Pearl Mackie will lead a new one-woman play about motherhood inside the criminal justice system, running at Brixton House this autumn. Baby, written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and directed by Milli Bhatia, runs from 8 to 31 October, with a press night on 14 October. (Whatsonstage)

The production is a co-production between Clean Break — a theatre company working with women who have experienced the criminal justice system or are at risk of entering it — and Brixton House, the venue in south London that opened in 2022. Mackie, known to television audiences as Bill Potts in Doctor Who, takes the title role.

Baby examines motherhood under the constraints of the criminal justice system, focusing on the resilience and survival of a mother in what are described as impossible circumstances. Bhatti's script shifts perspectives on what motherhood means when freedom itself is in question.

The creative team includes set and costume designer Khadija Raza, lighting designer Bethany Gupwell, sound designer Elena Peña, casting director Nadine Rennie, assistant director River, assistant stage manager Hester Blindell, and design associate and costume supervisor Maariyah Sharjil.

Clean Break's artistic director and joint CEO, Anna Herrmann, said Baby builds on the company's earlier play Scenes from Lost Mothers, written by Bhatti in 2024. That earlier work focused on the real experiences of women navigating pregnancy and separation from their babies while in prison, and was used as a creative tool in a campaign to end the imprisonment of pregnant women. (Whatsonstage)

The connection to live policy debate is direct. On 20 July 2026, Clean Break joined the Lost Mothers project in Parliament to launch a policy briefing calling for support for pregnant women and mothers leaving custody. (Clean Break)

What gives Baby its particular weight is that it arrives from a company whose mission is not metaphorical. Clean Break was founded in 1979 by two women in prison, and its work has always drawn on the lived experience of those who have passed through the justice system. Baby is the latest in a line of productions that includes Scenes from Lost Mothers and, earlier this year, The Empty, a Clean Break commission written by Emma Dennis-Edwards and performed by the company's Young Company in March 2026. (Clean Break)

The October run at Brixton House gives the play a three-week window in a 250-seat venue that has quickly established itself as a programming force in south London. Tickets and further details are available via Brixton House.