Phoenix Players Theatre Group (PPTG)

To contact PPTG, please reach out to Bruce Levitt at bal5@cornell.edu

Mission

The Phoenix Players Theatre Group was founded in 2009 at Auburn Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Auburn New York, by a small group of incarcerated men dedicated to the idea that theatre work, combined with group inner healing work, is a true opportunity for them to connect and to become more fully human.

“The Phoenix Players Theatre Group is a program developed by and for incarcerated persons and Communities in a maximum-security prison. It is a transformative theatre community, which utilizes theatre to reconnect incarcerated people to their full humanity. Experiences gained through PPTG significantly increase incarcerated peoples’ chances of transcending the negative labels and histories of criminality that define them within the greater society.”

History

PPTG was founded in 2009 at Auburn Correctional Facility by a small group of incarcerated men dedicated to the idea that theatre work, combined with group inner healing work, is a true opportunity for them to connect and to become more fully human.

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"2008
The earliest documents that begin to germinate the ideas for PPTG begin late 2008
Even in this very early proposal the creative passion and desire to establish their own “redemptive and transformative” process that will mark the group’s future endeavors is evident.
"2009
Michael Rhynes and Clifford Williamson, incarcerated men in the Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York, founded the Auburn Phoenix Players"
Shortly thereafter, the two renamed the company to form The Phoenix Players Theatre Group (PPTG).
They did this because they both realized that, while they were “in” Auburn, they were not “of” Auburn. In the founders’ own words, “PPTG is a grassroots program developed by and forincarcerated persons and communities in a maximum security prison. It is a transformative theatre community, which utilizes theatre to reconnect incarcerated people to their full humanity” (Phoenix Players Theatre Group 2014a).” -Excerpt from “Where the Walls Contain Everything but the Sky: The Birth and Growth of the Phoenix Players Theatre Group”

What Defines Us?

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  • Devised and performed 5 theater pieces for over 400 people
  • Welcomed 28 members
  • Filmed and released a documentary
  • Created a Prison Theater class for Cornellians
  • Been referenced in 17 articles
  • Worked with 11 past and present volunteers
  • Collaborated with 30 students and filmmakers

"We are a community of transformation.

Through the power of self discovery,

We create the opportunity

To know and grow

Into ourselves."

People

Facilitators

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BRUCE LEVITT

Bruce Levitt is a Professor in the Department of Performing and Media Arts at Cornell University.

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JUDY LEVITT

Judy Levitt joined the PPTG family as a facilitator in the fall of 2011 and is extremely grateful to have been welcomed into this group.

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NORM JOHNSON

Norm Johnson, Jr. is in his 25th year teaching movement and scene study at Ithaca College.

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ALISON VAN DYKE

Alison Van Dyke taught acting, speech and dialects at Cornell University in the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance.

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STEPHEN COLE

For nearly 40 years as a professor in Cornell’s Department of Theater, Film, and Dance, Stephen Cole trained scores of fledgling young actors.