By Sarah Walker
7 October 2025
Mothers in prison inspire powerful film tour demanding change
A ground-breaking play co-created inside a North East women’s prison is set to spark national change as its film version embarks on tour this October.
Rupture, created by Newcastle’s award-winning Open Clasp Theatre Company, was co-created with mothers in HMP Low Newton who bravely shared their experiences of losing, or fighting not to lose, their children to the care system. The workshops came about after Open Clasp worked with NEPACS and Durham University on the Parental Rights in Prison Project (PriP).
A rare space was created through the workshops where mothers who have lost their children to the care system, or were at risk of this, could have their voices heard. The powerful workshops became a rallying cry for justice.
The film follows Destiny, a mother navigating the realities of prison life. It highlights the trauma and abuse faced by the majority of women before imprisonment and the systemic failures of both the justice system and society.
Women who took part in the workshops described the process as life changing. One said she “absolutely loved the whole th
ing” which “inspired” her to “carry on through the suicidal times and work towards a positive future with my children and family.” Another said it had “put the fight back into me.”
Dr Kate O’Brien of Durham University said: “Our research has highlighted the devastating impacts that a prison sentence can have on mothers who are separated from their children. Open Clasp’s powerful show, Rupture, is a vehicle that will help us achieve change.”
Catrina McHugh MBE, writer of Rupture, added: “Mothers incarcerated need information, support, counselling and hope and Rupture calls for empathy, for others to step into their shoes just for that hour, think and reflect – to look up and through the walls of a prison and see the women.”
On Saturday October 18, Rupture will be screened at the WOW Festival at Gala Theatre Durham between 11 am and 12pm.
On Wednesday October 22, it will be screened and followed by a panel discussion at the ESRC Festival at Durham University business school between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.
All tickets are free.
You can catch Catrina talking to BBC Newcastle’s Anna Foster about her work on Rupture on BBC Sounds at 2 hours and 15 minutes in.
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