News.
Explosive documentary theatre meets gut-punching choreography at Leeds Playhouse next month
26th October 2026
Award-winning LUNG shines a light on the hidden story of HMP Woodhill prison in the Courtyard Theatre from 24-25 November
New state-of-the-nation dance theatre production Woodhill comes to Leeds Playhouse next month exposing negligence and injustice in the UK’s prison system with real life accounts from bereaved families.
Presented by the award-winning theatre company LUNG, it explores the crisis facing prisons by focusing on the stories of three men as their families demand answers about their deaths. Their verbatim accounts voiced by actors are woven together with dynamic choreography in a piece that forces us to confront the value – or lack of value – placed on the lives of those behind bars.
HM Prison Woodhill is a Category B male prison in Milton Keynes which opened in 1992. It has been repeatedly criticised by families, coroners, inquest juries, the prison and probation ombudsman and various review reports for staff shortages, insufficient staff training and poor inmate support. It has one of the highest suicide rates in the UK and coroners’ reports have noted the jail has repeatedly failed to meet requirements of national policy on suicide and emergency response. In March, the prison was served with its second urgent notification in three years which the Ministry of Justice responded to with new safety and security measures.
Originally co-produced with The North Wall in Oxford, the show premiered at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023 to great critical acclaim, winning multiple awards including the Change Makers Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and the Arts, Culture and Heritage award at The Charity Awards.
LUNG’s ongoing campaign alongside the Woodhill Families directly inspired the decision to bring the show back on tour in response to the prison’s continued decline, with both calling on Prisons Minister James Timpson for a meeting to address systematic change and Milton Keynes MP Emily Darlington to read aloud the names of the men who took their lives at HMP Woodhill in Parliament so their lives, and their loss, are truthfully recognised. You can find out more about the campaign here.
The Woodhill Families said: “Our boys needed help, not punishment. They were given a prison sentence that turned into a death sentence. There is a crisis unfolding in our prisons. We are proud to be taking our story across the country and launching this national campaign. We will not stop until our voices are heard.”
Matt Woodhead, Co-Director of LUNG, said: “For our families, it is heartbreaking to read that rates of self-harm are still the highest in the adult male estate. The government’s response does not address this in any way. What action is being taken to keep these men in prison safe?”
Helen Monks, Co-Director of LUNG, said: “Woodhill began as a tribute to those who have taken their lives at HMP Woodhill. Now, it has become a call for accountability. The urgent notification shows this crisis isn’t history – it’s happening now. We owe it to these families to keep the conversation alive.”
Listings info
LUNG presents
Woodhill
24-25 Nov
Courtyard Theatre, Leeds Playhouse
Age guidance 16+
Running time 85 mins
Call Box Office on 0113 213 7700
Book online at leedsplayhouse.org.uk