24:7 Theatre Festival returns with premiere of The Cell

Following on from his success with Trapped in 2006, writer Michael Crowley has again chosen Manchester’s 24:7 theatre festival to premiere his new play, The Cell, ahead of a short run at the Unity Theatre Liverpool in September. The one-hour play is a hard-hitting tale that chronicles the aftermath of a prison suicide. Crowley, who is a writer in residence at a young offenders institution, has drawn on real life with input from both offenders and prison officers, and although fictional, he says that everything in the play has either unfortunately happened or could happen. Not surprisingly then, this gritty realism comes with an audience age restriction of 15 and above.

Sat 21 to Fri 27 Jul, Three Minute Theatre, Afflecks Arcade, Oldham Street, M1 1JG, Tel: 0845 408 4101, times vary, £8/£6, www.247theatrefestival.co.uk