As the lights dimmed and the at-capacity audience began to take their seats, a low, drum-like chain gang cadence began to build outside of the auditorium. The theater soon filled with laughter, insults and swear words as convicts clad in prison garb were escorted into the cellblock by the guards on duty.

Mockery and ridicule bounced off the chain-link fence covering the walls as the prisoners and guards competed in a shouting match, asserting their dominance over one another.

Through personal stories, flashbacks and commentaries, “Convict” penetrated the minds of prisoners, making a jail cell occupant not just a criminal cast out by society, but a human just like the audience.

Conceived, written and directed by Joshua Hamzehee, instructor and forensics speech coach at the University of Northern Iowa, “Convict” is an original play performed Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 in the Interpreters Theatre of Lang Hall.

A convicted murderer, an arsonist, a drunk driver, a pot smoker, a child abductor, a physical abuser and a self-proclaimed nomad took the audience on an expedition through the “concrete jungle” that is the United States penal system.

With “bars for trees and beds for rocks,” United States prison cells serve as a home to over a quarter of the world’s prisoners, and if a state was formed out of all the United States’ prisoners, it would be the 13th-largest state in the United States, according to Hamzehee.

With prison rates at an all-time high, overcrowded conditions and a hostile environment can cause convicts to get lost in the shuffle of the prison system.

“I think it’s important to remember people in prison are still humans, and we can’t just push people under a one-size-fits-all concrete rug and forget about them,” Hamzehee said.

According to “Convict,” this attitude has transformed prisons from rehabilitation centers to places of torture and victimization.

“This place is broken,” proclaimed the character Javy, played by Jorge DeLeon, a communication studies graduate assistant. “There’s always a gun to my heart.”

As money is lacking for successful prison rehabilitation programs, cuts have started in prisons across the nation. With prisons doing less to transform convicts into well-functioning members of society, the United States is locking up the same people multiple times.

“Convict” calls this to the audience’s attention, asserting that the system needs to be fixed by keeping what works and changing what does not work.

Morgan Johnson, a senior graphic design major, said, “‘Convict’ presented a lot of great arguments for prison reform in the United States, and I’m glad people like Hamzehee are bringing awareness to topics like this.”

Through performance, the actors were given the opportunity to embody characters, portraying their argument as an emotional appeal for prison reform. While some were remorseless and joked about their current conditions, others longed for family and life outside the steel bars of their prison cell.

“… In a setting like Convict’s, the audience develops more connection with the characters. It’s almost as if you live their lives just by watching these characters,” said Yaw Kyeremateng, a communication studies graduate student with an emphasis in health and performance.

Rather than being removed from the situations presented in “Convict,” the audience saw through the fences, walls and bars of a prison, as if they were in a real holding cell with prisoners and guards.