Last week,
Mark Hunter, a writer for the Baton Rouge, LA newspaper, the Advocate reported
on Angola prisoners who are passionate about Jesus, literally! They are putting on a prison passion play.
In “The Life
of Jesus Christ,” the men portraying the two thieves are actually convicted
murderers and the man portraying Jesus is serving a 20 years-plus sentence for
armed robbery.
The
two-hour, two-act passion play features 60 male actors and stage crew members
serving sentences at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola and 18 female
actors serving their sentences at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for
Women at St. Gabriel. The last
performance was Saturday, May 5th at the Angola Prison Rodeo Arena.Dozens of sets, all crafted by inmates, will transform the rodeo arena floor into biblical Israel as the production describes the life of Jesus from the Bethlehem manger scene to the Jerusalem Temple to the empty Resurrection tomb.
Male and
female inmates made the costumes from recycled clothing, and while Angola
offenders are usually not allowed to grow beards, the men participating were
given special permission to do so. The story’s realism comes alive with
pigeons, sheep, goats, donkeys and even a camel.
This is also
the first time male and female inmates have been allowed to be together for any
similar activity, Angola Assistant Warden Cathy Fontenot said.
“We’re real
proud of the way they have all worked together,” Fontenot said. “This is an
example of our (Department of Corrections) philosophy of moral rehabilitation
that goes beyond Angola.
“They are
showing they can be trusted, that they can change and are doing something that
is purposeful instead of something that is evil,” Fontenot said. “Some of them
have done some terrible things, but they look at this (play) as something that
is holy, and they are not taking (that) lightly.”
The man
portraying Jesus is a good example, Fontenot said, and inmate Bobby Wallace
agreed.
“It’s
wonderful trying to portray my Savior,” Wallace, 43, said. “I’m getting to do
what he did — what he taught!”
Since 1996,
Wallace, from the West Bank of New Orleans, has been serving a 20-year-plus
sentence for armed robbery and has almost completed a New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary program offered at the prison.
Serey Kong,
32, portrays the younger Mary. Born in Cambodia and brought to New Orleans as a
young child in 1981, she is in her 10th year of an 11-year sentence for armed
robbery and expects to be deported upon release. Tears brimmed up in her brown
eyes as she talked about playing Mary.
Patricia
Williams, 51, of Shreveport, plays the older Mary. During a recent rehearsal,
when she cradled the body of Jesus after Roman soldiers took him down from the
cross, her weeping was no act — it was real.
Williams, who is halfway through a 10-year sentence for embezzlement,
said she couldn’t contain the sorrow of missing her own son who just returned
from a tour of duty in Iraq.
“I haven’t
seen my children for five years, and I feel like I’ve failed them by coming
here,” she said, wiping away more tears. Like the man playing Jesus, she also
grew up in church but strayed as an adult into crime.
“It took me
coming here to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ — and this is no
jailhouse religion,” Williams said. “We’ve all done something to come here, but
we are all doing this (play) to show people we are capable of change behind the
barbed wire.”
Sandra
Starr, 40, from Monroe, plays the part of Mary Magdalene. She is in her 17th
year of a life sentence for second-degree murder, but has found joy in
Christianity, she said, and is enrolled in seminary courses.
“This is
healing for me,” Starr said. “I was used and abused by men just like she was.
This (play) for me is redemption.”
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