Watch the trailer here.

Description:
Join us for a screening of the documentary Dramatic Escape, followed by a panel discussion.  Dramatic Escape transports viewers into the lives of a group of maximum security prisoners who are attempting to mount a behind-bars stage production of A Few Good Men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. Tracing the journey from auditions through curtain call, viewers witness the prisoners' development as individuals and as an ensemble. Personal stories and candid accounts of the crimes that landed them in prison are interwoven with everyday struggles and philosophical considerations of the nature of redemption. 

Through creative expression in theater, dance, voice, writing and visual art, Rehabilitation Through the Arts  (RTA) gives prisoners the opportunity to learn social and cognitive skills that act as a springboard to education, family reconciliation, and ultimately, successful re-integration into community life, reducing recidivism to a rate significantly lower than the national average. The organization began at Sing Sing in 1996 with the production of an original play performed for the prison population.  RTA now produces a major play at Sing Sing each year attended by over 250 guests; over the past 20 years, thousands of community members have been amazed by the humanity they discovered behind the walls. Today, RTA serves 200 incarcerated men and women (at any one time) in five New York State prisons, teaching in at least one facility every day of the week, year-round. More than 30 arts facilitators travel to remote prisons in three New York State counties to teach a wide variety of artistic media.

Film introduction by:
Jabbar Collins, Legal Analyst, Horizon Research Services

Post-film panel includes RTA alumni from the film, and:
Karin Young Shiel, Board Co-President, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA)

Co-Sponsoring Association Committees:
Corrections & Community Reentry Committee, Alex Lesman, Chair
Criminal Law Committee, Monica J. Hickey-Martin, Chair
Criminal Justice Operations Committee, Sarah J. Berger, Chair