February 1, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
Both the education and lives of our students have been enriched by the unique, community-based theatre company, Passing the Torch Through the Arts. Under the direction of producer, director, writer and actor Michael Monasterial (a quadruple threat) our students, faculty and community have been able to participate, on our campus in New Paltz, in a number of theatre-based projects which have demonstrated both pedagogical and entertainment based applications. Multi-ethnicity, color-blind casting, theatre for social justice and empowerment, scripts dedicated to education and social change – these are all present in the goals and objectives of this Company and one which we, in the academic community, are pleased to partner with.
As an educator, the Company offers me the opportunity to demonstrate to my theatre students the nature of color-blind casting and in one of Mr. Monasterial’s pieces, actors switch back and forth between Caucasian and African-American actors effortlessly, without regard for the actor’s racial features. Dramatic works, such as an adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Hear the Music and Nobody offer the opportunity to experience the stories of individuals whose accomplishments are undermined by prejudice and hatred but who, nonetheless, persevere. Learning about historical figures through dramatic and musical works allows our students to view these characters and their situations through the lens of the socio-cultural underpinnings and influences that have shaped the world they live in. These connections are made palpable on stage and my students consistently tell me how they are moved and impacted by these performances.
In addition, Mr. Monasterial brings works-in-progress to our theatre appreciation classes including a recent one, Two Whores, a mature work and two-hander which explores the nature of physical intimacy and neediness among two damaged individuals. Reading the play aloud in a class of 180 students allowed two of our acting majors an opportunity to create roles from scratch and our “audience” to be able to listen, comment and talk-back to the playwright and actors. This dovetails beautifully with course objectives and methodology.
The Company, as you know, is also heavily involved in youth-at-risk projects and while our students at the University tend to be a few years older, there are many crossover issues to be in engaged in. Our theatre and secondary education majors are experiencing methodologies for teaching first-hand that are out of the classroom and this is surely one additional resource they can cultivate and develop as they pursue their education.
Please support Mr. Monasterial and the Company to the fullest extent of your abilities. We are proud of our continuing association.
Yours truly,
Stephen Kitsakos
Lecturer, Theatre Studies
Theatre Arts Department
School of Fine & Performing Arts
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Check out the great press!! Group plans green expo |
Michael: Thanks for selecting Carly to be a participant in "Who's Running Things?". She really enjoyed it.
Regards,
Joel
Mike, I saw the performances at SUNY New Paltz a couple of weeks ago and thought they were terrific. Congratulations on the work. What a great teaching tool also! Anne Wandres (from the playwright's lab)
~ Anne Wandres
January 16, 2010
Dear Michael,
I am writing on behalf of the AWARENESS Teens to thank you for donating your time to teach them acting skills each week for 8 weeks last year. You have a great way of bringing out the best in the teens that had no prior experience; your dedication to helping youth is to be admired. I wish you much luck and success in your future endeavors. I hope we will be able to work together again in the future.
Sincerely,
Marie Shultis
AWARENESS Teens
Adult Coordinator
Grass Root Teen Group presents program with newly created DVD for Alcohol Awareness
photo credits: Mid Hudson News
Dear Michael,
I just had to write to thank you for your inspiring performance at Phoenix Academy. The material that you presented was very appropriate for our students. So many of them do not get the message and they repeat the negative behaviors over and over again. Your message was presented in a very sincere and conrete way that our students can relate to.
I wish you good luck in the work that you are doing to make a difference for our troubled youth. If you need a recommendation, please do not hesitate to call on me. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Janet Eisenman
Project Arts Coordinator
New York City Department of Education
Passing the Torch Through the Arts WAMC Interview - "Finding Out" July 26th, 2009 © Copyright 2009, WAMC |
...from the TIMES HERALD RECORD, published August 14th, 2009
Passing The Torch Through The Arts is producing two very thought provoking plays at the historic Howland Center in Beacon. Both one act dramas are written by Michael Monasterial and both are directed by Brian Petti.
