Programs
Out of the Yard
Empowers personal growth and builds community for adults in the justice system
Playwrights Project’s Out of the Yard Program empowers personal growth and builds community for adults who are serving time in correctional settings and those who have returned home after incarceration. Participants dramatize stories of their own creation. Recognizing that challenging situations can lead to difficult decisions and that we all make mistakes, the program supports individuals in creating fictional plays that examine hardships, explore positive solutions, look forward to brighter futures, and redefine themselves and their characters beyond the labels imposed by past choices.
Sessions involve restorative circles, group theatre activities, creative writing exercises, brainstorming ideas, weekly writing assignments that lead to developing 10-minute plays. Professional actors perform the completed plays at the end of the program. Participants interested in acting also join in the performances. When permitted, peers from the facility attend the performances or families and friends attend in Visiting Rooms.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
- 10-16 workshop sessions are conducted weekly for 1 to 2.5 hours each
- Professional actor perform completed plays in culminating performances
OPTIONS
- Group plays can be devised rather than individual plays
- Rehearsals can be included if participants choose to perform
- Specific themes can be explored (e.g. suicide prevention, substance use disorder)
VIEW OUR VIDEOS
Visit Playwrights Project’s YouTube channel to see Out of the Yard playwrights’ words in action.
VIEW OUR PHOTOS
Public Productions of plays
Written Inside Prison
2025 Beyond Prison Walls performances at SDSU
2024 Beyond Prison Walls performances at UCI
2024 Beyond Prison Walls performances at SDSU
Centinela State Prison
Photo Archives
CEN: A Yard – December 2024
CEN: A Yard – June 2024
CEN: A Yard – January 2024
CEN: A Yard – June 2023
CEN: A Yard – February 2023
CEN: A Yard – December 2019
CEN: A Yard – June 2019
CEN: C Yard – December 2024
CEN: CYard – June 2024
CEN: C Yard – January 2024
CEN: C Yard – June 2023
CEN: C Yard – February 2023
CEN: C Yard – June, 2019
CEN: C Yard – December, 2018
CEN: C Yard- September, 2018 (Photos courtesy of Peter Merts)
Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility
Photo Archives
RJD: A Yard – December 2019
RJD: A Yard – June 2019
RJD: C Yard – December 2019
RJD: C Yard – June 2019
RJD: C Yard – September, 2018 (Photos courtesy of Peter Merts
RJD: C Yard – July, 2015 (Photos courtesy of Peter Merts)
RJD: C Yard – December, 2014 (Photos courtesy of Peter Merts)
RJD: E Yard – December 2019
RJD: E Yard – June 2019
RJD: E Yard – June, 2018 (Photos courtesy of Geri Goodale)