Program helps inmates express themselves through acting

LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) -- The California State Prison in Lancaster is teaming up with the non-profit Strindberg Laboratory to help prisoners express themselves through acting.

Prisoners put on a performance on Thursday titled, "Redemption in Our State of Blues."

The play was about the past lives of the inmates - the mistakes they made landing them in prison, the people they hurt along the way and how they find redemption in the end. They want the audience to get that message.

"I just want them to see that us over here on this side of the wall, we're human beings, too. We all made our mistakes, but that doesn't define us as who we are as men. It's doesn't define us as a person," said David Rodriguez, an inmate.

These inmates worked together for months to stage the play. Many of them came from rival gangs, yet they set aside their differences to find common ground to create a play telling their own stories.

In the video player above, ABC7's Leo Stallworth shows us some action from the play.