AMERICAN THEATRE: Roll up your sleeves, unbutton, unzip, show some skin, open up, spread your legs, bare your soul. Nothing is private and nothing is sacred when you’re standing in line at a prison like Rikers Island. Shared Sentences, a debut play by Houses on the Moon co-founder and artistic director Emily Joy Weiner (now at 122 Community Center’s 2nd Floor Theater in New York City through Nov. 12), examines what it means to show up for the people you love.
5 comments:
I really appreciate that the playwright decided to make a play about this subject. I feel like oftentimes the subject of convicts gets either thrown under the rug or removed from humanity. Current and former convicts carry this stereotype with them, and many of us fail to realize just how much they go through regardless if “they get better” after serving time. Specifically, no one thinks about their families and friends. What do you do when a loved one feels frozen in time? What if they are physically far? What if you can’t talk to them as much as you would like? It’s really all quite jarring. I also really like how they take into account the difference in class, race, age and other factors that create rifts in how these people navigate having a loved one be in prison. It sounds like a beautiful and very raw project, and I’m always glad of theaters allowing for this work to be presented.
This is a really interesting concept for a play! I never would've thought of it - and I think that's what makes it so good. The interesting part of theater is being able to see experiences that you have never had. This is a great way to raise awareness of what being in a prison family is like, as well as comparing different privileges and backgrounds. I think that it's especially interesting that the play takes a particular interest in the families of the incarcerated, because theirs are a story that isn't often told. I think that the story of Houses on the Moon is an interesting one as well. I think that the teen's analogy of building houses on the moon is amazing, and it makes for a great mission. I'm excited to see what other productions Houses on the Moon will come up with, and I hope to attend one myself someday.
This looks like a really interesting piece of theater that I would love to attend. I think it would be really thought provoking to watch this. During undergrad I worked with one of my professors who would bring theater to prisons so that inmates had a creative outlet and it was a really great experience both for them and for us as students. I think that this is an interesting look that most people don’t think about when they are thinking about people who are incarcerated. I would really love to see this show or even read the script because I think it would be really eyeopening. It also seems that the production company took a lot of time and effort into creating this work and putting it up which would make it that more true to the world. This is one of those topics where you really have to do your research and you can’t make shit up because people will know and immediately call you out for it, as they should.
I like plays that are based on “niche” human experiences that give those struggling a sense of not being alone. Not that incarceration or having somebody in jail is a niche, but it's a topic not often in the media, nevertheless in theater. I like how the theatre intentionally scouted audience members to give tickets to who would relate to this play as I was wondering while reading if former inmates or inmate loved ones would ever know this play existed/have the means to go. I’ve always had inner controversy over shows that display jails not because I think it’s wrong but I wonder if the portrayal, especially the kind in this show, romanticizes the bond that's formed through the trauma. Sure the article notes the show brutally doesn’t hold back on the horrors of living in prison, but the idea that it doesn't matter what they did and just coming together to survive feels a little ignorant–like yeah it matters what they did and if they’re suffering some of them deserve it for the things they’ve done.
This article interested me from the title alone, like that was enough to get me to want to see this show; the article only strengthened that. I thought that the concept of the plot was an interesting one, it’s one that I would want to witness and experience. I also liked that this show was brought to life by Houses on the Moon, I had not heard of this company prior. The concept of paring a show with an organization is a great idea. As I was reading the article, of course I was interested in this show, but as I read on, I became more interested to learn about Houses on the Moon. They sound like they have done remarkable things with productions and their history was intriguing. I love when there is a deeper connection involved, although it is not an expectation by any means, I feel like these connections allow everyone to connect to the art in a deeper way.
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