Cyrano Behind Bars

"Shakespeare behind Bars" is an interview i did for my radio show "Livng Juicy" in 2005 with Curt Tofteland, the director whose brainchild it is. Here is the podcast: http://www.livingjuicy.org/podcast/2005/12/26/curt-tofteland?rq=shakespe... enjoy! rhea goodman www.livingjuicy.org

Leave it the Times to humanize literal murderers. I am wholly supportive of noble and cost effective rehabilitation efforts and reasonable criminal justice reform, but this piece strikes me as insensitive to the voiceless victims. Almost reflexively, I thought what a family member of the murdered victim must think to see the person responsible for a loved one’s death being depicted as a thespian.

Murderers. That's what they have in common. There is no rehabilitation for murder. Once you've crossed that threshold, you can murder again and again and again. You can justify and rationalize it. Standing on a stage or putting a paintbrush in your hand will not change that.

In the outside world, the visual arts, music programs are being cut, especially in schools. People are fine with these prison theatre programs, yet wouldn't it make more sense to promote the arts, theatre, music as a way to prevent young people from falling into a life of crime in the first place?

Assault. Sexual abuse. Murder. Theatre. Comedy. Fun. I don't see how all these fit together. Would their victims families? It is not a matter of "letting them rot". How about respecting the dead and damaged victims?

Where’s the second chance for the people that were killed?

As the Bard observed, "All the world is a stage..." Those unfortunates ending up behind bars were playing out roles (as were their victims) ...hopefully we can all learn new roles.... That there are choices is a big lesson. chas

For those who may be interested in learning more about prison theatre programs across the United States, here are links to 25 programs and practitioners, along with news stories and research: http://prisontheatreconsortium.blogspot.com/

Prison Performing Arts in St. Louis, founded by Agnes Wilcox, does ground-breaking work in men's and women's prisons in Missouri and in juvenile detention facilities in St. Louis. Check out the edition of "This American Life" dedicated to her work producing "Hamlet" in one of our men's prisons: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/218/act-v This year another work, inspired by the residents of the women's prison in Vandalia, was premiered: http://slightlyoff.org/#/run-on-sentence/4594216785 Free Patty Prewitt!

A few years ago I saw a documentary called Shakespeare Behind Bars which follows one group of inmates for a year as they prepare for their Shakespearean performance. It is excellent---extremely moving. I highly recommend it. I think the DVD is now available on Amazon.

If I were one of the family members whose son, daughter, wife or husband were taken by these "actors," I wonder what I might be feeling and thinking. I think that it'd be impossible to even read this article. Perhaps just glancing at the headline would be enough to haunt me for months. I believe I would be paralyzed by pain. I'm certainly not one to diminish the power of art, but the pictures of the killers, those pictures didn't show pain. They were like headshots or pictures from a show.

California's Arts In Corrections program has similar classes in 20-odd prisons, at all levels of custody.

San Quentin publishers a newspaper, the San Quentin News, written and edited by inmates. It champions rehabilitation, and points out that most prisons in the US concentrate solely on punishment, a concept strongly supported by DAs and tough-on-crime pols. They also publish a fine magazine called Wall City. Check it out.

Everyone deserves a second chance. Thank you for the article. Being French and huge fan of Cyrano de Bergerac, I am sure that Cyrano would have give them all a second chance.

I'm all for rehabilitation and working with inmates to help them become more productive after prison, but is theater really the best idea? Acting is essentially lying. Do we really want to teach prison inmates to become better liars? Does not seem like a great idea, if ask me.

This reminds me of Margaret Atwood's portrait of a prison theater program in her recent novel Hag-Seed, in which inmates put on a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest and similarly make it their own. Of course, in the novel the director is using the inmates and the performance to play Prospero and manipulate those who had wronged him, presumably not at all what is going on in the Fishkill program, but we also see the transformative power of the theater experience on its participants and a recognition of the diverse talents and skills in these men who would otherwise be "left to rot" in jail. I recommend it!

