“May My Words Fly Free”: Are Their Stories Proof That They Are More Than Their Crime?
Brenda Nesbitt
Eight years ago Karen Lausa brought a simple powerpoint to a meeting at one of Colorado’s correctional facilities to pitch an idea.
“Wouldn’t it be great to bring the power of great literature to the incarcerated?”
Eight faces stared back at her. “They read at a fifth, maybe sixth grade level…”
But she persisted.
Three months later her book groups were reading Les Mis(èrables), which she calls “…the ultimate novel of redemption. They were hooked. And that’s how it started.”
Now Karen Lausa is the Founder, Executive Director and a Facilitator at Words Beyond Bars. “Through my reading program I’ve been criticized for working with people (some of whom aren’t going to get out of prison) because it’s considered a waste of time. But I believe that when we’re readers — when we’re just shaken to our boots by something we’ve read — that it has a permanent effect on us. It can truly shift the way we see the world. If it’s a good book the characters have had a conflict and they’ve made bad decisions…or good ones…or have been presented with a crisis. And we relate. In our groups we discuss why did that person do that? Why did he leave his wife? Why did he hurt his children? Why did he go back to drinking? Why didn’t he tell the truth? So very often, we’ll be discussing a book character, and a minute later someone is sharing an anecdote from their own life.”
In Words Beyond Bars book groups across Colorado, participants read the stories of others. Now they have the chance to tell us their stories through live performance by professional actors. At 7 pm on April 4th in The Studio Loft at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the lights go up on “May My Words Fly Free”, a new Stories on Stage production showcasing the writing of incarcerated men and women in the state’s correctional facilities.
“May My Words Fly Free” is a collaboration between three of Denver’s most inspired organizations: Words Beyond Bars, The Lighthouse Writers Workshop, and Stories on Stage. Dan Manzanares, Community Events Coordinator at Lighthouse is pleased: “Here you have three different organizations with different missions and different expertise coming together to create something powerful that one organization could not necessarily create by itself.”
In this collaboration, “It was Karen who went into the correctional facilities and generated the writings. Lighthouse and Stories on Stage are curating the pieces to be performed as we did on a previous project, “Voices from the Edge,” where the stories came from the homeless and those in extreme poverty. Anthony Powell, Artistic Director of Stories on Stage, creates the run of show, fitting each piece in a sequence to establish flow.”
On building the show, Anthony says, “We cut the widest swath we can. Then the casting comes out of that. Material dictates casting. With the deadline approaching, we’ll assemble it fast, and get the right actors, a man and a woman. The actors will have to be able to transform, which describes a lot of actors, but not all. We’ll try to find some humorous pieces because they allow the audience in. Humor just breaks us down. It will be great to find two actors that can do it all. I think it’s about giving permission to the actors to go wherever they want, and that gives permission to the audience to go along.”
And what will the audience experience?
Anthony admits some might read about the show and think, “Oh, my god what a bummer…But no, it’s not. It’s yearning, it’s human aspiration; it’s inspiring. Not just a slog through this unhappy world, it’s human aspiration at its most vulnerable. And, surprising no matter what.”
Karen Lausa, who admits to being in the business of upending assumptions, predicts the audience will feel “surprise, sadness, even disruption.” Discover “heartfelt compassion, and a longing for something better.”
“Prepare to have your mind blown, “says Dan. “Are these people more than their crimes? Let their stories be the proof.”
Purchase $10 tickets here: http://bit.ly/2EQzC7D
TOWWN offers kudos to Karen Lausa of Words Beyond Bars, Dan Manzanares, of The Lighthouse Writers Workshop and Anthony Powell of Stories of Stage for bringing us “May My Words Fly Free,” as well as to Next Stage Now, for donating the performance space at The Studio Loft @ the Ellie, and for its full support of the project.
