Can words be the great escape?
Welcome to HMP Ditchfield, where every week a group of prisoners are challenged to write their own plays.
From boxing rings to the Brazilian rainforest, from painful pasts to wildly imaginative futures, these men discover that theatre is more than words on a page — it’s a lifeline, a way to reclaim their voices.
But when creativity clashes with control, tensions rise, secrets unravel, and laughter gives way to rebellion.
Witty, raw, and full of heart, Penned Up is a powerful celebration of storytelling, second chances, and the unexpected bonds that form behind bars.
Written by award-winning playwright Danusia Iwaszko, drawing on more than 15 years of experience teaching playwriting in prisons, Penned Up offers an unflinching look at life inside.
Think Porridge meets Brassed Off — a laugh riot and a gut-punch in equal measure.
-
Running time
2 hours 15 minutes (with interval) -
Age guidance
12+ -
Content warnings
Production photos
Rehearsal photos
The Company
-
Rebecca Peyton
Dorota Tokarska
Rebecca Peyton
Dorota Tokarska
Recent Credits: A Christmas Carol, Labour of Love (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Wanderers); Duet for One (UK tour); Billy Chickens (Theatre503/Latitude); Enduring Song (Bristol Old Vic); One Hour Eighteen Minutes (New Diorama); Hothouse (Arcola).
Television includes DI Ray (ITV); Casualty, Eastenders, Stan, True Stories: Elizabeth Fry (BBC). Film includes Acceptable Damage, The Wyrd, The Incident, Last Collection.
Rebecca’s solo show, Sometimes I Laugh Like My Sister, toured throughout the UK, Europe and South Africa. It is published by Oberon Books.
-
Chris Clarkson
Mike Hudd
Chris Clarkson
Mike Hudd
Chris trained at Bretton Hall. Theatre includes; Blood Brothers, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, How The Other Half Loves, Out Of Order, September Tide, Woman in Mind, A Permanent State of Emergency and 22 Panto Seasons! Television includes: Coronation Street, A Touch of Frost, Emmerdale, The Royal Today, My Parents Are Aliens, The Quest, In The Dark, Crimewatch, Hollyoaks and The One Show. Chris also works as a voiceover, a presenter and a close-up magician.
-
Heydn McCabe
Franky Smith
Heydn McCabe
Franky Smith
Heydn’s career spans Theatre, TV, Film and Radio, portraying such characters as Lord Stanley in Beaumont’s Battle Of Bosworth, Dr Faustus In Marlow’s Dr Faustus, Franky Hamilton In STV’s Taggart and Ugly Sister Face Ache in Cinderella. Heydn writes, directs and produces theatre. Having been with Penned Up since its inception in 2022, he is proud to be part of such an insightful, thought-provoking and rewarding production.
-
Liam Watson
Ed Burke
Liam Watson
Ed Burke
Liam is a Manchester-born Rose Bruford Acting graduate, having previously trained with the National Youth Theatre.
Recent credits include the lead role of David Hemmings in Turning the Screw (King’s Head Theatre), Jack Goose in Mother Goose (Theatre Royal Winchester) and Peter Pan for Little Wolf Theatre. Credits whilst training include: Against by Christopher Shinn and 3 Winters by Tena Štivičić. Liam is also an Executive Director of Incept Arts Collective (@InceptCollective). -
Ntabiso Bhebhe
Jermaine Anderson
Ntabiso Bhebhe
Jermaine Anderson
Ntabiso graduated from Mountview. Credits include: DNA (Jan), A LEAP OF FAITH (WORKSHOP), DOROTHY: BACK TO OZ (WORKSHOP) (Tinman). Credits while training include: The Man of Mode (Supporting Lead), Enron (Ramsey/Ensemble), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius), The Oresteia (Choryphaeus 3), Mogadishu (Jason), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nick) and How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found (Eric/Barry), The 39 Steps (Heavy 2/Radio announcer) with the New Wolsey Young Company.
-
Shelley McDonald
Mo Bashir
Shelley McDonald
Mo Bashir
Performing with the Old Vic in two of their productions Rise and Ages, Shelley McDonald has been a part of some spectacular productions, even managing to join the cast of the National Theatre’s Faith, Hope and Charity and the European tour of the hit play in 2021. This will be Shelley’s most exciting role to date playing the role of Mo in Penned Up.
