Due Process For Dan Doyle Post II

Post II

Over the course of Mr. Doyle's incarceration and, to a greater extent, since his May 31, 2022 release, the subject of his plays has drawn considerable interest.

Post II provides brief details on “Shoeless Joe” and “Johnny's Autism”, with more information to be presented at a later stage.  By contrast, Post II goes into detail on Mr. Doyle's third play, “The Enlightened Man”, and the accompanying “Theatre To Prisons” (TTP) program he developed while in prison.  Since the play and TTP will both roll out in the near future, this post presents a sizable degree of information on this joint project.

Three plays all completed during Mr. Doyle’s incarceration

I. "Shoeless Joe"

About the life of baseball legend "Shoeless Joe" Jackson.

Note: A good portion of "Shoeless Joe" was written prior to Mr. Doyle's incarceration.

In Mr. Doyle's first few weeks at the ACI in Rhode Island, he completed the final edits of the play. On September 9, 2017, the play was performed in polished stage reading format at the famed Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

The performance featured distinguished Rhode Island actor and Pittsfield native Barry Press performing the role of "Shoeless Joe" and Emmy Award winning actor Mike Haley performing the role of Ty Cobb. (Note: Mr. Haley's many credits include playing the memorable role of the umpire who threw out Tom Hanks in the movie "A League Of Their Own.")

The polished stage reading drew widespread praise, resulting in a number of encouraging letters addressed to Mr. Doyle arriving at the ACI, and thus firming up his commitment to formally stage the play after his release.

II. “Johnny’s Autism”

Details, including how the events of Mr. Doyle’s August 10, 2017 sentencing resulted in the writing of this play, will be addressed in due course.

III. A Dual Project: 

The Play: “The Enlightened Man”

The Project: “Theatre To Prisons"

Within days of his incarceration at the ACI, Mr. Doyle began to contemplate ways to make the prison experience more meaningful for inmates, specifically by crafting projects that could be advanced within the scope of prison limitations. In considering options, Mr. Doyle thought back to the World Scholar Athlete Games, which he founded in 1993, and a stark contrast. On the one hand, the complexities of administering major World Scholar Athlete Games events, such as Aretha Franklin's performance at the inaugural World Scholar Athlete Games in 1993, or the World Scholar Athlete Games keynote speeches by President William Jefferson Clinton in 2006, and General Colin Powell in both 2008 and 2011.

On the other hand, a pair of Broadway actors performing the famed AR Gurney letter exchange play "Love Letters" at the 2001 World Scholar Athlete Games.

In comparison to such events as the performance by Ms. Franklin and the speeches by President Clinton and General Powell, Mr. Doyle was amazed at how easy it was to stage the play...a checklist of two chairs, two small tables, two microphones, lighting, transportation, two staff members serving as hosts... that was about it!

In further consideration of options to benefit inmates, Mr. Doyle thought back to that “Love Letters” performance and further reflected on playwright Terrence Mann's famous proffer... "Movies will make you famous; Television will make you rich; But theatre will make you good."

Straight away, it was clear that staging a musical, or even a standard play such as "Shoeless Joe", would not work at the ACI. Yet a letter exchange play... a different matter.

As a result, Mr. Doyle began to write the play, "The Enlightened Man", an AR Gurney like letter exchange piece involving the following key characters:

Father Jimmy O'Day, an American priest on special assignment in Northern Ireland, his specific charge... the oversight of a project called "Belfast United". Taken from Mr. Doyle's award-winning Belfast United initiative, which ran for 11 years in Northern Ireland, Belfast United involved pairing Catholic and Protestant youth on the same basketball teams, and staging get-togethers with family members of the participants. (Note: When Mr. Doyle was presented with the “Irish Sports Person Of The Year” award by Irish President Mary Robinson at a Gala held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, in her remarks, President Robinson cited the impact of Belfast United on the Northern Ireland peace process.)

Fred, an inmate of color incarcerated in a US prison. Smart, smoldering and seeking purpose in his life.

Pearl, a passionately devoted Protestant Belfast social worker assigned to work with Father Jimmy on the Belfast United program.

In the play, and knowing of Father Jimmy's basketball background, and Fred's interest in the game, a fellow priest asks Father Jimmy to write to Fred... and thus the correspondence journey begins, a journey that encompasses personal growth, tragedy and redemption.

Upon the completion of writing Act I Mr. Doyle, with the aid of fellow inmate Fred Dahn, arranged a reading at an ACI college credit English class. By pleasing happenstance, the class was taught by an outside English Professor who had previously served as an English instructor at the World Scholar Athlete Games.

Mr. Doyle performed the role of Father Jimmy O'Day, and fellow inmate Meko Lincoln performed the role of Fred. The reaction was positive, and by the next day, a number of other inmates and several Corrections Officers had approached Mr. Doyle to relate the favorable feedback they had heard, including praise for Mr. Lincoln’s performance, and to offer encouragement to move the play forward.

Four months later, a second stage reading of Act I was performed at a New England Basketball Hall Of Fame event that Mr. Doyle arranged from prison. Renowned stage actor Marc Carver performed the role of Father Jimmy O'Day, Meko Lincoln, at this point released from the ACI, performed the role of Fred, and Rhode Island educator/actress Dianne E. Peretti performed the role of Pearl. Once again, the reaction was decisive, causing Mr. Doyle to realize that a Theatre to Prisons initiative, with a specific focus on letter exchange plays, had considerable merit.

Current Status: “The Enlightened Man” will premiere in early 2023. The premiere will coincide with the formal launch of “Theatre To Prisons” (TTP) by way of a TTP seminar immediately following the play.

Mr. Doyle will perform the role of Father Jimmy O'Day and Meko Lincoln will perform the role of Fred. The other three male roles, all minor but vital to the production, will be performed by three former ACI inmates. Dianne E. Peretti will perform the role of Pearl. On a number of occasions, Ms. Peretti has expertly performed the lead actress role of Melissa Gardner in the famed AR Gurney "Love Letters" play. In each performance, she has been joined on-stage by actor Marc Carver, who has performed the role of Andrew Makepeace Ladd III to strong reviews.

A future post will address the scope of “Theatre To Prisons”, including the role of college and university theatre departments. A feature of TTP will be an annual letter exchange playwright contest. The contest will welcome submissions from playwrights in the United States and abroad, and from current and former inmates. The post will also announce the date and venue of the event, as well as details on the post-play TTP seminar. (Note: Cranbrook Strategies will be researching whether any prior conventionally staged play featured a male cast of all former inmates.)

Questions From Post One

A number of questions have been posed by readers of Post I. Some of the questions will be addressed in forthcoming posts, others in Mr. Doyle's prison experience book, "Behind The Cloud" (A Silver Lining) and in his documentary series on the Rhode Island Criminal Justice System.

Next Post

The next post, scheduled for publication in mid-October, will address the music Mr. Doyle wrote and then recorded with a distinguished group of musicians. This music project took place prior to Mr. Doyle's incarceration, and while he was under indictment. The post will provide details on the function of each song in these plays.

Future Posts

Future posts will preview some of the more sobering matters associated with the “Due Process For Dan Doyle” project. For instance, one key future post will offer individuals with information relevant to Mr. Doyle's innocence the opportunity to come forward under attorney aegis, and join others who have already done so.