ABSTRACT
“Nudging the memory” is a response to the frequent inquiries regarding the Medea Project: Theatre for Incarcerated Women’s process from students, teachers, social workers, drama and family therapists, representatives of law enforcement, and of course artists/activists throughout the world. The Medea Project offers guided exploration into the deepest recesses of the female psyche. The Project utilizes self-exploration techniques on an ensemble comprised of inmates, as well as community and professional actresses who stage material derived from the prisoners’ own stories. The ensemble uses the prisoners’ language to explore a wide range of issues and attitudes that perpetuate incarceration, including fear of others, drugs, prostitution, poverty, and single parenthood. The resulting works have not only generated new artistic forms of expression, but have also changed participants’ lives.
