*”I’m going to quote, Rhodessa Jones, ‘art is the parachute that might save us all.'”
Oscar-nominated actor Domingo Colman is the star of the new hope-provoking film Sing Sing, based on a true story about prison rehabilitation through the arts. In a chat with us, Colman and powerhouse newcomer Clarence Maclin opened up about the accessibility and power of the arts.
“I think we need to find expressions to find our empathy, to find the way we express our feelings, what’s inside, tell story. All of that is part of being human. And we need that, we need those tools,” said Coleman.
Maclin being a former prisoner himself once said ‘my dream is to give back to the community I once damaged.’
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“I do believe that is the path to wanting to build communities better,” said the Sing Sing breakout star Maclin. “That may mean getting on stage or in front of cameras and depicting characters that are doing that.”
The story surrounds a rotation of prisoners vying to play various characters through the RTA (Rehabilitation Through the Arts). Through the program, they tap into emotions and learn to cope with existential circumstances. ‘Sing Sing,’ a double entendre, is an existent correctional facility in Ossining, NY. Its namesake takes viewers on an emotional journey through performative drama and the mental distress of its prisoners.
To learn more about RTA and what it’s doing for people in the prison system, visit rta-arts.org.
Watch the entire conversation with Domingo Colman and Clarence Maclin above.
The film has been released in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
Directed by Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing is an urgent document of our time that on its surface is about a theater program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, one of the world’s most recognized prisons. Domingo gives a commanding performance as real-life prisoner “Divine G,” who leads a theater troupe that finds escape from the realities of incarceration through the creativity of putting on a play.
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