Genevieve Aichele, development/community projects director of the New Hampshire Theatre Project, and the state’s 2024-26 Artist Laureate, was chosen to lead a program, “Finding my Voice,” at the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord through a grant from the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation and administered through Kimball Jenkins. Photo by Dan Derby
Imagine being given a prison sentence and being cut off from society. It would be a hopeless feeling and an end to life as one knew it. But then, imagine people who want to help and give you hope that you can get a fresh start with new skills.
The New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Concord recently added a new program that uses theater to build interpersonal skills, called “Finding My Voice,” taught by Genevieve Aichele, the state’s 2024-26 Artist Laureate.
Funded by a New Hampshire Women’s Foundation grant, “Finding My Voice” is administered through Kimball Jenkins, a community cultural center in Concord. The organization is celebrating 40 years of creating strong relationships within its local community through art, history and culture. Kimball Jenkins received the grant from the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation.
“Joan Goshgarian, the interim executive director, knew Genevieve and reached out to see if she might be interested in leading the project. Genevieve enthusiastically agreed,” said Martha Lemire, executive director of Kimball Jenkins. “I took over the oversight of the project and have been working with Genevieve, the Women’s Foundation and staff at the New Hampshire Women’s Correctional Facility to get all of the components in order to launch the program.”
The first five-week session began in November 2024 and the second in January. Participants are invited to engage in both performing and written activities, using techniques from theater, improvisation and storytelling.
Participants are encouraged to “find their own voice” to help them prepare to re-enter society, including practical techniques such as preparing for a job interview or navigating difficult situations in professional and personal relationships.
“The first session had 22 women signed up,” Aichele said. “There were three regulars and others in and out during the 90-minute classes offered once a week.”
Aichele said she worked with people who had experienced many “tough breaks in life.”
“There were a lot of poverty and drug issues,” she said. “They were very open to doing these activities. Acting is hard — so many different emotions come up. Theater allows you to express emotions in a safe way as you’re often speaking another character’s words, like getting into the role of an Alcott story from the 1800s, understanding how to walk and speak differently from today.”
Photo by Dan Derby
Participants in the first session gave some positive feedback, which included learning to let go and get silly and step out of their comfort zones, risk-taking and being vulnerable, supporting each other as a group, stage presence and building confidence, public speaking skills and feeling accomplished.
“We are pleased to support Kimball Jenkins and their “Finding My Voice” program because it aligns with the foundation’s vision for social and gender justice in New Hampshire,” said Lauren Wool, director of grantmaking for the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation.
“In addition to producing research about and advocating in support of services for Granite State women who are incarcerated, the foundation funds programs that provide services and opportunities for women currently incarcerated at the Women’s Prison to gain knowledge and skills that will help their transition back into their communities,” Wool said. “The ‘Finding My Voice’ program, led by Genevieve and Kimball Jenkins, uses expressive arts and improvisation workshops to help the women who are incarcerated heal from past traumas and rediscover their voice.”
Aichele has performed, directed and taught theater arts nationally and internationally for more than 40 years. She was the founder of New Hampshire Theatre Project, an applied theater company in Portsmouth, NH, and served as the executive director for 35 years. She recently stepped down as executive director and is now its development/community projects director.
Among her many prestigious awards, NHTP’s Elephant-in-the-Room Series, which Aichele co-founded, received the 2021 NH Governors Award for Arts in Health. The program uses theater to bring difficult issues out into the open through healthy dialogue and community connections.
This article was featured in 603 Diversity.
603 Diversity’s mission is to educate readers of all backgrounds about the exciting accomplishments and cultural contributions of the state’s diverse communities, as well as the challenges faced and support needed by those communities to continue to grow and thrive in the Granite State.
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