-
Geir Madland
Finlay MacDonald
Geir Madland
Finlay MacDonald
Credits include: Danusia Iwaszko’s A Labour of Love (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds), Tom Levitt’s Power Play (Camden Fringe / Norwich), and East Anglian tours of Hay Fever, A Christmas Carol (directed by Mark Finbow) and Tim Lane & Cordelia Spence’s An Honest Gentleman. TV/Film includes: Lead role in Film Suffolk’s The Haunted Hotel, True Adventures’ Down the Line music video and Picture Perfect’s WW2 films We Go in at Dawn and Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk. Geir also sings with local covers band, the Thorndon Allstars.
-
Ashton Owen
Ben Gardener
Ashton Owen
Ben Gardener
Ashton is an Actor, Puppeteer and Theatre Maker. He trained at East 15.
Theatre Credits: Ben/Alien in Tom Fletcher’s There’s A Monster in Your Show (MEI Theatrical LTD) Giant in Smartest Giant in Town (Little Angel Theatre) Mole in Wind in the Willows (Taunton Brewhouse), Adam in Ghosted (St Georges Theatre), Writer/Performer in Outskirts (Sheringham Little Theatre), Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes Online Experience (Les Enfants Terribles), Mr Bump, Mr Happy, Mr Tickle and Mr Small (Selladoor Worldwide), Plant Protector in Siyanda Protector of Plants (Theatre-Rites), Atir in Zeraffa Giraffa (Little Angel Theatre/ Omnibus Theatre).
-
Danusia Iwaszko
Writer/Director
Danusia Iwaszko
Writer/Director
Danusia Iwaszko is an award-winning playwright and director. She is an Artistic Associate at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and her plays have been staged across the UK, Ireland and Australia. Danusia has taught playwriting in prisons for over fifteen years and works in communities delivering workshops with the elderly, young people, people experiencing homelessness, in women’s refuges, with people with additional needs and organisations such as Age UK, YMCA & Refuge.
-
The Hal Company
Producer
The Hal Company
Producer
The Hal Company is a charitable incorporated organisation that provides playwriting workshops, giving people the chance to write their stories and then share this writing using professional actors. Some of the stories are then made into full-length plays which Hal then stages and tours.
-
Madeleine Roberts
Designer
Madeleine Roberts
Designer
Madeleine Roberts is a freelance theatre designer and community artist. She trained in theatre design at Nottingham Trent University. Maddy specialises in creating large-scale community arts projects bringing people and communities together through theatre and art. In addition to her freelance work, Maddy has worked as a course director and art and design lecturer running UAL courses for home educated students at art school.
-
Tim Westerman
Lighting Designer
Tim Westerman
Lighting Designer
Tim trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He has worked in the film industry in the special effects department on 30+ feature films, but always found himself drawn back to theatre projects. He teaches at Conservatoire EAST in Bury St Edmunds and is the Sound and Lighting Technical Advisor to the Eastern Education Group. His biggest passion is finding ways of building worlds for shows with minimal equipment, which is also sustainable and up-to-date.
-
Suzanna Rosenthal Productions
General Manager
Suzanna Rosenthal Productions
General Manager
Suzanna Rosenthal Productions produce, promote and manage theatre and comedy throughout the UK. Current/ Recent productions include: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical (West End / National Tour; Olivier Award Winner 2016); Dad’s Army Radio Show (West End / National Tour); George Takei’s Allegiance (Charing Cross Theatre); Really Good Exposure (Soho Theatre); The Brief Life & Mysterious Death Of Boris III, King of Bulgaria (National Tour / Brits Off Broadway); Comala, Comala (Fringe First Award 2024); The B*easts (starring Monica Dolan, Bush Theatre – Olivier Awards nominee 2018 / Stage Award for Outstanding Performance).
Grateful thanks to: Arts Council England, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Community Foundation, Conservatoire East, Suffolk Town Council, Menagerie Theatre, The Drapers Charitable Trust, The Ridley Godfrey Foundation, St Giles and Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds in association with HighTide and Synergy Theatre Project and thanks to Suzanne Drown.