Season 2, Episode 2: Prisoner Re-entry: Theatre and Ritual

CRT2
CRT2
Season 2, Episode 2: Prisoner Re-entry: Theatre and Ritual
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“The word theater comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. The theater is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time. The theater was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.” – Stella Adler 

In this episode of CRT2, we explore the ritualistic nature of the prison industrial complex and how theatrical engagement can be an empowering ritual for return. We affirm the notion that the theater is the seeing place and investigate the power bestowed upon communities that have been deemed invisible when they engage in theatrical performances. 

Featuring

Alexander Anderson

Executive Director, Re-Entry Theatre of Harlem

“When someone get convicted, when someone goes before a judge and gets convicted, that’s a ritual. It’s made public, It’s put out there, everyone knows it. And the person usually goes from being a citizen to now being a convict.”

Kevin Bott

Founder, Ritual for Return

“When you look at the process of entering prison, it is a ritual. And in fact, it’s a rite of passage. It’s a degrading rite. A rite of passage as a category of ritual — the purpose that it serves is to move people from one social state to another social state. But when that punishment that we’ve declared is terminated, there is no formal structure to reincorporate the person back into the community. So the experience of reentry for many is one that goes on forever…After a person pays their debt to society, and now they come back into society, there is no rituals to say welcome back. Now you’re a citizen again. So that is exactly what Alex has done through Ritual for Reentry.”

Tom Oppenheim

Artistic Director, Stella Adler Studio of Acting

“What I saw over and over were human beings filled with potential. Filled with aspiration and the capacity to be elevated, to elevate themselves. And many moments in which the barbed wire outside the windows would just disappear.”

Josie Whittlesey

Executive Director, Drama Club

“I like to joke that this is the easiest class I’ve ever taught…it doesn’t get any better than that as an educator.”

Hasson Harris Sr.

Facilitator, Drama Club

“Something about Drama Club or even experiencing improv changes you a little bit. It makes you analyze things differently. I put a little bit of me in every character I do.”

Suzy Petcheam

Director of Arts, Justice Field Programs at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting

“What other gig do you know where a group of strangers come together, two seconds, they get a script and now we’re kissing because we’re supposed to be in love. It allows for all the humanity all, the good, all the bad, all the beautiful, all the funny, all the horrific, all the pain, just all of it to be present and be okay.”

Our podcast explores the transformative power of theater as a ritual for reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. In our episode, we feature artists, directors, educators, and community members that share a common belief in the restorative power of using theater to critique the ills of the prison industrial complex and provide a voice to individuals that have been stripped of their humanity through the ritual of incarceration. We examine several critical race theories to analyze the injustices faced by people who have been incarcerated and the restorative justice provided by theatrical engagement. 

Ultimately, we use our platform to celebrate the reclamation of voice and identity for those that have been marginalized by the criminal legal system. Through storytelling and candid conversation, this episode tells the truth about the social situation as it relates to recidivism and presents actionable solutions that provide alternatives to the status quo. Here, we bring to the fore a lesser-known method of advancing the abolition of the carceral system – Theatre as a Ritual for Re-entry. 

Special thanks to all of our interviewees: Alex Anderson, Susan Petcheam, Dr. Kevin Bott, Tom Oppenheimer, Josie Whittlesey, Hasson Harris Sr., Bruce Blake, Simply Naomi, and Mik Berry. Special thanks also for the music by Wes Haas. Finally, thank you to Alex Anderson for serving as podcast consultant for this episode.

Resources & Featured Materials 

Theater in the Law & Courts:

Providing a Voice to the Voiceless: 

Psychological Discussions Behind Rituals: 

Engage & Support Our Interviewees 

Alex Anderson and Bruce Blake: 

Tom Oppenheimer and Susan Petcheam: 

Dr. Kevin Bott: 

Naomi Wilson:

Josie Whittlesey and Hasson Harris Sr. : 

Works Cited 

Archival Material 

  • Lester, Rebecca. “The Importance of Ritual.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 19 May 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anthropology-in-mind/202005/the-importance-ritual. 
  • “Echoes of Attica.” Echoes of Attica | Center for Justice, https://centerforjustice.columbia.edu/events/echoes-attica. 
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