Clean Break (theatre company)

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] Prison reformer and former offender Chris Tchaikovsky wrote the play The Easter Egg for Clean Break, which was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1985.^[5]

In 1998 the company moved from its base in Camden to a refurbished building in Kentish Town.^[6][7]

Productions include Sam Holcroft's Dancing Bears at the Soho Theatre,^[8] Little on the inside by Alice Birch at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014,^[9] and Pests by Vivienne Franzmann (a co-production with Royal Court Theatre and Royal Exchange Theatre).^{[citation needed]}

[BLANK], a play by Alice Birch, premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in October 2019.^[10]

In 2019 Inside Bitch was performed at Theatre Upstairs at The Royal Court Theatre.^[11]

In 2021, Typical Girls by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm ran at Sheffield Theatres,^[12] and in 2022 Favour by Ambreen Razia premiered at Bush Theatre.^[13]

Clean Break's first co-production with the National Theatre, Dixon and Daughters by Deborah Bruce, premiered in April 2023.^[14]

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]}

The playwright Lucy Kirkwood was writer in residence at Clean Break in 2015.^[15]