V-Day Annual Report 2016 - ONE BILLION RISING: RISE FOR REVOLUTION 1 | Page 58
PERFORMANCES
IN PRISONS
BY PRISONERS AND FORMERLY
INCARCERATED WOMEN
2016 was the year of the prison performance in the United States. While there have
previously been other stand-alone performances inside prisons, this year we saw an
escalation of efforts and attention given to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated
populations. Local activists MighteeShero Productions did a one-week tour of NYC
area correctional facilities and re-entry programs. Sites included Taconic Correctional
Facility in Bedford Hills, The Fortune Society in Long Island City, Edgecombe
Residential Treatment Facility in Manhattan, and Metropolitan Detention Center
in Brooklyn. The cast was a diverse collection of professional actresses, formerly
incarcerated women and advocates. Quartz covered the historic performance for an
entirely male prison population. In Tulsa, inmates produced The Vagina Monologues
for their fellow inmates, with the help of Poetic Justice, a local organization that hosts
writing workshops in the facility.