LANK Lank may refer to: * Lank (surname) * Lank, Cornwall Lank (formerly also "Lanke") is a settlement in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately one mile (1.6 km) south of St Breward and six miles (10 km) east-nor ...

' is a 2019 play by

Alice Birch Alice Birch is a British playwright and screenwriter. Birch has written several plays, including ''Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.'' for which she was awarded the George Devine Award for Most Promising New Playwright, and ''Anatomy of a Suicide' ...

. The play consists of 100 unrelated scenes from which a director may pick and choose. It's 2019 premiere at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by M ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

was in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Clean Break.

Development

The play's 100 scenes run over 400 pages and all explore what happens when and after a woman goes to prison. Birch's writing was inspired by her work with Clean Break and women affected by the criminal justice system.

Production history

Prior to the play's official premiere, the National Theatre’s youth festival Connections staged a version of ''

' in 2018. Maria Aberg directed the premiere of ''

' at the Donmar Warehouse in London, which officially began its run on October 17, 2019. This production was produced by theatre company, Clean Break, which works with women affected by the prison system, and celebrated their fortieth anniversary. The premiere featured an all-female cast and creative team. The actors were Ayesha Antoine, Shona Babayemi, Sophia Brown, Jackie Clune, Grace Doherty, Lucy Edkins, Zaris-Angel Hator, Zainab Hasan, Joanna Horton, Thusitha Jayasundera,

Petra Letang Petra Letang (born 4 May 1979 in Plaistow, London, England) is a British actress, probably best known for her role as Naomi Julien in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' and Adele Effanga in ''Holby City''. Biography Letang grew up in east Lon ...

, Leah Mondesir-Simmonds, Kate O’Flynn, Ashna Rabheru,

Jemima Rooper Jemima Rooper (born 24 October 1981) is a British actress. Having started as a child actress in television series, she has appeared in numerous film and theatre roles. Background Born in Hammersmith, London, Rooper is the daughter of TV journ ...

, and Taya Tower. Twenty-two of the 100 scenes were performed. The production featured a two-tiered set design by Rosie Elnile. Cambridge University's Fletcher Players staged ''

' in 2021. Director Rae Morris made the play into an online

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. In 2022, ''

' was staged at the Badischen Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Director Anna Bergmann chose 35 scenes.

Analysis

The pick-and-choose structure of the 100 scenes is reminiscent of

Carol Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non-Naturalism (theatre), naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes. ...

Awards and nominations

' was nominated for the 2020

James Tait Black Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

References

{{Authority control 2019 plays Works about prisons Criminal justice Restricted titles