News
The Wisdom Club
The 2019 production of The Wisdom Club (see Older Projects) is being revised and updated, partnering with Age UK, Care UK and Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds; fundraising will begin in anticipation of a 2027/28 UK tour.
Funding to develop Tough Love
The Hal company are very grateful for £15,000 funding from the Suffolk County Council Culture Fund (www.suffolk.gov.uk/culture-heritage-and-leisure/culture-project-fund) to further develop Tough Love, a collaboration with Restore Women’s Aid (www.restore-wa.org.uk/) bringing to life the stories of resilience, dreams and hope-filled ambition of women living in refuge. This essential work will help support survivors, raise awareness of the impact of domestic abuse, while co-creating a high-quality, accessible arts experience.Katherine Ahluwalia, Restore Women’s Aid Principal Operations Manager: “In 2017, we had the privilege of working with the Hal Company when they co-created a series of writing workshops with survivors of domestic abuse in our refuge. We witnessed first-hand the profound impact of this programme - the workshops culminated in a reading at Bury Theatre Royal, providing an invaluable opportunity for survivors to have their voices elevated in a public, yet safe and supportive, space. We firmly believe that creative workshops and the resulting performances offer significant therapeutic benefits, helping survivors process and support their recovery from trauma.”
Shortlisted- The Creative Media Award
The HAL Company have been shortlisted for their recent tour of Penned Up!
This award recognises innovative use of digital or creative media to transform perceptions of the UK criminal justice system and advocate for change. Includes but is not limited to podcasts, digital campaigns, theatre, exhibitions.
Funding For Penned Up National Tour
The Hal Company is delighted to have been awarded a substantial Arts Council grant towards funding a national tour in autumn 2025 of Penned Up. This new play, written by Hal CEO Danusia Iwaszko, set in a men's prison focuses on six inmates joining a writing course which allows them time out of their cells, while seeking to break the emotional chains that bind them. At the development readings across the country the play has been called 'unexpectedly funny', 'moving' and 'emotional'.
Partnering with Synergy Theatre Project - a prison theatre company, SFTW an established London-based production house, and with St Giles Trust, a charity that works with people facing disadvantage including offending backgrounds, the play will tour national theatres across 11 venues and three prisons; to premiere at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds in September.CEO and playwright Danusia Iwaszko says: “We are delighted to have received this funding and are hugely grateful to the Arts Council for putting their trust in us. As a newly established charity this allows us to tour a thought-provoking play and be part of a national conversation around the important subject of rehabilitation in prison. It also means that, with support from our sponsors, we can now look ahead to develop plans in the pipeline for future productions.”