LUNG, the campaign-led arts charity founded in Barnsley in 2014, is bringing its acclaimed verbatim dance-theatre piece Woodhill back to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, as part of a wider UK tour and ongoing campaign for change inside the prison system.
Woodhill is drawn from the first-hand testimony of three families who lost loved ones to suicide at HMP Woodhill, a Category B men’s prison in Milton Keynes, woven together with movement and choreography performed by actors. The piece first premiered at the Fringe in 2023 to widespread acclaim, winning the Change Makers Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and the Arts, Culture and Heritage award at The Charity Awards.
The show’s return comes as the prison’s problems remain firmly in the spotlight: in March, HMP Woodhill was issued its second urgent notification in three years, and the Ministry of Justice officially acknowledged the prison’s continued decline in April 2026. The jail has one of the highest suicide rates in the UK, and coroners’ reports have repeatedly found it failing to meet national policy on suicide prevention and emergency response.
The Woodhill Families, who collaborated directly on the piece, 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 and the show’s writer and director, 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?”
Co-director Helen Monks added: “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.”
Alongside the tour, LUNG and the Woodhill Families are calling for a meeting with Prisons Minister James Timpson to discuss systemic change, including a set of proposals known as the Woodhill Commitments, which prioritise suicide prevention in custody.
Since forming in Barnsley over a decade ago, LUNG has built a reputation for turning real testimony into theatre on pressing social issues, including Trojan Horse, about teachers and governors falsely accused of plotting to take over Birmingham schools, which won a Fringe First Award in 2018, and The Children’s Inquiry, which examined the UK care system. The company is currently Company in Residence with the National Theatre and a partner of the Lowry in Salford.
Woodhill plays at ZOO Southside from 7–30 August (not 10, 17 or 24), 14:25–15:50, ahead of a UK autumn tour running 30 July–28 November, including a London date. Tickets are available via https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/woodhill
The show will also tour closer to home from September, with stops in Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Leeds.
Woodhill contains references to self-harm, suicide and addiction. Readers affected by the issues raised can contact Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123.
