Writings by Hennepin County Jail Inmates Featured in Online Theater Performance
Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 10:22AM
FreeWriters, an organization founded in the Hennepin County Jail to provide daily creative writing opportunities for county jail inmates, is featured in a new online performance by Ten Thousand Things Theater Company (TTT), which seeks to highlight the creative voices of Minnesotans living in correctional facilities and individuals within the disabilities community.
The Ten Thousand Voices reading is available to watch by visiting this page and includes pieces written by FreeWriters participants, as well as individuals from Minnesota Correctional Facility Faribault; Minnesota Correctional Facility Shakopee; and Minnesota Correctional Facility Stillwater, as well as MSS–Supporting People with Disabilities. The recording is free with donations encouraged to support this program.
Faye M. Price directs the latest Ten Thousand Voices reading, with Peter Vitale providing music direction. Artist interpreters reading the works include Cristina Florencia Castro, George Keller, Kurt Kwan, Tracey Maloney and Mikell Sapp.
“People living in correctional facilities and individuals with disabilities have been enormously impacted and challenged by the pandemic,” says TTT Artistic Director Marcela Lorca. “We are honored to share and amplify their voices.”
“I am thrilled to see pieces written by members of the FreeWriters program performed as part of the Ten Thousand Voices series,” said Nate Johnson, founder of FreeWriters. “Creative expression is an integral part of healing and has been proven to help reduce recidivism. I am grateful to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office for their continued support and to Ten Thousand Things Theater Company for their partnership.”
A sample of the performance featuring a reading from a FreeWriters participant can be viewed here.
About FreeWriters
FreeWriters provides inmates in the county jail system with creative writing opportunities that improve mental health, reduce recidivism, and inspire hope about life after incarceration. The vision of FreeWriters is to help county jail inmates rediscover their existing aptitudes and aspirations for a future free of incarceration. FreeWriters was founded by Nate Johnson, a former prosecuting attorney, veteran, and lifelong lover of literature and creative writing. Nate leads FreeWriters classes for current inmate-writers, as well as community-based writing groups for former inmates and other local writers.
About Ten Thousand Things Theater Company
Ten Thousand Things awakens the creative spirit of audiences and artists by bringing essential and exceptional theater to people from all backgrounds and life experiences. The vision of Ten Thousand Things is to ignite empathy and revolutionize belonging through the power of compelling and inspiring theater. Ten Thousand Things hosts free performances at shelters for the unhoused, correctional facilities, low-income senior centers, after-school programs, women's shelters, and locations in greater/rural Minnesota — any place where people are who do not have easy access to the arts.
