Introductions by Chris Hedges and Boris Franklin

This poignant play, written by current and formerly incarcerated authors, uses gripping truths and soulful dialogue to reveal the human cost of America’s for-profit justice system. The story follows Omar, pulled back into the prison system after trying to lift his family out of poverty, who struggles to maintain a sense of humanity while fighting to keep his loved ones close.

According to NJ.com, “From institutionalized racism to addiction to the prison-industrial complex, this is a play about a great many large, pressing social challenges, but at its core it is a play about one family and its struggles to remain united as their world steadily crumbles. Impactful, warm, and unrelenting, this play that began as an experiment turns out to be an excellent examination of the human cost of a harsh and inhospitable world.”

The New Jersey Prison Theater Cooperative is a committee that includes not only the 28 formerly incarcerated participants but also six theater professionals, who worked on the script’s development.

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Truthdig columnist and host of the Emmy Award–winning RT America show On Contact. He is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists and Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. His most recent book is America: the Farewell Tour published in 2018. He teaches in college credit courses in prisons in New Jersey.