Past Performances

Some Highlights from Over a Decade of Performance

Stages Festival 2023

May 2023: As part of NTJA's Stages Festival, MTC offered two performances in one amazing weekend! “Dismantling the Racism Machine” and “Tentacles” helped audiences understand how racism was invented, how the patterns of white supremacy and patriarchy continue to show up in our personal lives, laws, and policies, and how to improve cross-racial dialogues in our communities. Through guided discussion, audiences learn to recognize and remove the tentacles of white supremacy that bind us all.

The performances were held at Diop Production Studios in Flemington, NJ.

The Assignment

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged MTC to find new and creative ways of engaging audiences virtually. 

November 2021: MTC developed a fictional, short, documentary-style film which debuted at Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Middle States Region annual leadership conference. 

In "The Assignment," a white history teacher at the fictional MTC College creates an assignment based in Critical Race Theory; the discourse that follows between a black and a white student results in Campus Police being called. As the incident gets media attention, a film student interviews students and staff about the events that sparked campus-wide protests. Although the events in the film are fictional, they are inspired by current events and the persistent patterns of white supremacy and patriarchy. 

January 2022: MTC brought the film to a new audience as part of the Day of Racial Healing hosted by the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Creating Change Network.

Carcerality Conference

March 2020: Inspired by the theme of the conference held by California State University - Northridge (CSUN), MTC developed their show "The Cop Hat." In this interactive piece, the audience was transported to Pleasantville, USA, where they became a living witness to interactions amongst townsfolk going about their day-to-day lives. In this town, there is no police force because the citizens have become adept at policing themselves. Characters pass around the cop hat (a symbol of interpersonal policing) in order to exert power over others and “maintain order” as defined by oppressive systems. 

MTC was also able to present to a Master's level social work class (pictured) where we collaborated with students to use theatre to broaden our understanding of carcerality and transformative justice.

MLK Day of Service

January 2019: MTC was invited by the Universal Unitarian Church of East Brunswick to perform "Distmantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox" for their annual MLK Day of Service.

Fit the Description

October 2018: MTC performed "Fit the Description" written by Beth Smallwood; this performance was based on the lived experiences of Beth's son and his family being racially profiled in Phillipsburg NJ by 2 white police officers. She wrote this piece because she wanted to show some of the challenges of mothering behind bars.

The 2018 Liberation Based Healing Conference was held at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.

"Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox" by Dr. Karen Gaffney

September 2018: MTC performed in collaboration with the Women's Center at Raritan Valley Community College LIONX Workshop Series.  RVCC English Professor Dr. Karen Gaffney, author of "Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox", and MTC discussed and performed concepts from Dr. Gaffney's book through interactive theatre to encourage discussion and raise awareness. 


Check out PBS39 recent news story about this show! www.wlvt.org

Voices From Inside

December 2017: In collaboration with Soul Rebel Performance Troupe, MTC traveled to Albany and Saratoga Springs, NY in for "Voices From Inside." This performance included monologues, poetry and vignettes written by people who are currently incarcerated, with musical accompaniment and songs.

Soul Rebel Performance Troupe is a Capital District theater group dedicated to highlighting and producing theatrical work by and about people of color and other marginalized groups, and fostering cross-cultural understanding through the performing arts. www.soulrebelperformancetroupe.org

Prisons Do Not Disappear Social Problems

November 2017: MTC organized a "Criminal Justice Reform Community Dialogue."  The Event was co-sponsored by The Central Jersey Community Coalition.  The event had 5 speakers who discussed action plans to stop mass incarceration.  Here are the links to their websites, so you can continue the work: 

RISE! For Women's History Month at RVCC

March 2017: MTC performed "RISE!  An Interactive Theatre Experience" at Raritan Valley Community College. Whether you are on the bus, in a store, or with family and friends, we witness hate talk, and sometimes don't know what to do. The show featured work from our cast at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. We played out real life scenarios on social justice issues that happened in our community, and invited the audience to interact on stage with us to resolve the conflict. 

Speak Up!

In collaboration with Lambertville Social Action and Kehilat HaNahar, MTC performed an interactive workshop on how to intervene when you witness hatred or discrimination in private and public conversations.

Denim Day at Raritan Valley Community College

"Denim Day" is an international day of solidarity recognized every April.  Women and men wear blue jeans to bring focus to harmful decisions by the criminal justice system in regards to women's rights.  In particular, "Denim Day" remembers an Italian court case where a judge ruled that a woman could not prove she was raped because she was wearing tight fitting jeans.  The judge stated that her rapist could not have taken off her jeans for the rape to take place, rather the woman gave consent by taking them off herself, therefore making the assault consensual. 

MTC performed an interactive theatre piece to teach how to intervene and stop sexual assault toward women.  The audience learned how to identify different forms of sexual abuse and stop it.  MTC also educated on policy and laws that are supportive and not supportive to women's safety. 

The Vagina Monologues: Vaginas Unchained

October 2016: MTC performed "The Vagina Monologues" at The Clinton Community Center in Clinton, NJ. “Women on the Inside / Women on the Outside / Working to End Mass Incarceration – Vaginas Unchained” was the theme of this performance.  The MTC cast performed pieces from The Vagina Monologues, as well as original pieces written by  women currently incarcerated at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, NJ.  Janice Kovach, Mayor of Clinton, attended the performance, and joined MTC and audience members at the end of the performance for a post-show discussion.

"Hello, My Name Is..."

September 2016: Performing the World is an international social justice artist conference held every two years in New York City.  MTC was selected to perform for the conference in September 2016 with the theme, “Can We Perform Our Way To Power?”  MTC performed their original play, "Hello My Name Is . . ."

Women and Reentry Conference - Reflect, Renew, and Reconnect

August 25, 2016: MTC co-presented an interactive workshop with Ashley McSwain for social workers, administrators and returning citizens at Georgetown University.  MTC performed an original piece about race and gender to facilitate a discussion on gender bias within the profession, and how that bias is a barrier in providing services to women coming back to their communities from incarceration.

White Privilege Conference, Philadelphia, PA

April 14-17, 2016:  MTC co-presented with Dr. Karen Gaffney from Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) on how to use theatre to stop mass incarceration with examples of work from The Edna Mahan Women's Correctional Facility Theatre Program.  We discussed how Michelle Alexander's book, "The New Jim Crow: Colorblindness in the Age of Mass Incarceration," helped the women of Edna Mahan co-write the play, "Hello My Name Is", and how MTC and The Anti-Racism Coalition of Hunterdon County connected the work to a church, and RVCC students to create action plans to stop mass incarceration.

Film Screening of "Mothers of Bedford"

April 11, 2016: "The Mothers of Bedford" is a documentary about a progressive prison program at The Bedford Hills Women's Correctional Facility in New York; it is a program that allows incarcerated mothers to keep their children up until two years, and parent in prison.  After the film screening, MTC performed original work from the women of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women for The Rutgers University School of Social Work.  Currently, New Jersey does not have a similar program.  How can we change this?

Mass Incarceration & Racial Inequality: What caused it, what is its local impact, and what can we do about it?

This six-week book club met to discuss "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander with a curriculum co-created by the women inmates of the Edna Mahan Theatre Program. Meetings were held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Baptistown Frenchtown, NJ. 

RISE! A Cabaret

January 2013: MTC's first performance was held at Sphericality in Flemington, NJ. The show included a series of monologues and scenes written by cast members which explored themes about white supremacy, gendered violence, and more.