Incarcerated Women's Theater Group to Travel to the University of Denver to Perform 'A Christmas Carol'

DENVER— For the first time in the United States, incarcerated individuals will take a theatre production outside prison walls and perform in public. The Newman Center for the Performing Arts and University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative (DU PAI) will co-present “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 12-13. The cast and crew of the show consists of 40 incarcerated women from the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.

“This groundbreaking performance is an opportunity for people to shift their perception about who is in prison,” says Ashley Hamilton, co-founder of DU PAI. “There stereotype that people in prisons aren’t empathetic or creative is not true. They are intelligent, complex and talented people.”

The Colorado Department of Corrections and DU PAI announced this fall a three-year partnership to bring arts programming to all Colorado prisons. The goal of the program is to empower individuals to improve the quality of their lives and prepare to make positive changes in their communities upon release.

“The reality is that 90-95% of incarcerated people will be released from prison and returned to communities as our neighbors,” says Dean Williams, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections. “It’s important that through programs like DU PAI, incarcerated people have the opportunity to maintain connection to the community, experience what normal life is like, and have a purpose and focus in their life while they are serving their time.”

Tickets go on sale through the Newman Center Box Office on Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. The performance is supported in part by the generosity of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation.

“We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking event by supporting restorative justice through the arts,” says Kendra Whitlock Ingram, executive director of the Newman Center. “Thanks to a gift from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, we’re able to serve as co-sponsors and ensure all proceeds from the performance benefits DU PAI.”

In addition to theater programs, DU PAI launched a prison podcast called “With(in),” with a goal of reaching a wider audience and shifting the conversation about who’s in prison. This partnership establishes the Department of Corrections and University of Denver as a national leader in funding prison arts and has been featured by the New York Times.

For additional questions:

Jon Stone
University of Denver
720-940-9260
Jon.Stone@du.edu

Annie Skinner
Colorado Department of Corrections
719-226-4773
Annie.Skinner@state.co.us