The men take their seats with only a faint rustling of chitchat as the stoic guards station themselves in the aisles, watching closely.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Maximum-Security Prison Inmates Reveal What Theater Program Taught Them About Redemption
The men take their seats with only a faint rustling of chitchat as the stoic guards station themselves in the aisles, watching closely.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
This article shows that the power of the arts and how they can improve someone’s life just a little to make it a little more bearable. Don’t get me wrong I love doing theatre in a traditional setting but when the theatre is taken into new and different settings to spark change, I'm falling even more in love with theatre. This article proves that traditional prisons aren’t the best solution for prisoners. I’m not saying that theatre is necessarily the rehabilitation that must be used for all prisoners but I am saying that this article points out that our prison systems along with many other things need to change and that this article does a great job of showing this. When one of the facilitators of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program says “We’re teaching art to build a skill that they need to lead productive lives inside. It’s less about being in the cast and more of doing something together. We are in this together and if we work together, we can do something powerful."’. I couldn’t agree more. Theatre in an educational setting is just this and meant to be just this. Hopefully, arts in prisons become more common and lead to a greater prison reform.
This article is really a wonderful look at how theater can affect people in every walk of life. It is quite sad to hear some of these stories of people who really threw their life away. I am glad that they are still offered some form of redemption, joy, and an option to change themselves and grow. I think that art is the best way to do this. Because art can push through borders, and walls, and everything else. I think that Pedro Rosario makes the perfect comparison “about 'Café of the Heart' being a sanctuary in the ghetto,” said Pedro Rosario, the lead writer. “There’s a lot of violence and drugs and stuff. It’s almost an analogy to what RTA is in [prison].” I hope that this program grows and can touch as many lives as possible. Theater can help to reform fractured people and this program is a wonderful way to spread it.
“There comes a time when you have to take responsibilities for certain decisions you make… This program] is my own form of redemption.” I think this just truly speaks to how powerful theatre can be and how important and therapeutic art can be. There is such a strong connection between art programs and rehabilitation programs- whether it be in incarceration, drug treatment facilities, mental institutions, or a combination of all. When discussing the work RTA is doing at this facility with the “Cafe of the Heart” production, I honestly remember why I love the power of art and performance. These people are able to tell a story, and in some cases their own story, to help those not fall into the same predicament they have ended in. THAT is the power of theatre and effective storytelling- using your words, your voice, and your power to create change. That is exactly what these men are doing, not just within the community, but also within themselves.
It is often that people talk about how arts are therapeutic and transformative, but I feel like people do not actually believe it. No matter how many people come forward to speak their piece on how the arts fully transformed their lives, people still see the arts as less than what they are. Bringing theatre into environments that are not just high-budget, high-caliber commercial beasts is something that I truly love. Theatre fosters a community in which everyone is equally responsible for the outcome. From that stems a personal awareness. One learns how their decisions impact the lives of others, and how their decisions impact their own lives. The theatre teaches stories of strife and tragedy, but also love and hope. In learning to tell these stories, we develop a level of compassion and genuine care for the journeys of others, and that is such a powerful thing. I hope that stories like this encourage other societal institutions to embrace arts programs.
I absolutely loved reading this article, as it highlights perfectly the part of art and making art in particular that is so important. Art is made as an outlet of someone's emotions and experiences, and allows the maker of the art to begin to understand and work through what the emotions are that they have and why they might be having them-- as Emma pointed out above, art is thought of as therapeutic. Today, our national justice system is focused completely on the idea of punishment, not rehabilitation of people who have committed wrong-doings in the past. Often, instead of viewing delinquents as people who need care in order to learn why they did was wrong, they are viewed as people who need to be punished for things that they have done, sometimes just in an off moment. This program, however, shows art helping in rehabilitation, not punishment. I love that programs like this are being implemented and written about and I hope that more people start paying attention to these issues!
Wow. This article is truly uplifting. It is so nice to see positive news in this cycle of negativity that seems to flood the news cycle constantly. The work that these people are doing at this prison is really inspired. Being able to see these men as people and not inmates and to believe in them and work with them and teach them is just truly beautiful. This is when theatre is really making a difference. I would rather go see a show at this prison than on Broadway any day of the week. Local, intentional, meaningful theatre like this is when our art is truly being utilized to its full potential. These men deserve to have access to art just like everyone. If you want prisons to be actual correctional facilities, it is programs like this that must be supported to facilitate this correction, because if there is no learning and growth happening in prisons, these people will always struggle getting free of this cycle of freedom and prison.
Coming from someone who wanted to be a journalist for a long time, I'm immediately drawn to the way the author painted a compelling narrative that drew me in. I really enjoyed that and became invested in the story right away. Some quotes really stood out to me that I wanted to write about (and as per usual, I promise I am not counting the quotes as part of my word count):
We’re teaching art to build skill that they need to lead productive lives inside. It’s less about being in the cast and more of doing something together. We are in this together and if we work together, we can do something powerful. This is so important! I've read a lot about how inmates are often pitted against each other. Sometimes, on account of poorly controlled prisons, they have to do a whole lot of fighting to survive. Allowing them to work on a piece of art together rather than encouraging rivalry is a great way to encourage rehabilitation.
"A lot of great people have been in a prison," Mills said. “They come out and they do great things. It just depends on what you do while you’re here." This is another reason why I love art and GED and any kind of program like that in prison. America has forgotten that prison is as much about rehabilitation as punishment. We are supposed to help people return as productive members of society.
The application process to be a part of this program, RTA, seems pretty serious, which is fascinating to me. I like their emphasis on how it is not about becoming an actor or singer; it's about working with a team and feeling the end result of your hard work. I also love that this program is about accepting responsibility and working to better yourself after that self-realization.
Post a Comment