Mud Theatre Presents Jabril’s Chains

Thursday, October 16
5:30 p.m. Reception in Anderson Hall
6:30 p.m. Performance in Buchanan chapel
Panel discussion following performance
Tickets available here

Part of the good news of Jesus Christ is that God believes we are better than the worst we have ever done.

Jesus tells us in stories and prophetic sermons that those who have been cast out of community — whether by illness, like lepers, or through their own harmful actions, like Zacchaeus — can nevertheless be redeemed. And when they return to the circle of community, the redeemed bring healing to all its members.

We call that process restorative justice, and scripture offers evidence for it, from Genesis and Exodus through the Hebrew prophets, the gospels, and the epistles of the early church.

Fourth Church has had a historic commitment to restorative justice throughout the years. In the 2010s we organized a jail ministry of visitation to Cook Country Jail and supported returning citizens who utilize various community services on our campus.

On Thursday evening, October 16, we launch a new chapter in that commitment by hosting Mud Theatre Project for a captivating and educational evening of theater featuring the premiere of the play Jabril’s Chains.

Mud Theatre’s nationally recognized plays are written and performed by incarcerated persons and returning citizens. Their director, Brian Beals, having served thirty-five years on a wrongful conviction, was inspired to create Mud Theatre Project as he witnessed the power of the arts to give voice to the voiceless and empower those who have been in troubling situations. Mud Theatre is an outgrowth of the Dixon Correctional Center Performing Arts Program, which Brian also founded in 2018. Under Brian’s guidance, the Dixon Performing Arts Program won multiple PEN America National Prison Writing Awards.

Jabril’s Chains, Mud Theatre’s newest play, tells the story of seventeen-year-old Jabril, who was convicted of a murder he did not commit. Nine years into his bit, Jabril is a man now, as well as a father, poet, activist, and an inspiration to his younger brother. A court date for Jabril’s appeal has finally been set. Can he use the wisdom his cellie, Old Head Ed, has bestowed upon him about the system to beat it?

A portion of the $40 ticket price will be donated to Restore Justice for their work to make Illinois a safer and more compassionate state by replacing the ineffective, extreme sentencing policies of the past with evidence-based laws that allow families and communities to heal.