As part of the Justice Beyond Punishment Collaborative (JBPC), the Center for Constitutional Rights is co-hosting the world premiere of Beyond Punishment: Stories of Justice and Healing, an original interview-based theater performance co-produced by JBPC and Ping Chong and Company. There will be three performances: Thursday, November 30, at 7 p.m. and Friday, December 1, at 7 p.m. at Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, and Sunday, December 3, at 4 p.m. at Hi-Arts in Manhattan. The events are free, but please register for tickets.

Written and directed by Kirya Traber in collaboration with the performers, Beyond Punishment follows the lives of four remarkable individuals who grapple with the intersections and impacts of interpersonal and state violence. This production, performed by the storytellers themselves, gives insight into their lives, leadership, and healing journeys. Together, their stories encourage us to imagine justice beyond a punitive system that begets further violence.

For Beyond Punishment: Stories of Justice and Healing, Kirya Traber was invited by JBPC to bring together a group of organizers with lived experience of incarceration to share their own stories in an interview-based theater production. Beyond Punishment was created through interviews and workshops with the cast members. The theatrical format of the presentation is based on and inspired by Ping Chong and Company's Undesirable Elements series of interview-based theater works examining issues of identity, place, and belonging. Each production is made with local partner organizations and local participants telling their own stories on stage. Creator Kirya Traber is a long-time collaborating artist and facilitator in the Undesirable Elements series.

This production is one part of JBPC's campaign to address the intersections of state and interpersonal violence, and strengthen our ideas and approaches to safety and justice that do not rely on punishment, domincation, and supremacy. 

Register to attend