Philip Osment

Inside

Philip Osment

Looking for relief from boredom and a chance to get off the wing, seven young fathers in prison sign-up for an education programme. They try to use the workshops to settle scores and to rise up the prison pecking order. But they're confronted with more than they'd bargained for, as they face up to their relationships with their children and their own fathers. Self-deceptions, vulnerabilities, and failed hopes and dreams are revealed, unleashing anger and violence that the workshop leaders struggle to contain. Researched in Rochester Prison with a young fathers group, the pilot project was devised at the National Youth Theatre in 2008 and was presented as Fathers Inside at Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute and at the Soho Theatre to critical acclaim.

Whole

Philip Osment

What happens when you're in a hole? What happens when that hole's inside you? What do you do you fill it with to make yourself feel whole?Last year, 3 teenagers emailed the 20 Stories High Theatre Company to ask them if they could make a play about their friend Holly. This is how it unravelled…3 teenagers: …So that’s our story and we really want to tell it… and we want to act in it as well, and play ourselves… cos actors wouldn’t really be as convincing as us…20 Stories High: It’s a very moving story… but we’re really busy at the moment and also, to be honest, you’re not really actors.3 teenagers: But we really want to tell our story… it says on your website that “Everybody has a story to tell… and their own way of telling it…”20 Stories High: …well, come back in a year, when we’re less busy, and let’s talk…One Year Later… We made the play with them… WHOLE