I can attest to the profound effect Shakespeare Behind Bars has had for the last 23 years at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Kentucky. The program, founded and directed by Curt Tofteland for many years was documented in a film of the same name, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. Mr. Tofteland has since moved to Michigan and continues to initiate theater programs with prison populations. His successor, working with the inmates at Luther Luckett, Matt Wallace, is also Producing Director of Kentucky Shakespeare. Over these 23 years, encountering the human dilemmas of characters like Prospero, Macbeth, Othello, and Iago, has opened the hearts of so many wounded men, allowing them to accept responsibility, forgive, and be forgiven. Nationally, recidivism is 67%; in Kentucky, it is 29.5%; among the Shakespeare Behind Bars population at Luther Luckett, it is 6.1%. The arts can save lives.

“I understand your pain and anger, but what’s to be gained by locking someone up and letting them rot? " Too bad that isn't applied before potential criminals grow up and commit crimes. As a nation we refuse to spend money on programs that can help prevent young people from becoming criminals, that will keep them in school and assist them in overcoming problems like dyslexia, ADHD, poverty, abuse, etc. And then when they become gang members, drug abusers or drug dealers, small time criminals, murderers (because they never learned how to handle conflict), we toss them into jail and continue to deny them the known benefits of a good education and whatever other programs might help them come out as better citizens. Maybe we like having a permanent criminal class in America. It gives us someone worse to compare ourselves so we don't have to look at what our elected officials aren't doing for all of us. And we can feel righteous: we didn't rob a store at gunpoint. We wouldn't kill anyone unless we had to. We graduated from high school and college. We too were abused (but we had other support) and we survived. Those people are subhuman and don't deserve anything even as children. I'd rather spend the money when they are children but it's still cheaper to rehabilitate than it is to keep imprisoning them as adults.

On July 27th, men in Indiana's maximum-security Pendleton Correctional Facility will perform Shakespeare's Timon of Athens for the first time in a prison. Doing this brings many challenges. Funding. Lockdowns. Getting permissions to bring props in. My personal limitations trained in literature rather than theater. Participants who hope their risks are worthwhile. And have I mentioned funding? But I am so glad to be doing this.

The power experienced by the participants here reminds me of programs that bring art experiences into hospitals. When making art, a participant works as a person with a soul—an artist—not an inmate who did x or a patient with y disease.

I think these programs are great for the inmates that want to participate, and grow and change. And thanks to funding organizations, the artists and directors that participate and support these programs. As a person who taught college courses in prison ed programs at both men's and women's prisons for many years, I can say it is tremendously worthwhile for those who want to partake. I had many great students. What the public doesn't usually understand however, is that it is only about 10-20% of the inmate population at most prisons that volunteer and sign up to participate in educational or artistic classes when available. About 80% don't want to take classes. Recidivism is lowered significantly among the self selected group, but unsurprisingly doesn't change for those who decline opportunities, which is a large majority. So yes we should offer art, theater and college classes to all who will take advantage, but it is the huge number that aren't interested that remains the perennial and discouraging challenge. Of course, we should keep trying to help people rehabilitate, but it is a complex problem, they have to actually want to change and meet you half way, and there are no simple answers. For those motivated however, miracles can happen.

An encouraging piece. As the father of a son who has spent upwards of five years in Oregon prisons for property crimes resulting from drug addiction, I can state here that, as elsewhere, we are quick to be "tough on crime" without lifting much of a finger to rehabilitate incarcerated offenders in any measurable way. 5 of 6 released prisoners (83%) wind up back in jail within ten years of release. (Bureau of Justice, 2018). We can do better. Much, much better. But it costs money upfront. We can pay now or we can pay later but we will pay, just the same. As it is, we have more people locked up than anywhere on the planet, bar none. As it is, my son, now released, struggles to find meaning in his life.

Thanks for this. Not only do such creative and challenging prison programs teach skills, but they also provide awaken self-confidence and allow participants to imagine a future of productivity. Bravo to the prison for supporting such educational and cultural programs.

