Portfolio

“Mud Theatre Project presents a powerful collection of national award-winning plays that use the arts as a canvas to promote social change. These plays delve into the complex realities faced by communities impacted by systemic injustice, violence, and incarceration, raising awareness and fostering empathy through compelling storytelling”

Summary of National Award-Winning Plays Written by Mud Theatre Project Playwrights

  • The Story of Violence

    By Toussaint Daniels

    This play examines the historical racial strife in Chicago and the impact that it had shaping the surging violence plaguing Chicago's poorest communities today. From redlining to drill music, and the construction of the classroom to prison pipeline, The Story of Violence weaves spoken word, powerful lyrics, and storytelling to profound effect. This play answers how we got here and what we should do to change things.

  • The Zoo

    By Leo Cardez

    Two prisoners share a bench in a communal area at Dixon Correctional Center. One is from general population; the other is from the Special Treatment Center (STC). They are having a conversation that can only be described as ordinary at Dixon. This play is an examination of the serious lack of mental health services in the prison system.

  • Tortured By Blue

    By Stanley Howard

    This is a short, about the Chicago Police/John Burge torture scandal. It is centered around an eighteen-year-old kid named Emmett Tilson. The Chicago police tortured Emmett until he signed a false confession that said he killed a Chicago police officer. That confession was used to prosecute and send him to death row. While on death row, Emmett's research led him to a huge discovery that would expose the magnitude of the torture scandal.

  • My Problem with the World is Me

    By Darrion Benson

    A young man fresh out of prison is struggling to gain his footing. He is trying to get a job and mend his relationship with his single-parent father. Whenever he starts making progress, his alter ego, who only he can see, tries to convince him to go back to his old street hustler lifestyle.

  • In Search of a Better Place

    By Joel Davis

    This play is about five African American men sitting in the park discussing the plight of Black America. They offer different perspectives, from different eras in America, and they all conclude that preying on African Americans is a hobby for Caucasians. Upon further discussion they all decide to search for a better place where they can live without fear of being profiled or discriminated against.

  • Who Are You

    By Brian Beals

    A young man enters a bullpen to begin his journey along the prison pipeline. Immediately, he is confronted by an aggressive incarcerated person who tries to get him to reveal information about himself. Another incarcerated person intervenes. What follows is a conversation that examines the identity crisis many young men struggle with while living incarcerated.

  • Jabril's Chains

    By Brian Beals

    Seventeen-year-old Jabril is convicted for a murder he did not commit. Nine years into his bit, Jabril is a man now; he is also a father, poet, activist, and an inspiration to his younger brother. A court date for his appeal has finally been set. Can Jabril use the wisdom his cellie, Old Head Ed, has bestowed upon him about the system to beat it?