Staging Shakespeare and Twelve Angry Men with fellow prisoners was a revelation but Oedipus Rex proved particularly poignant

When I came to the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) theatre at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1995, I’d been sentenced to 17 years for robbery. It was not my intention to watch a play. They were doing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I saw my brother Dino who was playing Big Chief, the Native American guy. I knew Dino from elsewhere in the jail, but not for this.

I got involved. I found a fascination for Shakespeare that I really didn’t expect. I didn’t think I’d understand the language. And I didn’t at first. But it fascinated me enough to research and study it: I loved becoming able to translate that so that others could feel the intensity of it.