Theater as a Lens for Justice

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Geffen Playhouse recognizes that the impact of incarceration goes beyond the individual. According to Prison Policy Initiative, nearly 200,000 individuals are incarcerated at any given time in California, with about 35,000 incarcerated people released each year. In 2020, LA County had an imprisonment rate of 402 per 100,000, 15th in the state. These sobering numbers are made worse when we remember that the families of those individuals are not counted in statistics but are undeniably affected by incarceration. A 2025 report on individuals released from California prisons in 2019-20 (the most recent data), showed California has a 39.1% recidivism rate. Challenges to reintegration can make life very difficult, offset by programs that offer connection, community, and specific, actionable support for finding one’s way upon release. Put simply, incarcerated youth and their families are members of our society and deserve support and not stigmatization.

Theater as a Lens for Justice brings currently and formerly incarcerated youth to performances at Geffen Playhouse and brings our productions into prisons, seeking to build connection and engage with this community. We believe this type of support and engagement is vital to the successful reintegration of incarcerated people upon their release. In our first two years of the program, nearly 300 participants attended plays; we brought an abridged version of Waiting for Godot to the Victorville prison for 80 incarcerated audience members; held panels with ManifestWorks; supported a workshop and performances of a play by formerly incarcerated artists at our theater; and brought our production of The Brothers Size to 70 audience members at Valley State Prison. In 2026/27 we will build on the success of the first two years. Phylicia Rashad, director of our first play of the season, Purpose – which includes characters dealing with incarceration – will teach a workshop at Victorville FCI with Geffen Teaching Artists. We will host a panel with ManifestWorks, ensuring that the performing arts are part of their career conversations. Finally, we will livestream a rehearsal or a scene from a play into prisons to share the “behind-the-scenes” of theatermaking, building on the earlier workshop to encourage participants to write and tell their own stories. Plus we will once again offer fully-subsidized tickets to plays throughout the season.

Theater as a Lens for Justice allows incarcerated individuals to see themselves onstage through arts engagement. We also include participants’ family and community, which are impacted by their incarceration and benefit from their successful reintegration. A review of prison arts program studies found strong support that these programs provide “improvements in self-confidence, self-esteem, social competence, emotional stability and control and well-being, and decreased hopelessness and anger.” Prison arts programs show marked reductions in recidivism, which reduces county expenses; it costs California $127,788 to incarcerate one person. Developing life skills and being less of a financial burden are positive outcomes, but we also recognize the value of supporting individuals finding and sharing their humanity through the performing arts. We believe that supporting youth in prison and for their successful reintegration provides a path to healing and stability for the community at large.

West LA County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)