Princeton campus and community partners explored poetry, theater, incarceration, and freedom during a weekend of events centered around Felon: An American Washi Tale by Reginald Dwayne Betts.
This spring, the Princeton campus united along with community partners to explore poetry, theater, incarceration, and freedom during a weekend of events centered around the Lewis Center for the Arts’ production of Felon: An American Washi Tale at McCarter Theatre Centre. Felon, a compelling solo theater show written and performed by lawyer, poet and Freedom Reads founder Reginald Dwayne Betts, is based on Betts’ experience of incarceration and his American Book Award-winning poetry collection also titled Felon. Discover the threads that weave together Betts’ moving personal story with poetry, traditional Japanese washi paper, advocating for the rights of incarcerated individuals, prison reform, and the enduring power of theater.
“What I love about this piece, for Princeton particularly, is how it brings words from the page—poems— together with embodied, on-its-feet theater making and contemporary issues of injustice that impact all of us.”
— Jane Cox, Director of the Program in Theater
More Information about Felon: An American Washi Tale
- Visit the Felon at Princeton page to learn more about Betts, the development of the project, and related events at Princeton University held March 2-4, 2023.
- Read the Lewis Center for the Arts’ news release about performances of Felon: An American Washi Tale.
- Read Princeton University’s news coverage about the Felon project’s campus and community connections.
- View the digital playbill for Felon: An American Washi Tale
- Learn more about Freedom Reads and other literary initiatives
- Learn about the Washitales exhibition by visual artist Kyoko Ibe
