The Stage Unlocks Hope in Prison-Set Drama ‘Sing Sing’

Rehabilitation through the arts. It’s not just a sentence but a lifesaver. For the incarcerated, how do you preserve your humanity? Prisoners, though it may not seem like it, are still human. Humans that one day will be released. Before their release, can they reconnect to their families, their communities and… to themselves? Maybe through Rehabilitation Through the Arts.

Sing Sing follows a group of prisoners as they put on a new play. The group’s de facto leader Divine G (Colman Domingo; The Color Purple) seemingly steers the ship when it comes to choosing what play to put on. The previous one was a success, but a newcomer Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin) suggests putting on a comedy to lighten the mood and tension. As a result of the suggestion, the group crafts a play that includes time travel, Hamlet, and Freddy Krueger. You read that correctly. Seems ridiculous? Yes, and that’s the point. But what matters is the journey, not the destination. 

During the film, we follow the prisoners as they navigate their feelings of being jailed and the possibility of never being released. Their freedom comes by way of performance. Though Domingo is the star and gives an immaculate performance, he is not the only talent in the company. Co-star Clarence Maclin gives just as charismatic and emotionally deep a performance as you’ll ever experience this year. You wouldn’t expect a prison film (beautifully shot on 16mm print) about theater performers to be fun and clever, but Sing Sing knows when to provide needed levity lockstep with the heart. The audience will experience the light and the dark but there is a harmonious balance of both. Some may compare Sing Sing to The Shawshank Redemption. While both films are doing drastically different things, they do embody an undercurrent of hope. “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things (The Shawshank Redemption).”

This is something to truly feel with the Rehabilitation Through the Arts and the men of Sing Sing. Don’t be surprised if Sing Sing appears on many top film lists come December and Coleman Domingo as Divine G is on your Oscars ballot come 2025.

Sing Sing is playing at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars