For five weekends in April and May, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts becomes home to an innovative theatre program in which former prisoners use the exploration of art and theatre to help develop skills for their future lives and employment.

A collaboration between the Pulitzer, Prison Performing Arts, Employment Connection, and the Performing Arts Department at Washington University in St. Louis, this program presents short theatrical pieces written and performed by former prisoners and formerly homeless veterans, and inspired by their interactions with works of art featured in the Pulitzer’s Old Masters exhibition.

The participants are all graduates of Employment Connection, the region’s foremost workforce development agency assisting former inmates. In a six-week class guided by Prison Performing Arts director Agnes Wilcox, the actors have explored Old Masters and their histories, and honed their writing, movement, voice and diction, and performance abilities. Concurrently, specialized classes through Employment Connection assist them in bridging their work in class to the development of employment and life skills.  In addition, Washington University students from the Performing Arts Department, the Department of English, and the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, as well as faculty from the Performing Arts Department collaborated with the actors to foster a mutually-beneficial learning environment, an open atmosphere, and a supportive, team-building experience.

These one-of-a-kind performances will showcase the actors’ creative imaginations, their observations about the artworks, and their newfound theatrical skills. You are also invited to follow along with the process of these theatre pieces’ development: this website features one-on-one interviews with the program’s students; glimpses into Agnes Wilcox’s unique classes; explorations of works of art in the Old Masters exhibition (by both students at Pulitzer staff); and information about Prison Performing Arts, Employment Connection, and the Pulitzer Foundation’s ongoing efforts to build bridges and welcome a diverse audience.