The first play is an adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Four adept performers handled the many roles called for in this drama. The tale is told in flashback by Scout (Christa Trinler) as she gives an eyewitness account of her father’s legal defense of a black man wrongfully accused of attacking a white woman in 1935 Alabama. Trinler is genuine throughout but sometimes her Southern accent falters. Michael Monasterial has the intriguing task of playing both white and black characters as well the two main characters at the trial: Tom Robinson the accused and Bob Ewell the father of the accuser. This is a fascinating feat to watch. Johanna Tacadena has the daunting task of playing both male and female characters, which she does with great skill. Ron Morehead portrays Atticus Scout’s father and Tom’s lawyer with proficiency and cordiality.
Monasterial choice of using merely four performers suited the piece well except at times (i.e. the trial scene) where one more male could have lessened the musical chairs effect of actors changing characters in the same scene. Monasterial cleverly maintains the story and the dramatic message within an hour time frame.
The other piece entitled “Hear The Music – The Story of Harry Belafonte” could be called a musical. All the music which is accompanied on guitar by Terry Weaver and sung by the three performers Mary Ellen Petti, Johanna Tacadena and Michael Monasterial are well known hits by Mr. Belafonte. The piece is an homage to Mr. Belefonte’s many “battles” during his career beginning as Gang Member, Soldier, Singer, Actor, Civil Rights Activist and Humanitarian. Once again Monasterial uses a small cast (Tacadena and Petti) to portray a myriad of characters (most of them well known). He portrays the man himself. Tacadena and Petti do a grand job of accents and impersonations (some dead on). Monasterial is no slouch himself in both mannerisms and singing.
Director Petti has brought a top notch cast of performers together for both pieces penned by a talented Monasterial. The Howland Center poses some challenges for live theater but these performers could easily display their talents in a barn and still please.
Exclusive Interview on WAMC!
"The Roundtable" with Sarah LaDuke
Featuring: Passing the Torch Through the Arts Founder and Artistic Director Michael Monasterial!
Airs Thursday, August 13, 2009 @ 9:00 a.m
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Triple Threat Man On Board For Turbulent Voyage His name is Michael Monasterial, and he’s actually more than a triple threat man: He’s an actor, writer, director, producer, educator, builder, and visionary; and one – just one -- of his many jobs is producing Paul Cooper ‘s Turbulent Voyage, ASK’s Quadricentennial play, which will be performed at the Art Society of Kingston the last weekend of September, and the first weekend in October. At the same time, he’s directing and performing in Passing The Torch Through The Arts, an outreach program one of whose missions is to bring fine plays – such as To Kill a Mocking Bird – to young audiences who would otherwise never get the chance to see them. The program also runs a new Playwright’s Workshop in Beacon. Monasterial’s motto is “Theater + Education + Positive Action = Social Change,” and this charismatic man makes you believe in it all. A Board Member in The Art Society of Kingston, Monasterial enjoys helping out with the drama effort. “These guys are trying to build something,” he says, “and I am, too. I can learn from them.” Monasterial’s contribution to Turbulent Voyage is to design and build the platforms, hang and wire the lights, and provide a myriad of other resources – all this while attending to the demands of other theatrical ventures. Not all the stars appear on stage. |
"Program Fosters Education Through Theater" click the title to read the full article |
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Play Explores the Price of Fame Hudson Valley Press article about upcoming production of NOBODY click the title to read the full article |
From Buzzine Magazine...
Taking it Back to the Theatre
On the east coast, another summertime trip out to the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore might be convenient and tempting, but don’t disregard the region north of Westchester where one company is keeping theatre on fire in the Hudson Valley. Here, every performance is an eye-opening night.So forget the MTA trains or the Greyhound bus. Taking Doc’s time machine right back to the theatre is a much more exciting excursion, so gear up for some time travel. Since examining cultural shifts via the arts is essential to understanding our blue-green world, Kingston, NY, home base for Passing the Torch Through the Arts is an ideal starting point.
This theatre company is constantly taking audiences on a trip and the best news is there are many places to go.
Hopping briefly back to ancient Rome, we know that the Pax Romana (aka the Roman Peace) lasted for about two hundred years. Compare that to our distinctly varied decades of the twentieth century that have been defined by milestone events that inspired everything from movies to movements to Billy Joel songs. Pop culture would certainly be running on less fuel without historic moments like Pearl Harbor, the tragedy of the Titanic and the free spirited Woodstock Festival. Let us not forget the Madonna-esque 80s and the grunge-inspired 90s when having a beeper was actually cool.
