About this project
Poetic Justice Project presents original theatre that examines crime, punishment and redemption with formerly incarcerated actors. Our current play, OFF THE HOOK, explores the ever-present threat of violence and racial segregation in prison. Separation from family, the danger of becoming too close to others and, finally, the triumph of the human spirit come to life in OFF THE HOOK.
Our play gives audiences an inside look at prison, countering a lot of mainstream media versions of incarceration.
Each performance is followed by a talk-back with the audience. Almost all of our actors and singers are new to theatre but they never fail to amaze their audiences! Poetic Justice Project finds theatre a powerful way for formerly incarcerated people to reconnect with their communities.
Last summer we took OFF THE HOOK on a tour of prison towns in California, with help from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council and the LEF Foundation. We've been invited back to Redding to perform for Pioneer High School students and for the community on May 26 and 27. On May 28, we have a special performance, co-sponsored by the Alternatives to Violence Project California, at the Notre Dame de Namur University Theater in Belmont.
We are raising funds to help pay for transportation for our 20-member cast and crew--renting a bus or two vans, plus the cost of gasoline. We are aiming for $1500 in transportation funding; any extra funds will be used to take our play to groups who request it, especially youth at risk of incarceration.
The short documentary posted here, Poetic Justice Project, was created by the gifted young filmmaker Matthew J. Evans. Poetic Justice Project recently won Best San Luis Obispo County film in the high school division of the SLO International Film Festival and best student film at the Spirit Quest Film Festival in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The documentary played in Larkspur, California and Newport Beach and will show at festivals in Las Vegas, Chicago and at the Black Hills Film Festival in South Dakota.
Poetic Justice Project is a program of the nonprofit William James Association, based in Santa Cruz. So your gift is tax-deductible. Thank you for any contribution you can make to our labor of love and poetic justice!
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on May 25, 2011.
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Poetic Justice Project 2010 Prison Town Tour OFF THE HOOK T-shirt
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Poetic Justice Project 2010 Prison Town Tour OFF THE HOOK T-shirt and OFF THE HOOK musical soundtrack
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Two front-row tickets to OFF THE HOOK in Redding or Belmont, CA plus 2010 Prison Town Tour OFF THE HOOK T-shirt and OFF THE HOOK musical soundtrack
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Four front-row tickets to OFF THE HOOK in Redding or Belmont, CA plus two 2010 Prison Town Tour OFF THE HOOK T-shirts and two OFF THE HOOK CDs.
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Poetic Justice Project actors will perform (a scene with a song) at your event--Central Coast only!
Project By
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Deborah Tobola, founding Artistic Director of the Poetic Justice Project, worked for more than 12 years teaching writing and managing an arts program in California prisons. Deborah produced six original plays at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo before leaving to begin the Poetic Justice Project in 2009. She wrote OFF THE HOOK, with music by Shawn Collins. A widely published poet and children’s book author, her work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations and three Academy of American Poets awards.
