[Peace] schedule for Michael Keck, in-residence at Unit One/Allen Hall

[Haber, Laura]

please forward:

Michael Keck
In-Residence at Unit One/Allen Hall 3/31-4/10

Michael Keck is an actor, writer, and composer whose works have been
featured at professional theatres across the country and in Europe. He
frequently tours his solo performance of VOICES IN THE RAIN, a play that is
based on the lives of the disproportionately high numbers of incarcerated
minority men and too many youth for whom prison has become a rite of
passage. The play was developed from stories collected through drama
workshops with inmates, interviews with inmates and their families, letters,
and the media. In addition to writing and performing, Michael facilitates
theater workshops on such topics as: power and status; theater for social
change and multicultural understanding; home/community/identity; and
creativity, performance and expression. He conducts his workshops in various
settings including universities, schools, community centers, and
correctional facilities.  His work focuses on community building, social
change, and arts in education.

Sunday, March 31 
9:00pm - Meet the Guest reception - come hang out with Michael in the guest
apartment.

Monday, April 1 
8:00pm - Opening Program: Bearing Witness: Storytelling and Performance for
Social Change

Tuesday, April 2
7:00pm - Performance: Rhymin' Simon & The American Dream: Excerpted
performance from VOICES IN THE RAIN followed by discussion. VOICES IN THE
RAIN is a provocative, solo performance of stories and songs that explores
the plight of America's urban black male - a plight that today often leads
to drugs, death or incarceration in one of America's growing number of penal
institutions. The play is based on the lives of the disproportionately high
numbers of incarcerated minority men and too many youth for whom prison has
become a right of passage - a badge of honor. VOICES IN THE RAIN was created
by Michael Keck from stories collected through drama workshops with inmates,
interviews with inmates and their families, letters and the media.
9:00pm - Film: The Last Graduation - As educators and students, we are aware
that a quality education is one of the keys to a successful future. Yet more
money is spent in new prison construction than in higher education. Why are
tax dollars used to incarcerate people instead of educating them? The Last
Graduation by Barbara Zahm is a powerful look at the value of higher
education to reclaim lives and reduce recidivism.

Wednesday, April 3
7:30pm - Workshop: Home/Community/Identity - Building community through
self-acceptance and self-disclosure. We exist in communities based on our
geographic, cultural, spiritual, professional, social and other identities.
But many people hunger to either develop additional connections or to
enhance the connections they already have. Using the playful and
transformative tools of interactive theater, this workshop offers an
opportunity to share personal responses to the ways in which we define
community, and the ways in which we define our identities within
communities.
9:30pm - Film: Crime and Punishment: On Guard - ABC News Nightline - Do
prisons work? Do they do what we need them to do? Why not? A visit to
Central Prison, Raleigh, NC. Ted Koppel interviews those who run death row
and carry out executions in the state's maximum security facility.

Thursday, April 4 
5:00pm - Dinner Discussion: Prisons - What's wrong with them? Why are 2
million people in prison in the US? Do prisons work? (in the Allen Private
Dining Room)
7:00pm - Film: Snitch - You DON'T have to be a criminal to go to prison -
America's war on drugs has created a new breed of witness - the informant.
With the prospect of mandatory life sentences with drug crimes, the only
option to escape their fate is to render assistance to federal prosecutors.
This program takes a critical look at how the federal government uses
informants in drug prosecution and the effect it has had on the US judicial
system.
9:00pm - Poetry night! Come hear poetry by and about people in prisons with
Michael Keck and special guests Michael Holloway, Gwyneth Cunningham, Joe
Albano, and Betsy Pierson. Other poets are welcome!

Sunday, April 7
7:00pm - Performance: Walls - Getting Out and Coming Home - Excerpted
performance from VOICES IN THE RAIN. VOICES IN THE RAIN is a provocative,
solo performance of stories and songs that explores the plight of America's
urban black male - a plight that today often leads to drugs, death or
incarceration in one of America's growing number of penal institutions. The
play is based on the lives of the disproportionately high numbers of
incarcerated minority men and too many youth for whom prison has become a
right of passage - a badge of honor. VOICES IN THE RAIN was created by
Michael Keck from stories collected through drama workshops with inmates,
interviews with inmates and their families, letters and the media.

Monday, April 8
7:00pm - Workshop: Power and Status- When we have it, what do we do with it?
When we don't, what will we do to get it? A short interactive workshop and
discussion that explores our relationship to power and status.
9:00pm - Film: Through the Wire - The story of three women who are political
prisoners, right here in the US. With sentences that defy logic - one is
serving 58 years without parole for weapons possession - these women are
living the nightmare of a special high security dungeon in Lexington, KY,
where they are subjected to degrading treatment. Narrated by Susan Surandon.

Tuesday, April 9
7:00pm - Film: Inside/Out & Puddin's Place - Drama group performances of
personal stories of struggle and survival of inmates in Western Wayne
Correctional Facility and Florence Crain Correctional Facility. Based on
drama workshops facilitated by students from the Prison Creative Arts
Project - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Wednesday, April 10
7:00pm - Workshop: Theater for Social Change and Multicultural Understanding
- This workshop uses Theater of the Oppressed and other anti-oppression
techniques to stimulate a dialogue about cultural diversity, racism and
other biases. Our goal will be to increase awareness, empathy, understanding
and empowerment towards action.

All programs are open to the public and take place in the South Rec Room of
Allen Hall, 1005 W. Gregory, Urbana, unless noted. Call 333-8351 for more
information.