Getting up to speed with the twenty first century, it’s impossible not to notice that most adept at streamlining the times are the New York City’s talented DJs. These sound media masters manage to blaze through history musically to deliver everything from Prince to Lady Gaga all in one remix.
Riding the new millennium wave is Passing the Torch Through the Arts by mixing history and dramatic scripts to create educational theatre that is both culturally significant and entertaining. On an unwavering mission, they are a “culturally diverse, community based theater company, dedicated to education and social change.”
Under the direction and leadership of producer, actor and playwright Michael Monesterial, the company hit the ground running with shows in 2000. Since then, they have developed a strong presence in the Mid-Hudson Valley turning up at numerous performance venues. With shows that pack a potent intellectual punch, their selected material speaks to the youth, community and generations that have seen the nation go through many social, political and economic shifts.
In 2009, they have already made a notable impression with their work. Their recent shows include a mind-altering presentation of original play King and Kennedy staring the playwright himself Michael Monesterial and regional actors Brett Owen and Soyal Smalls. The show depicted a conversation between Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK prior to both assassinations. Ms. Smalls played a particularly intimidating and troubled Coretta Scott King in a production that held much appeal to contemporary audiences.
But this is only the beginning since it seems as though the altruistic mission of those who dedicate their lives to making positive change is never done. After all, saving the Union (a bunch of times) took some effort, as did freeing the slaves (that only happened once) and securing the right for females to vote. Luckily, the right of the people to (peaceably) assemble remains guaranteed by the US constitution. However, it seems that while the masses are gathered, there is no harm in providing a bit of educational entertainment to move whatever the event along.
Answering this call is Passing the Torch as they have also recently produced an adaptation of the literary classic “Of Mice and Men.” Currently in the works are “To Kill a Mocking Bird” and a Harry Bellefonte biographical piece. July 2009 opens with a play called “Nobody, the Life of Bert Williams” and an ongoing New Playwrights Lab in Beacon, NY at the Howland Cultural Center. With so much going on, it would be wise to check out passingthetorchthroughthearts.com to avoid being left out of the loop.
Speaking of time loops, while heading back to the future from 1985 is a little out of the question, at least you can swing back to the past by passing through the theatre. For all the Sci-Fi junkies out there, you won’t even need a flux capacitor for this trip.
Candi Sterling
Journalist + Actor + Director
New YorkArts, Culture & Green Lifestyle
www.candisterling.com
Lenny & George, Meet Martin & Jack
click the title to read the full article
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KING AND KENNEDY (click the titles to read the full articles)
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A Letter Re: SUNY New Paltz Visit on Monday, February 16th
Dear Michael:
Grateful thanks for bringing your energetic and intelligent theatre group to my class, "Introduction to Theatre" on Monday, February 16th. As guest lecturers and performers, you presented a program that was coherent, edifying and entertaining. Your play about Dr. King and JFK was filled with humor, pathos and an historical sensibility that was both accurate and appealing. The employment of color-blind casting and conceptual presentation was important me as a theatre educator interested in illuminating ways for college students to "experience" theatre in the realities of the 21st century.In that regard I could see that my 140 students, a microcosm of the racially and ethnically diverse campus population, were intrigued, more than a little, by the passion and commitment present in McKenna Theatre.
What wonderful support you received from "two" of our own: Brett Owen, whose performance as JFK and others was exceptional, and Soyal Smalls whose brief appearance as Coretta Scott King, gave the proceedings a touch of gentility.
I am grateful to "Passing the Torch Through Arts" for their participation in my class.
Stephen S. Kitsakos, Lecturer
Theatre Studies
Department of Theatre Arts
School of Fine & Performing Arts
A RAISIN IN THE SUN (click the titles to read the full articles)
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Community Theatre Makes a Connection From book to stage and screen that’s what has been capturing me in the artful world of literature. When “Color Purple” hit Broadway I was determined to see the show, before it ended like a “Raisin in the Sun” and I had to revel in other people’s reviews. During the last week of “the purple” production, I was fascinated and captivated. Brilliant scenery, excellent vocals and dazzling dances. I loved it! Of course, without the original ending when Shugs makes amends with her father — earthly and heavenly the spiritual context of the color purple was lost. What happens to a dream deferred? Hansberry also wrote this play, then, so white America could see blacks in other roles besides housekeepers and minstrels. After connecting the play to the poem, now, as a black woman, mother, parent, wife, and daughter I see people of all races, creeds and colors, who have experienced their dreams dry up in the sun as they make a decision to run or despite the sagging load carry on. |
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RECIDIVISM and WHEN THE CHICKENS CAME HOME TO ROOST (click the title to read the full article)
- Theater as Social Catalyst: Two Strong Plays at ASK
Woodstock Times
From the Kingston Freeman
By Bonnie Langston
Michael Monasterial, a Kingston man who says theater saved his life, is on a mission.
