Eyes tight shut, flying in thought. For a moment, the prison walls around a group of male prisoners at Sing Sing Correctional Facility are no more. They have freed their minds. This is what the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program does to men in Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, an ensemble piece that affirms life with superlative acting illustrating how creativity can be deeply impactful.
Sing Sing depicts RTA’s documented benefits in one way by letting reality excessively bleed into fiction where Colman Domingo’s amazing performance is surrounded by a cast who first performed while they were imprisoned at the maximum-security jail referred to in the title. The fact that it is metanarrative means it speaks directly to this because RTA has empowered them to create a new sense of themselves. They used to be inmates pretending to be actors whereas they are now actors pretending to be prisoners on screen.
Divine G (Domingo), a veteran of RTA, carries himself effortlessly and seems very positive about the whole thing. He was wrongly convicted and he writes new plays and recruits members as well as assisting with direction. The latest performance brings Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin) – an extremely charismatic person who easily becomes angry – into its fold shaking things up amongst other staff members and pushing everyone’s buttons until such time when Divine G realizes his true potential through his unusual love for Shakespeare.
However, these men do not constantly recite Macbeth or King Lear – rather, among all examples of RTA’s effectually proven advantages in Sing Sing comes in terms of ways program productions portray theater beyond any surface level pretentiousness reducing it down to only pure worshiping self-expression from soul. Instructor Brent (always-reliable Paul Raci) integrates various interests of the group into a time-travel themed production involving pirates, ancient Egyptians, Hamlet and even Freddy Krueger hence calling it Breakin’ The Mummy’s Code. The early montage showing auditions for the play’s outlandish, genre-crossing parts presents characters in an atmosphere of levity, where they are ecstatic about a second chance to act. Some members are framed in close-ups by Kwedar and Pat Scola his cinematographer, making their tattooed and scarred or weather-beaten faces become the main point of interest in the shot.
Speaking of their previous work on stage, they say “I am” or “I was,” then give details about who they played. This is a space that allows them to reconstruct how they see themselves with long term effects. They are not just reduced to criminal records anymore at least while working within this program and sharing scenes with others.
Less overtly, however, it is suggested by the program that they could also be playing a role in their everyday lives – a tough exterior which they have created to negotiate (and survive) their surroundings. Maclin as Divine Eye vividly shows how difficult it is for him to remove the mask and allow himself to be more emotionally pliant. The idea of dropping his guard terrifies him more than anything else.
Sing Sing, for all its profound empathy, decides not to ask for mere forgiveness. Occasionally however, the regret and hopelessness that lurk in their minds reveal them. However, Kwedar bypassing their sins and Sing Sing’s choice to avoid any strong political discourse about the prison-industrial complex could easily be seen as an impotent miscalculation but they are not. These choices prioritize delving into the internal worlds of these characters. Every one of the side men has a moment of spotlight, a powerful statement and an opportunity to assert themselves.
The performances in this show cannot be faulted for anything other than being honest. Many of them aren’t actually pretending; they’re reliving sad sweet memories – Maclin with his revelatory turn included. The demand on Domingo is even higher: he needs to portray someone who has been imprisoned in a story based on real life events by putting his version into it (screenplay based on John H. Richardson’s Esquire article “The Sing Sing Follies”). The paradox here is that at the same time he must communicate that Divine G is somehow different from others – not arrogantly but with true desire to share his ideas with others using his knowledge.
Domingo played more than just well in this movie; he was exceptional in terms of warmth and emotional power. When friction arises between him and Divine Eye we see how much is going through his mind as he struggles with bubbling anger of Divine G. What is so striking here though is how Domingo diffuses these harsh feelings right before our eyes when Divine G chooses kindness instead trying to understand where Divive Eye comes from . When Divine G discovers that there is no way he can prove his innocence; Domingo portrays such overbearing despair that one cannot stop admiring him anymore. This is a terrific display of acting skills that covers many contrasting emotions.
In one touching scene shared between Divine G and Mike Mike (Sean San Jose), a Latino inmate, he recalls the name his grandma used to call him as a kid and how that sweet tag encapsulates someone who is totally different from the person he has become. This is what acting is about for them and others – they can regain contact with their own selves that were hidden for so long. They can find themselves back in those situations where they were before the system and their actions transformed them into ‘undesirable’ elements of society – some as result of their personal choices, others due to lack of alternatives. On that stage they are regal knights or complicated villains, heroes or foolish baboons; on this stage they are changed. On this stage, they are not bound.
Conclusion
This drama is an inspiring testament underscoring how community and an avenue for self-discovery can shape one’s perspective positively. Leading man Colman Domingo puts in an incredibly subtle performance as he directs an ensemble consisting mainly of alumni from Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at its namesake prison, while first-time actor Clarence Maclin makes quite a mark for himself. Greg Kwedar’s directorial approach to using former prisoners playing themselves gives this work its unmistakable originality (see full circle).
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