Monday, December 16, 2013

Chris Hedges: The Play’s the Thing - Truthdig

I began teaching a class of 28 prisoners at a maximum-security prison in New Jersey during the first week of September. My last class meeting was Friday. The course revolved around plays by August Wilson, James Baldwin, John Herbert, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Miguel Piñero, Amiri Baraka and other playwrights who examine and give expression to the realities of America’s black underclass as well as the prison culture. We also read Michelle Alexander’s important book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” Each week the students were required to write dramatic scenes based on their experiences in and out of prison. 
                                                                                                           ~ Chris Hedges, 12-15-13


Click here to read the full essay on Truthdig

1 comment:

MILKY AND THE SHADOWS said...

I am a theatre artist interested in doing this kind of work in the tri-state area. Could you tell me which organizations and individuals I can get in touch with? Are you looking for teaching artists?