In collaboration with the Workhouse Museum and the History Committee Lecture series, the Workhouse Arts Center located in Lorton, VA will present an Inner Voices Lecture with Roach Brown. Brown is the founder of the Lorton Inner Voices Project and the voice of a weekly radio program on WPFW Pacifica.
“The Workhouse Prison Museum is an important part of our legacy as an arts center. At the core of our identity is the rich history of prison life on the campus and how it connects with our vibrant arts programming,” said Ava Spece, CEO/President, Workhouse Arts Center.
“I am pleased to welcome Roach Brown back to the place where the Inner Voices Project began and where the arts have enriched the lives of tens-of-thousands of artists, audience members, students, and art lovers,” added Spece.
A former inmate of the Lorton Correctional Facility, Roach Brown founded the prison theatrical troupe The Inner Voices in 1971 while serving a life sentence at Lorton.
Inner Voices uses theatrical arts as a major component in its work. The group performed outside the gates of the prison more than one thousand times without an escape or incident. The Inner Voices presented original plays, skits and social dramas about prison life. One of the plays written by Brown: Holidays, Hollow Days, was performed at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, DC.
Brown, now free for more than two decades, advocates for the rights of ex-offenders and provides transitional services to underrepresented populations in the DC community through The Inner Voices. Currently, he has a weekly radio program on WPFW Pacifica and advocates for the incarcerated.
The Workhouse Prison Museum opened to the public in 2009 and is entirely supported by private contributions. It is located in Building W-9 at the Workhouse Arts Center. The Museum was created to present an overview of some of the interesting and significant events that took place at the District of Columbia’s Correctional Complex at Lorton from its opening in 1910 until the last prison left in 2001.
The event is open to the public; tickets are free but advanced reservations are recommended. The event takes place on November 22nd from 2-3:30 p.m. Attending the event will also give audience the opportunity to visit the former prison which is now repositioned as an Arts Center.
Inner Voices Lecture with Roach Brown plays on November 22, 2015 at 2 PM performing at W-3 Theatre at the Workhouse Arts Center – 9601 Ox Road, in Lorton, VA. For reservations and free tickets call (703) 584-2900, or go online.
