Posted Friday 19 November 2010
Ms Pinnock, a senior lecturer in creative writing, was commissioned to write the play by Clean Break, a women's theatre company set up more than 30 years ago by two female prisoners. She has worked with the company for more than a decade, which has included time spent teaching prisoners at Holloway women's prison in north London. The experiences of the women she taught inspired 'Taken'. "A lot of the women were detoxing or had been drug addicts in the past and the issue of giving up or being separated from their children kept coming up again and again, so when I was asked to write a play that was what I focused on," said Ms Pinnock.
'Taken' is one of six new plays presented in two separate performances of three plays each. The 'Charged' season covers themes including girl gangs, deaths in custody, child trafficking, power struggles and older women trapped in the prison system.
A critically-acclaimed theatre company, Clean Break commissions and produces plays about women affected by the criminal justice system by some of Britain's leading female playwrights. It also works with women and prison and it its centre in Kentish Town, north London, where it offers courses in subjects such as writing, acting
'Charged' plays at Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE, at 7:30pm or 3pm until November 27. Tickets priced £12:50-£20 are available from 020 7478 0100 or www.sohotheatre.com/www.charged.org.uk.
19 June 2024
17 June 2024