Justice, Advocacy and Theater Unite in “Honor & Heal” Performance

A group of people take various positions as they perform on stage.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A performer stands on stage in front of a microphone and holds their hands over their ears.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

1 person speaks into a microphone in front of a dark background.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A group of performers gather close together to kneel or bend over onstage in a huddle.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A pereson speaks into a microphone as a other people sit behind and make hand gestures.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

Two people hold hands on a stage; one person is holding papers and speaking into a microphone

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A person smiles and speaks into a microphone on a stage while holding a booklet of paper.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A person speaks into a microphone on a stage with hands held open, palms up.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A group of performers strike a pose on a stage.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A person is silhouetted in front of a stage with hands raised up with connected wrists, as if they were bound.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A person speaks into a microphone while two others stand behind and put hands on their shoulder

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A person plays a piano while others perform on a stage behind him

Photo by Jon Sweeney

Three people on stage; one speaks into a microphone while the other two stand behind them with their arms outstretched.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

Two people on stage rap into microphones

Photo by Jon Sweeney

A group of people seated on a stage, talking and gesturing while involved in discussion.

Photo by Jon Sweeney

Performing the Peace: Honor & Heal, a four-day artistic residency focused on justice, healing and advocacy, culminated on March 13 with a community-building performance of an original choreopoem that explores what it means to “honor and heal” through storytelling, movement, and poetry. The workshop, led by Lecturer in Theater Chesney Snow, brought together the unlikely collaborators of Princeton students, justice-impacted youth, law enforcement officers and U.S. military veterans to build a team of advocates for future arts-based healing experiences.

A man gestures at a microphone behind a music stand on a stage.

Lecturer in Theater Chesney Snow. Photo by Jon Sweeney

Earlier this fall at Princeton, Snow won first place in the Humanities and Social Sciences category at the Keller Center’s 2024 Innovation Forum for his broader research project, Performing the Peace, that aims to enrich law enforcement training to foster empathy and build community trust through the arts.

The event was supported by Princeton University’s Program for Community Engaged Scholarship (ProCES), the Keller Center, and the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater.

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