Pearl Mackie to lead new play about motherhood in the constraints of the criminal justice system

Pearl Mackie will star in a new play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti.

Baby is a co-production between Clean Break, a theatre company for women who have experienced the criminal justice system or who are at risk, and Brixton House.

The solo show shifts perspectives on motherhood within the constraints of the criminal justice system, highlighting the resilience, survival and strength of a mother in impossible circumstances.

Milli Bhatia directs and is joined on the creative team by set and costume designer Khadija Raza, lighting designer Bethany Gupwell, sound designer Elena Peña, casting director Nadine Rennie, assistant director River, assistant stage manager Hester Blindell, and design associate and costume supervisor Maariyah Sharjil.

Mackie said that she has long admired Clean Break and that being cast as Baby means a great deal. She added: “I am incredibly excited to get stuck into this powerful and pertinent story, which comes at such a vital time when the injustice that mothers face in our prison system is finally getting the attention it deserves. Coming home to Brixton to play this fiercely unique character feels right and makes the experience all the more special.”

Anna Herrmann, Clean Break artistic director and joint CEO, said: “I am thrilled that the phenomenal Pearl Mackie has been cast as Baby, for Clean Break’s return to Brixton House. Brixton House is the perfect partner for this urgent new play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, building on Scenes from Lost Mothers, a groundbreaking play used as a creative tool in the campaign to end the imprisonment of pregnant women. Now, Baby draws the curtain back further on the life of a mother in prison, exposing the experiences that led to her entanglement with the criminal justice system and the impossible challenges she faces on release”.

Baby runs at Brixton House from 8 to 31 October with a press night on 14 October.