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Welcome to the Clean Break Knowledge Hub, where you can discover more about our work on stage, in prisons and in the community.

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Bloomberg Philanthropies

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women at a Clean Break workshop sat on chairs in a circle, the Big Give logo in the corner

How can the arts help break the cycle of gender-based violence and criminalisation?

Jacqueline Stewart, Head of Participation and Deputy CEO and a Clean Break Member share their insights on how survivors are swept into the criminal justice system, and what Clean Break can do to help.
An illustration of 6 magical women in the clouds, with the title 'A proposal for resisting darkness by Yasmin Joseph in collaboration with HMP Downview theatre company'

A Proposal for Resisting Darkness

An audio drama by Yasmin Joseph in collaboration with HMP Downview Theatre Company

Spotlight on...
How We Work

a quilted star on a blue background

Interview with Clean Break’s Members Festival Producer

Members Festival Producer Claire Bayley tells us about her experience of working on our 2024 festival, Beyond.
a photo of a woman performing to a mirror at Clean Break

Actions not Words: anti-racism consultancy with darvaja

Anti-racism consultants darvaja in conversation with Clean Break
a photo of two hands stretched out, reaching each other

Why does Clean Break have a Co-Chairing Model?

Clean Break’s previous Co-Chairs Tanya Tracey and Alison Frater share insights from their two years of sharing leadership of our Board of Trustees
the cast of Hope embracing

Co-creating Hope

We asked Hope's co-creators, what was unique about making this film?
a photo of Maya Ellis in a theatre

Co-producing a Clean Break play with Maya Ellis

Producer Maya Ellis explains how a Clean Break play is made

Spotlight on...
Digital theatre

Lead still for Clean Break film, Hope

Hope

A film from Clean Break
An illustration of 6 magical women in the clouds, with the title 'A proposal for resisting darkness by Yasmin Joseph in collaboration with HMP Downview theatre company'

A Proposal for Resisting Darkness

An audio drama by Yasmin Joseph in collaboration with HMP Downview Theatre Company

Blis-ta

A bold and startling audio drama by Sonya Hale
a woman looks out of the window of a prison van

Sweatbox

Chloë Moss’s Clean Break play is transformed into an electric adaptation for the screen.
the cast of Hope embracing

Co-creating Hope

We asked Hope's co-creators, what was unique about making this film?

Spotlight on...
Our Members’ voices

a photo of a young woman on a white background

To the Future: Clean Break's Young Artists

Creative writing by Clean Break's Young Artists
Posy in rehearsals for Dixon and Daughters, she is wearing a grey tracksuit and smiling

Dixon and Daughters' Posy Sterling and Deborah Bruce in conversation

The playwright and actor answered our questions about Dixon and Daughters.
A photo of Jennifer Joseph against a blue wall

Interview with Jennifer Joseph

Clean Break Members Artist Jennifer Joseph on her role in Paradise at the Olivier, and what Clean Break means to her.
Lucy Edkins in front of a blue wall

Lucy Edkins on being a Clean Break Member Artist

Interview with Lucy Edkins, Clean Break Member Artist
Liz Whitbread presenting the I am a theatre exhibition

Liz Whitbread on becoming a designer

Liz Whitbread tells us about her journey to becoming a designer through Clean Break
Nubian Co-hearts laughing together

Wisdom and Laughter with Nubian Co-heARTs

Interview with Nubian Co-heARTs, a Black women led theatre company

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women at a Clean Break workshop sat on chairs in a circle, the Big Give logo in the corner

How can the arts help break the cycle of gender-based violence and criminalisation?

Jacqueline Stewart, Head of Participation and Deputy CEO and a Clean Break Member share their insights on how survivors are swept into the criminal justice system, and what Clean Break can do to help.
a still from Buddleia: the unchained story

10 Stories by Black Artists That Reclaim the Narrative

Clean Break's Associate Artistic Director Lakesha Arie-Angelo shares her picks from stage and screen for Black History Month
Natasha Jean Sparkes in Boiling Frogs

Boiling Frogs: Clean Break Member Review

Member Claire shares her interpretation of the film Boiling Frogs

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a photo of a stack of book, with Dixon and Daughters by Deborah Bruce on top
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a still from Buddleia: the unchained story

10 Stories by Black Artists That Reclaim the Narrative

Clean Break's Associate Artistic Director Lakesha Arie-Angelo shares her picks from stage and screen for Black History Month
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About us

a production photo from more than we can bear at the Almeida theatre, the cast are taking their bows on stage
Clean Break changes lives and changes minds through theatre – on stage, in prison and in the community. We produce ground-breaking plays with women’s voices at the heart of our work and use theatre to transform the lives of women with experience of the criminal justice system or at risk of entering it.

Our History

Clean Break Theatre Company with the Mayor of Camden outside HMP Holloway, 1986
Clean Break was established by two women in prison in 1979, at HMP Askham Grange, who believed that theatre could bring the hidden stories of women who are criminalised to a wider audience. Explore Clean Break’s radical and unique story in our interactive digital archive.
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