April 3, 2012

Today we watched the award-winning documentary Shakespeare Behind Bars, by which this program was inspired. There was some running commentary throughout the screening, and then we reflected on it together afterward. The participants liked that the group was able to perform not just for other inmates, but also for their families. They think that being able to perform for their families would give them even more motivation to fully commit and do their best because it would mean more to them with their families in the audience. Not all facilities allow this, but I am going to ask to see if it is possible.

They were impressed by the camaraderie and mentor situations in the film, as well as by the power the men found in the language. One participant said that she is inspired by what she saw to achieve that same result in her work. They thought it was great that the men in the film took everything so seriously. They were very amused that the men played two games in the film that we have played in our program.

The participants reflected on our program in reaction to the film, discussing the parallels there. Their observations here really moved me. They said that the class is an escape, which they also saw in the documentary, and that they really appreciate the bond and the unity that the group has formed. They said that it keeps them focused on something positive, which they generally find difficult. One participant said that although she did drama in high school, she spent a long time being shut down due to her drug use, and that, since she began our program, she has begun to access those parts of her that were buried for so long. She is re-connecting with her former self – she used the metaphor of a light bulb being switched on.  Another said that the program is helping her to overcome her shyness, which is a recurring theme among the participants.

The participants all agreed that they love this program, and several said that they cannot stop talking about it and are trying to recruit more participants, since we’ve lost some. They feel that the program has “opened up everything” and that it has been “life changing” – and we’ve only been at it for nine weeks. They found, however, that the people who have been there regularly have formed such a tight bond – one person said “bubble” – that it is difficult to integrate newcomers. Despite that, they would still welcome more participants.

The group also agreed that they want to meet more than once a week. They feel that they will need the additional rehearsal time, since they live in various units and can’t all get together on their own. I am going to explore that possibility.

This was a great day in which the participants were inspired by the documentary, which has inspired me, and in which I was deeply inspired by their honest revelations about the program. I have so hoped to create the atmosphere that we have created, and we have succeeded. I could not be happier.

March 27, 2012

After most of the participants informed us that they would have to leave significantly early for a variety of reasons, we decided to do a brief warm up and then jump right into Shakespeare, since that’s what they are most enthusiastic about. The first participant to perform was the one who chose one of Othello’s monologues. She told us she had been working on it on her own. She then performed it, and she showed a remarkable improvement over the last session. She is really embracing the language and the heightened emotion of it. We all felt that she needed to go further, and one of the participants volunteered to lie across some chairs on the stage as if she were dead Desdemona. This caused the performing participant to connect even more with the piece. The third time she performed was the best and elicited cheers from the rest of the participants. She is really getting into her piece and shedding her nervousness and fears about truly connecting with it.

One of our new participants from last week chose Rosalind’s monologue to the shepherd and shepherdess from “As You Like It.” She read through it once, and then we broke it down bit by bit to glean all the meaning we could out of it, and to make sure we all knew when she was talking to each of two people. She performed again, and showed that she intellectually understood what was going on, but she was having trouble connecting to the piece and her imaginary others. She asked if two people could come onstage with her so she could talk to them. They did, and she showed a much better understanding of the piece playing off of them.

The participant who chose Romeo’s “But soft…” had a lot of trouble today. She was having difficulty accessing the energy and emotion necessary for the piece, and, even when another participant joined her onstage as Juliet, she still could not connect. She then decided to abandon that piece in favor of one that she could better relate to, possibly the piece from Hamlet that we initially explored as a group. I’m looking forward to seeing what she chooses.

Our participant with the learning disability followed her instincts this week and performed her monologue sitting down. She is progressing beautifully on her piece and clearly understands it, even when she stumbles on words. Inspired by what the others had been doing, she asked if someone could come onstage with her as Desdemona. With this added intimacy, her monologue got even better – she had more attitude and emotion, totally appropriate to the piece she has chosen. The words seemed to come more easily this time as well. When I checked in with her afterward, she told me that she is feeling much more confident with the piece and will continue to work on the words that are troubling her.

Of the other participants who performed, all are showing improvement and beginning to connect with their pieces. There is absolutely no one in this group who is taking backward steps or doing poorly. They are all fully committed and are growing into their monologues.

The participants asked if, during the showcase, they could have other people onstage with them during their monologues, the way most of them did it today. We all decided that it would be a good idea, so we’ll do it.

After most of the participants had left, those of us who were left did some breathing exercises and played a circle game that most of them knew, but that was new to me. I'm not kidding when I say I'm learning from them all the time! The game was a lot of fun and totally appropriate to the program, as it encourages quick thinking.

