Former state prison inmates will offer a glimpse into life behind bars in a play to be presented Sunday at the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church in Naperville.
“A Day at Stateville” was penned by four men who served time at the Crest Hill-based correctional center and will be performed by former inmates as well.
It’s part of the “Changing Minds” campaign, a statewide effort by the Illinois Institute for Community Law & Affairs to win support for Illinois House Bill 3668. The legislation “would allow people who are at least 50 years old and have been incarcerated in an Illinois prison for 25 years or more to apply for sentence modification,” according to the University of Illinois’ Educational Justice Project.
The play has been performed more than 130 times over the past five years.
The Rev. Tom Capo, minister of the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, said social justice is one of the church’s priorities. They hold monthly meetings exploring issues of racial inequality and restorative justice, he said.
“About three years ago, our church community agreed we were going to be more active in social justice and during a meeting we had with a Chicago criminal justice task force group, we heard about this play and wanted to bring it here,” Capo said. “I always believe it’s difficult having empathy towards someone you don’t know, and this play gives people a real opportunity to learn from prisoners themselves what it’s like to live in Stateville.”
Jim Chapman, president of the Illinois Institute for Community Law & Affairs, said the play “is a way to introduce people to the conditions of the prison system” and it allows people “to see convicted human beings transform themselves through the power of education and motivation and be given a second chance.”
“I taught classes in Stateville for about six years, and there were men sentenced there for the rest of their natural life who felt there was no way to communicate with the outside world regarding the lack of programs there and medical care,” Chapman said. “A group of men came up with this play they had written in writing class and they asked me, as I knew a lot of people on the outside, if I could set it up and have people see it performed.”
The play is about 20 minutes long, and audience members will be able to ask them questions when it’s over.
“If change is going to happen in prisons, people need to see that punishment to rehabilitate doesn’t work,” Capo said. “This play provides a way to show what people have been through and how their experiences have affected them.”
There is no cost for the performance but donations will be accepted. Any money collected will be given to the actors, Capo said.
DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 1828 Old Naperville Road. For more information, call 630-505-9408.
To read the play script, go to http://illinoisinstitute.net/idea-exchange/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ADayAtStateville.pdf.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
