New England Youth Theater partners with the Brattleboro Community Justice Center to present "
The Quality of Mercy" , directed by Rebecca Waxman, November 12-21. A powerful theatrical collage of work inspired by class work during our Season of Restorative Justice, this production will focus on sharing awareness of Restorative Justice with the wider community.
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| The Cast of The Quality of MErcy stands in unity singing the song that ties the entire production together: "Out on the outside, that's where I've been. Out on the outside... Let me come in!" |
What is Restorative Justice? One student sums it up pretty well: “I don’t really know a lot about Restorative Justice. I know that its about how instead of saying ‘Okay you did this bad thing so you get this sentence and get thrown in jail,’ people talk about how to work things through. It’s like, someone does something that hurts people, and they have to sit down and hear how they’ve hurt people so they really understand. Then they have to make it right.”
The performance will be a multigenerational collaboration of youth and adult students, faculty, as well as alternating surprise groups from within the Brattleboro community. Scenes, monologues, songs and theatrical events explore relevant themes of justice, retribution and healing. Material is being pulled from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and many other great works, classic and contemporary.
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| Even the Brattleboro Police Department got involved in the production, with a lighthearted bit of self-mockery. Several of Brattleboros most courageous officers perform in Officer Krupke from West Side Story. |
Teacher James Gelter admits to a sense of caution at the start of the class session. “I was wondering at the beginning of class where the line would be – the line that I could push them to the precipice of. They showed me very clearly, ‘Here it is - we’re ready to deal with this stuff full on!’ The material that the teens are tackling is dangerous and edgy – dealing with substance abuse, power struggles, and relationships.
“This fall is full of serious, serious stuff. And, even though we didn’t exactly plan it this way, everything seems to be tied into these big themes of justice, oppression, and overcoming it,” says faculty member Peter Gould, who directed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in October.
Teachers leading classes this semester have trained with the Brattleboro Community Justice Center (BCJC) in elements of restorative justice, including role plays of what actually happens at a restorative justice conference. Instead of taking first-time offenders to court, the police department may refer a case to the Community Justice Center. In a conference style all affected parties sit together in a circle and the crime and impact on the community are discussed. A facilitator leads the discussion, allowing every person at the conference to give voice to the hurt that was done as a consequence of the crime. By the end of the conference, all parties come to an agreement on a contract that the offenders must fulfill to repair damage done as a consequence of their actions. If the contract is not fulfilled, the offenders must go through the courts. This, of course, is just one of the processes employed by the BCJC.
This production is a part of International Restorative Justice Week, organized locally by the Brattleboro Community Justice Center.
Last year, they held an open mic night at New England Youth Theatre to raise awareness, but this year they have received funding to do a partnership with the theatre to create a performance. The Quality of Mercy will run for two weekends from November 12
th to the 21
st, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 PM, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 PM, with matinees specially tailored for younger audiences.
Evening shows will include interactive panel discussions after the performances to further the connection to community and the understanding of Restorative Justice. Tickets will be
$6 for students, $8 for seniors, and $10 for adults You may purchase advance tickets online at
www.neyt.org, or at the NEYT box office on Wednesdays from 12-5pm.
For more information about our programs, please see our website or give us a call at 802-246-6398.
“As faculty members, we were all invited to sit on a Restorative Justice Panel – these are the groups that hear the stories of the people that commit the crimes and help them figure out what they can do to repair the damage that their crimes caused. It is so inspiring to be in the room as they tell their stories and work through it because they can be doing this instead of or at least in conjunction with community service, maybe instead of parole. All three folks that were there that night were really invested in this process, in what they could do to make things right.”
--Rick Barron