...thanks for the article - we forget about inmates in correctional facilities - they have no voice which can be heard outside of their prison walls. ...for a minute, we can forget the reasons why they are incarcerated, and think of them as actors in a play...... ....many inmates have very little hope for how their futures will play out...inside or outside prison..... ..but they're still people who need to believe they have something meaningful in their lives.....

I just finished reading Margaret Atwood's Hag-Seed, a retelling of The Tempest. It's a delightful novel about prisoners performing Shakespeare's play, and how the director is able to confront his enemies in a way similar to Propspero's plan. Ample discussions about what the play means to the inmates and how they work to understand the characters they perform.

See Christine A. Colon, Joanna Baillie and the Art of Moral Influence, Peter Lang, 2009, p. 30 on the power of drama and theater. Already in the 18th century it was clear that theater had the potential for both positive and negative influence on society. The theater can be used to achieve many goals, not all of them, however, good in an objective sense. In this case though of NY's prison system, the benefits seem to be clear.

Having taught Theater Arts for thirty years and directed countless shows I can attest that students of the lively arts learn not only grace and movement, but confidence of expression and a shared empathy with other human beings. I wouldn't expect victims to cheer the criminal who took another's life, but if we simply give up on these people we give up on ourselves.

I taught in a jail school where books were my students passage to worlds unexplored. Art, literature, drama offer the incarcerated means of creative escape and a means to unleash the human spirit and explore its individuality. “It’s deepest desire is simply to be acknowledged.” To be seen as a person and respected as worthwhile could be the greatest contribution given to the incarcerated individual. Then, time served wouldn’t mean years or hours but time spent growing and maturing instead. That is what distinguishes rehabilitation from incarceration. Unfortunately, we have far too little of one and far too much of the other. Congratulations to the director and performers at Fishkill—break a leg, next season, and I wish many successful more seasons. Try Twelve Angry Men. It will be a challenge but you bring greater understanding to the play than any actors could.

Great article, I loved how RTA understands the beauty of a second chance, especially through the power of theatre.

Back in the seventies, I played and helped manage a small semi-professional community orchestra, comprised mainly of young musicians just out of college and looking for some opportunities at professional experience - We played at various community locations throughout the city and received a nominal fee - which we were happy to have -- Times were very different back then - and somehow our management was able to arrange for us to play a concert at Rikers Island for the inmates -- We played in a large room - probably the dining hall - on a makeshift stage - as the inmates sat and listened -- I had my misgivings about playing an overture by Beethoven for these hardened men -- but then something magical happened -- We played a suite for Bernstein's "West Side Story" - and as the violins began playing the song "Maria" - I looked up from my music for a moment to see tears streaming down the faces of many of the men in the audience - and saw them wipe away even more tears when we played "Somewhere" -- It was at that moment - I thought to myself - "This is why we do this" -- The experience left a very, very deep mark - and now, when I work on anything creative - I think about those people who may be experiencing it for the first (and possibly only) time -- and how it could possibly change their lives -- If I close my eyes - I can still see those inmates with tears streaming down their faces - and feel the gratitude of having been able to share music with them on that day...

Redemption is achieved through art, which allows humanity to prevail. Injustice thrives when art is suppressed, oppressed and/or destroyed. These programs must be encouraged, nurtured, available, and cherished. Art is the story of all people as it reflects their past, present and foretells the future. It is the mirror of our soul; it revives our spirit.

Three articles collude to form an interesting insight into today's America. Art, in the service of rehabilitation, (this one); art as the new cure for mid-life crises; and President Twinkie's failure to recognize outstanding achievement in the arts. Art is the record of any civilization, the soul of any society. Who remembers who governed England during Shakespeare's time? Who remembers what the laws of Florence were when Leonardo and Michaelangelo were creating? We remember their art. What will future American's have to look back on? Art is immortal, transformative, redemtive, and essential. Recidivist rates are far lower among the graduates of prison theater and arts programs. Who are we punishing when we condemn prisoners to hopeless misery? Ourselves and our futures.