Despite my deep passion for theatre I’ve often quoted the cynical aphorism, Theatre changes nothing, but at least it changes that, and I have believed it to be true.
I stand corrected thanks to the new book, Performing New Lives: Prison Theatre by Jonathan Shailor (Kingsley Press, 2010) about 14 prison theater programs. The chapter “Drama the Big House” was penned by my good friend Brent Buell, a director, actor and writer who has volunteered for more than a decade for Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), a division of Prison Communities International, directing plays and teaching acting classes to inmates. Brent’s locus in the New York State prison system is the original Big House, Sing Sing state penitentiary in Ossining, NY.
I first met Brent in 2004 through our mutual friend David Gaynes and took my first trip via Metro-North train from Manhattan, zooming along the Hudson to the Big House to see the inmates’ production of Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, a farce written and directed by Brent (a photo from that production adorns the book’s cover). I returned the next year to see the bold satire The N Trial, a meditation on the uses of the dreaded “N-word” in our society, including within prison walls, written by inmate Philip Hall, who was wrapping up a 20 year sentence.
Such productions of a full-length play performed for the general public have become an annual event at Sing Sing. The cast and crew are primarily inmates, co-mingled with professional actors and crew who volunteer their time
I have read Jeff’s article with great pleasure. And I’m happy to report that good news continues. Dino Johnson is home and is working with the Council for Reconcilliation–helping to end gang violence.
Kelly Watts is home and is a Workforce Development Instructor for the Osbourne Foundation. We even had the privilege of working together on a film I was directing.
We have all made mistakes in life. I for one, would never want to be forever named and judged for my lowest moment. And yet, so often, we continue to refer to individuals by the “name” of their mistake. I’m so glad to see first-hand all the time that people are not their mistakes–they are the men and women that they are TODAY.
For speaking engagements about “Performing New Lives” please email DoingLifeProd@aol.com.