Your Ugly Mug

Before cameras came along, police had to rely on an artist’s impression or their own memory to identify a suspected offender.  ‘Sitting for a portrait’ involved the entire police watch crowding round the suspect, staring into his/her face to memorise distinctive features for future reference.  That alone would have put many off a life of

Back Behind Bars

Following an acclaimed sell-out run last year, I’m delighted to announce that Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up is returning to the infamous Birmingham jail this July. Not only that, but our very own Tim Stimpson will be taking over directing duties from the wonderful Jo Gleave. It’s the first time all eight Bold Text playwrights have collaborated on a

Great show, now what?

BOLDtext Playwrights’ most recent show, Behind Bars – Ghosts of the Lock Up, went down a storm in Birmingham city centre last month – with sell-out audiences who loved the humorous and heart-wrenching tales we told, as well as the more everyday stories embedded in the WM Police former Lock Up building.  It felt like our contrasting

A Respectable Woman

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Julia Wright writes about one of them… When we were given the possible choices for characters whose stories we could

Electricity

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Helen Kelly writes about one of them… Evelyn Miles was one of the first police women in England, taking up

Meet the legendary Tommy Tank

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Stephen Jackson writes about one of them… No high heels, no short skirts – that’s the advice for anyone coming

Murder, she wrote…

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Vanessa Oakes writes about one of them… I’ve been writing about a murder. A murder involving two real life Peaky

“The World’s Greatest Actress”

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Nicola Jones writes about one of them… “There are five kinds of actresses: bad actresses, fair actresses, good actresses, great

Getting site-specific

Our new show ‘Behind Bars: Ghosts of the Lock-Up’ runs from the 19th-21st October for nine performances only.  Taking a theatrical journey through Birmingham’s Steelhouse Lane Lock-Up, it will raise spirits from the prison’s past. Liz John writes about one of them… There’s nothing like a ghostly Victorian building, echoing with strange tales and past

Bringing the ghosts of Birmingham’s criminal past back to life

By BOLDtext writer Tim Stimpson If you’ve ever walked down Steelhouse Lane in Birmingham you more than likely  have no idea what lies behind the front door of the unprepossessing redbrick building on the corner of Coleridge Passage. Unless you’re a police officer or have been arrested, it’s even less probable you’ve seen inside. But