A new play inspired by a 15-year career teaching in prisons is being performed across East Anglia as part of its debut run.
Drawing on Danusia Iwaszko’s experience teaching playwriting in prisons, Penned Up offers an unflinching look at life inside.
Set in HMP Ditchfield, every week a group of prisoners are challenged to write their own plays. From boxing rings to the Brazilian rainforest, from painful pasts to wildly imaginative futures, these men discover that theatre is more than words on a page – it’s a lifeline, a way to reclaim their voices.
But when creativity clashes with control, tensions rise, secrets unravel, and laughter gives way to rebellion. Can words be the greatest escape?
The play opened at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds this week and will be at Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre on 16 & 17 September, Norwich’s The Garage on 18 & 19 September, and Sudbury Quay Theatre on 20 September, before touring nationally.
The play is produced by The Hal Company and stars Ntabiso Bhebhe, Chris Clarkson, Geir Madland, Heydn McCabe, Shelley McDonald, Ashton Owen, Rebecca Peyton and Liam Watson. The creative team includes writer and director Danusia Iwaszko, designer Madeleine Roberts and lighting designer Tim Westerman.
Iwaszko is an artistic associate at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and has previously been an attached writer at the National Theatre.