Everyone is still showing growth and increased confidence. They are progressing so well, and so quickly. They are a joy to work with.

March 20, 2012

We had three new participants today. We got them oriented prior to and during warm ups, and we all introduced ourselves to the new people and made sure that everyone knows everyone else’s names. I wanted to introduce them to a new game, and I chose a game that involves a song/chant that the group does together and then calls each other out individually, in rhythm. This group did something that I haven’t seen happen before in other groups – rather than trying to go as quickly as the game requires, they slowed down the tempo as a group to make it easier, without discussing it. This shows their growth as an ensemble and their ability to work as a team.

In response to the new participants’ apparent reservations about playing the game, one participant remarked that she knows that the games, even though many of them seem silly, really accomplish something. She said that, through playing, she has become very comfortable with the group, though she is normally very shy. She says that the games have increased her confidence and she is becoming more “outspoken” in her every day life. The other participants all nodded their heads in agreement.

The first participant to perform her piece today was the one with the learning disability. She is working on a monologue by Emilia in “Othello.” She warned us beforehand that she would stumble on some of the words, and we were all very supportive of her. As she read her piece, various participants assisted her with the words with which she had trouble in a very kind and compassionate way. We broke the piece down bit by bit, and I asked her if she could put some more of Emilia’s attitude into the piece. She improved a bit, but stopped in the middle to apologize for stumbling over words. We all encouraged her to perform again and take the attitude up a notch, and she definitely gave it her all. She did not want to read again, but asked if next time she could sit in a chair while she performed. Of course I said yes, and I am heartened that this means she is really taking ownership of the piece and interpreting it in her own way.

Another participant has chosen Hermione’s monologue at her trial in “The Winter’s Tale.” This is a very powerful monologue by a woman whose life has been destroyed by her husband’s jealousy. This participant showed a solid intellectual understanding of the piece, so we worked with her on connecting with the emotion of it. Taking it piece by piece enabled her to access more of the detail, and when she read again it was much more powerful. She clearly connects with the piece, and I look forward to working with her further on it.

There was a second participant who has chosen Hermione’s monologue. Her interpretation was more quiet and reserved than the other woman’s, and we noticed that she was standing with her hand in her pocket. We encouraged her to embrace the feelings in the piece of anger, sadness and courage… and to keep her hand out of her pocket! She expressed that she was not sure when each emotion comes in and out of the piece, and I assured her that that is something that she will discover as she works on it more. She performed again, and kept her hand out of her pocket, but now fiddled with the bottom of her shirt. She said this is because she is still nervous getting up in front of people, but she knows she will get more comfortable as time goes on.

In the end, we talked about the final performance. Some of the participants will probably not be in prison in November, so we need to take that into account. One of the participants asked why we could not do a “mini-play”, so we explained the group’s reasoning to her, although I assured them that there is still time to adjust the plan if they want to. I told her that we would connect our various monologues and scenes with narration, and that we would all develop the performance together. She felt better after the conversation and said she understood it more. Several of the participants want to include improv in their performance, and we decided that if it fits, we’ll do it.

I am going to continue to introduce new games and exercises, since they really enjoy learning something new every week. I have found a number of great exercises for breathing, and when I asked if they’d like to get into those next week, there was a lot of enthusiasm. This group is growing so much each week, making discoveries about themselves and truly embracing the work they are doing, together and individually. They can only get stronger, as a group and individually. I so look forward to this program every week!

March 13, 2012

After physical and vocal warm ups, we moved on to a quick game to wake up our bodies. After that, I introduced the idea of forming a Trust Circle, in which one person in the center of the circle allows herself to be passed within the circle as she moves off balance, but the participants did not feel comfortable doing it. I asked them if they thought they might want to at a later date, and they said yes. I appreciate that even though they don’t want to do it now, they are willing to consider it in the future. It shows that commitment and willingness to take risks that I so admire in them. We then played a couple of games to explore team work and focus. The team work aspect is working very well, although focus appears to be a bit of an issue. We will keep doing exercises and games to increase that skill.

We moved on to work on monologues. Each participant has chosen the one she likes the best, and they all chose very solid pieces.

The first to go delivered “Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” from Julius Caesar. When she finished, we all applauded, but she was down on herself because she felt that what she had been doing was “fake.” I assured her that that is a normal feeling to have when first working on a new piece, and that if she can “fake it till she makes it” she will soon hit on the truth of the piece. We then broke down the monologue phrase by phrase to glean more meaning – when what Antony says is sarcastic, and when it is not. This made her feel much better and more confident. She performed the piece again, and it was much improved. We then asked her to imagine that she was speaking to a large crowd, with Caesar’s corpse right in front of her, and she improved again. She appeared to feel better than after the first performance, which is great.

