The Healing Power of Theatre: Embracing Prison Theatre Programs

Across America, something amazing is happening: incarcerated individuals are healing past traumas through the arts.

The most popular and recognized organization leading this movement is Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), the inspiration for the acclaimed feature film Sing Sing.
Founded in 1996, RTA operates in several New York State prisons, offering programs in theatre, visual arts, music, writing, and dance. Its work has shown the profound impact of creative expression behind bars.

Multiple studies have found that prison theatre programs result in reduced infractions, improved emotional regulation, and increased educational achievement.

But beyond statistics, these programs unlock something even more powerful: human dignity.

Why Theatre Matters Behind Bars

1. Reclaiming Identity

Incarceration often strips people of their humanity, reducing them to a number or a case file.

Through theatre, participants reassert their voices, explore complex emotions, and rebuild a sense of self-worth.

Performance offers a safe space to process trauma, express vulnerability, and envision new futures.

Theatre participation teaches voice modulation, body language, confidence building, improvisation, and emotional intelligence, becoming a phenomenal and artistic way to equip people with public speaking skills.

2. Building Communication and Empathy Skills

Acting requires active listening, collaboration, and emotional authenticity — skills that translate into better conflict resolution, improved relationships, and stronger reentry outcomes.

Participants in RTA and similar programs report feeling more connected to themselves, their peers, and society at large.

3. Reducing Recidivism

Studies have shown that individuals involved in arts-in-corrections programs like RTA have significantly lower recidivism rates compared to those who do not participate, and programs such as Shakespeare Behind Bars have produced similar findings.

When individuals are offered opportunities for transformation rather than perpetual punishment, they are more likely to thrive after release.

4. Challenging Public Perceptions

When incarcerated performers share their work, whether through filmed performances, public readings, or community partnerships, they challenge the audience’s assumptions about who incarcerated people are and what they are capable of achieving.

Theatre humanizes individuals whom society often writes off, reminding us all that redemption is possible.

Notable Prison Theatre Programs

Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA): Operates in New York, offering year-round programming in several facilities. Featured in Sing Sing.
Shakespeare Behind Bars: Founded in 1995, uses Shakespeare’s plays to help participants explore themes of forgiveness, redemption, and human fallibility.
Prison Performing Arts: A St. Louis-based nonprofit offering programs for incarcerated adults and youth, focusing on literacy, critical thinking, and emotional expression.

A Path Toward Healing, Not Just Punishment

Theatre alone won’t fix a broken justice system.

But it offers a powerful glimpse of what a restorative and transformative approach could look like — one that recognizes the full humanity of those society has cast aside.

Art makes healing possible.

And where healing grows, so too, does hope.