'Seattle News Weekly': Shedding light on a theater program for incarcerated men
‘Seattle News Weekly S1E15’: Art, humanity, and hope behind bars
On the 15th episode of the “Seattle News Weekly” podcast, FOX 13's Bill Wixey sits down with actor and instructor Carter Rodriquez to explore Freehold’s Engaged Theater Residency Program inside Washington’s prisons. Rodriquez shares how writing, performance, and community help incarcerated men break down walls, express their stories, and rebuild their humanity. It’s a powerful look at transformation, art, and connection behind bars.
SEATTLE - For over two decades, the Freehold Engaged Residency Program has brought the transformative power of theater arts into Washington prisons and detention centers, forging unexpected connections in some of the state's toughest institutions.
On Episode 15 of the "Seattle News Weekly" podcast, FOX 13 Seattle Anchor Bill Wixey sits down with Actor and Instructor Carter Rodriquez to explore Freehold’s Engaged Theater Residency Program inside sone of Washington’s prisons.
Rodriquez shares how writing, performance and community have helped incarcerated men break down walls, express their stories and rebuild their humanity.
Rodriquez shares a few stories about his experience on the podcast, including one from his first year working with the program when one of the Freehold founders, George Lewis, invited Rodriquez to intern with him in a program at the men's prison in Monroe.
He says they went in with an idea to work on a Shakespeare play. Specifically, "Julius Ceaser." Lewis had a discussion with the incarcerated men after reading some of the scenes. During the discussion, he told the inmates to imagine conspiring to kill their best friend to save the state, to put them in the shoes of the characters.
One of the incarcerated men said, "Well, I don't know if it's the same as that, but one time, me and my friend were playing with a gun when we were drunk and the gun went off, and I didn't know if it shot him or me. Turns out it shot him."
Rodriquez says when he and Lewis were driving back home, Lewis turned to him and said, "I don't understand Shakespeare … that guy understood Shakespeare."
That small event changed the trajectory of their course for the program.
Rodriquez says Shakespeare is great, but the incarcerated men also have stories, and they began encouraging the men to write their own stories based on their own lives, or whatever they needed to express.
Rodriquez shares numerous anecdotes of his time with the program, including how his teaching style has developed overtime and the workshops he does with the group.
He says the process begins with free-writing exercises, prompts, poetry workshops and physical theater/improvisation games to help participants feel comfortable with expression and taking the stage. Carter emphasizes that he doesn't care about grammar or spelling, only that they put the pen down.
Over 8 to 9 sessions, the group produces hundreds of pages of material. Carter takes this material, cuts it into a cohesive script, and returns for rehearsal.
The final performance is typically a variety show incorporating scenes, beatboxing, rapping, dance and individual stories, playing to each participant's strengths.
The group performs twice: once for the general incarcerated population and once for visiting guests, family and friends.
One of the theater participant's feedback highlighted the simple, profound importance of Carter's consistency: "Nobody shows up for most of us. And you say you're coming, and you show up."
Rodriquez says the final performances are the "best theater" he's ever seen, and frequently move audiences to tears due to the raw reality and emotional hurdles the inmates overcome to perform.
Seattle News Weekly is a podcast that goes in depth and gives context to the stories that matter to the western Washington community. Check back every Thursday for a new episode on your favorite podcast platform, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Audible, or YouTube.
The Source: Information in this story came from original FOX 13 reporting.
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