ITHACA,NY(WENY)--Civic Ensemble held a good bye party on Sunday for Cofounder Sarah K Chalmers and introduced their new Executive Director Julia Taylor. 

The party was specifically held for members of the Reentry theatre program which is a theatre group where previously incarcerated individuals are given the freedom to write and act out stories from times in their lives. 

Taylor said she has been involved with the company for a few years and that she looks forward to continuing to help it grow. 

“So I have been part of the Civic Ensemble company for about two years now and as the founders transition out of the company I stepped into the role of executive director,” said Taylor. 

Cassandra Ponton, Reentry theatre counsel member, said that the group has been there for her in and out of rehab and that she considers the members to be family. 

“ When I got sent to rehab, I felt like I had betrayed them because we were a month away from the production and a lot of them wrote to me while I was in rehab, they brought me clothes that I didn't have and when i came back they were really welcoming,” said Ponton.

The objective of the theatre group is to give people an outlet to express themselves and to also inform the community about what their life has been like. 

For Ponton, it would also be nice if people could stop stereotyping drug users and people who have been in the prison system. 

“ There is such a stigma around addiction in general and I think people forget that were humans, like we didn't just wake up one day and decide that we were going to become a junky,” said Ponton. 

The group will be producing plays in the future and if you are interested in either getting involved or attending a performance, follow this link.