Corrections_Today_Summer_2025_Vol.87_No.2

News&Views

VIEW FROM THE LINE

Hollywood shines spotlight on rehabilitation program By Leslie Lichter and Kate Stone Lombardi W ith the acclaimed movie “ Sing Sing ” garnering Oscar buzz this year,

Hollywood and the world of cor rections have come together in an unexpected way. Historically, movies set in prisons tend to be wildly inaccu rate — either slapstick comedies — think “ Stir Crazy ” with Richard Pryor — or violent dramas featuring stereotypical monsters behind bars and brutal corrections officers who mistreat them. The reality, as people who actu ally work in corrections know, looks far different. The movie “ Sing Sing” stands out for its realistic portrayal of incarceration, and for very good reason. The movie is based on a real program, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), which has been operating in New York State prisons for almost 30 years. What’s more, almost all the actors in the film are men who par ticipated in RTA when they were incarcerated. These RTA alumni not only acted in the movie, but also contributed input to the script and each scene.

Photo courtesy Rehabilitation Through the Arts

After the final performance of a play, a photo of the members who worked together to bring it to fruition.

“The most profound scenes of the movie are simply these men speaking for themselves,” says Greg Kwedar, who with Clint Bentley, made the movie. Producer Monique Walton adds, “To me it was a no brainer. We’re trying to capture the specificity of this experience and to bring the alumni on the big screen felt surprising and necessary.” RTA began as a theater program and produced its first play at (the actual) Sing Sing Correctional

Facility in 1996. Today RTA is op erating in 10 correctional facilities in New York State and has served more than 1,000 participants. Professional teaching artists lead year-round workshops in theater, dance, music, writing, and visual arts. A new RTA venture, Reimag ing Myself ® , helps prepare people for release. Despite the movie’s success, RTA’s goal is not to train profession al actors, writers or other creative

Corrections Today | Summer 2025

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