Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising August 11, 2008 By Ronni Reich (BACKSTAGE.COM)
Both dramatically and socially compelling, the 1993 Lucasville prison uprising is an ideal subject for activist drama.
Physical
and emotional abuse prompts prisoners to take over a cellblock, holding
guards hostage. As the script by Staughton Lynd, Gary L. Anderson, and
Christopher Fidram often points out, racial tensions among inmates
vanish, and no physical harm is meant. But negotiator Dave Burchett (a
chilling Greg Mocker) ignores spokesman George Skatzes' demands and
turns off electricity and water. A murder and a forced false confession
are among the injustices that follow. Petitions and websites to support
the Lucasville five fill the program.
Characters
portrayed are real people, and negotiation tapes provide a basis for
dialogue. Lessley Harmon, who spent 12 years in prison, gives one of
the strongest performances as Namir Abdul Mateen. Arcale Peace also
shines as Keith Lamar. Acting varies otherwise, and at times the
prisoners' language is improbably professorial, but overall, Lucasville honors its mission.
Presented by ACLU of Ohio as part of the New York International Fringe Festival at the Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St., NYC. Aug. 8-10.
Lucasville: The Untold Story of a Prison Uprising
reviewed Aug 8, 2008 by Kimberly Wadsworth / nytheatre.com
I'm not certain whether Staughton Lynd's play Lucasville succeeds in its mission, mainly because I'm not certain what Lynd wanted to do. If he wanted to inform theatergoers about the particulars of this 1993 Ohio prison uprising, he certainly did so—I hadn't even heard of the uprising before attending, but now know a good deal about the prisoners' demands and the escalation of events. If he wanted to create an actual play, he was less successful, as he has adapted much of it from transcripts of phone conversations and interviews—at times at the expense of plot. If he wished to highlight George Skatzes, an inmate who served as the prisoners' spokesperson, he absolutely did, as the bulk of the action deals with Skatzes. But if he wished to highlight the other four inmates also convicted as ringleaders of the uprising, he fares less well, as the others only get the opportunity for one or two statements.
I suspect Lynd was trying to do all of these things. Thus the show is informative, but dramatically murky. At the very beginning, we are introduced to "The Lucasville Five," a group of inmates held responsible for the death of the one guard and the nine inmates killed during the uprising. After the five describe the roots of the conflict, we are plunged into the uprising proper—dispatched quickly with a blackout and a lot of shouting—nd soon Skatzes (Sam Perry, the ensemble's strongest actor) steps forward as a leader and spokesperson. Much of the rest of the play then becomes Skatzes's, as it focuses on his ongoing discussions with the State-appointed hostage negotiator (a delightfully unctuous Greg Mocker). Occasionally Lynd introduces other voices—National Guard members reviewing orders, statements from the guards held hostage, discussions between inmates—but everyone else is background for Skatzes. Including the other four members of The Lucasville Five, which left me wondering why we'd met them.
The rest of the Five don't return until the end, at their trial for the murder of the men killed during the uprising. Lynd gives each of the other four a chance to recite the testimony made during the actual sentencing—but not Skatzes. Instead, a woman in the audience rises and comes to the stage—Jackie Bowers, the real Skatzes's sister, playing herself. During the actual trial, she explains, she was not permitted to make a statement on her brother's behalf, so she will do so now. While the actual text of her statement is fairly ordinary, the fact that it is the real Jackie Bowers doing so—and the fact that she is frequently visibly overcome while speaking—makes it a gripping moment.
But a collection of gripping moments don't make a play. The cast and crew, supported by the Ohio ACLU, seem to be relying on the weight of the information itself to sway the audience, as they certainly do give a lot of it (the program is a whopping 32 pages, and contains several pages of background information and statements from the ACLU and copies of letters between inmates as well as the cast bios). But honing the material down into a more cohesive single story could potentially have made for an even more powerful piece of theatre.
Written/created by: Staughton Lynd, Gary L. Anderson, and Christopher Fidram
Directed by Brandon Martin
Presented by Ohio Supermaximum Players
Local director goes to NYC
By Sarah Poulton (from valley24.com July 31, 2008)
A play, written and directed by Valley residents, is making it to the big stage.
METRO MONTHLY (YOUNGSTOWN) article about LUCASVILLE (July 2008)
Staging Controversy - "Lucasville" raises awareness of questions about 1993 uprising
By John Patrick Gatta Metro Monthly Staff Writer
Time Out New York features article about LUCASVILLE (June 11 , 2008)
Summer Arts Preview 2008
Time Out New York / Issue 663 : Jun 11–17, 2008Click here for full text from the magazine site
Click here to hear from the prisoners
From April 11-21, 1993, 400 maximum security prisoners at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio took over a portion of this prison and held it for eleven days. Nine prisoners and one hostage correctional officer were killed. After a negotiated surrender, five alleged leaders of the prisoners (the Lucasville Five) were tried and sentenced to death. Other prisoners received long prison sentences for assault and so-called "kidnapping" (which often took the form of bringing captured officers blankets, medicines and other assistance). The most remarkable aspect of the uprising was interracial solidarity. The prisoners at SOCF were two-third African American. During the eleven days, representatives of the Muslims, the Aryan Brotherhood, and the Black Gangster Disciples met regularly to determine straategy. When the Highway Patrol entered the occupied cell block after the surrender, they found slogans saying "Convict Unity," "Black and White Together," and most provocatively, "Convict Race."
The interracial solidarity displayed during the rebellion has continued for fifteen years among the five men sentenced to death. Two were in 1993 members of the Aryan Brotherhood. One still is. Another two were and remain Muslims. The fifth is an unaffiliated African American. These men have refused to "snitch" on one another, gone on hunger strikes together, together represented the class of men confined at Ohio's supermaximum security prison in Youngstown, Ohio, and shared their legal materials. Those of us outside prison have little to show for the last forty years in the way of interracial solidarity. These five men may have something to teach us. The show also dramatizes the problem of informant (snitch) testimony. There was no physical evidence that could be used to convict prisoners in a court of law, according to the authorities. Accordingly prosecutors cut deals with one group of prisoners to testify against others. This highly unreliable kind of testimony accounts for many more mistaken convictions than the better-known cases in which DNA testing has demonstrated the innocence of convicted felons.
Attorneys Staughton Lynd (a co-author of the play) and Alice Lynd have devoted the last twelve years to the defense of the Lucasville Five and their colleagues. The play Lucasville is altogether based on trial transcripts, tapes of the negotiations between the authorities and the prisoners in rebellion, and other primary sources. The play is one means among many to help persons unfamiliar with this story to understand the injustice perpetrated by the State of Ohio. An earlier version of the play was presented in seven Ohio cities in 2007.
The Youngstown Vindicator features article in Sunday edition (6/8/08)
Read the article on vindy.com by clicking here
The New York International Fringe Festival Selects LUCASVILLE
The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) has chosen LUCASVILLE to be included in its showcase of plays. The festival is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues – for a total of more than 1300 performances.
FringeNYC generates an atmosphere of extreme excitement, and our energy is contagious. Visit the festival website fringenyc.org.
OHIO ACLU Hosts petition for Lucasville 5
We ask that Ohio's Governor appoint a special commission to investigate the uprising, bring justice
to those who’ve been wrongly accused, and bring closure to the many families
affected by the tragic events of fifteen years ago. Sign the petition on the aclu site.
YSU Performance Video
Brandon Martin directed a staged reading of the play in April 2008. View the entire piece on mockrevolution.com
