Campaigning theatre is reimagined with astonishing force in Woodhill. Tracing vulnerable men who took their lives in prison, writer Matt Woodhead and choreographer Alexzandra Sarmiento have created a verbatim documentary that finds devastating physical form.
HMP Woodhill houses young men outside Milton Keynes – “a box of souls on our front door”, says a local. Even within the British prison system, it has a notoriously poor record of care. Built on 70 interviews, their hushed and haunted words voiced by actors, Woodhead weaves the stories of three Woodhill prisoners. Kevin Scarlett, Stephen Farrar and Chris Carpenter, all with severe mental health issues, were each found dead in their cells between 2013 and 2018. Their families have been dogged in their pursuit of answers.
