Montana Department of Corrections in association with Community, Counseling, Correctional Services Inc. (CCCS) and the University of Montana College of the Arts and Media present a theatre pilot project created at the WATCh Program (Warm Springs Addiction Treatment and Change):
THE DUI PROJECT
A staged reading of scenes written by inmates in the WATCh program
Saturday, October 16 at 7:30 PM
Masquer Theatre. The reading will be followed by an audience talkback.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The School of Theatre and Dance acknowledges that these are the aboriginal territories of the Salish and Kalispel people, a number of whom are our colleagues, students, and friends. We honor the path they have always shown us in caring for this place for the generations to come.
AUDIENCE STATEMENT OF EMPOWERMENT
The School of Theatre & Dance recognizes that art can provoke; therefore, during the course of this performance, patrons are empowered to leave if themes or situations make them uncomfortable.
THE VIDEOTAPING OR OTHER VIDEO OR AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS PRODUCTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
PARTICIPANT BIOS
The following biographies were devised from two writing assignments:
- Write a monologue about your self in the 3rd person.
- Write a letter from your 12 year-old-self to your present self.
They are the words of the WATCh participants, no one else.
Luke Almas # 2062893 has 3 DUI’s, studies sports stats and scores, but patience isn’t his strong suit. He tends to take things too personally. Luke once had the opportunity to see an old high school sweetheart who flew into LAX. Even though it meant he would be without a drink! But Luke was well acquainted with the international wing of LAX. There were only 2 other men in the whole terminal that night: one from Sydney Australia, one from Alabama and Luke from Montana. The unlikely trio quickly became friends and in the morning Luke bought a bottle of milk and a beer; breakfast for an alcoholic. His body was writhing and shaking when he got a call from Anja. She was on the ground. Anja would fill the void left by not drinking. Hey Luke, heads up: Don’t follow the smell of perfume.
Michael Anderson, #3030395 is a small town all American boy, born and raised in Couer d’Alene with 9 DUI’s. His small town became a flourishing angry city and a lot of his dreams were never fulfilled. At the age of 13 he was shown the so-called “benefits” of alcohol. At the age of 18 he was a husband, father and a raging alcoholic. At the age of 24 he got Dui #1. Dui #2 he lost his children, DUI #3 he lost his rights, DUI #4 he lost his career. He was sober for 5 years then fucked up, sober for another 5 years, then fucked up again. In and out of prison… Michael has unexplainable anxiety and sadness in his life. He needs antidepressants. And finally accepts that diagnosis. Michael, though your Dad doesn’t know how to show it, he does love and, not hate you, like you think. You’re a good man Michael Anderson.
Roger Beede, # 3030850: Well… I’ve never met anyone quite like him. He thinks he is Peter Pan; always goofing off, climbing, jumping, riding horses… I don’t think he’ll ever grow up. Alcohol became a tricky friend. It doesn’t do bad things to everyone, but it did to his family. Roger has 6 DUI’s. His father worked as a deckhand in San Francisco and taught him how to sail a boat. His Mom is a beautiful and loving person, but booze turned her into a monster and she said things that were twisted, cruel, untrue and downright vicious. Be careful Roger. I saw you drunk off your ass, fall down a flight of stairs without spilling a drop of beer. There you stood with blood flowing down your face, beer held high and yelling “CHEERIO!” BE CAREFUL ROGER.
Richard Bradford, #3028003 was born in Billings, raised in California where his dad was the fastest bricklayer at the time. Richard eventually moved back to Montana. He did stonework, woodwork… an excellent handyman. Richard always wanted a family. He got married and had a son in 1985, but divorced in 1986. Remarried in 1988. She came to the marriage with 2 other children but… in 1998 she committed suicide. Two years later his mother took him in, she didn’t want him to get into trouble. But she developed pancreatic cancer and died. Richard has 4 DUI’s, one of them a felony. He is finally getting the treatment he needs at WATCh in Warm Springs.
“Hey Mr. T.! Looking good on that paint horse of yours! Looks like you got some gentle horses for your boys to ride in the parade!” Terrance Covers Up #21454 is affectionately known as papa to his grandkids and all the kids in his community. Relay horse racing is his passion. He even led his boys to a National Championship in Casper, Wyoming in 2020. Terrance is a good father and grandfather, but he feels very much alone after several divorces. He’ll be sober for years at a time then, falls off the wagon and binge drinks, resulting in DUI’s and a stay in a bad place. But hey Terrance, it’s either the treatment program or prison. There is no way around it.
