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EDNA MAHAN CORRECTIONAL FACILITY FOR WOMEN THEATRE PROGRAM
For the last 6 years, MTC rehearses as volunteers at The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. MTC uses theatre to educate about mass incarceration, and the oppressions caused by larger systems around intersections of white privilege, race, class gender and sexual orientation. MTC performs the work of the women of Edna Mahan in the community to raise awareness about the importance of liberating re-entry programs, and create action to change how women come back to their communities and lives. The women of the Edna Mahan Theatre Program also perform in the prison to share their knowledge, and create change with other incarcerated women.
DISMANTLING THE RACISM MACHINE A MANUAL AND TOOLBOX by Dr. Karen Gaffney - This interactive 90 minute show is designed to illustrate how racism was invented, and how the patterns of white supremacy and patriarchy continue to show up in our personal lives, laws and policies.
NJ is one of the most diverse states but also one of the most racially
segregated states in the US. Why don't we talk about this? Nationally, white household wealth is almost 13 times that of black household wealth and more than 10 times that of Latinx household wealth.
Why didn't I learn this before?
White women have benefited the most from Affirmative Action and yet are the most vocal about ending
Affirmative Action. How come? Who gets ignored when feminism is not intersectional? How do I talk about this?
RVCC English Professor Dr. Karen Gaffney, author of Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox, and
The Meta Theatre Company discuss and perform concepts from Karen's book through interactive theatre to encourage discussion and raise awareness. This show has been performed for training in the
workplace, schools, and for the general public.
Click the button below to see PBS39 News Tonight feature The Meta Theatre Company and Karen Gaffney perform, Dismantling the Racism Machine a Manual and Toolbox
Fit the Description is based on the lived experience of one of our inside cast members about the racial disparities of the criminal justice system, and trying to parent from behind bars. Fit the Description shows a "pat and frisk" by two white police officers on a family of color with two small children. A series of vignettes replays the incident from the perspective of different people in the community.
80% of women behind bars are mothers, and Fit the Description shows the resilience and challenges of how mothers who are incarcerated stay connected to their children. Fit the Description is a 90 minute interactive show.
Speak Up! is a 90 minute interactive show that educates audiences on bystander intervention, and how to safely intervene when you witness hatred or discrimination in private and public conversations.
WHAT I WAS WEARING - Part live performance, part art installation, What I Was Wearing, tells the anonymous stories of survivors of sexual assault. The art installation depicts the clothing worn at the time of the assault and educates that sexual assault is not caused by what we wear. The post show facilitation gives the audience tools to assess the intersectional power and control of assault across race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Audiences are encouraged to look at laws in their communities about how assault is stopped, and to take action when laws are not providing resources and support to everyone. This 90 minute show has been performed in the general public, and for high school students.
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