A (RE)EMERGENT MIRACLE ON 99TH STREET

A new work and a new theatrical entity emerged this evening at El Barrio's ArtsSpace on East 99th Street. (Re)EMERGENT THEATRE presented the premiere of GETTING CLOSE, an ensemble production by men who are returning to the world after decades of incarceration in prison. It was an intimate and compelling theatre piece where these men share their experience in prison through a lens of immediacy in which the actors assume various roles as they help each other to initiate their own narratives.

Artistic Director Clare Hammoor and Managing Director Ashley Hamilton might be described as theatrical visionaries who have made prisons their domain of professional development over the past several years. They have pursued a dream of establishing a creative space to assist former prisoners return to the world through collaborative interaction and creation to better understand themselves reemerging in a world now distant and strange.

Having gone through a process of collaboration, the actors reveal uncanny emotional strength and maturity, but we are also struck by the courage it takes to endure their world and to share it with us.

The ensemble, Akael Adil, Juan Carlos 'Johnny' Hincapie, Robert Mason Lindsay, Robert Pollock, and Juan 'Broadway' Rodriguez played themselves and other inmates and visitors to the prison as they described the events that connected them and their world. I was struck by the distinctiveness of their voices, and the depth of their tenacity and bravery. The thread of the narrative is compelling. We see and hear the world through their experiences, and we begin to have some understanding of the very difficult journey each has taken to reach this moment of sharing with an audience.

The stories include someone imprisoned unjustly for decades, and another convicted and serving 25 years before he was completely absolved of all guilt, a devout and devoted sensitive and lonely man, and an artistic, talented individual whose music kept him from going insane, to a man deeply devoted to his family, and the dramatic story of a mother who learned of her son's suicide in prison during her attempt to visit him. This a climactic moment as the actor reveals how many times in the silence of his own terror, he might have been that young man.

There are four major narratives that also are populated by vignettes of struggles and encounters of the vicissitudes of a life of imprisonment.  A fifth, unspoken narrative, was the musical voice of Robert Mason Lindsay, whose eloquent musical narrative permeated the evening like a rich tapestry.  His sound was simple, direct, expressive, and clearly heartfelt. Also sharing this musical sensibility was Robert Pollock, who used his guitar to meld with the bass, and the two provide the immediacy of a musical color and sensibility that is often stunning in their candor and clarity. Mr. Lindsay writes this is the first time the world has heard his music. It was well worth waiting for.

Assisting these men to find the coherence and uniqueness of the narrative was writer and storyteller Kate Meisner. The result is a profound moment in history and possibly the creation of a whole new process and genre to assist past prisoners to understand themselves and find a new voice as they explore a new world.

ReEMERGENT THEATRE has achieved a sensitive and compelling entry into a world that needs more of this kind of concern and support achieving an original identity in our culture.

                                                                                                     ...Wizardmuse