Who is #3011514 Odis Crosby? You can call him Odis, or you can call him Gog. Odis is extremely intelligent, an IQ of 156. But Odis makes poor choices. His worst enemy is his addiction. He has 4 DUI’s, the first one he got he was under 21 and only blew .06. He was charged anyway since the legal limit for a minor is .04. Gog, most unfortunately, was molested as a child and has been a lost little boy ever since. Gog’s been trying to find out what love is ever since. One day he met a woman at a strip club, 7 days later they were married. 6 months later she was pregnant and he was on his way to prison. Gog has struggled with anxiety, depression, PTSD and ADHD his whole life! Odis used to drink a half a gallon of vodka every day, but when he went to prison he found a brand new love; methamphetamine and IV drug use. The years that followed were poisoned by drugs, self-mutilation and suicide attempts. His inheritance of $230,000 was wasted on drugs, casinos and parties. But he does have a trailer house and some wrecked vehicles! Odis and Gog have been incarcerated most of their adult life, or at least under some form of supervision.
Jason Dietrich #38791 has 5 DUI’s and is such a sensitive, smart, articulate and loving boy with a big heart. He was a good boy, and will be a good man. A dreamer of dreams, full of potential… in spite of how he grew up… in a home, with a father who was an alcoholic and a pedophile… a father who created dark secrets! But don’t worry about it Jason, by the time you're 11 years old, he’s gone. He’ll never hurt you in those ways again. But you are at a huge risk of ending up like him. His drinking may seem like an impossible line to cross, but your use of alcohol would shock even him. You’re a danger to nearly everyone around you. And drugs? They’re poison. They cost him… everything! When Jason consumes alcohol he becomes UNRECOGNIZABLE! He becomes lost in a haze and in darkness and nearly nothing can pull him out. His name means “healer and protector.” Heal thyself, Jason.
3014631 John Hodges is a great all-around guy. Loved by family and friends. He has a lot to offer this world He’s adventurous, loyal and fun loving and has 5 DUI’s He’s a river rat: completed the Missouri River route from the Headwaters at Three Forks, MT to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers at St. Louis; 2,340 river miles, 137 days! He is a naturalist, scientific collector for the division of Species and Habitat State of Florida, specializing in gopher tortoises. He is also a research associate for the Museum of Entomology in Gainesville, Florida. But #3014631 is a disappointment to others and himself at times. When he is drunk, he can become very frightening. Alcohol lies to him, cheats him and at times, imprisons him. On my occasions he has been described as a werewolf! A WEREWOLF! When he hears this from others, it bothers John terribly.
Scott-Allen K. Jenks #3029466. Once upon a time there was this flat beach ball, made in Hawaii. He loved the water, bounced around his whole life. The ball was passed to his mom, then dad, then back to mom… sometimes here, thrown there. Been everywhere. His life was mostly spent in the air, rarely grounded. He never found it, a place to call home. That ball has a smile that is a gift. Keep being the light, Scott. At age 18 I highly recommend that you walk out the door and say, “fuck you” to your father. He is nothing but a fully-grown brat. There is no excuse for him and never will be. They didn’t deserve you. Family… that’s only blood. They don’t deserve you. Keep being the light you always have been. Scott has zero DUI’s. He was going 98 mph when he wrecked his car and went air born. He remembers thinking… “This is gonna’ suck.”
Joshua Karr #3030774: Everyone knew something was wrong. We all saw it. His mama would drop him off at a babysitter. And he adored that woman, but his mama didn’t know about the babysitter’s son. That monster visited many horrors on little Joshie. And that’s when all the darkness started risin’ up in him. He turned into a little pyromaniac – took down his grand daddy’s barn and his neighbor’s truck. Then, his own damn house. Got to stealin’ - cigarettes, candy, stuff like that.
Soon after his mama found him out front in a ditch, 13 years-old, passed out drunk. Joshua was 18 when he got his first of many DUI’s. Got married at 32, divorced at 42 - lost custody of his daughter, lost his dog, his home, his car and his father, all in one year.
That’s when he cracked. We all saw it. Or maybe it was when he got his skull stomped in by that crazy feller, and had to get a bunch of metal put in there to rebuild it.
He got real depressed after that and we think he tried to drink himself to death…dumb sumbitch went into the WATCh program with a .48 BAC. He shoulda’ been dead then for sure.
See, his mind got all twisted up when he was little and he never got any help for it. That part of him got buried by so much other trauma, chaos and just… the whole hurricane that was his life after that, well, he forgot all about the other terrible things that had happened to him when he was little. All that madness was likely the reason he ever picked up the bottle in the first place.
Larry King #3015075 grew up on a farm, a working productive farm. All them cows you milked, eggs you gathered, rabbits, pigs, turkeys, sheep you helped raise and butcher; the horses you broke and trained, hay you put up and hauled, the fences you built and rebuilt, the list of farm chores really did go on forever, Lad! You didn’t have the “luxuries” the kids in town had, but you had good boots, a good coat and hat, a horse and saddle, a good dog, .22 rifle and a good fishing pole. Your life was awesome and your folks are awful kind to you as well. Larry married a wonderful woman, and had two beautiful children, but he developed a stronger liking for alcohol than most people have. His obsession for the damn stuff catches up to him and robs him of most everything he has. He has 6 DUI’s. The sober version of Larry is always the best version.
