Creative freedom: Clean Break Theatre Company

In the 42 years that have elapsed since Clean Break was established, British theatre has lost a little of its socio-political edge. Fewer companies today are openly concerned with social injustice, inequality, women's rights and penal reform. But Clean Break still feels as passionate about these issues as they did in 1979, when two women in prison – Jacqueline Holborough and Jennifer Hicks – decided to use drama to call for reforms to the British criminal justice system.

Providing hope for women in prison

Just a few weeks in prison for, say, shoplifting can cost a woman her children, her home, her job and, in some cases, her life. An alarming number of women prisoners kill themselves while in custody, awaiting trial.

When she was appointed chair of Clean Break last year, criminal justice campaigner Alison Frater described the company as ‘a fantastic mission to champion women's lives and life chances through the advocacy and authenticity of theatre.’

Clean Break is the only women's theatre company of its kind, keeping the subject of women in prison on the cultural radar, exposing the damage caused by the failures of our criminal justice system, and giving hope to women who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

This women-only organisation, based in a converted piano factory in Kentish Town, North London, offers support and safety to women with experience of the criminal justice system, as well as opportunities to learn new skills, raise their self-esteem and express themselves through drama. Seventy per cent of its participants progress into further education, employment, or volunteering.

‘Advocating more directly for change’

It has also had a transformative effect on the majority of women it has helped. Just five per cent of Clean Break members go on to re-offend, compared to 48 per cent of female prison leavers overall.

A recent exhibition of their first 40 years at the Swiss Cottage Gallery, Camden, celebrated the achievements of the women involved in, and inspired by, the work of Clean Break. At the same time the company is about to launch a digital timeline on its website, providing unlimited access to its archival material.

As Alison Frater points out, the company is needed now more than ever, with the announcement of 500 new prison places for women and the ongoing cuts to community and social services. Clearly Clean Break also has an important role to play in the present public debate that's going on in the entertainment world generally about wellbeing, mental health and harassment.

‘We feel like we're very much a part of that conversation,’ says Anna Herrmann, joint artistic director. ‘When Clean Break was set up it had a campaigning role, there was a political awakening, but that became expressed through our theatre work.

‘Now, thanks to the confidence we've derived from our 40th anniversary, we are advocating more directly for change. We believe theatre and creativity enables women to challenge their oppression by society in general, and by the criminal justice system in particular.’

Artistic opportunities for women

By offering courses and workshops carefully designed to meet the needs and interests of their members, the company aims to motivate women who have been failed first by the education system, and then by the criminal justice system.

‘Our ultimate ambition is to find more public-facing opportunities for those women who want to move forward as artists,’ says Herrmann, adding that not all their members aspire to become creatives. ‘Some just want structure and support for issues that are impacting their lives and to be in a women-only space. Others see it as a possible career path, they want to make their way as theatre artists.’

© Clean Break/Royal Court Theatre 

(Left to right) Jade Small, Lucy Edkins, Jennifer Joseph and Terri Ann Oudjar in their devised production Inside Bitch

Recent projects

After a difficult a year, in which many workshops and a live performance were cancelled, and their building had to be closed down, Clean Break re-emerged this summer with a full programme of workshops, masterclasses, learning programmes, a short film – both online and in person – as well as a live performance of a new show, Through This Mist, created by a group of women artists, and performed in the garden of their Kentish Town HQ.

© Helen Maybanks 

Shona Babayemi and Jackie Clune in [BLANK] at the Donmar Warehouse

The short film, Sweatbox, currently streaming on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, accessible via the Clean Break website, is a screen adaptation of the play by Chloe Moss about three women sitting in a prison van outside HMP Bronzefield, soon to be incarcerated. The play has been touring the UK since its premiere at the Latitude Festival in 2015.

The importance of Clean Break

So, for the uninitiated, how would Anna Herrmann sum up Clean Break's wider significance? ‘What the company stands for is the idea that your voice is really important, that you can contribute and have value. There is a value in what women-only spaces enable and provide for women – the safety, solidarity and support – especially for those who might have been affected by male violence or trauma.

‘I think it's important for young people to be aware of how we treat the most vulnerable in our society, and to think about other ways of creating a future they want for themselves.’

© Helen Maybanks 

Lucy Edkins in [BLANK] at the Donmar Warehouse

Typical Girls, a Clean Break and Sheffield Theatres co-production, will play at Sheffield Crucible from 24 September – 16 October. It is written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and directed by Roísín McBrinn.

www.cleanbreak.org.uk