Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) ”“ a program that helps the incarcerated develop life skills and a sense of accountability and community to ease their return to the everyday world and reduce the rate of recidivism ”“ is staging two fitting works this spring.
At 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 12, Sing Sing Correctional Facility (SSCF) tackles Reginald Rose”™s courtroom drama “Twelve Angry Men,” adapted by Sherman L. Sergel, directed by Charlie Scatamacchia and featuring performances by men incarcerated at SSCF. The production will be accompanied by an exhibit of works by the men in RTA”™s visual arts program at SSCF, led by Susanne Shoemaker.
Then at 6:30 p.m. June 1, it”™s a contemporary political take on Sophocles”™ royal family drama “Electra” as well as dance at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Scenes from the play are directed by Vincent Mraz and Sifiso Mabena with performances by women incarcerated at BHCF. Meanwhile, RTA teaching artist Belle Ritter has choreographed a company of women at BHCF to perform two dance pieces: — “Dance Around the World,” showcasing dances from various countries and ethnicities; and”¯“Dancing Through the Decades,” featuring dances from the 1920s through the beginning of the 2000s.”¯ The performance will be accompanied by an exhibit of works by members of RTA”™s visual arts program at BHCF, led by Angela Tornello.
The productions mark the first”¯time RTA will present live performances by incarcerated individuals for outside guests since the onset of Covid-19.
Funding for “Twelve Angry Men” is provided by Awesome Without Borders, a program of the Harnisch Foundation. Funding for “RTA”™s Spring Spectacular at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility” is provided by ArtsWestchester and Westchester County government.
Founded at Sing Sing in 1996, RTA operates in six maximum and medium-security men”™s and women”™s correctional facilities”¯in New York state within a 150-mile radius of New York City, including Bedford Hills, Fishkill, Green Haven, Sing Sing, Taconic and Woodbourne. RTA teaches theater, music, dance, creative writing and visual arts to more than 225 incarcerated men and women at any one time, with plans to expand its programs within New York state and beyond.”¯The results are as dramatic as any of its productions: Less than 5% of RTA members return to prison, compared to the national recidivism rate of 60%. Learn more here.”¯
