The Thousand Kites play is a collection of stories told directly by prisoners, their family members, corrections officers and community members. 

You can read the play as part of a spoken-word event with a group of your friends, in a community center, or even as a full production in a theater.

The play is written so that you can add your own story to it to connect with your local community. You can bring in local musicians or hip-hop artists to give it your own rhythm.  You don’t need theater experience to read or perform the Thousand Kites play. All you need is a group of people and a desire to hear and share stories.

The second act of the play is a dialogue. Use this opportunity to open up a conversation in your community about the criminal justice system.

Unlike a lot of ‘activist theater,’ the Thousand Kites play doesn't seek to preach a message forcibly, or motivate the audience through anger and outrage; it encourages the whole community to reach out and reach in, to uplift and assist, and to move change with compassion. – student, University of North Carolina-Asheville

 

 
Download a play:

 

How others have used the Thousand Kites plays:

* In Virginia and Mississippi, community hip-hop artists worked with grassroots groups to do public performances at churches and criminal justice legislative rallies.

* University of North Carolina-Asheville did a full production of the play, along with community forums.

* A conference on restorative justice used the play to deepen their convening's conversation.tkarrowwaves


* Prison officials and a local artist produced a reading of the play in a prison.