Several years ago, Anton Tolliver found himself with a DUI. “I was trying to get out of a lot of trouble I got myself into,” he recalls of that dark period. “I needed a place to sit down and reflect about what was going on with me.” Taking the advice of a friend, Tolliver entered Y-Haven, acomprehensive transitional housing program for men in recovery from addiction.

Y-Haven, a program of the YMCA of Greater Cleveland, is holistic in philosophy and practice. Its mission is “to promote the balanced development of spirit, mind and body, strengthening the most fragile in the Greater Cleveland community, the homeless.”

While there, Tolliver became involved in a theatre arts education program called the Y-Haven Project, a collaboration between Y-Haven and Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT). He credits the project with helping him change his life.

In 1998, Y-Haven Executive Director Chip Joseph told CPT Founder and Executive Director James Levin that some of the men at the YMCA were interested in doing theatre. Since then, Levin and his CPT artists have worked annually with a group of about thirty men from Y-Haven.

Participants in the Y-Haven Project have elected to pursue drama as part of their recovery treatment. CPT artists commit to providing a structured environment where improvisational exercises explore personal stories, risk-taking is encouraged and mistakes become learning tools. The Y-Haven Project helps the recovering addicts develop increased self-esteem, self-control, self-discipline, commitment and skills that will support sobriety and independence.

Acting experience is not a prerequisite for entry into the program, but Levin insists that participants “have the ability to get involved in a circle of men, to be open to the ideas of others and to be willing to share their story.”

During the first twelve weeks of the program, initial workshops held at the YMCA stress basic self-expression, voice and projection as well as the development of story ideas and improvisational exercises. The work intensifies during the following three months as the men start performing self-directed, biographic improvised scenes.

“The issues of addiction and recovery play a critical role in the storytelling, and the men begin to rely on each other as trust begins to evolve,” Levin stresses. As the exercises intensify toward developing the dramatic work, the men are required to make a commitment to the program. This usually narrows the group to about twelve men. They sign a contract promising to attend five working sessions (rehearsals) per week. By the time the dramatic work is ready for opening night, eight to ten men have kept their commitment. (Other participants drop out due to finding work, returning to school or relapsing and being expelled from the program.) Those men who complete the program – including performing in an original play – receive a stipend.

“The work they are doing is incredibly valuable,” Levin says of the men of the Y-Haven project. Several Y-Haven Project graduates have gone on to college to study theatre arts. Anton Tolliver is an example of the impact the project can have. During his three seasons with the Y-Haven Project, Tolliver performed, became a stage manager and lighting technician and served as assistant director for the 2003 production of Up the Mountain. Today, Tolliver is employed at CPT as a custodian, is enrolled at the Ohio Center for Broadcasting and plans to pursue a career in television broadcasting.

“The [Y-Haven Project] taught me how to be more committed to whatever I encounter, how to take on a task and follow through with it. I never followed through on things before,” Tolliver shares. “I learned how to stay on track.”

Cleveland Public Theatre, with a “Pay What You Can” policy, believes that the arts can change the world. A sampling of comments from the cast of Up the Mountain allows a glimpse into the birth of new self-images from the darkness of addiction.

The many testimonials speak for themselves. Clarence B., who played the protagonist, Sisyphus, said, “I never thought I could do something like this before. With hard work, anything can be done.”
Todd M., who played the Shadow, the evil voice inside Sisyphus, said “. . . working on this play... makes me feel like a good citizen.”

Glennard V., who played three characters in Up the Mountain, wrote, “I have learned that even the sick can do something positive in life. Thank you for the chance to get some belief in my life.”

And the youngest cast member, David H., who is now a theatre arts major at Tri-C, said, “I have learned humility and patience. Now I'm not just an addict. I'm an actor.”

For Levin, who is a playwright, actor and director, the collaboration between Y-Haven and CPT is “without question the most gratifying work in which I am involved.” Past participants in the program thank Levin for the opportunity to participate in a project which was a “pivotal moment” in their recovery.

“What,” he asks, “could be more gratifying?”

Cleveland Public Theater will host Y-Haven's 2004 theater production in September. CPT also conducts theater arts education programs with women in recovery, children in housing projects and low-income teens. For updated information on the productions, visit their website at www.cptonline.org or call (216) 631-2727.

Photos by Steve Wagner.