Soap star in women’s prison

Actor Richard Hawley, best known as Johnny Connor in Coronation Street, joined women in HMP Styal as the Odd Arts theatre group began a new programme at the prison. The aim of the project is described by theatre practitioners Meg and Emily, who lead these sessions alongside writer/poet Rory from HOME Manchester, as being “to create an interactive performance that will tell the stories of those inside, their experiences, challenges, and future aspirations”.

Everyone participates in script writing as well as performance, enabling them to share their own stories. Meg says: “Mark our words, the narratives we’ll be exploring at Styal will give soap writers a run for their money!” Hawley was there to help the women to find the confidence to raise their voices so they would each be able to participate fully and enjoy the experience.

Hawley, Meg, and Emily were given a tour of the prison by Sarah Haslam, learning and skills manager and met Nicky Hargreaves, Styal Governor, who is pleased with this performance project for its innovation and positive outlook. Pictured together above, both Hawley and Hargreaves are getting into the spirit of play, just as the women are getting the chance to have fun at the same time as create something unique to their experiences.

Prison has often featured in Coronation Street, most famously Deirdre Barlow in 1998 when a national campaign for her release was organised. Johnny Connor served time after confessing to a crime from 40 years earlier. Like many in prison, Johnny struggled to cope.

Odd Arts also offers weekly drama sessions at Styal to support the mental health and wellbeing of prisoners, backed by Greater Manchester Mental Health. These build self-esteem and confidence, and create social connections. Drama helps participants articulate feelings they would otherwise struggle to express, and the enjoyment gives a break from the tedium of prison life, another plus. One participant said: “I like coming to Wellbeing Wednesdays, everyone listens to each other and offers support, which is needed so much in here. I always feel happier afterwards.”

The performance project will create an atmosphere where the women, their families and even prison staff can engage in discussions, explore conflicts, and collectively seek solutions to their challenges. Odd Arts recognizes the crucial importance of treating residents with respect and providing opportunities for self-expression and personal growth, enabling them to shatter stereotypes, by creating stories reflecting resilience, strength, and individuality.

The women interviewed Hawley. First, how did he start acting? “It wasn’t until my early 20s,” he said. “It was wild, incredible. I loved improvisation, building something from rubble. Returning to this kind of work is what I really love. Work that matters.” He said he doesn’t enjoy celebrity, but loves the work and togetherness with other cast members. “Just like a family. You tour for six months to a year, then you’re gone.” One of the women replied: “Just like in here. You have some of the best friends you’ve ever known. Then they’re gone.”

He was asked if Johnny’s jail time was filmed in a real prison, and replied that they have built a whole prison set, so they have to send lots of characters to prison to make it worthwhile. “Yeah, that’s why we’re here” the women laughed. “Lots of money spent on building prisons, so someone has to use them.”

After discussion of his Coronation Street journey, including his on-screen death, he was asked why he came to Styal. “Working on a project like this gives me a sense of purpose, plus, Meg is very persuasive! We met working with an organisation called ‘A Band of Brothers’ who transform the lives of young men with difficult backgrounds, often with multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences, hoping to prevent them ending up in prison or similar, instead aiming to provide a place where they can receive care and support that was missing for them growing up. Plus my own story in my past, as a child, was a struggle. Getting into trouble, drugs, most of my friends getting into trouble too. It feels good to do something. We’ve all made ‘wrong’ choices at some point. I want to work where we all have access to different choices. This project offers that, a chance to move in a new direction, learning to choose a different way, with resources we lacked.”

He talked frankly about boarding school, saying his parents had sent him when he was eight as they wanted him to have the best possible education, but described it as a “bullying culture” he had to “learn to act” to disguise his feelings, was told not to cry or miss his parents, much like the culture in prison of wearing a mask.

Boarding schools, he said “have a culture of power and dominance, bullying and cutting off from feelings, combined with a sense of entitlement and elitism that creates the type of people we see in positions of power. Until we change that culture and those systems, we will continue to see leaders who do not care about the people and make decisions for the rest of us with no idea what it’s like to live in poverty.”

Richard is not the only star lined up. Odd Arts patrons also joining the project include Coronation Street stars Ryan Clayton and Lamin Touray, Hollyoaks’ Haiesha Mistry, and presenter Kyle Walker. It is hoped women taking part who are inspired to pursue a future in the arts, will be supported by the project’s cultural partners as the first step. These include HOME Manchester, Factory International, and The Royal Exchange, who are contributing time or artists to support the project.

The concept is rooted in the revolutionary work of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, in which audiences and actors collaborated to shape performances, bringing out their own experiences. Odd Arts believe theatre can be a powerful tool for social change and empowerment and would welcome other prisons and institutions contacting them for further information.

Picture credit: Odd Arts