivers a phenomenal performance in the film, for which she won a British Independent Film Award. Holloway is a powerful documentary, focusing on courageous, raw and honest testimonies from women who served sentences at HMP Holloway. Clean Break hosted screenings and panel discussions of both these films; we are proud to be in community with such creative, bold and talented artists.
A book on Clean Break was published this year, part of the Cambridge University Press Element in Women Theatre Makers series. Academics Caoimhe McAvinchey, Sarah Bartley, Deborah Dean, and Anne-marie Greene have been researching Clean Break’s work and history for several years for the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Women/Theatre/Justice project. We are thrilled that their findings are now published and accessible.
As an extension of our Women/Theatre/Justice research project, we delivered training using both Laura Dean’s artwork created during the research project and our short film Sweatbox, as stimulus for learning and reflection with criminal justice professionals around the country. Professor Caoimhe McAvinchey and Dr Deborah Dean undertook research questionnaires and interviews with participating staff including prison and probation officers, magistrates and judges, to understand the impact of the training on their practice. We will share the findings in 2026.
Our internal equity, inclusion and justice work continued this year, held by our anti-racism, trans inclusion, anti-ableism and climate justice working groups, alongside leadership. We have of course faced huge challenges and obstacles, with the rise of racism and the far-right, widespread anti-immigration protests and the Supreme Court Ruling which impacts the rights of trans and intersex people. We are incredibly proud of the work we continue to do despite these challenges, to foster a safe and supportive environment at Clean Break.
To finish off the year with a bang, this December we hosted our second Big Night Out fundraiser at The Other Palace theatre, hosted brilliantly by co-Chair of our Board, Josette Bushell-Mingo, with a glittering appearance from co-Chair Sarah Jane Dent. We had a fantastic evening of comedy, music and dance, raising money for our life-changing work. Thank you to all the performers who donated their time, and everyone who booked tickets.
All these achievements are made possible because of the hard work, creativity and generosity of our wonderful community; including Members, staff, Trustees, artists, volunteers, partner organisations, Patrons, funders and supporters.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Clean Break’s successes this year. We wish you a restful winter break and look forward to connecting in 2026.
Warm wishes,
Anna Herrmann, Natasha Bucknor and Jacqueline Stewart
