Plainkate – The online portfolio for Kate Powers
Description: The Redeeming Time Project is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching critical life skills to the incarcerated and the formerly incarcerated through the exploration of the theatrical arts.
Recent Bureau of Justice Statistics found that within three years of release, approximately two-thirds of released prisoners in the United States were back in the system for a new crime or a parole violation. While the recidivism rates are lower in Minnesota, it nonetheless seems clear that we need to provide the incarcerated with additional opportunities to develop life skills which will help them to reintegrate more successfully
At the Redeeming Time Project (RTP), we believe human beings are born inherently good. While some convicted criminals have committed heinous crimes against other human beings, their fundamental goodness still lives deep within them; we believe it can be cultivated by immersing participants in the safety of a restorative justice-style circle and an exploration of the theatrical artistic process.
The act of imagination required to play a character can become the spark of compassion that leads to empathy. One can learn empathy through the effort of performing a play, because one must ask, “What is it like to be this character? What is it like to walk in his shoes?” Through rehearsal room disagreements about the interpretation of a scene, or a line, one can learn to tolerate not just different points of view but also ambiguity itself. This newly acquired tolerance and wider understanding of human beha
Plainkate – The online portfolio for Kate Powers