500 Angry Men

This essay describes the drama and metadrama of the final performance of Twelve Angry Men, produced in the spring of 2003 by and for inmates at the “Big House,” formally known as Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York State. The play was produced by Rehabilitation through the Arts (RTA), an inmate-run theatre program that provides an opportunity, under the tutelage of a handful of theatre professionals, to develop skills in acting, directing, playwriting, and technical aspects of theatre. Over the last seven years, RTA members at Sing Sing have created strong ensemble pieces that have both cultivated an enthusiastic following from the prison population and contributed to participants’ sense of social responsibility, a key component of rehabilitation. The essay traces the closing of the medium-security unit, Tappan, that housed most of the RTA members and the rapid germination of the program in other prisons in New York State.