Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is proud to host a screening of the film “Sing Sing,” on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m., followed by a discussion with Brent Buell, whose work helped inspire the compelling film. This evening celebrating the transformative power of theater and storytelling is part of the Quick’s Global Theatre Series, curated by on- and off-Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld.
"Sing Sing” is based on a prison theater program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). Started in 1996 after a small group of men in prison expressed an interest in putting on a play at the prison, the program was formed with RTA founder Katherine Vockins. That year, they wrote and staged their first play. RTA is now active in eight prisons throughout New York, including men and women’s prisons with maximum and medium security. RTA teaches incarcerated people how to restore their lives through theater which, in stark contrast to the current system of criminal punishment, is based on respect and human dignity.
“Sing Sing” beautifully captures the visceral sense of seeing these men reluctantly join the play’s cast, becoming part of the journey and life of the play, and through the process, becoming transformed.
Starring Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin, the film has received more than 75 award nominations with 23 wins, including Gotham Awards for Social Justice, Outstanding Supporting Performance, and Outstanding Lead Performance. Accepting his Gotham Award, Domingo thanked his colleagues from RTA and the film who “found art to be the parachute that saved them,” a heartfelt comment that resonated with Wiesenfeld.
“That is what we are doing, too,” she said of the Quick’s Global Theatre Series. “My feeling is that theater transforms lives. It changes lives, and that’s what this program has shown.”
Designed to highlight social justice-driven theatre work, the Global Theatre Series has shared 10 theater works that prove theater does have the power to change our world. Over the years, the program has focused on social justice and incarceration in such plays as "Cell,” "Gun Country," "Shared Sentences," and “Surviving Troubled Waters: From Prison to Freedom through Music."
Following the film, Wiesenfeld will moderate a discussion with Buell, Visual and Performing Arts Associate Professor Patrick Brooks, and hopefully, one or more of the talented actors from the film.
Buell is a playwright, director and producer. For 10 years he volunteered with RTA directing theater in New York’s maximum-security prisons with plays ranging from John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” to original work by the prisoners. One of Buell’s plays, the comedy “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code,” premiered at Sing Sing, and became the inspiration for A24’s film "Sing Sing," directed by Greg Kwedar and starring Domingo (“Rustin,” “The Color Purple,” “Fear the Walking Dead”), and Clarence Maclin. Buell is portrayed in the film by Oscar-nominated Paul Raci.
Prior to this event, Cheryl Wiesenfeld and Brent Buell are available for press interviews to discuss “Sing Sing” and the power of arts in rehabilitation.
Live discussion on the transformative power of theatre and storytelling, to follow the film.
Sponsors for this event are WPKN and Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation. Tickets are now on sale on quickcenter.com for $25, or $15 for Quick members. For more information, contact the Quick Center Box Office at 203-254-4010, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