His mission is, at least figuratively, to help save the lives of at-risk youths through the arts.
"If I can get them young enough...," Monasterial said. "I'd like to show them there is a higher path."
He hopes two one-act plays, "Recidivism," which he wrote, and "When the Chickens Came Home to Roost," by Laurence Holder, will help lead the way. Both debut Wednesday, the first in a string of evening performances at The Arts Society of Kingston, 97 Broadway, in the city's Rondout district.
Town of Ulster resident Bruce Grund is co-producer and director of both works, and Monasterial will play lead roles in each. The casts are multi-racial, range in age from 17 to 50 and incorporate veterans and novice actors, most of them local.
The first play portrays the struggles of a father and son who meet in a holding cell in a county jail, and the second frames the historic confrontation between Malcolm X and Elijah Mohammed. Both plays, Monasterial said, celebrate positive action and provide a message of hope.
Their presentation, he said, is a "coming out party" for a fledgling project under the umbrella of Passing the Torch, Through the Arts, a new multi-ethnic theater company dedicated to education and social change. Monasterial, the artistic director, envisions after-school theater programs that take place in two-month cycles in which young people take part in every element of presentation - writing, acting, producing, creating scenery and more. In so doing, he said, participants will learn cooperation, leadership and other life skills that transfer well to the world of work.
The 44-year-old Bronx-born Monasterial, a carpenter and contractor, said he is an example of how that concept operates. As a youth, his lifestyle wasn't working well. He hung out with "bad kids" in Yonkers where his family moved when he was 13. He recalls living in a "crazy" environment as a black kid in a white neighborhood where his "personal trauma" included molestation, being chased by mobs, not to mention exposure to fire-bombings across the street.
It was recognition and encouragement by his music teacher, the only African-American instructor at Roosevelt High School at the time, that led Monasterial to alter the destructive path he had been following. She told him he was a "natural" for the ninth grade's rendition of "The Music Man," and suggested he try out. He auditioned and he got the lead.
"That was my start in theater," Monasterial said, "and I loved it."
In fact, at 16, he landed a role Off-Broadway with the New Rochelle Children's Repertory Company in "The Runaways," at the Lion Theater on 42nd Street on Theater Row in New York City, followed by performance in "The Me Nobody Knows." Later, while at Westchester County Community College, Monasterial and friends started the Three Brothers Theater, which played to audiences in a variety of universities.
"Like most theaters," Monasterial said, "there wasn't a lot of money in it, but it was a lot of fun. That's where I developed my craft. I did a lot of writing, a lot of acting, built sets. We did everything."
He wants a similar experience for area youths who take part in his aptly named program, Passing the Torch, Through the Arts. He said he saw the need for such a program on his recent return to the area where a decade earlier he had served as student-government president at Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge.
"I was surprised by the crime rate within the youth population in the city of Kingston," he said, including racially motivated crimes. "So many young people are going to jail. That's what I expect from the Bronx, downtown Yonkers. I was surprised at how bad it was in Kingston."
Monasterial said he is dedicating his life to making positive changes, not only for at-risk, underprivileged youth, but also for his daughter Maya, who will turn 6 on Oct. 24.
"I don't want her to go through the same things I went through," he said.
When Monasterial, a board member and volunteer at the Arts Society of Kingston, learned of Grund's plans to present and direct "When the Chickens Came Home to Roost" at the space, he saw a great opportunity.
"He said he had written a play called 'Recitivism.' Could I take a look at it?" Grund said.
He said Monasterial's plan works well with his own agenda: to help break down "cultural apartheid" in Kingston. The plays presented together, Grund said, in a multi-cultural neighborhood could ease the way.
Like Monasterial, Grund has seen the theatrical experience heal youth who are struggling, including those in what was once called the Division for Youth in Highland where he worked mostly in theater during the 1980s and much of the following decade. He recalled the cast of incarcerated youth in "An Evening with Langston Hughes" and the accolades they received.
"Here they were, getting applauded for doing something positive for the first time in their lives," Grund said. "It was amazing."
It gives him hope for Monasterial's project.
"I like Mike's concept, which is part of the reason we joined forces," he said. "I believe that all art is potentially transforming."
Monasterial has seen that transformation in others as well. "Recitivism" was first performed at the Westchester County Correctional Facility in Valhalla six years ago where it met with "thundering" applause and standing ovations, said Monasterial.
"It's not a preachy play," he said. "The events are based on real situations."
Meanwhile, as Monasterial, Grund, additional actors and personnel practice the play and the Holder piece about Malcolm X, rehearsals also are underway for the February production of "A Raisin in the Sun," meant as a celebration of African American History Month. Candi Sterling, an Ulster County resident and theater major at SUNY New Paltz, will direct.
The show will play three weekends at the Arts Society of Kingston. Then it will tour the Hudson Valley with performances scheduled so far at Bailey and Miller middle schools in the Kingston educational system and Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie.
By the spring of next year, Monasterial hopes to tour yet another performance piece, a gospel musical for which he is writing the book and lyrics. That tour, he hopes will attract youth ministries in churches as well as other venues.
Meanwhile, he plans to take "Recidivism" to Phoenix House, a substance abuse treatment and prevention center in Westchester County during the first week of November. Napanoch prison in Ellenville is another possible site for a future performance, he said.
For now, though, much of Monasterial's focus is on youth. They will have a presence when "Recidivism" and "When the Chickens Came Home to Roost" kick off Wednesday at Arts Society of Kingston, he said, thanks to several area businesses that are lending financial support to the effort. They have made attendance possible for at least 100 youngsters from the Boys and Girls club and 50 youths from the Everette Hodge Center, both in Kingston. Family of Woodstock received 50 tickets to disperse to young people as well.
Monasterial hopes the upcoming performances will draw a large and culturally varied adult audience, too, an audience in tune with the goals of his broader program. He said good turnouts also will increase the likelihood that the arts society will welcome return performances by his company as well as its teaching component.
A continued presence seems likely anyway if others are in agreement with Richard Wixom, a fellow society board member. He and Monasterial have worked many weekends renovating the organization's second floor, reconfiguring the space that has a small stage.
Wixom said Monasterial is a "charismatic" man and a hard worker who is doing important work not only theatrically but also in community outreach.
"We are very, very happy to have him as part of the Arts Society," he said, "and we look forward to more productions in the future."
Monasterial said he is grateful for the society's support, but he also said he hopes someday his company will have its own space.
"If somebody could donate a barn shell, we could make it a theater. You can put that down," he told a reporter. "It could be anywhere."
Monasterial applauds sports and other positive avenues for youth, but he said theater is yet another option, one he is excited about offering to the youth of Kingston. Through the medium, he said, a young person headed down the wrong path can turn heel and change his or her destiny.
He said, "You can say, 'From now on, for the rest of my life, this is what my path is going to be.'"
From ROLL Magazine
Breaking Through the Cultural Apartheid
by Jay Blotcher
Ulster County residents Bruce Grund, 79 and Michael Monasterial, 44, come from different worlds, but their love of theater and belief in its capacity for social change links them. After meeting initially at a Tuesday night workshop for playwrights at Art Society of Kingston on the Rondout, their ongoing discussions resulted in a partnership between their respective production companies, Grund's Apocalypse Productions and Monasterial's Passing the Torch through Arts.The new hybrid has already borne fruit: a pair of socially explosive plays which will play nine times throughout the month of October at The Art Society of Kingston: When the Chickens Come Home to Roost and Recidivism, both directed by Grund.
When the Chickens Come Home to Roost concerns the symbiotic and later contentious relationship between civil rights leader Malcolm X and his mentor Elijah Mohammed which led to X's assassination in 1965. In this Lawrence Holder play, Monasterial plays Malcolm X opposite Stephen M. Jones as the imperious leader of the American Muslim movement.
Recidivism is a play written by Monasterial. The coldly technical word, known to correctional officers and social behaviorologists, refers to incarcerated people who upon release, eventually slip back into crime. In this one-act, a father and son confront the social patterns and personal demons that caused their troubles. Recidivism stars local actors Keith Bullock, Joel Yimbo Jr., Ricky Cannon, Tom Andriello and Jalon Jones.
