Stages of Justice takes you inside the world of theatre in the criminal justice system. For over fifty years, theatre companies have undertaken powerful creative projects at the heart of the British justice system, but because this work often takes place behind prison walls its impact is seldom seen by wider audiences. Through interviews with artists, prison staff, justice experts, and people with lived experience of incarceration we uncover the histories of these distinctive arts practices and examine how performance is navigating the contemporary crisis in our prisons. Across the series we reflect on the power of creativity to build human connection, spark change, and shift understandings of justice both onstage and off. Reflective, political and compelling, Stages of Justice shines a light on the potential of the arts in places you might least expect to find them.
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Stages of Justice takes you inside the world of theatre in the criminal justice system. For over fifty years, theatre companies have undertaken powerful creative projects at the heart of the British justice system, but because this work often takes place behind prison walls its impact is seldom seen by wider audiences. Through interviews with artists, prison staff, justice experts, and people with lived experience of incarceration we uncover the histories of these distinctive arts practices and examine how performance is navigating the contemporary crisis in our prisons. Across the series we reflect on the power of creativity to build human connection, spark change, and shift understandings of justice both onstage and off. Reflective, political and compelling, Stages of Justice shines a light on the potential of the arts in places you might least expect to find them.
What does it take to be a trailblazer in a criminal justice system that isn’t built for change? We sit down with Anna Herrmann and Jacqueline Stewart (Clean Break Theatre Company) and Andy Watson (Geese Theatre Company) to trace some of the histories of arts and criminal justice in Britain. We also hear from those who led this work in the seventies and eighties: Jenny Hicks and Jacqueline Holborough, Saul Hewish and Corinna Seeds. Theatremakers who imagined there was a place for performance in a hostile prison system and then went about making it happen.
Host Dr Sarah BartleyCo-host Shona BabyemiProducer Debbie KilbrideExecutive Producer Sukey Firth Sound Engineer Max Aspen Original music composed by Rex HoranVisual design Russell Miller
Thanks go to staff at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, particularly Laura Wardle, Phil Rowe, Samuel Bailey, Bryce Lease, Amy Ryall, and Izzy Stuart.
Stages of Justice was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, with additional support from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Stages of Justice
Stages of Justice takes you inside the world of theatre in the criminal justice system. For over fifty years, theatre companies have undertaken powerful creative projects at the heart of the British justice system, but because this work often takes place behind prison walls its impact is seldom seen by wider audiences. Through interviews with artists, prison staff, justice experts, and people with lived experience of incarceration we uncover the histories of these distinctive arts practices and examine how performance is navigating the contemporary crisis in our prisons. Across the series we reflect on the power of creativity to build human connection, spark change, and shift understandings of justice both onstage and off. Reflective, political and compelling, Stages of Justice shines a light on the potential of the arts in places you might least expect to find them.
