Theatre in Prisons
Unlock Drama: Transforming Rehabilitation Through Theatre
Multi award-winning Unlock Drama has delivered tailored rehabilitation projects in over 40 prisons nationwide, across both public and private estates. With over a decade of experience working with a range of cohorts, including but not limited to convicted adult male/female prisoners, young offenders, People Convicted of Sexual Offences (PCoSO), and remand prisoners, Unlock Drama is a trusted, registered supplier and partner to leading organisations including HMPPS, Serco, NHS England, Practice Plus Group, Mitie, and the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System.
We specialise in theatre-based interventions that build interpersonal skills, confidence, victim awareness, restorative justice practices, offender management, and consequential thinking. Our projects are designed to improve wellbeing, boost mental health, and enhance rehabilitation culture, offering purposeful activity that engages even the most hard-to-reach participants.
Unlock Drama’s work supports multiple staff members during delivery, including the Head of Reducing Reoffending (HORR), Head of Learning and Skills (HOLS), Head of Drug Strategy, Head of Healthcare, and wider teams. Our staff understand prison protocols and security requirements, with staff already holding or willing to undergo enhanced prison vetting to ensure seamless access and delivery. Our projects also help ease staff pressures by providing high-quality, purposeful activity that supports regime management and rehabilitation outcomes. We collaborate closely with establishments to tailor projects to each site’s needs, using the power of drama to develop soft skills and personal growth, unlocking potential and fostering real, lasting change across the prison estate — supporting each individual’s rehabilitation journey and helping reduce the likelihood of reoffending.
Participant feedback
“The fact it could happen during covid speaks volumes for the prison and Unlock Drama.”
“I was kind of questioning support from officers recently but this has blown that out the window.”
“Brings out more confidence in me.”
“It’s a very therapeutic way to get stuff off your chest and past experiences.”
“I think about it more because there could other support in the jail that could help you with different stuff.”
‘Gives you a chance to express yourself.’
– Participants feedback from HMPYOI Swinfen Hall
“My confidence has grown massively; I want to show the prison that I am engaging in things that are offered to me as I normally keep myself to myself”
– Restoring Family Ties project at HMP Lindholme
“[Theatre] it just gets people more engaged and together, closer together, it can only do well”
– Substance Misuse project at HMPYOI Portland
“This project has given me self-confidence, I never thought I would play a role and now I’m doing it front of you and anyone who’s in the room”
– Gang Culture project HMYOI Aylesbury
“This project has built my confidence and helped me address some of my own mental health issues”
– Mental Health project at HMP Send
“I’ve noticed changes in myself I’m less angry and more understanding”
– Substance Misuse project at HMP Guys Marsh
“It helped to express my views on prison to help rehabilitate and show prison life to make it better”
– Safety project at HMP Exeter
“This project has improved my mental health and confidence. It provided increased freedom in a situation where there is little. I have been able to talk to other people about normal events, set different opinions outside of my family. It has made me more outgoing. I feel more comfortable around other people”
– Social Prescribing sessions at HMPYOI Swinfen Hall
“This project can help rehabilitate prisoners because normally you wouldn’t think of consequences why you or someone else came into prison. It helps to put yourself in their shoes, understanding lots of possible reasons why people have depression, difficulty making friends, barriers etc.”
– Alcoholism project PIPE Unit HMP Wymott
“It’s helped divert my energy into the appropriate space”
– Substance Misuse project at HMP New Hall
“I learnt how to detect my own internal and external signs of mental health”
– Mental Health project HMP Lindholme
