Mariposa & the Saint

photo by Noelle Ghoussaini

Mariposa Is Free!

After 18 years, Mariposa has been released from prison (on Sept. 11). To support her safe transition, we are fundraising to cover the costs of securing her and her family a stable home. In honor of this moment, we are releasing a full-length video of the performance for the first time, alongside this report of how the play was developed, how it became an organizing tool and what it accomplished.

Download a PDf of the report

The Play

Actor / Featured / Playwright / Producer

From Solitary Confinement, A Play Through Letters

In 2012, Mariposa was sentenced to fifteen months in solitary confinement. Through letters with longtime friend and current collaborator, Julia Steele Allen, Mariposa brings her experience to the stage.

Written by Sara (Mariposa) Fonseca & Julia Steele Allen
Directed by Noelle Ghoussaini
Featuring Ray Huth & Julia Steele Allen
Assistant Director/Stage Manager Michi Osato

The premiere performances of Mariposa & the Saint were held in New York City in December 2014, presented in collaboration with the NY Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC).

Responses from the audience

“Absolutely phenomenal show. I never expected to be so moved, outraged, educated and empowered. Thank you.”
Laurel Sebastian

“Brutal and haunting. Thank you so much. Fantastic work.”
Erin Saari

“I am awed and humbled by the incredibly moving performance of Mariposa & the Saint. Julia Steele Allen’s representation of Mariposa’s letters vividly portrays the devastation inflicted by incarceration and solitary confinement. The sadness, anger, love, and inspiration the play engenders will help grow a movement to end the torture of solitary confinement, challenge mass incarceration, and create more humane and effective alternatives.”
Scott Paltrowitz – Correctional Association of NY and Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC)

“Mariposa & the Saint is stunning – it speaks to the profound inhumanity and torture of solitary confinement as well as the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Mariposa’s story is one I now carry with me in a visceral and alive place. I believe the boldness with which it is shared in Julia’s performance, will open hearts to the moral necessity of ending the torture of solitary. This is a must-see, and a must-share. And it will stir a must-respond from all who encounter it.”
Rev. Laura Markle Downton – Director of U.S. Prisons Policy & Program / National Religious Campaign Against Torture

“I was greatly moved by Mariposa & The Saint. The way in which the character struggles to not only cope with an unbearable reality, but her own inner struggles to understand such a dehumanizing environment, is something every person should see. As someone who spent thirteen years incarcerated and three of those years in solitary confinement, I highly recommend it.”
Johnny Perez

“I saw the play last night at the Ninth Circuit Conference. Best I have seen on solitary. I have met with dozens of prisoners at Pelican Bay, Tehachapi and San Quentin for the Ashker and Lopez cases. Julia does a great job of capturing the intensity, ambiguity, and determination of many of my clients.”
Dan Siegel – Audience member at Corrections Summit in Sacramento

BACKGROUND ON PLAY AND PROCESS

Mariposa and I met in 2005 when I was a volunteer with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP). We began writing letters in 2008 when I left California. In 2012 when Mariposa was given a 15-month SHU term (solitary confinement) for having a pair of tweezers, she wrote and said: “Can you send me some of your poems or song lyrics? I really need some art.” So we decided to work on a creative project together. I suggested a play and even though she has never seen a play, she did not hesitate. Our process began with me sending in plays for her to read and us discussing the content, style, structure, and message through letters. I also sent in writing prompts like “What is the story of your name?” “What is your first memory?” and she used these as a jumping off point, writing about whatever moved her. I transcribed her letters (including letters going back to 2008) and in June 2013, I assembled the first script, using only her words. With her feedback and new ideas, and with input from collaborators, the script continued to evolve over the next year.

EARLY PERFORMANCES

Director and Dramaturge, Noelle Ghoussaini, and Stage Manager/Assistant Director, Michi Osato, brought a tremendous amount of creativity, depth and expertise to the play development. Michi toured with me across the country as Stage Manager and Dialogue Facilitator.

Our first workshop performance for an invited audience was in June 2014 at the Hemispheric Institute for Performance & Politics in New York City. The opening performance was a free event, held at Judson Memorial Church in New York City in December, 2014 after a two-month rehearsal process that included generous donated space and time from Judson Memorial Church.
That same weekend we held two other sold-out shows at BAX in Brooklyn.

The December performances included a 45-minute workshop/dialogue with the NY Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC), one of our lead partners. All members of the audience participated in a letter writing campaign to their legislators in support of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. Each post-show dialogue also featured a formerly incarcerated person who had been in solitary confinement in the state, who spoke to their experience and placed it in a local context.

In March 2015 we did an upstate NY tour with CAIC to Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester, using the play as an outreach/engagement tool to build support for the campaign. We further refined the post-show dialogue and this became an essential part of each event.

In May 2015, we brought the play to California, partnering with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) and doing four performances, two of which were benefit shows to raise money for CCWP’s vital work.

2015-2017 National Tour

From September 2015 to September 2017, we toured Mariposa & the Saint around the country, focusing specifically on states with active legislation or statewide campaigns to limit or end long-term solitary confinement. The states were: New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, and California. We brought the play to colleges and universities, theaters and community organizations and to religious congregations in each state through our partnership with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). By 2017, we had performed the play over 70 times, across 10 states, with dozens of organizational and community partners. We performed for the NY and MA State Legislators, the Boston City Council, for a conference of 9th Circuit judges, wardens and corrections officials. We were the first play performed inside the historic Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the birthplace of solitary confinement. We supported the passage of legislation to limit or end solitary across multiple states. Over 800 people wrote to Mariposa directly on blank postcards we made available at each performance to tell her what the play meant to them.

Some of Our Partnering Organizations

Visit the Mariposa & the Saint facebook page.