These and other "Na Leo I Ka Pu'uwai," or "Voices of the Heart," will be heard during this week's premiere of a theatrical production written and performed by Maui Community Correctional Center inmates and directed by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Lane Nishikawa, who was born in the Islands and now lives in Oakland, Calif.

Two dozen inmates are participating in the unusual project, which aims to help them sort through the mistakes in their lives and develop connections in the community to reduce their chances of returning to jail. The cast members have less than a year left on their sentences, and many are involved in work furlough and other programs that allow them to leave the jail periodically. The "Na Leo I Ka Pu'uwai" project was devised by Maui Economic Opportunity Inc.'s BEST (Being Empowered and Safe Together) Reintegration Program and paid for with a $25,000 grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, with additional support from the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation and the County of Maui.

The BEST program, in partnership with the Department of Public Safety, seeks to reduce the rate of recidivism by offering services, treatment and educational and vocational opportunities to inmates being released from prison. BEST program director Verdine Kong, a former public defender, said most reintegration programs address housing, employment, substance abuse and other issues, but lack a cultural component.

Prison inmates Murphy Tauêa, left, and Jason Hufalar look on as director and playwright Lane Nishikawa works on the script of "Na Leo I Ka Pu'uwai." Christie Wilson • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Maui jail has a hula halau, Na Pa'ahao Maoli (The True Prisoners), led by BEST's training and cultural renewal specialist, Debbie Kamali'i. Kong said such programs can boost self-esteem and rekindle cultural values and pride for Native Hawaiians and others.

The writing and acting project is providing inmates with an opportunity to reflect on their past and help them prepare for the future by putting their plans down on paper and making a public commitment to them, she said.

"It's just a cathartic experience to have to examine your own past, your emotions and experiences," Kong said. "It's a nice process to watch. You can see them becoming more verbal in expressing who they are."

What emerged from the inmates' writing were clear themes of past, present and future, and "a sense of loss for what was taken away from them and what they gave away: loved ones and a sense of control over their lives," Nishikawa said.

He called the inmates courageous for sticking with the project. "It's not easy to get up in front of an audience and to talk about not just where you went wrong but where you want to go right," he said.

Monologues, group pieces, poems and verse in rap form are interspersed with similarly themed hula performed by the halau.

Benjamin M. Reed, 31, of O'ahu, is a halau member who said "Na Leo I Ka Pu'uwai" is an opportunity to be involved in something positive.

"I've done a lot of negative things. It's to give something back and explain who we are, to show people there is more to us than just our mistakes," said Reed, who is serving time for robbery.

Many of the monologues are done as letters to family members, the parole board, God, and even Oprah.

Sharon Torres, whose husband is in a federal prison, asks the TV talk-show queen to buy her saintly mother-in-law a plane ticket to visit her son on the Mainland.

Alexis Horton tells her son "it's OK to be mad at Mommy," while Jessica Nakahashi demonstrates an appreciation for nature's gifts as she describes sunlight peering in through awindow and other observations from her confinement.

In a humorous piece titled "Things I've Learned in Prison," Jana McMahon explains how she took up cigarettes after figuring out it would buy her an extra 90 minutes outdoors each day — 18 smoke breaks at five minutes apiece.

Amie Kaholoa'a, 25, of Moloka'i, said working on "Na Leo I Ka Pu'uwai" has been a "healing" experience. She is in jail for a probation violation related to a drug offense.

"I feel that it's giving back to the community, even if it's the little we have by sharing our personal stories firsthand. I want them to see another side of me," Kaholoa'a said.

Kong of BEST said she hopes the production will encourage audience members to reconsider their attitudes about inmates who are trying to work their way back into society.

"We want the community to see that the people on the inside are not that much different from us. They all have their struggles. They have their dreams, we have our dreams. We all want to improve ourselves. It's about acquainting one part of the community with another part," Kong said.