Restorative Justice

A Body in Motion: Transcending

Pain

Sorrow

Remorse

I choked back tears

I cried

These are just some of the reactions the incarcerated men and women had while watching the play, A Body in Motion. Based on Howard Zehr's acclaimed book, Transcending, the 70 minute play explores how survivors of crime triumph over the tragedies in their lives. The Prison Society, through a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the Inmate General Welfare Fund, sponsored a tour of A Body in Motion with assistance from the Office of the Victim Advocate and Episcopal Community Services.

Approximately 1,500 prisoners at eight prisons attended the performances. One audience member later commented that "it is like going to the dentist. I don't want to do this, but it needs to be done."

Once seated, it was hard to ignore the intense emotion and activity on stage. The audience was silent and motionless. One could feel the attentive respect for the characters, their stories of violence, and their experiences with transcendence. It was hard, though. One audience member later reflected that he "thought about leaving the play at one point because of the emotions it stirred in me."

Indeed, the play stirred many reactions in the audience. In written evaluations, the talkback session immediately following the play, and during the afternoon debriefing session, audience members shared their reflections:

1. Is it too late to say I'm sorry?
2. You just wish you could turn back time.
3. What have I done?!!!
4. [I experienced] many different emotions including: anger, fear, pain, melancholy, sorrow, regret and most of all shame and remorse.
5. [It was] good to see real feelings - I'm very tired of living with a bunch of people that "are too hard to feel pain."

1. I wanted to feel defensive. I wanted to bash the play. But I just couldn't.
2. In here, we ask God to forgive. But the play showed that for victims, relationship with God can be frustrating.
3. I've never been this honest. I am a rapist. I was able to blame my actions on others. Not anymore.
4. I've taken a lot of Christmases away from people.

The stories in the play were not just the stories of other people, they were also the stories of the prisoners themselves. They told us:

1. It helped me with my own pain.
2. My mother was murdered on Mother's Day. She was stabbed and I cleaned up the blood.
3. [I thought about how] I'm not "crazy" for wondering why I can't reach "closure."
4. I related to anger - the angry mother - I felt pain for all the people I know who have been killed.
5. The power to move on lies within self. I felt trapped when I was raped until I found the courage and power not to be subdued by the perpetrator.
6. My mother was killed when I was 15 years old, and I myself am a crime victim!
7. In my community, violence is an everyday experience. We don't have the luxury to let out yell at God, to sit on the couch. But we sure have gone to a lot of lasagna parties!
8. I made the hard choice to forgive and it was the right thing for me. I was able to move on. You need to move forward. You're stuck. You're bitter. You need to see if you can forgive. [one prisoner talking to another about her feelings toward someone who offended her]
9. Two of my friends were murdered. Their mom "adopted" me as her surrogate son. She was strong and never let any emotions out about the murders. I need to call her and talk.

The emotion evoked is intense and unavoidable. Prisoners have told us that the play is more powerful than any other victim impact program in which they have participated. Some prisoners even suggest the play "opened up their wounds" so they can begin to express buried emotions on a positive way. Prisoners further commented:

1. Powerful
2. It should be mandatory.
3. I love it!
4. We need more of this type of presentation.
5. Thank you for caring enough to bring such a beautifully, moving human-sided play to us…
6. A very good play that catches the heart/attention of the viewers. I give it a grade A+, beyond excellence.
7. It open up a lot of eyes.

Perhaps the most telling statement about the influence of the play is this: 95% of prisoners suggest on written evaluations that other people in prison should see A Body in Motion.

The Pennsylvania tour of A Body in Motion would not have been possible without the following people and organizations:

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
Office of the Victim Advocate
Episcopal Community Services
Beth Mingey
Prisoners and prisoner organizations at each of the eight institutions
Local victim service providers in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Media, Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre

And, a special tribute to:

Ingrid De Sanctis, A Body in Motion Director and Playwright
Allison Glenzer, Libby King, Trenton Wagler, and Lisa White, A Body in Motion cast
Howard Zehr, author of Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims