Staging Old Masters: Former Prisoners Perform at the Pulitzer
Former prisoners became actors and art historians in front of the masterworks currently on display at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in their exhibition, Ideal (Dis)Placement: Old Masters at the Pulitzer. In preparation for an ongoing succession of shows, the performers took a six-week class led by Prison Performing Arts director Agnes Wilcox. After writing about their impressions of the art pieces, their own words were made into a series of dramas they acted out in front of the pieces. The result was a captivating, participatory production that showcased humorous routines of personal histories bravely intertwined with modern day interpretations of the paintings.
The performers, ranging from two to maybe fifteen actors in each piece, led the audience through many locations in the galleries. The night began with a three-person act in front of Andrea Vaccaro’s Saint Mary Magdalen, and after many in between, ended with a multi-person piece reflecting on Jusepe de Ribera’s Saint Jerome. Bringing a sense of humor to many of the short theater productions, formats ranged from dialogues about technical details and narratives behind the paintings to reenactments of the subject matter. Some of the actors revealed great comedic timing. When two men recreated the action in Nicolas Regnier’s Self-Portrait with an Easel, the painter quipped that his lifestyle was paycheck to paycheck. Other pieces addressed more sobering topics, without ever taking too severe a tone as to put off the audience. The final portion on Saint Jerome included a section on the deadly sins where the entirety of the actors repeated overlapping, representative phrases.
The most poignant moments came when the actors disclosed personal anecdotes, which they felt related to the stories of the characters in the artwork. They demonstrated great honesty and self-reflection by exposing their histories in this way. However, visitors should not expect to attend these performances in anticipation of prying into the business of these people—instead the focus remains on the work the actors have invested in the project.
After the performance, which in total lasted about forty-five minutes, there was a question and answer session with the audience. The show I attended at 6:30 (there was also one at 7:30) had enthusiastic questioning; the actors were gracious, forthcoming, and demonstrated the same humor that was apparent in their theater production. The answers revealed that they had not known one another before this process began—amazing considering the chemistry of the performances. Only one individual had acting experience, which showed the extent of preparatory work and commitment that must have gone into the production. Ultimately, the personalities of the actors were what made the interpretations of the artwork fresh and entertaining.
Final performances are this weekend - Saturday at 6:30 and 7:30 and Sunday at 1:30 and 2:30, with a large panel discussion at 3:30pm. Their website at stagingoldmasters.pulitzerarts.org includes more information (and pictures!).
