REAL PEOPLE/TRYING TO MAKE AMENDS
Bringing Down the (Big) House
Former convict Richard Loya shares the theater work that saved him
Loya and colleagues surround his group’s artistic director, the actor Tim Robbins.
SOUTH CENTRAL L.A., where I was brought up, was full of gangs and drugs. At 15, I was assaulted, and it kept happening. I joined a gang because my friends in it weren’t getting beat up, and I wanted protection.
Within a year, I had killed someone. At 16, I was tried as an adult and sentenced to 27 years to life.
Prison was hell. I disconnected from humanity. I knew I had to be punished. But I couldn’t show I was scared, so I put on this mask of “I’m angry.” After 17 or 18 years, I went to my first parole board hearing. They told me, “Come back in five years.” Then, “Come back in four years.” Then, “Come back in three years.” They saw this hardened person.
There are classes in prison that we hope can help us change. I did dozens; nothing worked. But in 2016, The Actors’ Gang Prison Project arrived for an intensive seven-day class. The work allows you to play. It’s based on centuries-old theater, commedia dell’arte. You put on costumes, play games and do exercises. We were allowed to be vulnerable. By the third day, I had cried at least twice. I started feeling the change.
A year later, in 2017, the parole board found me suitable, and I was released. I went to thank the people who helped me. My instructor asked, “What if we took you back inside to teach?” I told him to sign me up.
Within months, I was going back in. Now I’m codirecting a play.
Every day I think about my victim and their family. I can’t change what I did. I wish I could. So to honor them, I chose to change and give back. When I teach people, I can say, “I was in your shoes.” And they’re inspired to change. It gives them hope. —As told to Leslie Quander Wooldridge
Richard Loya, 51, works as a program manager of The Actors’ Gang Prison Project in Culver City, California.