So why did you decide to create a play?

When we put the word out about our Thousand Kites audio and video tools, people across the country used them and asked for more.

So the Kites Team collected real-life stories about the U.S. criminal justice system from prisoners and corrections officers and their respective families, and from people living in our local community where ten prisons are located. We used these stories to create a play that can be read or performed just about anywhere by just about anybody. Then we went to the communities where we got the stories and asked them to do readings of the play for local audiences. We had a good turn-out that included moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers, kids, parolees, corrections officers, lawyers, police officers – you name it, they were there. The second act of the play is a discussion with the audience, where people are encouraged to tell their own stories about the criminal justice system. In each community, it seemed like people were waiting for this opportunity.

The Kites Team is pleased to share the Thousand Kites play.

Thousand Kites Theater Campaigns

Thousand Kites

You can download the script and other tools to put the Thousand Kites play in your community. Do a reading, create a performance, and gather your communities stories. Kites has the script and helpful guides for you to start a dialgoue in your community. More.

How are people using the play in their communities?

 

 

• 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.

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