California Story Fund
Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women
Cultural Odyssey
San Francisco
Project director: Rhodessa Jones
A play based on the stories of formerly incarcerated women
Recidivism has reached crisis levels in California's criminal justice system. In fact, when inmates are released from California prisons, there's a 75 percent chance they will return.
This project told the story of some of California's former female inmates in a theater piece developed from the stories of the women themselves. The aim was to help the women gain a better sense of their own worth and to educate both the public and policymakers about the complex array of issues facing inmates upon their release from prison.