Prison Boxing at Skylight Theatre

Leah Joki spent 18 long years in prison. Her crime? A near-criminal love of theater -- "near-criminal" because this Juilliard-trained thespian was not an inmate, but a drama instructor, teaching the arts to the incarcerated. Of course, her pupils ended up teaching her far more than she could hope to teach them. It's their life-changing "lessons" -- some hilarious, some harrowing, some deeply heartfelt -- that are recounted with vigor and insight in her acclaimed solo show Prison Boxing. Playing more than two dozen characters, including a juvenile delinquent, a victim of abuse, a prison guard and a drug addict, Joki brings to vivid life the unique characters she encountered in her years working in the California penal system. Linda Grinde directs the Los Angeles premiere of Prison Boxing at the Skylight Theatre.