Media Contact: Dionicia Ramos

(925) 485-5216

dramos@clpccd.org

For Immediate Release

Chabot College Theater Arts department to hold red carpet showing of award-winning film

(Hayward, Calif., December 9, 2022) - Chabot College (Chabot) Theater Arts department is excited to present a free red carpet showing of their recent award-winning show, “MADNESS: A Tale of the American Prison System,” directed by Dee Dee Stephens, this Friday on Stage One, December 9 at 7 p.m.

This year the film won the Best Short Documentary category award at the 2022 San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival. 

Stephens explains that the piece was initially intended to be performed on stage in a theatre, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions in early 2021, Chabot’s Theater Arts department ended up with a film project that borders on documentary and experimental filmmaking.

The students at Chabot are using performance art for social change,” said Stephens. “This amazing group of artists collaborated to create ‘Madness,’ essentially a virtual protest against the prison industrial complex in this country.” “We started with a simple thought, what is protest worthy at this moment, then we went about devising this piece. “We hope you enjoy our Frankenstein creation.”

This original social issues film, written, recorded and performed by the Chabot Cast, highlights the mass incarceration issue in America. Sourced from remarkable first-hand accounts, observe how this broken criminal system dramatically changes their lives, families, and community.

The film cast includes:

Natasha Chacon

Vanessa Cuellar

Darrell Ellingberg

Nikky Griffiths

JC Iglesias-Bernd

Alex Loder

Consuelo Martinez-Quezada

Daisjha Mcgee

Nana Yaw Owusu

Yolanda Vasquez

Jack Veltt

Dean of Arts, Media and Communication Dr. Deonne Kunkel Wu recognizes Director Stephens, Chabot students and the Theater Arts department for their vision and skill.

“The aim of Theater Arts and the Arts, Media and Communication division is to alter the cultural landscape of our country and community by raising student and minoritized voices and influencing media-related industries,” said Dr. Kunkel Wu. “Our students have a vision and are building the necessary skills to make that real.” “I hope the community will join me in supporting their remarkable achievement this Friday!”

This film showing is free to the public; no tickets are necessary for entrance. Pizza, pictures and socializing begin at 7 p.m., followed by the showtime at 8 p.m. 

To learn more about the Chabot Theater Arts department and upcoming events, visit https://www.chabotcollege.edu/academics/arts-media-communications/theater-arts/index.php.

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About Theater Arts at Chabot College

Theater Arts at Chabot is dedicated to serving theater students, the campus community and the community at large. In addition to courses in all the many areas of theater; Acting, Writing, Directing, Technical Theater, Voice, Movement, History and more, we offer a wide range of theater productions. Our mainstage theater productions give students the opportunity to use all the skills they are learning in other courses and apply them under the guidance of a faculty director.

Chabot's theater students also have the opportunity to mount original student-written and directed plays through our Emerging Work course. This course offers students the chance to see their original work realized in performances for the public - a valuable and enriching experience for all theater artists, especially those just starting. Some of the productions in this course have gone on to win awards and have a life beyond Chabot. While studies in Theater Arts at Chabot College advance a student’s abilities as a theater artist, they also contribute to the growth of the whole person. Collaboration, creativity, problem-solving under stress, critical thinking, and personal responsibility are just a few things participation

in theater helps a student develop. Though many of our students go on to further study in theater and become professionals in the field, all of our students carry the lessons and memories they learned from the challenges of theater into whatever they do next.

About Chabot-Las Positas Community College District 

CLPCCD serves the San Francisco East Bay Area, particularly southern Alameda County, through its two colleges: Chabot College in Hayward and Las Positas College in Livermore. CLPCCD is governed by a seven-member board of trustees, which is responsible for all policy decisions. Board members are elected from trustee areas by the registered voters of nine communities: Castro Valley, Dublin, Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Sunol, and Union City.

-CLPCCD-

The Chabot-Las Positas Community College District is an Equal Opportunity Employer