The two plays are linked by many themes concerning African-American life and a legacy of injustice. Yet more simply, both plays deal with the primal dynamic between a father and his son, whether biological as in Recidivism or spiritual as in Chickens. Veteran director Grund had a clear impetus for bringing these plays to ASK"I really believe that racism is alive and well in this country -- and that includes Kingston," Grund said. These plays address the poisonous effects of racism, but also depict black lives, still an infrequent occurrence in local theater, Grund said.
"The ASK building stands across from two low-income housing projects," Grund said. "Young and old people of color pass ASK ten times a day and will not come in." By staging Chickens and Recidivism, Grund not only hopes to change the ASK audience dynamic, but also to provide inspiration to local youths."There is relevance [in Chickens] for today's audience," Grund said. He points out that Malcolm Little began his life not as an inspirational leader to millions, but as a petty criminal known as Detroit Red. "He was selling crack, pimping, robbing houses, and he turned himself around."
Bruce Grund has always believed that theater could change minds. That is why he has mounted shows wherever he can, whether on the stage of a small hole in the wall, or in the streets. [Most recently, he collaborated on the ImpeachMobile which participated in the Artists Soap Box Derby in Kingston.] For many years, Grund toiled in downtown New York City among fellow freedom fighters and unabashed old-school lefties. His early resume includes work with Bread & Puppet, reviewing local theater for underground papers and later shooting an award-winning documentary about the American involvement in Southeast Asia. Theater was indivisible from his existence as a political activist; he helped organize a college tour for Judith Malina and Julian Beck's The Living Theater. The message of the theater pieces was unequivocal: students must protest to end the Vietnam War.
"Many of the colleges erupted after theydid their performances," he said.
When he left New York in 1985, Grund came to Ulster County. Employed as a social worker for the county, he again combined his twin passions of agitating for social justice and creating provocative theater. After adapting poetry by Harlem Renaissance avatar Langston Hughes for the stage, Grund wrote and produced a play called Crack Alley. He cast former addicts and other youths at risk in the production.
"It was a transformative experience," Grund said. "Here they were being applauded for doing something that was positive, instead of ripping off somebody."Most recently, Grund directed a 2004 production of Howard Zinn's Emma, a stage dramatization of the life of one of his heroes: the 20th-century social activist Emma Goldman, at Byrdcliffe Theater. Goldman was a fierce, uncompromising feminist, free speech activist, union organizer, and anarchist. An immigrant to the United States, Goldman worked to improve ghetto conditions and spoke out against the Great War. For her efforts, Goldman was finally deported to Russia in 1919. In a 2004 interview, Grund told me that the playwright gave him permission to streamline the epic play. "He trusted me to go ahead and interpret his work the best I can."
Michael Monasterial was a jock at Yonkers' Roosevelt High School in the late 70s. He was also class clown. A friend suggested he apply that natural talent to joining the drama club. Looking back, Monasterial understands the dynamics at the work...
"When you have low esteem, you want to be someone else," he said, "so acting and drama just fit in with that."
After several high school productions, Monasterial graduated but kept his love of theater alive through college, resulting in the creation of his own acting company. Three Brothers Theater was established in 1984, while Monasterial also did daywork as a cameraman at the United Nations. He wrote several scripts and received local grants to stage them over the next seven years at local high schools and colleges. Often, the troupe only received stipends to cover gas money.
Monasterial pledged that his work would focus on upbeat messages. "I wanted plays with social significance," he said. "Themes of independence, self-sufficiency and pride." Monasterial, who is of mixed race [black, white and Puerto Rican] not only faced family problems at home, but admits that his life went off the rails at one point. While he declines to provide details, the misstep apparently involved either gang time or jail time or both, because Recidivism carries the bitter tang of prison talk and depicts the mounting passions that occur when testosterone behind bars clashes.
"All the material in this play is accurate," he said, "down to the uniforms, language, lifestyle."
Monasterial wrote Recidivism six years ago and first staged it for the members of a drug treatment program in the Westchester town of Valhalla. The audience, composed of former inmates, praised the integrity of the piece, telling the cast and playwright, "This is our story."
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.