This festival showcases the winners of Synergy’s national prison scriptwriting competition and a chance to see new work by prisoners and ex-prisoners about getting out and going home.

Running at Theatre503 from the 21st February until the 18th March, Homecomings celebrates the work created through the Synergy national prison scriptwriting competition.

The programme will include Sonya Hale’s thriller Glory Whisper which begins with a whispered name and leads to a reunion charged with hope, deception and the spectre of addiction. An unexpected meeting with Glory brings hope to Mina; if she can stay clean and Glory can bring up a kid then maybe even mad Jonno can fix up and they can be a family again. But sacrifices, secrets and survival can get in the way of your dreams.

Talking about the piece Hale said: “Addiction took me to some dark places – homelessness, degradation and I lost any contact with my family. However, I am now six years clean and out of prison, I am able to be a mum to my son and finally able to pursue my dreams as a writer.”

Meanwhile, Homecomings will also present John Stanley’s The Monkey, in which he paints a darkly comic portrait of dishonourable thieves bound together by addiction.

He commented: “The four characters in The Monkey echo the brief glimpse of the many diverse and varied people I met during my life’s erratic and unusual journey. That the first play I’ve ever written is being produced is beyond my wildest dreams and I owe much to the patience and perseverance of everyone working for Synergy.”

Synergy  aims to create ground-breaking work which uses  the  life experiences of prisoners, ex-prisoners and young people at risk of offending.  by bringing original stories to the stage by unheard voices, it offers a new insight into the criminal justice system.

Homecomings will run at the Theatre503 from the 21st February to the 18th March 2017. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://theatre503.com/.