POLITICS/CURRENT EVENTS

It is 1954, Stateville, Prison, Illinois. The US Army is conducting malaria drug trials on a select group of prisoners. This group of eight men includes African Americans and displaced poor Southern whites, all with different backgrounds, sexual orientations and criminal histories. These prisoners are held in a portion of Stateville known as M Ward. There, they are subjected to endless titrations, regimens and schedules of drugs which the government hopes will either alleviate or prevent, outright, mosquito-borne malaria. This play follows the men as they do their time on the M; during their stay, they begin to experience unusually vivid dreams, then a shared dream. When a new inmate, Derrill Montgomery Freemen, is placed on the ward, the dynamics amongst the men change, as do alliances, friendships and loyalties. The interactions between the men can range from violent to simply comical. As the play progresses, Freemen begins to influence the way in which the men interpret this shared dream. Some prisoners hold him suspect, however, as the dream started not long after he appeared on the M; while others seem to blindly follow his suggestions and subscribe to his visions. Despite the opinion of the medical staff--the dream is nothing more than a side effect of the medication--at least one man on the M begins to unravel the truth about the new prisoner. This truth will test the men in ways prison itself cannot.Cast: 10 men 1 woman

The prisoners we meet in Wounded Wounders are wounders, who have themselves been wounded. They entrust their stories—told in their own words—to a companion, an incarcerated former Roman Catholic priest. They have never shared their stories before; there has never been anyone to listen or to care. What is revealed behind the tough, tattooed exteriors is a common humanity, and the unquenchable Divine Spark that refuses to be quenched. Prisons are warehouses of human potential, graveyards of the human spirit. Whatever is good, hopeful and humane is gradually displaced within the inmates committed to them. In this brutal, surreal world of fear and degradation, kindness is perceived as weakness, and to be weak is to become vulnerable. Trust and intimacy are virtually non-existent. Most prisoners enter the criminal justice system as juveniles. Over 60% are illiterate, 80% have drug-related issues, minorities are a disproportionate percent of the population. Out of these realities, these stories come. Listening to these men, stereotypes fade into the realization that they are more than their crimes. When touched by the love of God and authentic human caring, they reach for their dreams and what is good begins to blossom. They hope, hurt and seek redemption no less than the rest of us.

At present, prisons are seen as a logical response to crimes of poverty and crimes of violence. And yet, the desolation, degradation, and violence of prisons may be causing our communities far more harm than good. This book offers a glimpse inside the world of prisons as well as documenting inspiring work in a range of communities in Australia, New Zealand, and North America that is offering to take us beyond the prison. Most particularly, this book is written to offer company and practical ideas to those working with adults and young people whose lives are lived in the shadow of prisons.