@saulhewish.bsky.social
Participatory arts for prisons & other marginalised groups. Artistic Director of Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation) and p/t Teaching Fellow in Theatre Practice at University of Warwick. My views are my own & not necessarily those of my employers.
I love a good backstamp #pottery #stokeontrent #dog
We’re very excited to announce @ana-chamberlen.bsky.social and @henriquecarvalho.bsky.social whose book Questioning Punishment is such an important addition to the debate, will be joining us for a post show discussion on 11 April. Tickets here www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/sta...
As we came to the end of the first week of more intensive work, we asked team members to sculpt images in response to the phrase ‘criminal justice system’. These were there responses.
#PunishmentActs
#Theatre
#Workshops
#devising
#cocreation
@Ofsted isn’t an ‘inspectorate’ in the sense of a disinterested, professional agency tasked with improving public education. It’s a Trojan horse for setting schools up to fail & facilitating forced academisation. It should be dismantled & a properly transparent inspectorate installed.
There is an obsession with punishment in our culture that extends beyond prison.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduced a new type of punishment that disproportionately impacts the poor - the sanction.
Punishment Acts
9-17 April
For tickets www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/sta...
@robynhitchcock.bsky.social One for your Christmas present list here - a trolleybus for the garden www.facebook.com/share/r/1DYC...
How can we better communicate the value of participatory arts? In this ArtWorks Alliance podcast, Rob Watson and Kate Stanley explore how framing shapes public understanding and policy support #CommunityArts #Framing
Wow - sounds really interesting. Also re the pillory, Daniel Defoe wrote a Hymn to the Pillory after he was put in it for criticising the church. People loved his poem so much that rather than pelt him with rotten food and stones, they threw flowers at him!
“But it is a very unimaginative nature that only cares for people on their pedestals. A pedestal may be a very unreal thing. A pillory is a terrific reality…behind sorrow there is always a soul. And to mock at a soul in pain is a dreadful thing.” Oscar Wilde De Profundis
Punishment Acts 9-17 April
“And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like scorpions on the earth.” Revelation 9:3
In the Bible, locusts are symbolic of divine wrath, but what does that have to do with the development of our prison system?
www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/sta...
The nights are long in prison for those who are out of time. How long is long enough?
Rideout’s new show
April 9-17
Stoke-on-Trent
Book now www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/sta...
#theatre
#prison
#livedexperience
#justice
#participatoryarts
A fabulous workshop yesterday at University of Warwick with Uruguayan theatre director Sabrina Speranza. Reimagining Augusto Boal’s Newspaper Theatre in a time of social media.
Fabulous news for Stoke-on-Trent’s Social Agency. Funding will go towards creating a welcoming, autistic-friendly meeting space with new furniture & lighting as well as regular arts sessions, and training for volunteers. Big thanks to @tnlcomfund.bsky.social for making this possible.
I have finally sorted out a Facebook page for the company I run. If you’re interested in arts in prison, give it a follow! www.facebook.com/share/19pnjc...
A big thanks to all the presenters including those from @sociowarwick.bsky.social for yesterday’s inaugural conference of The Fear Network. So great to listen to folk from different disciplines exploring the same theme. Thinking about how this all can relate to punishment.
Today was Rideout’s 2nd session working with folk at Expert Citizens. Participants each created a character with whom we will start exploring our core theme of punishment. Funded by @artscouncilengland.bsky.social & the Arts and Humanities Research Council #stokeontrent #cocreation #PunishmentActs
Drones delivering to prisons is not new at all. I remember working in a prison a good 6 years ago when a workshop we were running was interrupted by the sound of an incoming delivery. Just one more thing the MOJ has dragged its feet on…
Thanks
Do you know what the book is called?
@michaeldaly64.bsky.social Not sure if you’ve posted this one before - apologies if you have. Sweet - the most expensive band in the night!
I have finally sorted out a Facebook page for the company I run. If you’re interested in arts in prison, give it a follow! www.facebook.com/share/19pnjc...
The Government predicates all its pronouncements on the prisons crisis with ‘we inherited …’ . It inherited the IPP scandal however from a previous Labour Government. It has the opportunity to right a profound wrong. To its eternal shame it is merely doubling down on a kafkaesque injustice
If you love The Fall, and need cheering up, do yourself a favour and listen to this. Spectacularly shambolic and hilarious. Name That Tune: Fall Songs. Wishing you all a Happy New Year when it comes.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Faced with Trump and Farage, Britain’s natural ally is Europe | William Keegan
Ended the year with @saulhewish.bsky.social and Rideout thinking about punishment with two days of R&D for our 2025 show Punishment Acts.
Striking to think creatively together about our emotional, political, and personal relationships to punishment.
Part of the AHRC Staging Justice project.
A fabulous first day of R&D on Rideout’s new show, Punishment Acts. Big thanks to all involved and esp @sarahbartley.bsky.social whose AHRC funded project this is all part of. #stagingjustice
For a truly brilliant 30 minute summation of the relationship between trauma and violence listen to the excellent Gwen Adshead in the third of her four Reith Lectures. Recorded at HMP Grendon. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
