he Duchess of Stringtown. The Duchess of Stringtown is a historical play that tells the story of how a brothel in Stringtown became the stumbling block for Stringtown’s annexation to Indianapolis. The Duchess’s  nemesis was Sarah Smith, who ran a women’s shelter which eventually led to the development of the Indiana Women’s prison. The play exposes the abuse of women by the state’s formal institutions including unlawful medical experimentation and rape. It also comments on corrupt politicians and clergy. The duchess’s murder remains unsolved.

The original script was written by Jones and Anastazia Schmid, also an inmate at the Indiana Women’s Prison. They used every resource at their disposal to learn about the prison’s history and write this script, bringing an important piece of local history to the stage. Through Bryan Fonseca’s Transformational Impact Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, he had the incredible opportunity to bring in playwright Toni Press Coffman and help bring this show to life. We are in the process of workshopping the script and are moving forward with a full production in December to be held at Indy Convergence, our incredible community partner in the New Westside.