Imagining Medea : Rhodessa Jones and Theater for Incarcerated Women

This ain't no Dreamgirls, Rhodessa Jones warns participants in the Medea Project, the theater program for incarcerated women that she founded and directs. Her expectations are grounded in reality, tempered, for example, by the fact that women are the fastest growing population in U.S. prisons. Still, Jones believes that by engaging incarcerated women in the process of developing and staging dramatic works based on their own stories, she can push them toward tapping into their own creativity, confronting the problems that landed them in prison, and taking control of their lives. Rena Fraden chronicles the collaborative process of transforming incarcerated women's stories into productions that incorporate Greek mythology, hip-hop music, dance, and autobiography. She captures a diverse array of voices, including those of Jones and other artists, the sheriff and prison guards, and, most vividly, the women themselves. Through compelling narrative and thoughtful commentary, Fraden investigates the Medea Project's blend of art and activism and considers its limits and possibilities for enacting social change. Rhodessa Jones is co-artistic director of the San Francisco-based performance company Cultural Odyssey and founder of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. An award-winning performer, she has taught at the Yale School of Drama and the New College of California. Margaret B. Wilkerson Rhodessa Jones and the incarcerated women with whom she works have created compelling art out of terror and despair. And Rena Fraden has captured the spirit of this visionary effort in an engaging, thoughtful, and inspiring text. Don't miss the joy of reading it. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 8 Foreword 10 Preface 14 Introduction 24 1 A Counter Epic: Making the Medea Project 50 2 To Be Real: Rehearsing Techniques 90 3 Prison Discourse: Surveying Lives 143 4 Community Work: Imagining Other Spaces 202 Appendix: Selected Performing and Directing Biography of Rhodessa Jones 230 Notes 232 Bibliography 254 Index 8 A 264 B 264 C 264 D 264 E 265 F 265 G 265 H 265 I 265 J 265 K 266 L 266 M 266 N 266 O 266 P 266 R 267 S 267 T 267 V 268 W 268 Z 268 Rhodessa Jones founded and still directs the Medea Project, a theater program for incarcerated women. Jones believes that by engaging incarcerated women in the process of developing and staging dramatic works based on their own stories, she can push them toward tapping into their own creativity, confronting the problems that landed them in prison, and taking control of their lives. The book chronicles the collaborative process of transforming incarcerated women's stories into productions that incorporate Greek mythology, hip-hop music, dance, and auto-biography. It captures a diverse array of voices, including those of Jones and other artists, the sheriff and prison guards, and the women themselves and considers the limits and possibilities of the program for enacting social change Annotation Fraden explores artist Rhodessa Jones' theater work with incarcerated women, known as the Medea project. Balancing narrative and commentary, Fraden chronicles the process of turning inmates personal stories into public performance In Rhodessa Jones, the creator and director of the Medea Project, the women in the project have a life story they can use as a counter against the traditional, predictable, plots usually attached to women of her class and her race. Rena Fraden ; Foreword By Angela Y. Davis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-240) And Index.