It doesn’t take a professional production to present a powerful message through theater. Sometimes the biggest impact comes from a troupe of real people telling a story to which they can deeply relate. That’s the method behind the Poetic Justice Project, which explores prison culture, the choices prisoners and staffers make to survive, and the consequences of those choices.
Sponsored by the Art of Justice, the Poetic Justice Project will perform the original musical drama Off the Hook, set in a California prison, featuring a 14-member cast of former inmates. The play will be part of a debate about alternatives to the current criminal justice system, with its high rates of incarceration and recidivism. In addition to the play, there will be a community forum and luncheon.
The play was written by Deborah Tobola, artistic director of the Poetic Justice Project, and features music by Shawn Collins. Tobola is a former employee of the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. She started a production there with inmates, and the project soon grew. When she retired from CMC, she pursued the idea for this play and the Poetic Justice Project.
“I like to say it was born in prison,” she said.
The effort wasn’t just about entertainment. Tobola knew the play was making a difference for the viewers—and for the performers. That realization convinced her to take the message to a broader audience.
“I just saw how amazing it was for the inmates, turning something negative into a positive thing,” she said.
Tobola said many people are surprised that the musical is performed by non-professional actors—and, on top of that, former inmates. But that’s exactly why it works, she noted.
“That’s very important, because we want to tell an original story that comes from incarceration and redemption,” she explained. “It’s so powerful, we get standing ovations.”
Tobola said people sometimes hold onto their stereotypes, but then come to the play and see the cast and are surprised and impressed.
The Poetic Justice Project produces original theater on the Central Coast that examines crime, punishment, and redemption. It’s a program of the William James Association, which promotes work service in the arts, environment, education, and community development. Tobola originally approached the William James Association for funding, but the association eventually adopted her effort as one of their programs. Tobola took the Poetic Justice Project on a prison town tour over the summer and received positive reviews.
The Poetic Justice Project has received recognition from Congresswoman Lois Capps and former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado.
“The value in this isn’t just performing, it’s the whole collaborative effort—the teamwork,” Tobola said.
Following that philosophy, she lets the actors know that the only way they can be kicked off the production is if they put their own agenda ahead of the project.
The community forum to be held along with the play will feature Judge Rogelio Flores, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, artist Guillermo Willie, and community builder Efren Gorre from City Corps in Oxnard. The forum will address incarceration and reentry in California, which has a 70 percent recidivism rate—twice the national average—at a cost of $49,000 per year per inmate, according to the Poetic Justice Project.
Tobola said she hopes the event can help start a dialogue and break stereotypes about the criminal justice system.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone enjoys negatives becoming positives. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2011.
