Holly Mulcahy stands with her violin, her back to the wall of the gym at Walker State Prison in Rock Spring, Georgia. Next to her is Mary Corbett with her violin. Between them and 128 inmates serving time for a host of crimes big and small are a microphone stand and about 5 feet of open gym floor.
A lone female officer sits off to the side. The men are seated in chairs fanned out in a semicircle facing the stage, quiet and staring at the two women, who are smiling and relaxed.
The place is so quiet, Corbett steps to the microphone and says with a laugh, “Talk amongst yourselves. We have to tune up.”
It’s a relatively simple moment, but it sets the tone for how the rest of the evening will go.
A new kind of prison