(IM)MIGRANTS OF THE STATE is Returning to The Actors' Gang For 6 Performances

The groundbreaking production (Im)migrants of the State, created by and based on the real-life experiences of formerly incarcerated actors, will return to The Actors' Gang for six performances, from January 19th to January 28th. An unflinching, emotional, thought provoking evening of theater, weaving together self-reflection and humor, through authentic voices on their journey toward redemption and healing. An original new work, created and performed by an ensemble of Prison Project alumni with over 240 years of combined incarceration, telling powerful, inspirational stories that speak to anyone who has ever lost hope, or lived their life in fear and regret.

Unique to this production, every performance culminates in a moment called Red Hot Sharing, a foundational ritual for the physical, emotional and theatrical work of The Actors' Gang Prison Project. Red Hot Sharing allows participants the opportunity to share and release anything that could hinder them from doing the work. It provides ensemble members the space to check with themselves emotionally, while also witnessing how their partners are feeling, and is intended to clear the air and provide a neutral place for their work. After everyone who wants to has shared, the ritual is closed with a Kinesthetic clap. At performances of (Im)migrants of the State, every audience member is invited to participate and join in the transformative moment that is Red Hot Sharing. 
 
Tickets, dates and information are available at TheActorsGang.com, by email at boxoffice@theactorsgang.com or by phone at 310-838-4264.
 
The Actors' Gang, led by Artistic Director Tim Robbins, has an energetic and emotionally compelling way of making theater -- which has been pulsing through the California correctional system since 2006. For seventeen years, the teaching artists of the theater's Prison Project have been creating transformational opportunities for incarcerated men and women. After a sold-out, extended run of (Im)migrants of the State in early 2023, the 90-minute play returns to The Actors' Gang in a limited run. Co-director Jeremie Loncka, who also serves as the Director of Programs for the Prison Project, says working on this production has been an inspiration. “Being among the ensemble of men and women who created this piece with such raw honesty and commitment has been a life-altering experience,” he said. “The joy and passion they bring to the theater is contagious, and I'm excited for audiences to share in that joy.”
 
The process has been both difficult and rewarding. “We are experiencing struggles, setbacks, but we are learning to work together--just like we had to do ‘inside'—and to build real relationships through ensemble work,” says co-director and ensemble member Rich Loya. In the face of these challenges, the artists remain grateful and excited.
 
“This was a dream come true for me,” says Scott Tran. “The most meaningful thing was working alongside my brothers and sisters to create this play from scratch.” Now they are thrilled to be able to share their work with the public and hope it has a positive impact. Montrell Harrell, another member of the ensemble, says he hopes audiences leave the show with “an understanding that sometimes people make mistakes, but they can change, and there's always light at the end of the tunnel.”
 
These stories run the full gamut of emotions, and the creators have found a way to employ humor, joy, and hope as they face even the darkest moments. Loya sums up his feelings with gratitude and hope. “The fact that we've been given this opportunity to tell our stories and share them with the world is humbling and affirms to us all that we have redeemed our past.”
 
East LA photographer and Icon, Estevan Oriol, will be photographing the cast of (Im)migrants of the State, launching a partnership with The Actors' Gang Prison Project to document their work.
 

About The Actors' Gang Prison Project

The Actors' Gang Prison Project is an internationally recognized rehabilitation program currently running in 14 California state prisons, two reentry facilities, Los Angeles County Probation camps and halls for incarcerated youth, two in-community programs with system-impacted young people, and Comedia Del Arte Tecate in Baja MX for the community and in schools. Our program starts as a 7-day, 4-hour- a-day intensive theatrical arts program, which transitions into an ongoing weekly peer-lead class managed by the Program Director and overseen by TAG Alumni Teaching Artists. Our highly physical and stylized form of theater fosters self-esteem, tolerance, non-violent expression, conflict resolution, and leadership development. The program creates a supportive space where participants can express their fears, choose empathy over anger, overcome gang barriers, reduce behavioral infractions, create a more peaceful environment, and prepare for life beyond bars.
 
After working inside California state prison for almost a decade, the Prison Project recognized the need for the reach-in rehabilitation process to continue beyond one's sentence end date and began a weekly reentry program, The Actors' Gang Reentry Project for men at Walden House/Health Right 360 in Los Angeles. This partnership provides a welcoming space for new participants and has given qualified Prison Project participants at the end of their sentence a residence where they can continue programming as they transition from prison to their community. In 2020, the Reentry Project expanded by partnering with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition to serve men and women returning home.
 
When Prison Project participants began to return home, The Actors' Gang Alumni Advocacy Project was launched in 2018. This network serves as a support system and platform for individuals who want to continue training with the company and become Teaching Artists. The Actors' Gang envisions the formerly justice-involved participants as leaders of the Prison Project. It focuses on providing an avenue for upward mobility with meaningful employment as Alumni Teaching Artists. There are currently 17 formerly incarcerated participants in the Alumni Advocacy Project and 17 working as Teaching Artists.
 
All former participants are encouraged to advocate not only on behalf of The Prison Project but also for Arts in Corrections, Rehabilitation, and reform of the criminal legal system.
Of the original 25 men who joined TAGPP during the first year at Avenal State Prison, 18 had Life sentences. 17 of the 18 have gone before the Board of Prison Terms and have been found suitable for release and are freed. 23 of the original 25 are now home. A recent study shows 77% Employment Rate for The Actors' Gang Reentry Program participants.
 
This project is made possible by support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.

About The Actor's Gang

The Actors' Gang was founded in 1981 by a group of punk rock theater artists looking to create a new style of relevant, entertaining theater in Los Angeles. The Actors' Gang mission is to present new, unconventional, and uncompromising plays and dynamic reinterpretations of the classics, to restore the ancient sense of the stage as a shared sacred space, to introduce theater to children, and help them find their own creative voices, to bring the freedom of self-expression to the incarcerated.
 
Over the past 40 years, The Actors' Gang has performed for audiences in Los Angeles and worldwide, on five continents and in 40 U.S. States. Our groundbreaking Prison Project is currently in fourteen California prisons, serving incarcerated women, men, and children with rehabilitation programs that significantly reduce recidivism. Each year, thousands of children in Los Angeles public schools discover confidence and creativity with our Education Department through in-school immersion and after-school programs and participate in classes that encourage acceptance, respect, and team building in fun and impactful ways

Photo Credit: Ashley Randall

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