Review: WOODHILL, Shoreditch Town Hall

When three men die in Woodhill prison, their families demand answers. As they investigate the events that lead to the deaths, they uncover the truth behind the mistreatments of the local inmates. A piece that stretches the boundaries of theatre itself, Woodhill is an astonishing physical docu-play.

Part narrative dance project and part jarring inquiry of systemic failure, it’s essential viewing. LUNG premiered the show in Oxford before taking it to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it quickly became the talk of the town.

Four silent performers (Lee Tyler Brazao, Janet Marina Climent, Ghost Stanley Duventru-Huret, Carole Miah Robinson) stand as the representatives for their real-life counterparts while the story’s visualised through interpretative modern dance choreographed with precise and jolting beauty by Alexzandra Sarmiento. They writhe and jerk, animating the narration with staggering visuals. The story comes to life with audio recordings mixed with a thumping electronic score by Sami El-Enany that fluctuates between haunting and highly energetic. While thematically challenging and often rightfully disturbing, Matt Woodhead’s enthralling vision is equally educational entertainment and entertaining education.

The verbatim script is thoroughly chilling. Rough poetry and arresting repetition guide the audience in a world of state-mandated violence, carried out not by the criminals but by the officers and staff who are meant to keep them safe. The fear, desperation, and frustration of those involved in the case are personified in voiceless figures ruled and restrained by the invisible force of music. It pushes them around and turns them into puppets; it slays them into zombie-like non-humans and makes them into the perpetrators themselves. A brilliant allegory.

This is visceral, primitive storytelling, a hybrid between straight dance and an incredible issue-led performance with impeccable, unforgiving, unmistakable intent. An eye-opening production on many levels, what transpires from its thematic line is that the government isn’t only failing the prisoners and their relatives, but a whole social class. The incarceration pipeline seems to start from council estates, and, with more prisons being built and private companies taking over and profiting off the justice system, it’s not hard to identify the conflicts of interest of those who should be impartial.

Woodhill is a poignant, topical piece of theatre that gives a voice to those who’ve been quieted. It rectifies what really happened in Milton Keynes and what’s most probably happening in penitentiaries across the country. It’s vital work.

Woodhill runs at Shoreditch Town Hall until 7 October. You can learn more about Inquest's No More Deaths campaign here and sign the open letter to the Justice Secretary here.

Photo Credit: Alex Powell

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