The Persephone Project is the outreach arm of the Still Point Theatre Collective that works specifically with currently and formerly incarcerated women. Using the power of theatre and creative writing to foster healing, community, and re-entry success.
1. The Persephone Project (For Currently Incarcerated Women)
The project began in 1998 and is named after the Greek myth of Persephone, who was separated from her mother, Demeter, and taken to the underworld. The incarcerated women resonated deeply with this theme of separation and feeling "in hell", making it a powerful metaphor for their own experiences.
- Weekly Workshops: Still Point facilitates weekly theatre workshops in Chicago-area detention centers. Including Cook County Jail and the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
- Creative Focus: These workshops are structured as safe spaces where women can examine their stories, build community, and develop communication skills. Facilitators use theatre games, improvisational techniques, storytelling, and creative writing exercises.
- Original Performance: The process culminates in a special on-site performance of an original play created by the participants themselves. For women who often feel invisible, this event provides a crucial opportunity to share their experiences. Also to receive the validation of an audience's applause.
Impact: The workshops help the women articulate their thoughts and feelings, see their fellow inmates in a new light (as creative, intelligent women), and combat the sense of isolation and loss of identity that incarceration imposes.
2. Sisters Rising (For Formerly Incarcerated Women)
Recognizing the immense challenges faced by women after release—the critical and difficult time of re-entry—Still Point created an extension of this work called Sisters Rising.
- Performance Ensemble: Sisters Rising is a touring ensemble composed of formerly incarcerated women.
- Job Training and Compensation: This program provides meaningful work during the challenging transition period. The women are paid for their work at rehearsals and performances, providing them with essential income and job experience.
- Public Awareness: The ensemble writes, produces, and performs their own original plays, which are often performed for public audiences. This is vital because it:
- Allows the women to become champions of their own narrative and regain agency.
- Bridges the gap between those who have experienced the carceral system and the general public. Helping to reduce the stigmas associated with incarceration.
- Addressing Recidivism: By fostering skills, confidence, community, and income, the ultimate goal of this programming is to help the women build a new life for themselves and reduce recidivism (the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend).
Through both projects, Lisa Wagner-Carollo and the Still Point Theatre Collective use the transformative power of art to affirm the human dignity and creative potential of women in the criminal justice system.