CJS Research and Reports
Applied Theatre is a powerful tool for opening dialogue, raising voices, conflict resolution and personal transformation.
Our work has a personal and social impact and is underpinned by evidence-based theory. Our work within the Criminal Justice Service has been and continues to be independently evaluated and we are working towards furthering our research in an academic context.
Our current work in HMP/YOI Winchester is being researched in conjunction with the HMPPS National Research Committee.
We are proud to have a report published in the NCJAA Evidence Library.
Click here to view the easy-read BearFace Theatre Theory of Change Model:
BearFace Theatre feel proud to have been the subject of a six year evaluation research study, capturing our impact in HMP/YOI Winchester between 2018-2025. Please click on the featured report below to read it in it entirety.
Impact .
Impact
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Impact . Impact .
Key findings from the independent evaluation HMP/ YOI Winchester 2018- 2025 include:
BearFace Theatre’s programmes at HMP/YOI Winchester provide safe, creative spaces where prisoners develop confidence, empathy, and resilience through play and performance.
Prisoners reported improved mental health, self-belief, and hope for change, while building trust, community, and positive relationships with staff.
Prison officers experienced greater empathy, job satisfaction, and new communication skills, seeing both themselves and prisoners in more humanising ways.
The arts offer powerful tools for rehabilitation, helping to challenge stigma, nurture pro-social identities, and inspire new possibilities for life beyond prison.
Prisons must become places of purpose, not just punishment, with rehabilitation addressing social and emotional needs as well as education.
Research Sample:
12 BFT programmes (2018 – 2025)
131 prisoners (125 unique learners)
38 members of prison staff (mix of education staff and prison officers)
113 audience feedback at end of programme sharing events
74% British nationals. 20% from European countries. 6% from other countries.
76% attendance (for individuals that completed the programme)
Academic Reports
Featured Research Report: HMP/YOI Winchester 2018 - 2025
Creating Change Report 2018/19
Creating Change Evaluation Report Appendix 2019/20
HMP/ YOI Pilot report 2018
Creating Change Summary Report 2019/20
Creating Change Men’s Group Report 2021
Creating Change Evaluation Report 2019/20
Creating Change Evaluation Report 2022
Press and Articles
Article in Inside Time - Speak Out listen In, 2026
Article in Hampshire Chronicle for HMP/YOI Winchester - Saving Face, 2019
Inside Time review HMP/ YOI Winchester - Saving Face, 2019
Article Basingstoke Gazette - Creating Change, 2019
"[BFT] establishes a safe and informal learning space that promotes play and spontaneous interactions within a group, allowing participants to deconstruct their identities through a guided process, enabling groups to share their lived experiences within an ethical and forward looking framework, ensuring individuals and the collective are protected from reliving previous lived trauma."Independant Report 2023
"I use an interdisciplinary lens to observe, analyse and interpret work designed and facilitated by BearFace Theatre CIC (BFT). This involves drawing on evidence based practice and theory from Applied Theatre, Applied Criminology, Sociology and Psychology. BFT uses a process that is co produced and ultimately participant led." Alex Russell, Independent Researcher