2008 Woodie Awards
Doin' Time
Dr. Ashley Lucas performs adapted monologues to portray the reality o the broken prison system
Jon Thompson
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Entertainment
Dr. Ashley Lucas is very literally a one-woman show, as she demonstrated to CSUSM students and community members who filled Markstein Hall to its full capacity for her performance. Lucas, who has been personally affected by the incarceration and repeated parole violations of her own father, wrote and performs, "Doin' Time: Through The Visiting Glass." It serves as a creative and artistic outlet for the tremendous emotions she herself has experienced, as well as the outpouring of emotion from others like her. As stated by one of Lucas' interviewees that she portrays in her play: "Creativity can get you through the worst things in the world."
According to Lucas, "When I was brave enough to come out and say, "I am a child of a prisoner," I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came to me wanting to share their stories as they, too, were in similar situations."
The massive amount of responses Lucas got from families of prisoners, as well as her own experiences, inspired her research. Lucas corresponded with over 400 prisoners and their families. It was through her identifying with the hardships of the families involved, that she created this play, to give a voice to those who are without a voice of their own and are suffering at the hands "of this prison society that we have all conspired to create," in Lucas' words.
An endearing, laughable, heavily accented Texan; a single Hispanic mother whose husband is serving life; a African-American woman who fell in love with the wrong man; a preacher giving a Kwanzaa sermon; and a little girl, teddy bear in hand, anxiously awaiting her Daddy's release, just in time for her birthday party. These are just a few of Lucas's heartfelt characterizations, based on prisoners, family members of prisoners and activists she interviewed, adapting the monologues to protect the identities of the people being portrayed. Getting more than one laugh out of the crowd, Lucas never fails to express the pain and distress of her characters. Lucas gives, with frightening accuracy, a harshly realistic perspective of the desperation of the prisoners and of the families they leave behind -- rendering the families of prisoners innocent refugees and forgotten victims of the prison system.
According to Lucas, "When I was brave enough to come out and say, "I am a child of a prisoner," I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came to me wanting to share their stories as they, too, were in similar situations."
The massive amount of responses Lucas got from families of prisoners, as well as her own experiences, inspired her research. Lucas corresponded with over 400 prisoners and their families. It was through her identifying with the hardships of the families involved, that she created this play, to give a voice to those who are without a voice of their own and are suffering at the hands "of this prison society that we have all conspired to create," in Lucas' words.
An endearing, laughable, heavily accented Texan; a single Hispanic mother whose husband is serving life; a African-American woman who fell in love with the wrong man; a preacher giving a Kwanzaa sermon; and a little girl, teddy bear in hand, anxiously awaiting her Daddy's release, just in time for her birthday party. These are just a few of Lucas's heartfelt characterizations, based on prisoners, family members of prisoners and activists she interviewed, adapting the monologues to protect the identities of the people being portrayed. Getting more than one laugh out of the crowd, Lucas never fails to express the pain and distress of her characters. Lucas gives, with frightening accuracy, a harshly realistic perspective of the desperation of the prisoners and of the families they leave behind -- rendering the families of prisoners innocent refugees and forgotten victims of the prison system.
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