Tucson, AZ---This ground-breaking new theatrical work brings the real voices and experiences of incarcerated men to light, focusing on the realities of the prison system. Invisible Theatre Managing Artistic Director, Betsy Kruse Craig directs and adapts this theatrical production. Inside Out: Men Behind Bars. The play is based on months-long engaged ethnographic research funded by an Anthropological Research Grant from the Wenner Gren Foundation awarded to Linda Green, an anthropologist at University of Arizona. In partnership with Invisible Theatre, Ms Green worked with incarcerated students to document their daily lives. The men’s insights into the everyday realities of incarceration are dramatically brought to life through public theatre with Inside Out: Men Behind Bars.
Kruse Craig says: “This project is a powerful example of theatre as a tool for empathic education. We are honored to be producing this project in association with Dr. Linda Green I feel strongly that Invisible Theatre has a responsibility to produce and cultivate work that has potential to create opportunities for community conversation.”
Linda Green commented: “The project offered students a public voice, a space to engage critically with their own experiences within the context of their lived histories. Their voices reassert both their humanity and their dignity even under the difficult circumstances of incarceration. Working alongside Betsy Kruse Craig at The Invisible Theatre, highlights the very real benefits of academic and artistic collaborations that bring to a public audience an awareness of the complexities of life lived inside.”
Inside Out: Men Behind Bars will take place at the Invisible Theatre at 1400 N First Avenue in Tucson. The play lasts for 75 minutes with a talk back discussion following each of the four performances. Tickets can be purchased at www.invisibletheatre.com or by calling 520-882-9721.
CAST
Lucas Gonzales
Richard Thompson
Steve Waite
Jonathan Heras
PRODUCTION STAFF
Director: Betsy Kruse Craig
Stage Manager: Linda Pierce
Scenic Design: James Blair and Betsy Kruse Craig
Costume Design: Maryann Trombino
Sound Design: Emily Doorenbos
Consultant: Linda Green
Lighting Design: John Dahlstrand
WHEN:
March 26, 7:30pm
March 27, 7:30pm
March 28, 2pm
March 29, 2pm
ABOUT BETSY KRUSE CRAIG
Betsy Kruse Craig is an accomplished actor, theater director and educator with three decades of experience in the performing arts. Known for her innovative approach and passionate commitment to storytelling, Betsy has directed numerous critically acclaimed productions across various genres including ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, VIOLET, BURIED CHILD, DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE, THE GARBOLOGISTS, MAJOR BARBARA, CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, THE ROAD TO MECCA, THE CAKE, LYSISTRATA, THE LION KING, THE LITTLE MERMAID, LEGALLY BLONDE, TWELFTH NIGHT, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, among others. Betsy performed regionally with The Paper Bag Players and THE NEWS IN REVUE in NYC and CLUE THE MUSICAL in Chicago. Other favorite roles include HEDDA GABLER, Barbara Weston in AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY, Tallulah Bankhead in LOOPED, Molly Ivins in RED HOT PATRIOT, Morticia in THE ADDAMS FAMILY and Heidi in WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME. Betsy was formerly the Artistic Director at The Pear Theatre in Mountain View CA and is now the Managing Artistic Director of The Invisible Theatre. She holds a master's degree in fine arts and has taught at several prestigious institutions, inspiring the next generation of theater artists including Pima Community College and the University of Arizona, where she taught Acting, Directing, Voice and Movement, Auditions and Period Style. Betsy's work emphasizes the power of collaboration and the transformative impact of the arts on individuals and communities.
ABOUT DR. LINDA GREEN
I am a socio-cultural anthropologist. In my scholarship I draw on insights garnered from over three decades of field-based research that has centered on multi-dimensional aspects of violence, directed in particular, against indigenous peoples in three geographical regions,1. in the rural highlands of Guatemala with Mayan widows from the counterinsurgency war and its aftermath that includes the long term consequences of state sponsored violence, 2. in the US Mexico borderlands and beyond as large numbers of Mayan people flee their rural communities seeking refuge in the US, itself a legacy of war, in which ethnocide has followed closely on the heels of a genocide and 3. in rural Alaska working over the past two decades among Yup’ik and more recently Gw’ichin, peoples on social disruptions intrinsic to settler colonial relations. I have been a faculty member in the School of Anthropology since 1999. I began teaching Anthropology as a volunteer, along with 5 of my graduate students at the AZ State Prison Complex in Tucson 2018. All in-person classes were suspended due to the COVID epidemic in 2020. In 2023, I resumed teaching Anthropology “inside” at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Corrections Institution (FCI) Tucson.
In 2025 Green was awarded along with ten of her incarcerated students an engagement grant from The Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research to do research and write a play about everyday life behind bars.
ABOUT THE INVISIBLE THEATRE
The Invisible Theatre (IT) of Tucson, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, is dedicated to producing quality theatre and arts education experiences for all facets of the community, in an intimate setting that showcases local professional talent and guest artists. Started in 1971 as an arena for local playwrights, the theatre has expanded its programs to include adaptations of classics and recent Off- Broadway plays and musicals, while continuing to encourage new playwrights through both full productions and stage readings. Through our commitment to building empathy through artistic excellence, Invisible Theater produces plays and theatrical events that invite community connections, ignite dialogue, and bring visibility to the stories that unite us all.
Tickets are also available 24/7 through AudienceView at www.invisibletheatre.com.
Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted.
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