Birds that flock together depend on one another for survival. Apparently, it has to do with evolution and breeding. If weaker birds fail to flock together, they run the risk of becoming a stronger bird's feeder.

Above the group home for chronically mentally-ill adults, where I've recently moved in as resident drama therapist, birds soar, swirl and then alight in singular triangular patterns-all day long. Perhaps it's to do with the residents, who toss crumbs between cigarettes. I suspect the clients know something about these birds. When there's a celebration, and desserts are distributed, they too gather as a pecking flock.

On both a dramatic as well as literary level, we're working with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. As one resident announced, "It's the story of one white man who helped one black man in the South." Of course, it's that and much more. Themes of innocence, coming of age, morality, discrimination, assault, faith, murder, survival, injustice and-above all-living together, explode from Lee's narrative. Tom Robinson reminds us that racial discrimination equals death. Boo Radley reminds us that mental illness remains misunderstood.

The other day, our group gathered in the quiet-as-Grand Central Station dayroom. "You stupid ass!" yelled a resident across the space. "Stop walking on my damn feet! You stupid ass."

We had to talk loud over The View blaring from the communal television. Still each member, sitting around this long rectangular table, spontaneously began to-one by one-read the book's "top ten quotes."

"Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day..."

"What I meant was, if Atticus Finch drank until he was drunk he wouldn't be as hard as some men are at their best..."

"That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird..."

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,' said Atticus, ‘but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself...'"

"But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men..."

"As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it-whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash..."

"If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time..."

"There's a black boy dead for no reason..."

"Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives..."

The group-consisting of African Americans, Asians, Caucasians and Hispanics-each took their parts seriously. In some ways, the gathering reminded me of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. The words, as well as actions, of Atticus, Scout, Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, Jem and company were read reverently as The Ten Commandments.

Maybe this drama therapy group served up a new, first, meal.