In ‘Sing Sing,’ incarcerated men find redemption through the life-changing power of art
Banner Arts & Culture Sponsored by Cruz Companies
In September 2021, the U.S. Justice Department released a study showing that 62% of formerly incarcerated people returned to prison within 10 years of their release. Yet, a 2014 RAND study concluded that correctional educational programs significantly reduce recidivism rates. One such program is New York-based Rehabilitation Through the Arts, or RTA, a program providing arts education for incarcerated people.
The upcoming film “Sing Sing,” directed by Greg Kwedar and starring Colman Domingo (HBO’s “Euphoria”), explores the true story of a group of men who find solace and connection in RTA. The organization claims that less than 3% of RTA participants return to prison. A handful of RTA alums play themselves in the movie, including newcomers Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and Sean “Dino” Johnson.
In “Sing Sing,” RTA members develop and perform a comedy about a time-traveling Egyptian prince looking for his “mummy.” It is through humorous and vulnerable acting exercises and the play’s production process that the audience gets to know the men and their stories. Some are incarcerated as a consequence of their own actions and some are wrongfully imprisoned, but they all cope through art.
(from left) David “Dap” Giraudy, Sean San José as Mike Mike and Colman Domingo as Divine G. PHOTO: COURTESY OF A24
The film opens with Divine G (Domingo), who has just finished a Shakespeare play. The whimsical, colorful world of the stage quickly cuts to the harsh interiors of the prison. The camera now shakily pans over muted and grimy olive and mustard-yellow walls and stiff bodies in straight lines wearing green uniforms. Barbed wire and barred windows are always nearby. A line in the film says, “It is clear the only happy endings here occur on stage.”
When Divine G isn’t working with RTA, he’s in the law library working tirelessly to exonerate himself of a crime he did not commit. A former dancer who was bullied by neighborhood kids until he stopped, his face is framed by gold wire-rimmed glasses, which are more hipster than hustle. His foil, Divine Eye, wears gold chains and statement watches with aplomb and is a self-described “yard bandit” who pounces on weaker prisoners and deals drugs in prison. Discouraged from drawing as a boy because it wasn’t cool, Divine Eye eventually joins RTA, and, according to Dino, learns “how to be human again.”
Kwedar spoke to the Banner about the film in May at Boston’s Eliot Hotel. He and his co-writer Clint Bentley developed the idea for the film eight years ago while working on a documentary inside a maximum-security prison in Kansas. Kwedar noticed someone raising a rescue dog in their cell, and that night he Googled programs in prison that were “doing things differently.” During his research, he came across a 2005 Esquire article about an RTA performance, “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code,” and knew he had his next project.
Kwedar said, “I want to tell stories that have an earned optimism to them, that aren’t naive, that aren’t afraid of going into the dark places, but show that human connection is possible.”
The real Divine G and Divine Eye helped write the film and received a “story by” credit. The film also has an equitable pay structure. Unlike the hierarchical studio finance model, Kwedar said, “Everyone on our film, from Colman to post [production], all worked for the same rate.”
He continued, “We all collectively own the movie together. We’re kind of flattening the hierarchy and saying that everyone on this project is not an employee, but a true stakeholder and a partner, and has the same intrinsic value as the person next to him.”
A local prison program
RTA isn’t the only enrichment program for incarcerated people. One local program is the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College (TUPIT), which helps incarcerated individuals to receive two diplomas — an associate degree in liberal arts and a bachelor’s in civic studies — and offers college and reentry resources for returning citizens. TUPIT claims the recidivism rate for formerly incarcerated people who receive a college diploma is 0-2%.
David Delvalle received his associate degree through the TUPIT program during his incarceration at MCI-Concord. Now, he’s a manager at Haley House and a junior at Tufts. On a phone call in July, Delvalle emphasized how programs like this allowed him to explore Shakespeare and philosophy while incarcerated and eventually changed the culture of the prison.
“Now the smart guys were the cool guys,” he said. “We changed the definition of gangster. You had to be politically active, civically engaged and understand structures. We broke racial lines. We broke so many biases in that room, because it was [diverse] guys from all over the campus.”
Delvalle watched “Sing Sing” and said he hopes people realize that “these narratives that are created about criminal justice reforms come at a price.”
He said, “The person telling this narrative has to feel that pain again with the hope that somebody will empathize and see him as human. That’s how I felt. I really just hope people empathize with us.”
“Sing Sing” opened in select theaters in Boston on Aug. 2 and opens Aug. 16 nationwide.
