One man. One mic. 40 characters. Two unbelievable true stories of wrongful imprisonment.

This unbelievably true story begins when Brooklyn’s own hip hop theater innovator and spoken word champion, Bryonn Bain (60 Minutes, The Village Voice, BET’s My Two Cents), is wrongly imprisoned in NYC jails — while studying law at Harvard. Weaving together the voices of over 40 characters into a one-man tour de force, “Lyrics From Lockdown,” executive produced by Gina and Harry Belafonte, is receiving extraordinary reviews around the world. A groundbreaking multimedia production, this critically acclaimed show uses a live band and video DJ, fusing hip hop, theater, spoken word poetry, rhythm and blues, calypso and classical music, to tell a provocative story exposing racial profiling and wrongful incarceration in a nation imprisoning more people than any other in the world.

Written and performed by Bryonn Bain.

Praise for “Lyrics From Lockdown”

“Every moment on stage was filled with a thing of beauty.” –Anna Deavere Smith

“He has style and considerable talent, and his lyrics — a stirring mix of lament and demand — pack a punch.” –The New York Times

Tickets available through the Miller Theatre Box Office.

About the Heyman Center

The Heyman Center for the Humanities provides the intellectual and physical space for interdisciplinary discussions among members of the Columbia community and the New York City public. It brings together faculty and students from across the university—from the humanities, social and natural sciences, law, medicine, journalism, and the arts—to share thinking, debate ideas, and collectively consider methodological, conceptual, and ethical issues of common interest and concern.  It sponsors public programming—lectures, poetry and fiction reading, workshops, conferences, symposia, seminars, and performances—fosters scholarly and artistic collaborations, and offers meeting spaces for its various affiliated members.