Song of the Prison Gate

Ironweed Productions Presents:

Song of the Prison Gate

"Step into my body

Take a trip with me

Take a look at my world

See the things I see

Slip inside my heart

Feel what I feel"

Saturday, May 2nd at 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 3rd at 2:00 PM

Suggested Donation of $20

Click Here for Tickets

Gary Farlow has been in the South Carolina prison system for 35 years. For the past 10 years, he has been working with a mentor in Creative Writing. Currently, he mentors other inmates in Creative Writing and is the long-time editor of their prison newsletter. In 2025, his play Song of the Prison Gate was awarded first place in the 2025 PEN America Prison Writing Contest.

On May 2nd and 3rd Teatro Paraguas and Ironweed will present a reading of his play, directed by Alexander Lane and featuring an ensemble of 10 Santa Fe, Espanola and Albuquque-based actors including Rudy (Froggy) Fernandez, Jorge Gonzalez, Daric Gutierrez, David Jondreau, John Macker, Marcos Maez, Emery Malec-Barrera, Matthew O'Reilly, Joaquin Rodriguez, and 2021-2023 Poet Laureate of Santa Fe Darryl Lorenzo Wellington.

Song of the Prison Gate, a collection of riveting monologues, is by turns, poignant, deeply funny, thought-provoking, unsettling, searing, and heartening. 

Proceeds from this reading will benefit Living with Convictions, a non-profit based in North Carolina whose mission is to provide essential support and resources to men transitioning from incarceration back into society. Through their comprehensive approach to transitional housing, they aim to break the cycle of recidivism and empower individuals to lead fulfilling, productive lives. Gary will be supported by this organization after his release.

We hope you will join us to hear this unique storytelling experience through which Gary hopes to “bring the face of humanity to the incarcerated."

The production is sponsored by the Donovan Nofte Estate.

Gary Farlow has won PEN Prison Writing Awards for both short fiction and drama, and an honorable mention citation for poetry. He is a graduate of Western Illinois University and the Thomas Jefferson College of Law atHeed University.

Established in the aftermath of the Attica Prison Riots in the mid-1970s, the PEN Prison Writing Awards recognize the exceptional voices of incarcerated writers in the United States within the genre categories of Fiction, Poetry, Essay, Memoir, and Drama. Gary has won PEN Prison Writing Awards for both short fiction and drama, and an honorable mention citation for poetry.