“Locked Up in Malibu,” Malibu local Suzie Duff’s innovative program involving the incarcerated youth at Los Angeles County Probation Department’s Camps Gonzalez and Kilpatrick, will be performing this Saturday at the Malibu United Methodist Church.
The improvisational performance group will be offering their standard show of skits, songs and “talk-story”-made up at the moment-but with a twist.
“This time, we’re going to break up into small groups, the camp guys and the audience,” Duff explained. “We’ll sit around and discuss one-on-one the issue of gangs in today’s society.”
While details of the improv group’s members’ personal lives and past crimes are off limits, the discussion format will permit audience members a true, up close and personal insight into the social pressures and tribal mentality of gang life.
Many of the youth incarcerated through the county probation department have been gang members. Frequently, they are one of a generations-long line of gang membership, following brothers, fathers, uncles and grandfathers into contemporary urban gangs whose existence revolves around drugs, territory, theft and murder.
The lives of innocents are often caught in the crossfire, as was the case with four-year-old Roberto Lopez Jr., killed this month in an apparent gang-related shooting in Echo Park.
“We’ll be asking these guys about the reality of their lives,” Duff said. “What have gangs done for you? Would you want to see your little brother or sister in a gang? Are you safer in a gang or more at risk? This should be an eye opener for people who don’t really know what these guys face in their home lives.”
Duff has been teaching improv at Camp David Gonzalez and Camp Vernon Kilpatrick for several years. She sees improvisational performance as a conflict resolution skill that can help the teens transition to a normal, productive life.
Craig Levy, director of Camp Kilpatrick, says Locked Up in Malibu is one of several programs at the camp that underline the consequences of personal responsibility.
“There is a small group of guys who need to stay in jail forever because they’re predators,” Levy said. “But the majority of these kids know that it’s their choice what their lives will be like. You never know what program will reach a kid-sports, educational, improv-they’re all designed to give these boys skills to use once they get out. We’re only limited by lack of creativity.”
Levy said the probation department works hard to transition the teens into a stable home life after serving their sentence, from promoting scholarships in higher education to job training.
“Malibu Methodist Church has been so gracious about welcoming these kids,” Levy said. “It gives the community to see the boys as something other than gang members.”
Ann Buxie, who leads the local performance group Tales by the Sea, is working with the grassroots group Malibu for Change (an outcropping of President Obama’s grassroots campaign organization) to sponsor Saturday’s performance. She believes that such events are fundamental to societal change.
“If we don’t start listening to people we don’t understand, we’ll never be able to take effective action against gang problems,” Buxie said. “It’s like getting on a dance floor and not listening to the music. These guys are members of our community. It is incumbent that we connect with them.”
Duff promises a performance of surprise and thoughtfulness.
“And it’s always funny,” Duff said. “You’ll learn something new.”
Locked Up in Malibu will perform this Saturday, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Malibu United Methodist Church at 30128 Morning View Dr. Entrance is free, but audience members are requested to bring a can of food to be donated to the Manna Food Bank. More information can be obtained by calling 310.457.0730