Breaching the Record: Rideout and the Complexities of Archiving Performance in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract: How do we hold the histories of arts that happen in sites of imprisonment and detention? This article examines the urgent need to document and critically engage with performance practices in prisons. Amid a deepening crisis in the prison system in England and Wales, this article centers on the development of the Rideout Archive, which documents the work of Rideout (Creative Arts for Rehabilitation), a pioneering theatre company making work in criminal justice contexts since 1999. I interrogate the ethical and political complexities of archiving such practice, engaging with theories of carceral archives to argue that artistic traces can challenge dominant state narratives by foregrounding systemic harm.