JDPP - Time In, Audience Reactions

Time In
Audience Reactions

York Residency

"I was both moved and amazed by the Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble’s performance of TIME IN—moved by the sheer power of the performance's content, and amazed at how well and sensitively the entire company had managed to capture the emotions behind the words. This is as close as most people will ever get to hearing the voices of incarcerated women, of seeing the world through their eyes, and of experiencing how they feel—about life, crime, space and, especially, time. A truly masterful gift for us all."
—Jan Willis, noted author and professor of religion at Wesleyan University

"I was not prepared for the depth and breadth and sometimes brutal honesty in the stories these women told—stories that were tenderly and candidly explored by the Ensemble and The Women of the Cross whose strong presence in a capella gospel work helped shape the power of the production. I recall the laughter and the tears the audience shared. The performance was a powerful witness to the way art heals, how art teaches, how art frees the human mind and spirit and soul."
—Carol Terry, Executive Director, Greater Hartford Dance Umbrella

"TIME IN is a mesmerizing journey for the viewer. The focus of a year-long arts residency involving 60 women at York Correctional Institute, the project represents the first time that a multi-media performance piece was created inside the prison. It required the participating prisoners to dig deep within themselves and come up with things they had been keeping in for so many years. The journey of TIME IN was life-affirming and life-altering to the women who took part in the residency as well as for those of us who witnessed the culminating performance. Time was almost suspended for the viewer as the piece unfolded in its intimacy."
—Joseph Lea, an educator who has worked at York CI for more than 11 years as a teacher and library media specialist