From Prison to Release
FORMERLY INCARCERATED MEN AND FAMILY MEMBERS PRESENT THEIR STORIES Framed by Dante’s journey from Inferno through Purgatory to Paradise, survivors of the criminal justice system recount their journeys from prison to release.
Inspired by the prison survival manual “Hope Lives for Lifers” by Larry White, recipient of the 2017 International Prison Theater Association’s Gramsci Prize
Conceived and directed by Ron Jenkins
Fragments of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” set to music and performed by Frances Pollock
Written by Hassan Gale, Amelia Gonzalez, Siddiq A. Najee, Abdur Rahman, Joe Robinson, Abdul Salahuddin, Hananiah Shabazz, and Dawud Wheeler
Performed with Ali Bandeali, Gillian Bolt, Sarah Cohen, Kate Cray, Majkin Holmquist, Nicole Klosterman, and Hannah Sachs
This performance was co-created by the students in Ron Jenkins’s course “Performance Behind Bars,” in collaboration with a group of formerly incarcerated men and family members who met weekly at the offices of the American Friends Service Committee’s Healing Justice Program. It is presented with the American Friends Service Committee’s Healing Justice Program, with support from Trinity Church Wall Street.