Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train to Rikers Island to bring a story of transgression, revenge, faith and, finally, a message of hope and inspiration to about 100 inmates at the Eric M. Taylor Correctional Center. In a dramatic case of art imitating life, the play about two men jailed on Rikers Island for violent crimes played to a male audience incarcerated for a variety of violent and nonviolent crimes. The play is about two inmates: Angel Cruz who, after losing his best friend to a religious cult, shoots its leader in the rear, and Lucius Jenkins, a serial killer housed in an adjoining cell, who has found God. The writer, Stephen Adly Giurgis, whose plays often deal with aggression, guilt and redemption, found the seeds for this work in his experiences as an HAI actor/facilitator. HAI introduced him to social service facilities, including shelters for homelessfamilies, hospitals, detention centers and correctional facilities, all institutions working with people in varying states of despair and hope. These experiences, combined with his own urban roots, led to his creating Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train.

Months earlier, prior to the end of the play’s critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run, HAI staff and Peer Educators who worked with Mr. Giurgis in HAI’sViolence Prevention Program attended the production. Following the performance, HAI staff person Rhonda McLean-Nur led a discussion between the cast and the audience about the reactions the play had elicited. This brought out many personal experiences and feelings about the criminal justice system. It even led to the idea of bringing the play to Rikers Island for inmates to experience one playwright’s depiction of life in jail and all that it entails - for them to see themselves as others see them, to laugh at jokes that might hit home, and to feel remorse and sadness about their current situation filtered through the characters in the play. In essence, the in-mates were able to use the play as a mirror, seeing themselves from a distance and taking on the role of judge and social critic.

The cast included Joe Quintero, David Zayas, Sal Inzerillo, Elizabeth Sherman, and Ron Cephas Jones. For this audience, the actors were somewhat more concerned than usual about their portrayals of inmates, correctional officers and lawyers. Would their characters realistically represent life in jail and the tensions that exist between guards and inmates? The actors were also anxious knowing that they could not necessarily predict this audience’s response; they did know from the start that this audience would be honest and uninhibited in expressing their feelings. For example, the inmates cheered and applauded as the actor portraying a corrections officer delivered a powerful and venomous monologue directly attacking and demeaning the actor playing an inmate.

Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and won top honors this past summer at the “Fringe” Edinburgh Festival, which prompted its move to an esteemed London theater.