A prison within a prison, solitary confinement is the practice of isolating someone in a small space without any human contact as a form of punishment, and is common throughout the nation's prisons and jails. On any given day, there are between 80,000–100,000 people held in solitary confinement, and some have been there for decades. Considered torture by the U.N., there is so nation in the world that uses solitary confinement in this way- without any oversight or federal regulation- people held in solitary include children, pregnant women, the elderly, those with acute mental or physical health issues, and LGBTQ people locked up "for their own protection." People can be placed there for any kind of infraction and for any length of time. Mariposa got 15 months for having a pair of tweezers, and wound up being left there for over two years.

Our play sheds a light on this inhumane reality. Those held inside solitary are made invisible to the public and are deeply vulnerable, but Mariposa's voice was able to reach thousands on the outside, activating them to take action across ten different states.

The crisis of mass incarceration in this country and the need to dismantel the prison industrial complex has been made even more urgent as people are dying of COVID behind bars. Mariposa is getting out, but like most formerly incarcerated people, she is not provided with the necesary support to successfully transition to life on the outside. Safe, stable housing will be essential.