LUNG
Woodhill is a documentary theatre and dance production from LUNG exploring the deaths of three men at HMP Woodhill and the families left searching for answers about what happened to them. Using testimony from those families alongside movement, choreography and recorded audio, the production looks beyond the prison walls and into the human consequences of a system that has faced serious questions.
Originally showcased in 2023, Woodhill has returned, and sadly the production says the issues it raises have not disappeared. There is an important story to tell here, and one which deserves to be heard.
Woodhill was previously showcased in 2023 and has now made a return, with the issues surrounding Woodhill and the wider prison system continuing to make the production feel relevant.
From the beginning, the stage resembles an archive or records room, filled with boxes which become an important part of the production. Throughout some of the performance, the cast move in repeated patterns often with jerky movements seemingly absorbing the words being played around them.
It is certainly a serious subject, and it is presented in a deliberately dark and grisly manner. There is very little attempt to soften what happened or make the material comfortable for an audience.
The difficulty I had with the production is that overall it feels too long. The repeated actions and movements on stage, particularly involving the jerky movements, begin to become stagnant to watch after a while. What initially feels visually interesting gradually loses some of its impact through repetition.
The audio becomes the key part of the production.
There is material within it which can be harrowing to hear, particularly because these are real stories involving real people and families searching for answers. It is the audio which kept me most engaged and brought home the seriousness of what was being explored.
However, this also creates one of the problems I had with Woodhill. The story needs to unfurl more on the stage itself.
The performers are clearly experts in movement and physical theatre, and there is enormous control within what they are doing. Yet because so much of the narrative and emotional weight comes through the recorded voices, there were moments when the performers almost felt like bystanders to the story rather than the people carrying it.
For me, the production occasionally becomes too artistic for its own good.
There is nothing wrong with abstraction, particularly when dealing with material as difficult as this, but I wanted the movement and documentary storytelling to come together more strongly. Instead, I sometimes found myself listening to the audio while the physical performance became secondary.
That is not to diminish the skill of the performers. Their physical control and ability to respond to the soundtrack is impressive. I simply wanted more of the story to be told through them rather than around them.
Technically, the production is extremely strong. The lighting and sound are excellent and contribute significantly to the dark atmosphere of the piece. The sound design in particular has an enormous responsibility because of how central those recorded voices are to the production, and it handles that responsibility very well.
Overall, Woodhill is a good and important production highlighting issues which deserve attention. It brings stories into a theatre which could easily remain hidden behind prison walls, statistics and official reports.
For me, though, the production could be tighter. Reducing some of the repetition and allowing the story to unfurl more directly through the performers would make an already powerful subject even more impactful.
The message certainly stayed with me. I just wanted the stage itself to carry more of it.
★★★★
A dark and important piece of documentary theatre, with harrowing testimony that brings hidden stories out from behind prison walls.
Woodhill | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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