I Think of You: Illuminating Mass Incarceration from the Inside Out
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View Upcoming EventsWe invite you to a weekend discussing mass incarceration through performances, workshops and dialogue. I Think of You draws from a devised theatre piece created by a Lewis & Clark Inside/Out class at Columbia River Correctional Institution. In addition to panels and talk-backs, events include a sample Inside/Out class and a devising workshop that challenges participants to envision a future without prisons.
Admission is free, but ticket reservation is required. RSVP with the links below.
I Think of You
Directed by Rebecca Lingafelter
Dramaturgy by Sterling Cunio
Lead Artist and Scholar Reiko Hillyer
Performed by Roo Welsh, Gerrin Mitchell, Connor Pascale, Isabel McTighe, Evelyn Wohlbier, Negasi Brown
Designed by Jenny Ampersand, Miranda Hardy, and Mark Valadez
This performance piece draws from Lewis & Clark College’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange class, a course on the history of crime and punishment in the United States that integrates incarcerated students at Columbia River Correctional Institution with Lewis & Clark undergraduates. It is derived from the student’s own writing, woven with voices from the past, to communicate a brief history of mass incarceration, its impact on our neighbors, and our experience of sharing and learning together.
Thanks to a Creative Heights grant from the Oregon Community Foundation and a community partnership with Portland Center Stage, we are able to share this work with a larger audience.
- Friday, Aug 25, 7:30 pm: I Think of You Performance and Talk Back
- Saturday, Aug 26, 2:00 pm: I Think of You Performance
- Saturday, Aug 26, 7:30 pm: I Think of You Performance
- Sunday, Aug 27, 2:00 pm: I Think of You Performance
WORKSHOPS
Saturday, Aug 26, 3:30-5:30 pm
Imagining a World Without Prisons: A Devising Workshop
Led by Bobby Bermea
RSVP for Workshop (General Public)
Bobby Bermea will facilitate creative collaboration and participant improvisation to imagine what the world could look like without incarceration. This workshop is appropriate for people of all theatre backgrounds, and while it will draw on I Think of You, attendance of the performance is not required for this event. Bermea is a writer, director and award-winning actor who serves as co-artistic director of The Beirut Wedding World Theatre Project.
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Sunday, Aug 27, 3:30-5:00 pm
Inside/Out Prison Exchange Workshop
Led by Professor Reiko Hillyer
RSVP for Workshop (General Public)
This mock class will introduce participants to the Inside/Out model, with 15 formerly incarcerated participants and 15 other participants. It will feature exercises and themes from Hillyer’s course, HIST 238/338: Crime and Punishment in the United States.
The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® facilitates dialogue and education across profound social differences — through courses held inside prison, involving students from a higher education setting and incarcerated students.
These courses ignite enthusiasm for learning — encouraging participants to find their unique voice and to consider how they can make change in the world.
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