Verbatim theatre company LUNG has announced a UK tour of their state-of-the-nation play Woodhill as the Ministry of Justice and Prisons Minister Lord Timpson yesterday responded to the prison’s recent urgent notification.
Last month HMP Woodhill was placed under its second urgent notification in three years by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Charlie Taylor. Inspectors found the prison to be unsafe, with rates of self-harm still among the highest in the adult male estate. Ofsted raised education as inadequate, noting that there were barely any provisions in January. Drugs were also far too easy to access with three drug-related deaths recorded in the past two years.
Healthcare findings were equally alarming. There were delays in taking patients to A&E, and the average wait time for acutely unwell men to be transferred to a secure hospital was 191 days – one of the longest the inspectorate had seen. The report also found that planning for releasing dangerous offenders was ‘inadequate’ and those released had limited support.
The Ministry of Justice and Lord Timpson yesterday said they will be rolling out ‘a comprehensive plan to improve safety and conditions, strengthen staff capability and deliver better outcomes for prisoners’ which includes a new safety strategy to better spot and support those at risk of self-harm and refurbishments such as new physical barriers of wires and window grilles to stop the flow of illicit items using drones*
LUNG’s campaign work alongside the Woodhill Families has been ongoing since the show Woodhill debuted in 2023. The decision to bring the show back on tour is a direct response to the prison’s continued decline and to the families who have never stopped asking for change. LUNG is asking for the below systematic change:
● Prison governors to publicly commit to creating safer prisons, by signing and implementing a The Woodhill Commitments that prioritises suicide prevention
● Prisons Minister James Timpson to fund the removal of ligature points in every prison cell, ensuring no one dies from a preventable design flaw
● Wendy Sinclair-Gieben as 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 – so their lives, and their loss, are truthfully recognised
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, 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.’
Drawn from the first-hand testimonies of three families who lost loved ones to suicide at the prison and others with experience of the system, Woodhill is a dance theatre work that weaves those verbatim accounts voiced by actors through dynamic choreography to expose the negligence and injustice embedded within the system. Timelier than ever, the piece forces us to confront the value placed on the lives of those behind bars centering three families who refuse to stop asking how and why their loved ones died and demanding change. Originally co-produced with The North Wall in Oxford, the show premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023 to great critical acclaim and multiple awards including the Change Makers Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation which champions social change, and more recently a Criminal Justice Alliance award in November 2025. The 2026 tour will begin in Oxford then travel to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before more stops in England and Wales including Salford, Liverpool, London, Sheffield and Leeds.
HM Prison Woodhill is a Category B male prison located 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 there were 20 self-inflicted deaths reported between 2011 and mid 2018. Coroners’ reports have noted the jail has repeatedly failed to meet requirements of national policy on suicide and emergency response.
Founded in Barnsley in 2014, LUNG is a campaign led arts charity working UK wide to make hidden voices heard. They create work that shines a light on political, social and economic issues in modern Britain, using people’s words in their stories. Their previous acclaimed productions include Trojan Horse (now on the AQA Curriculum) about teachers and governors who were falsely accused of instigating a plot to takeover Birmingham schools which won the Fringe First Award in 2018 at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as The Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and The Children’s Inquiry, which looked at the children’s care system in the UK and won a Sky Arts Award. They are currently Company in Residence with the National Theatre and partners with The Lowry in Salford.