Sounds Like An Insult

Sounds Like An Insult

21 October 2014 – 31 March 2015

Commissioned by Clean Break in association with NOMS and the Department of Health and performed by graduates of Clean Break’s theatre education programme, Sounds Like An Insult by Vivienne Franzmann explores the experiences of women offenders with complex mental health needs, and the challenges of diagnosis and treatment within the criminal justice system.

To get in touch about booking a performance for your organisation or event, please contact Producer Dezh Zhelyazkova on general@cleanbreak.org.uk

A note from playwright Vivienne Franzmann
During my research, I spoke to a psychiatrist who works with women with ‘Personality Disorder’ in the criminal justice system. He told me that while official figures were lower, he estimated that around 80% of women in prison were suffering from some kind of personality disorder. So it became important to me to represent a wide range of women in the piece Sounds Like An Insult. In my research, I spoke to one woman who had been diagnosed and given a written report in prison; yet a year on, she still didn’t know what the term Personality Disorder meant and was too afraid to ask. I spoke to another woman who felt absolute relief at the diagnosis. The more women I spoke to, it became clear that everyone had different experiences and responses, yet all of the women seemed to have lived lives characterised by chaos, a sense of isolation and a feeling of otherness. Sounds Like An Insult gives snap shots of the lives of these women and their experiences in the criminal justice system.