Variety reports Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, the groundbreaking play written for inmates in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, is on its way back to New York. The story of the play's creation and presentation inspired the feature film Sing Sing.
The original company of now formerly incarcerated actors, who mostly reprised their roles in the A24 film, will reunite to perform the play Off-Broadway February 3 at New York Theatre Workshop. The one-night-only event will be hosted by J. Smith-Cameron, with a special post-show Q&A with the cast and Brent Buell, the original director and playwright.
The film stars Colman Domingo as a falsely imprisoned man who joins a theatre group with other incarcerated men at Sing Sing, a maximum security prison in New York State. Together, they stage an original production titled Breakin' the Mummy's Code as a part of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, which uses theatre as a form of social rehabilitation by giving the incarcerated an artistic outlet. The NYTW presentation will be the first time the play has been presented in full to civilians.
The NYTW presentation will feature Clarence Maclin, Sean “Dino” Johnson, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, John “Divine G” Whitfield, Dario Peña, James “Big E” Williams, David “Dap” Giraudy, Miguel Valentin, Cornell “Nate” Alston, Camillo “Carmine” Lovacco, Mosi Eagle, Pedro Cotto, Patrick “Preme” Griffin, and Cecily Lyn.
Presented by A24, the NYTW production is also a collaboration with The Just Trust and Rehabilitation Through the Arts. Visit NYTW.org.