Felon: An American Washi Tale
@ Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637
Opening Friday, March 15th, from 7PM - 9:30PM
Felon: An America Washi Tale is a solo performance by Reginald Dwayne Betts that explores the experiences, memories, and consequences of incarceration through poetry, storytelling, and the art of Japanese paper-making.
Performed by poet, lawyer, and MacArthur Fellow Reginald Dwayne Betts, this Washi Tale moves literally and metaphorically beyond the artist’s own life, unwrapping the disturbing ways that prison touches us all.
In Betts’ words, Felon is about reimagining paper. The pages of a book being slid into a cell, stoves made of toilet paper, kites from a father, handwritten affidavits, legal complaints, certificates of pardon: the variety of papers that reveals what is possible and burdened by prison. The world of Felon is shaped by set design by Japanese paper artist Kyoko Ibe, crafted from “prison paper” that artist Ruth Lingen constructed from the clothes of men Betts first met in prison as a teenager, each of whom were still in prison during the earliest stages of this project.
Directed and developed by Elise Thoron, this story of violence, love, and fatherhood challenges us to peer out from the shadow of mass incarceration and imagine what else is possible.
Felon wide nopermissions
This performance lasts 60 minutes. Tickets include a post-performance conversation with Betts hosted by AirGo, and a book signing and reception.
Written and performed by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Directed and Developed by Elise Thoron
Set Design by Kyoko Ibe
Light Design by Jane Cox
Sound Design by Palmer Hefferan
Stage Manager: Tyler Sperrazza
Felon: An American Washi Tale is co-presented by Illinois Humanities and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts.
Official Website
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Tags: Chicago, Elise Thoron, Felon: An American Washi Tale, Jane Cox, Kyoko Ibe, Palmer Hefferan, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Tyler Sperrazza, Washington Park
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