Timothy Muse #25728 grew up in Montana and North Dakota, the 3rd son of a grain buyer and a school district clerk. He found his self-worth in sports; all state in baseball and football. He went into the National Guard as a Combat Engineer, specializing in demolition explosives. He returned to work on oilrigs for 25 years in 6 states. He drank and used drugs his whole life. While moving back to Montana he switched one addiction for another, getting 6 DUI’s in 6 years. In 2006 he got his 2nd felony Dui and went to prison. He stayed sober for 14 ½ years. But when his mother died of suspicious circumstances after a hip surgery, he got drunk received another DUI and 10 months later another. Timothy has 11 or 12 DUI’s. If he offends again, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. This is his last chance.
Kevin Pierce #3013553: Somebody told me that Kevin is an alcoholic. The first time he was charged with a DUI, he was parked in his car on private property. The keys were not in the car, but he was sitting in the car when police arrived. Apparently he was turned in for reckless driving prior to the arrest. He now has 4 DUI’s, but has been arrested for a DUI a total of nine times. He is a nice, caring and respectful person: single father of three. He loves hunting, fishing, camping, rodeo… and just about anything outdoors. He wants to get back home to be with his kids. But Kevin has a major drinking problem.
Daniel Ricketts #2066513: Daniel was born in Anaconda in 1970. He had his first drink at age 12, (just at the time his parents were getting a divorce.) It was at a Christmas Eve party at his aunt’s house. He drank 3-4 glasses of spiked punch without anyone knowing. He spent the night throwing up and curled around the toilet bowl. His parents were infuriated. He remembers his dad sayin “That will teach him!” At 16 years old he was going to keg parties. He worked for the Recreation Department in Maintenance, dragging and lining baseball and football fields. He took beers from the concession stands while working at the tournaments and games all while drinking and driving the counties recreation departments’ maintenance truck. He had 3 MIP’s in high school. He went from drinking 6 beers to drinking 12 beers. That progressed to an 18-30 pack each time to get the same effect. Daniel has 9 DUI’s and was in and out of jail and treatment programs through out his teen years and adult life. He has lost his rights and freedom, time and again; costing thousands and thousands of dollars in fines, court costs, lawyer costs, and loss of job wages.
William P. Schaeffer #40586: William, Willy or Will has 6 DUI’s. I have known the man as long as I can remember. He is the leftovers of two lives he never really knew. Broken homes, and shattered dreams were all that was left of his family legacy. His father used to be the Boogyman, but now he is William’s biggest supporter. He will never be president, ever be rich and famous. No CEO, no scientist, no Nobel Peace Prize… but he always loved school. When Willy saw the school bus in sight, he would make a break for it. This would keep him safe from the big kids who would surely white wash Willy if they caught him. In the 2nd grade as Willy stood to win the spelling bee he heard the comment “ I hate smart kids.” Unfortunately, that’s when Willy learned the self-preservation tactic: Playing Dumb. William had his adventures on the way to ‘Oz’. We all know where the Yellow Brick Road goes. Look down, William… you’re on it. God only gives his strongest struggles to his strongest souljahs!
Daren Stroth # 41689
Gomer Washington #3030544’s father taught him how to work on cars and took him deer hunting every year. Gomer has 5 DUI’s. He puts up a good front in his daily routine, walking slow around the yard, deep in thought. He holds onto a lot of shame and hurt in his heart. Gomer’s a nice person, willing to help others out because he’s old and been around the block a few times. Gomer’s easy to like and hopes to find peace with himself. I’ve seen him outside playing Frisbee and he has a lot of energy for an old fart!
Ronald Willett #3030343 is a mean little bastard! He never sleeps! He’d just as soon wake up and play! A real pain-in-the-ass! Ron likes to make people laugh and he likes to fight to the bitter end. His dad was always there, racing horses and riding around the farm on Appaloosas. Ronald stays close to his true friends, so when real life comes a knockin’, when all this goes away… he will still recognize himself!
David Wozniak #2078880 smoked the cigs that his friend Kendall stole from his uncle so that he would be cool, smoked the pot his older brother offered him so that he would be cool, stole vodka from his mom and offered it to his friends so that he would be cool and took the first hit of crank off the tinfoil that Randy offered, so that he would be cool. The pleasure that those things brought was short and fake. It just brought lots of jail time, self-disgust, bad decision-making, bad hygiene and time away from his daughter, let alone a steady home for the both of them. But at 36 years old, he changed the outcome of that life and wisely chose to love and respect himself.
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