KAILEY

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 Who cares for you when your parent is in prison?  

Set in Bradford, KAILEY is a comedy-drama that follows 18-year-old Kailey Spence as she navigates life alone whilst her mum, Shaz is caught in the prison system. Inspired by real life events, this comical and honest piece of new writing poignantly highlights the reality of society’s forgotten young people 

KAILEY is based on my own teenage experiences of having parents in prison. I began developing the script in Spring 2020 and carried out a 14 month research period which included interviews with people with lived experiences of family members in prison. All participants spoke about the lack of support and described feelings of shame and guilt.

 I was awarded a Bradford Producing Hub ‘Make Work’ grant to fund a full R&D, This led to an Arts Council England and Live Theatre funded advanced R&D with director Tess Seddon at Leeds Playhouse. The R&Ds culminated into a rehearsed reading of KAILEY at Live Theatre’s Elevator Festival 2022. 

KAILEY was awarded ACE funding for a 5 night run at Keighley Creative, in partnership with Kala Sangam, supported by Children Heard & Seen.

Production shots credit: Ant Robling 

Poster image credit; Will Summers

We are currently booking for a National Tour in Autumn 2025 so please do get in touch if you would like to book the show.