Open Clasp is the North East’s only professional all-female theatre company. It works in collaboration with local women to create pieces informed by their lived experience. It aims to build women’s aspirations and give them a stronger voice within communities and among policy makers, which it does by collaborating with community groups to run issue-based drama workshops with women and girl’s groups. Two thirds of their plays to date have addressed VAW, and the company have worked with survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

The company’s approach is needs rather than issue-led: the direction the workshops take are decided by the group working collectively.

Until 2012 the group did not received regular funding, but was funded project-to-project.