Breaking
Through the Cultural Apartheid
by
Jay Blotcher
While
the prevailing message is that people should take responsibility
for their actions, and break self-defeating patterns, Monasterial
knows that preachy theater can be easily dismissed. “[Recidivism]
is therapy,” he said, “but if it wasn’t good theater,
no one would watch it.” His theatrical skills were honed at
Manhattan’s famous HB Studio.
Monasterial
has nurtured his current theater program, Passing the Torch through
the Arts, while maintaining his own small construction company.
As he did for Three Brothers, Monasterial mounts shows at schools
and auditoriums for at-risk and low-income youth [“people
with ambition but an inability to vent their frustrations,”
he said]. Recent productions have been staged for members of the
Boys & Girls Clubs and young parishioners from local black community
churches. Monasterial strives for his company’s fiscally self-sufficiency.
Monasterial
will return to ASK next February with a production of Lorraine Hansberry’s
A Raisin in the Sun and then tour regional middle schools. There
is talk of filming Recidivism in the old UlsterCounty Jail.
In
an era where schools face shrinking budgets and are forced to jettison
their arts programs, Monasterial sees Passing the Torch as a crucial
resource. “There are so many bad choices out there,”
he said, “so many dark paths these kids can take.”
Bruce
Grund waxes optimistic about the potential of the partnership forged
by the two theatrical companies.
“We
both want to make sure we break through the cultural apartheid.”
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