We Are Not Alone: Reflections from “Broken Clock” Inside and Out
The Maine Inside Out board, staff, and Lewiston community group at “Broken Clock” on June 17 at The Public Theatre. Photo by Caroline Burns.
The “Broken Clock” tour continues to deepen. Three June performances inside Maine prisons and a special Juneteenth performance in Lewiston has transformed the play as each audience responded to the show.
The line “Has anyone seen my son?” resonated with incarcerated men who shared “how many times has my mom had to ask, has anyone seen my son?”
Another young man inside shared “I’m loving my mom through the phone.”
It resonated with an incarcerated woman, “I feel like that’s what I am doing from inside here. I am trying to reach out to my son.”
It resonated with a woman at the Juneteenth performance who shared “my son has been incarcerated for half his life.”
This is one line from a play that deeply resonated with audiences inside and out. The performances and dialogues were about seeing each other, and seeing each other in the ways we are most often alone, isolated or not seen: grief, shame, addiction, loss, suffering, violence. As an incarcerated son. As an incarcerated mother. As a mother of someone incarcerated. As someone struggling with addiction. As someone who loves someone struggling with addiction. As a person in pain.
“I’ve been in college for 6 months now and nobody in my family knows because they won’t pick up the phone.”
“I often can’t get through to people on the phone and when I do I’m not able to say what I really want to say.”
How many people - incarcerated and not - can relate to that; to not being able to say what you really want to say?
The dialogues were dynamic in the ways that audiences responded to the play and directly to each other. People offered each other vulnerability, support, motivation, resources, advice, historical analysis, and action steps for social change. They offered questions: where are the resources? How can we change systems? How can we navigate conflict in our communities? They offered dreams:
“I’m dreaming of sobriety and a stable life”
“I'm dreaming of serenity”
“I’m dreaming of being forgiven by family members”
“I’m dreaming of retirement”
“I’m dreaming of parole”
“I’m dreaming of being forgiven by the people I harmed”
“I’m dreaming of freedom”
“Do you see me?” the play asks as bodies and identities collide together onstage.
“Thank you for letting us know we are not alone” said one audience member inside. He spoke for all of us: the cast, the people inside, the multi-generational audience on Juneteenth. Because when we see each other in our pain and in our dreams we are not alone. When we see each other we can begin to transform a culture of punishment and isolation into one that thrives in connection, dignity, and accountability.
After a performance at Maine Correctional Center, we broke bread with the audience by eating chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were baked by one of the men in the audience. We ate many, many chocolate chip cookies. The delight of chocolate chip cookies - delicious and abundant chocolate chip cookies - brought a childlike joy into the room.
On Juneteenth in Lewiston, Prince - the seven-year-old son of Creative Ensemble member Isha and MIO leader Mohamed Roone - asked for the mic and turned around to face the audience: “I’m happy to see everybody here, just having fun.”
Photographs from June 17 performance by Caroline Burns
Thank you to The Public Theatre for hosting us for Juneteenth, to Little Chair Printing for printing free “Broken Clock” and Juneteenth shirts in the lobby, and to the Southern Maine Workers’ Center for volunteering to be the safety team. Thank you to all of our event sponsors and partners, and to everyone who attended the performances in Lewiston and inside the prisons. We are grateful to be in community together and so excited to continue the tour this Fall.
Video reel from the Juneteenth performance of “Broken Clock” created by Sarah Violette
“Broken Clock” in Washington County
Our next performance of “Broken Clock” is in collaboration with Mano en Mano and the Blueberry Harvest School (BHS). BHS has been operating for over 30 years, ever since there was a large influx of migrant workers in Maine’s blueberry harvest in the 1970s. Migrant families travel to Maine from Mi’kmaq First Nation communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; from “Eastern Stream” states such as Florida and Mississippi; and from within Maine, including Passamaquoddy communities in eastern Washington County and a Latino community in western Washington County.
On August 11, MIO will perform “Broken Clock” at the Milbridge Theatre for members of the migrant community and open to the public. The performance is part of a three-day collaboration that includes a performance and theater workshop at BHS for children of migrant workers and a theater workshop for older youth and adults at the migrant camps. The performance is free and open to the public with an option for donation-based tickets. You can reserve tickets here!
We are thrilled to partner with Mano en Mano and BHS and to bring “Broken Clock” to Washington County. MIO has not received any specific grant funding for this collaboration and we are using our general tour fund to make this happen. There are many expenses for travel, lodging, food, and stipends related to bringing the performance and theater workshops to Washington County for multiple days. Please consider donating to support this exciting project or reach out to Molly Burk at molly@maineinsideout.org with any resources to support the collaboration. Thank you!
More than $38,000 raised to support the “Broken Clock” Tour!
The MIO community has shown up in incredible ways to support this tour. Our $25k in 20 Days campaign raised more than $38,000 to support the tour. Thank you to all who helped us exceed our goal! The funds raised make up 30% of our project budget, fully replacing the canceled federal grant and ensuring we can keep this tour on the road. We are continuing to raise funds to cover the rest of the tour costs so we can offer free performances inside Maine prisons and in urban and rural communities across the state. It’s not too late to donate if you want to be part of this - any funds raised will directly support the tour!
The featured speaker for the June community lunch was Dunkins Pierre of Youth-LED Justice. Dunkins spoke about the importance of connecting with the community and how the work he does to mentor youth and support families gives him meaning and is part of his healing from being incarcerated.
The monthly community lunches are a place for MIO’s statewide community of artists to connect with each other, offer peer support, express themselves through art, and learn from system-impacted mentors. This month, community artists created original poems on the topic of “eviction.” MIO statewide members can also access emergency funds through MIO’s mutual aid program that offers critical support in moments of crisis. Join us in the Fall for two more community open mics to share and witness original artwork and be together in community!
MIO Lewiston community group tabling at the Heart of Lewiston festival on June 14 hosted by the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council.
