National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance

First Impressions - Portraits from Prisons
2018-05-05 - 2018-06-10
5th May – 10th June 2018
Daily
St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Free
The Koestler Trust and The Prisons Mission present an exhibition touring central London churches throughout 2018. The tour began at St James’s Piccadilly, and toured to Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and is now at St Martins-in-the-Fields.
The Prisons Mission is an initiative of Churches Together in Westminster (CTiW) which provides support and assistance identified and needed by the multi-faith Chaplaincy Teams in prisons. It also aims to ensure that prisons while out of sight are not out of mind.
The exhibition showcases a selection of portraiture and sculpture entered into the 2017 Koestler Awards from across the UK. The artworks highlight the skills and talents of people in prisons and other secure settings and represent the strength of work that is entered into the awards scheme every year.
For opening times, please visit St Martin-in-the-Field’s website

Image courtesy of the Koestler Trust

Open Clasp present Rattle Snake 2018 UK tour
2018-05-08 - 2018-06-09
New play tackling coercive controlling domestic abuse from the makers of critically-acclaimed prison drama Key Change
Soho Theatre
8-19 May
From £10
Book here
National Tour
Dates in May and June
Book here

The follow up to the critically-acclaimed Key Change, Rattle Snake is written by Catrina McHugh MBE, Open Clasp, and directed by Charlotte Bennett, associate director at Soho Theatre.
The play is based on real life stories of women who have faced and survived coercive controlling domestic abuse.
Coinciding with the change in UK law in 2015 making coercive control in relationships a crime, Rattle Snake was originally developed as part of a training programme for frontline police officers in Durham.
“This play was an innovative approach to training here in Durham. It provided front-line officers with a unique opportunity to learn through theatre, so that they would further understand coercive control in domestic abuse, and the day-to-day incidents which victims suffer though this appalling crime.”
– Durham Police, Crime & Victims’ Commissioner Ron Hogg
As with Key Change, which was created with women serving at HMP Low Newton in County Durham, Rattle Snake was inspired by the women who put their trust in Open Clasp to tell their stories.
Writer and Artistic Director Catrina McHugh MBE explains:
“Officers sat in bullet proof vests, daring us to make an impact and we did. During its premier in 2017, an audience member said they had never felt such a visceral response to a show before, a collective intake of breath, unable to turn away or to predict what was next.”
Watch a 30 second trailer here

Open Clasp make truthful, risk-taking and award-winning theatre informed by the lived experiences of working class women, women disenfranchised in theatre and society, those from minority communities and women affected by the criminal justice system. They take a special interest in women and young women from the North of England, shining a light on their experiences through our work.
See more on their website here
