BEGINNINGS
The Performance Project began September of 2000 as a theater and movement workshop at the Hampshire Jail and House of Corrections in Northampton, MA. Eight men incarcerated at the Jail collaborated with dancer/choreographer, Amie Dowling, and visual and theater artist, Julie Lichtenberg, to create a performance piece. The work was based on the group’s experiences, ideas, beliefs and themes that they wished to communicate.

From 2000 to 2004, The Performance Project collaborated with groups in the Hampshire Jail. Five workshops were completed; four resulted in the creation of original plays. The jail’s Visiting Room was transformed into a blackbox theater that included professional lighting and original music. There were three or four performances of each play, and up to 80 community members attended each performance.

Since 2000, the Performance Project has produced six original plays, piloted a bi-lingual soap opera at the Hampshire Jail, led theater workshops for women at the Hampden Jail in Ludlow and for youth correctional programs, and established an “outside” performance ensemble, comprised of people who have been incarcerated and other artists in the community.

OUR AUDIENCES
“...the things that divide people dissolved, and the things that are essential to our humanity rose. We shared hearty laughter. We felt the pain of being misunderstood or alienated from loved ones. We touched the commonality of despair and hope.”Audience member

Inside the jail, our audiences have included the men incarcerated, as well as staff, family and friends of performers, the Sheriff, Chief of Police, the Mayor, District Attorney, judges, parole and probation officers, lawyers, state representatives, students, social service and public health workers, social justice activists, and the arts community. Performances outside the Jail have also drawn members from the recovery community, re-integration programs, and youth groups.

“In the performance I saw, the level of empathy with the audience was extraordinary, immediate, in a call and response, shock of recognition sort of way”. Robert Tobey, Valley Advocate

PERFORMANCES
The Performance Project is a venue for self-representation in a culture where politics, social structures and the media suppress expressions of truth and the depth of economic oppression, racism and incarceration in our country. Our creative work is informed and shaped by the experiences and beliefs of ensemble members, who claim full authorship for the plays they produce.

Through the performances, audiences have had the opportunity listen to the experiences and ideas of people whose stories are rarely told, and to expand their perspective and expectations of people coming out of jail. The plays address critical social and cultural issues, and initiate a dialogue between people who have been incarcerated and their communities.

Works in Progress (2000) was a performance of monologues, movement pieces, and scenes linked together by “Recipes”. “Mix together 2 cups of love, 1 quart hard worker, and 1 tablespoon of dishonesty. Add 1 teaspoon of feelings, 3 tablespoons of tough guy, and a pinch of smart-ass. Slowly stir in my tears. Set aside. Dice all of the wrong I have done. Serve it with a fistful of suck-it-up...Let chill.”

 

  photo by Jerrey Roberts

 

 

 

 

not so very far from here (2002) was set in the Peter Pan bus station of Springfield, Massachusetts. The play focused on the people who hang out there and the contradictions between their personal realities and their public personas. The play is a fusion of small talk, conflicts, phone conversations, hustles, acts of courage, sounds of buses coming and going, dreams, memories and conflicting truths.

“Counting the Minutes is a wonderful and moving play that confronts demons, both spiritual and material. It takes a lot of courage to be so vulnerable and personal. And to do it with such pathos and humor…..I came away from Friday’s performance feeling that actors and audience alike had shared a sense of catharsis.” Audience Member

 

OUTSIDE COMPANY

In 2003, inspired by the strong interest of project members inside the jail to continue their involvement on the outside, the Performance Project started an “outside” company. The “outside“ company includes men and women who have been incarcerated and other artists in the community.

 

 

 

 

 

In 2004, the outside company began work on its first full-length production, WALK WITH ME. The piece was about the forms of imprisonment many of us experience long before actual incarceration: the imprisonment of racism, poverty and addiction; the imprisonment of being silenced; of not knowing your family history; the imprisonment of materialism; and the literal imprisonment of solitary confinement. WALK WITH ME premiered at the Northampton Center for the Arts in January 2005, and toured to Albuquerque, New Mexico for The Revolutions International Theatre Festival.The tour included a performance and workshop at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center. The Performance Company re-worked and performed WALK WITH ME again at Springfield College in October 2005.

 

outside company '05 rehersal                                                                     photo by Travis Clark

 

In 2006 the outside company created its second play, a warning for the king. The piece is a contemporary myth based on company members belief that when an individual, or a people, is denied his or her voice, chaos will ensue. The title quotes the proverb, “the silence of the people is a warning for the king.” Through spoken word, rap, monologue and movement, the play addresses themes of greed, racism, silencing, addiction, and finally, the urgency and redemption of speaking out, and recognizing that our fates are intertwined. a warning for the king was performed at American International College in Springfield, Thornes APE, in Northampton, and Holyoke Community College, in Holyoke, MA.

“Political art can be redeemed by passion and imagination, but the most immediately persuasive ingredient is a sense of hard evidence, the testimony of witness." Robert Tobey, Valley Advocate

 

"The actors tell the tales of the insanities of bureaucracy, the foolish logic at the heart of discrimination, the white knuckle absurdities of addiction." Robert Tobey, Valley Advocate

 

CHALLENGES
Few social and institutional networks exist that successfully support people transitioning from jails and prisons to lives that will sustain them economically, socially and spiritually. Supporting outside company members in their re-integration, and often, in their recovery from addiction, has been one of the challenges of the Performance Project. Over the past year, the Project developed a peer-led support group, facilitated by Joaquin Rodriguez, a counselor in the recovery field for over 18 years. The Performance Project also faces numerous challenges as a small non-profit organization sustained by volunteers. Many community members work with the Project to support the outside company (legal help, counseling, transportation), the artistic work (rehearsal space, workshops, guest- directing), and the productions (food, set, lights, sound, PR, tech). Volunteers also help to  sustain the organization itself with grantwriting, fundraising, administrative work, video, graphic design, technical support, etc. etc. etc.

We honor and thank all who have so generously shared their time and skills with the Performance Project. Only with the future involvement of our community will we be able to continue this work.