Award-winning dance theatre show Woodhill comes to Wakefield

Woodhill is drawn from the first-hand testimonies of three families who lost loved ones to suicide at HMP Woodhill, alongside others with direct experience of the prison system. Verbatim accounts, voiced by actors, are woven through dynamic choreography to expose what the production's creators describe as negligence and injustice embedded within the system.

The tour comes at a critical moment. In April 2026, the Ministry of Justice officially acknowledged the prison's continued decline, and the piece asks audiences to confront the value placed on the lives of those behind bars - centring three families who refuse to stop asking how and why their loved ones died, and who are demanding change.

HM Prison Woodhill, a Category B male prison in Milton Keynes, opened in 1992. It has faced repeated criticism from families, coroners, inquest juries and the prison and probation ombudsman over staff shortages, insufficient training and poor inmate support.

The jail has one of the highest suicide rates in the UK, with coroners' reports noting repeated failures to meet national policy on suicide prevention and emergency response.

In March, Woodhill was served with its second urgent notification in three years, prompting the Ministry of Justice to introduce new safety and security measures.

Originally co-produced with The North Wall in Oxford, Woodhill premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023 to critical acclaim, winning the Change Makers Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and the Arts, Culture and Heritage award at The Charity Awards.

Ongoing campaign work by theatre company LUNG alongside the Woodhill Families directly inspired the decision to bring the show back on tour in response to the prison's continued decline. LUNG and the Woodhill Families are calling for:

• Prison governors to publicly commit to safer prisons by signing and implementing the Woodhill Commitments, prioritising suicide prevention

• Funding of the removal of ligature points in every prison cell

• Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, Chair of the Independent Advisory Council on Deaths in Custody, to invite families into the rooms where safety recommendations and decisions are made

• Emily Darlington, MP for Milton Keynes, to read aloud the names of the men who took their lives at HMP Woodhill in Parliament

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, added: "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."

Founded in Barnsley in 2014, LUNG is a campaign-led arts charity working UK-wide to make hidden voices heard, creating work that shines a light on political, social and economic issues in modern Britain using people's own words. Previous acclaimed productions include Trojan Horse — now on the AQA curriculum — about teachers and governors falsely accused of instigating a plot to take over Birmingham schools, which won the Fringe First Award at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award; and The Children's Inquiry, which examined the UK's children's care system and won a Sky Arts Award. LUNG is currently Company in Residence with the National Theatre and a partner of the Lowry in Salford.

Woodhill plays at Wakefield Theatre Royal on 15th September and Leeds Playhouse 24-25th September. For more go to www.lungtheatre.co.uk