Rikers Island inmates get a taste of ancient Greece
Some inmates at New York City’s biggest jail got a taste of ancient Greece this weekend.
A theater company went to Rikers Island on Saturday to perform skits from plays by Sophocles that deal with wounded, traumatized warriors and how they deal with other people off the battleground. It was a perfect fit for the New York audience behind bars – about 20 military veterans living in a new jail unit where even the correction officers are veterans.
Bryan Doerries, head of the Theater of War company that presented the Greek tragedies, then invited the imprisoned veterans to discuss their personal stories.
The Department of Correction’s Senior Deputy Commissioner Timothy Farrell says officials are trying to give these veterans charged with non-violent crimes “a sense of camaraderie.” [AP]
