Women’s theatre company Clean Break will bring together six of Britain’s finest contemporary female playwrights at the Soho theatre this autumn for a cycle of shows entitled Charged.
EV Crowe, Sam Holcroft, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Chloe Moss, Winsome Pinnock and Rebecca Prichard are all contributing new pieces to the season which runs from 10 to 27 November and focuses on issues involving women, crime and justice.
Audiences will be able to explore further than Soho theatre’s usual auditoria as part of Charged, delving into all the venue’s nooks and crannies to see the provocative, moving and funny pieces which explore girl gangs, women trapped in the system, death in custody, child trafficking, addiction and power struggles. The plays will be split into two performances, each including three pieces.
Work by Holcroft and Lenkiewicz was recently seen in another play cycle, Women, Power And Politics, staged at the Tricycle theatre earlier this year. Holcroft’s piece, Pink, explored the power of porn through the eyes of a female Prime Minister, while Lenkiewicz’s The Lioness delved into the life of Elizabeth I. Lenkiewicz, whose other plays include The Night Season and Shoreditch Madonna, was the first living female playwright to have a new play staged in the National’s Olivier theatre when Her Naked Skin opened in 2008.
Moss has previously worked with Clean Break on the hugely popular, award-winning This Wide Night, while Crowe wrote A Just Act for the company in 2009. Pritchard’s Yard Gal, a co-production between Clean Break and the Royal Court, won her a Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and Pinnock’s previous plays include Mules, Talking In Tongues, A Hero’s Welcome and A Rock In Water, all of which were produced for the Royal Court.
Clean Break is a women’s theatre company that works closely with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. Charged will feature direction by Clare Lizzimore, who is Creative Director of the entire season, Lucy Morrison and Caroline Steinbeis.
MA