The second participant did “To be or not to be…” from Hamlet. At first her interpretation was very presentational, but when we broke the piece down, it began to hit home for her. We discussed being torn between wanting to live and ending it all, and she remarked that she has felt that way in the past and can really relate to it. Once we’d gone through the whole piece, she performed it again. It was better, but she was going way too fast, which a few other participants remarked on. I pointed out to her that there is a lot of punctuation in the piece, which indicates a lot of time for thoughts to fly in. She was struck by this idea and asked if she could perform the piece sitting on the floor. Of course she could! This time she took her time, slouched with her elbow on her knee and her cheek on her hand, and she completely wowed us with the depth and honesty of her interpretation. We all felt the despair and the pain, and we were all moved.

A third participant chose a piece from Othello. This piece is one in which Othello has just discovered that Desdemona, whom he killed, was innocent, and he contemplates the value of his life and the likelihood that he will go to hell. This participant’s first reading was little more than that – a reading. When we broke the piece down, she began to understand it better, and her second reading was more intense and aggressive. She is timid about the closing line, which concludes with “O! O!” I explained to everyone that these O’s indicate an open sound, not necessarily "oh" -  in this case, sounds of grief. I made some of these sounds myself as an example. This participant then performed her piece again, with more energy, commitment, and grief – until she got to the end, when she backed off of the emotion. I asked her if she thought she could get past her nervousness, and she assured me that, with practice, she can.

The last participant to read chose the King’s speech in Hamlet in which he wonders if he can ever repent enough for his crimes, and if he’ll ever be forgiven, even through prayer. Her reading showed a general understanding of the material, and when we broke it down she said it helped – but she also said she did not want to go again. Of course I didn’t make her do it.

The level of dedication and commitment these women are showing is awe inspiring, especially considering none of them have acting experience and most of them have no past knowledge of Shakespeare. I am inspired by their courage and am really looking forward to working with them as they continue to grow.

March 6, 2012

After physical and vocal warm ups, and a few exercises to wake up our bodies,  we moved on to an exercise called “Complete the Image.” Two participants shake hands and then freeze, creating a picture. The rest of the group talked about what the image communicated to us about the situation and the relationship between the two actors. Each person then had a turn to tag someone out and take their place, changing the picture. This exercise got a lot of laughs as the participants showed their growing comfort with each other by doing very silly things. There were two participants who, rather than shaking hands, barely touched their fingers to one another as if they had cooties. Another participant got down on one knee as if she were proposing, while the other made a surprised face and gesture. Everyone agreed that simple things like posture and gestures communicate just as much about situations and relationships as facial expression and language. Since the group expressed a desire to explore improvisation, we played a game to encourage quick thinking and creativity. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and did very well achieving these objectives. There was a lot of laughter, and they thoroughly enjoyed the game.

Since they expressed that they want to spend more time on Shakespeare and less on exercises and games, we settled down to finish going through our monologues. We spent some time discussing the context of each piece before reading it, and then discussed what was going on in each monologue after. Two of the pieces that really stood out to the entire group were a monologue from Brutus in “Julius Caesar” and one from Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth.” They identified with the sarcasm and grief in the first, and were very interested in the complex emotions evident in the second. They were all able to glean a lot of information from these pieces without much help from me, which is probably why they were so enthusiastic about them.

Some of the participants are already gravitating toward certain pieces. One of the participants feels very strongly about the King’s monologue from “Hamlet” in which he expresses his guilt for his crime and wonders if he can gain anything by repentance. She said that she could identify with the guilt and the longing for redemption. Everyone expressed that even with the pieces of which they are not sure of the exact meaning, they like the “flow” and identify with the big ideas. They are eager to delve into these pieces in detail and get up on their feet and perform them.

In reflecting, I apologized for the somewhat tedious nature of spending most of our time going through these pieces and was surprised by several of them commenting that they really enjoyed it. They love analyzing and reading these pieces aloud to one another, and one said she had just as much fun today as she had on the first day. They said even though they were kind of lost going through the pieces by themselves, it helps to have context and explanations. They are eager to get into the emotions of the pieces and are already showing some of that in their readings. One participant is in another group in which they read aloud, and she said her facilitator in that group commented on how strong and “dramatic” her reading had become. This participant attributes that to her growing confidence with Shakespeare and is happy that this program is achieving results that are being incorporated into the rest of her life.

I believe we have now established a core group of ten individuals who are fully committed to the program and are eager to learn and grow. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and they frequently talk about this program to their fellow inmates, which I hope will encourage others to try programs like this and grow themselves.