By Colin McGregor
The stage is lit up by spotlights. In the lobby just outside the theatre, artists present their works – painting, sculpture, poetry. Inside the theatre musicians ply their trade, thrilling the crowd. It’s a diversified show in every sense.
The Cabaret de la seconde chance (The Second Chance Cabaret) is a mixture of professional artists; justice system intervenors; and people with talent that have, at one point or another, had some issues within the criminal justice system.
Once a year they put on a show at the renowned Théâtre Gesù in downtown Montreal. David Henry, director general of the Association des services de rehabilitation sociale du Québec and a licensed criminologist, organizes the show. He represents 74 organizations that work with people with criminal records (as they say in French a bit more elegantly, des personnes judiciarisées).
The Cabaret, Henry says, is a “symbol of reintegration. It’s a way to give back to the community and it allows for bridges to be built. Art connects people.”
Among his preferred moment over nine years of running the Cabaret was a song sung by a criminal and his victim together. “It was extraordinary. A symbol of the possibilities. Despite what happens, we can live together.”
Before the show, in the theatre’s lobby there was an exhibition of the artworks of prisoners and ex-cons.
“We get a lot of written texts,” Henry says. “We printed a data matrix on our program so that people could access them. Before, people with criminal records would read them out to the public.”
Crime Rates
According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), crime rates started rising in 1962 to attain a peak in 1991. Rates have been falling ever since. Despite this, says Henry, incarceration rates are up in Canada.
He says that 26% of federal prisoners are serving life sentences. Under the Harper government, in 2011, laws concerning parole were toughened, especially for those with a life sentence. These measures have had an effect on incarceration numbers.
This, despite the fact that according to the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, “lifers” demonstrate a very low risk to reoffend and should be offered the possibility of contributing to society, rather than languishing in prison to become institutionalized and dependent.
The Cabaret, says Henry, is an opportunity to “shake up prejudices. We just hope that people are touched by who the human being is. Some have an image of an offender as a completely unrecoverable savage. But these aren’t animals; these are people who reflect on things, like you and me.”
Henry observes that people who show up to see the Cabaret for the first time “are surprised by the quality of our artistic presentations. I often hear that it’s an event that exudes humanity.”
It’s very important to Henry and his team that the show is professional. The renowned Gesù Theatre has been home to most of the Cabarets. The tenth edition will take place on Friday, October 18th, at 8 pm at the Théâtre Gesù, 1200 rue Bleury. Tickets are still available!
Photo: The group Des Roger at the 9th Cabaret. Photo credit: Francis Dufour
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