Lifers
13 October 2025
Southwark Playhouse Borough
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Lifers, currently running at the Southwark Playhouse Borough until the 25 October, is a poignant play examining the issue of an ageing prison population not receiving appropriate care in the current penal system.
Inside HMP Drummond, Lenny, Baxter, and Norton while away the time of their life sentences with poker games and dark humour. When Lenny starts suffering from memory problems and a failing body, the NHS provisions within the system slow down diagnosis and care to a frustrating degree. Young prison officer Mark finds himself moved by the struggles of the older man and tries to help where he can, crossing boundaries that higher ups don’t look upon kindly.
The story unfolds slowly, building empathy for the ageing prisoners before revealing the horrific crimes they have been sentenced for, presenting the audience with a fascinating conundrum and an emotional look at the penal system and its limitations.
Incorporating interesting characters that feel plucked from real life, Lifers shows an unflinching look at a prison service struggling to keep up with the needs of an increasingly older population, as well as an underfunded NHS, suggesting a general overhaul and rethinking of our country’s penal system may be overdue. Do current ideas of punishment still hold up to our current time? Is rehabilitation really possible? What can we do to curb crime and assist rehabilitation before an offender becomes a lifer? And how do we preserve the dignity of offenders while keeping society safe?
Posing big questions through an engaging story, its an intriguing glimpse behind the walls of a prison, building a carefully curated narrative filled with humour and devastation. An unusual narrative brought to the stage with the skills and knowledge of Synergy Theatre Project, an organisation working with and within the criminal justice system, helping ex-prisoners and at-risk youth to find purpose and fulfilment through work in the theatre and creative arts.
