(Artwork: I Mail My Love to You by Amanda DeBlauwe) 

Wayne State University School of Social Work Center for Behavioral Health and Justice (CBHJ) will host "With Love, From Inside,” an original play crafted by the Dropped Keys Theatre Company, featuring University of Michigan undergraduate theater students alongside currently and formerly incarcerated writers and performers.  

"Art created in prisons is important for many reasons but especially because of how powerfully it can illuminate our shared humanity,” said Matthew Larson, Associate Professor and Director of Implementation, Center for Behavioral Health and Justice. “Bringing artistic products like this to the world is not just an act of liberation for the artists, but it's also an invitation to empathy, understanding, and reflection for all of us."  

This event highlights the CBHJ’s and Wayne State’s commitment to engage with our community to foster partnerships that drive positive change in our urban neighborhoods. 
 
Event Details: 

Date: Saturday, May 11, 2024 
Time: 3 to 4:30 p.m. The running time is 1 hour 15 minutes, followed by a 15-minute discussion after the show. 
Location: Bernath Auditorium, Wayne State University, 5155 Gullen Mall, Detroit, MI 48202 
Cost: FREE! Open to the public. 

About: "With Love, From Inside” emerged from student-led acting workshops with incarcerated individuals, vividly portraying stories the theater makers wanted to share. Through letters and correspondence, it explores joys, struggles, resilience, and injustice across prison walls. 
 
RSVP: Reserve your spot at go.wayne.edu/59759ba. 
 

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About the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice:
The Wayne State University School of Social Work Center for Behavioral Health and envisions communities in which research, data, and best practices are used by multiple stakeholders to enhance the optimal well-being of individuals with mental illness and/or substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal/legal system. Learn more 

About the Dropped Keys Theatre Company: 
The Dropped Keys Theatre Company formed in September 2023 to dramatize the stories of current and formerly incarcerated people. Their work begins with theater workshops inside prisons where people serving time and members of the University of Michigan community collaborate. They perform in venues outside of prisons as a means of carrying these performances across the walls that divide us. 

About the University of Michigan Arts Initiative: 
The U-M Arts Initiative seeks to illuminate and expand human connections, inspire collaborative creativity, and build a more just and equitable world through the arts. It is a University-wide multidisciplinary effort to make the arts central to University of Michigan’s identity and mission. Learn more