Session Five: Week 23

Tuesday

Tonight we decided to review the work that’s been done on Act I Scene iii and keep going with it. After our review, we again pondered Roderigo’s situation in this play.

Why doesn’t Roderigo suspect Iago of taking advantage of him? “He’s super focused on Desdemona,” said one woman. “He’s not thinking about anything else – he’s obsessed.”

“I fight against my own emotions and intelligence with this,” said the woman playing Roderigo.

“Even if there was a solution, you’d still be a little gloomy,” said another woman about Roderigo’s state of mind. “But sometimes false hope is the best thing,” said another.

“Well, I feel silly,” said the woman playing Roderigo. “Then you’re doing it right!” said someone else.

After going through the scene again, one woman asked if maybe we should set the whole thing in front of our curtain so that, when the scene is over, we can open it on Cyprus. The whole group was enthusiastic about this idea.

We spent some time playing a game, and then some people had to leave. We decided to work on one of Othello’s monologues with the remaining time, a monologue in which he denies feeling jealous. After one read, we all chipped in to guide our Othello to find greater truth in the piece. Her second read was much more effective, and when she finished I asked her how she had accomplished that. “You’re not gonna like it,” she said, and whispered to me, “I used the Method.”

I asked her, “Do you mean you were re-living a past experience, or were you recalling and using that past?” She answered that she had not re-lived anything, but, rather, had thought about when she felt a similar way and used that in her performance. The facilitators then clarified that this is an effective tool to use in rehearsal (often called “the magic as if”), and is not the Method and nothing to be worried about.

Readers may recall that we have had a few intense discussions about safe approaches to the material, and it’s good that this ensemble member got clarification about the tool she was using. In our program, we can’t avoid looking at our play through the lens of our own experience; it’s using that experience safely and effectively to tell a story that needs to be our focus. If we maintain that, no one should have to re-live past trauma.

Friday

Tonight began with a discussion about costumes, set, and props. We are not allowed to use military uniforms, so we had to work together to come up with something that would signify military without going against prison policy. We believe we have come up with a good solution, but that, too, will need to be approved by the prison.

Most of the ensemble members have a very clear idea of what their characters should be wearing. The woman playing Bianca emphatically stated that she should wear red even though in everyday life she doesn’t like the color – she feels that Bianca would. Our Othello had suggestions for how she could look slightly different from the other military characters.

We also talked through some problem solving about Desdemona’s smothering. I haven’t asked specific questions yet of prison staff, but I anticipate that this will be a challenge to stage while staying within the rules of the prison. We’ve come up with several solutions that I will present to staff soon.

We then continued with our blocking, beginning with Act II Scene i, in which we arrive at Cyprus in the wake of a storm. Two ensemble members whose characters don’t appear until the second act gamely took on the roles of the two gentlemen in the scene. Our Cassio seemed unsure of what she should be doing, but she knew she felt the need to move. “Well,” said a longtime ensemble member, “What do you do when you’re nervous and anxious?” Cassio answered that she paces. We decided as a group that it would be appropriate to pace and look out to sea for Othello’s ship. One person suggested that Cassio grab a telescope from Montano as well.

We have a backdrop of an ocean that was painted for our Tempest, and this same longtime ensemble member suggested that we put it at the back of the house. This suggestion was met with enthusiasm and praise for her consistently wonderful design/concept ideas over the years.

We also decided to revisit this when we’re back in the auditorium (we sometimes meet in a classroom on Fridays) so that we can explore different levels in the scene.

It was a very positive evening, and we are chugging along, figuring out how to stage our story. 

Session Five: Week 22

Tuesday

We are now partnering with Wayne State University to bring students in as facilitators. This is written by Gaia and Clearie, our very first partners. 

To be greeted with applause simply for entering the prison’s theater space was the last thing that I expected.  As a student of theater, it has been ingrained in me that a performer must work for applause.  Applause is not given simply for showing up. Applause is earned. 

Yet, after voluntarily driving forty-five minutes, turning in my ID, leaving my cell phone, crossing through a metal detector, being patted down by the prison guards, and walking across a prison yard into a world that is completely different from anything I’ve ever known, perhaps the other volunteer student-facilitator and I did earn some applause.  However, the standing ovation of the evening is owed to the women who played and continue to juggle up to five different roles daily: as ensemble members, mothers, daughters, wives, and incarcerated persons.  

We were both struck by the strength, passion, and creativity of these performers who are actively taking on the seemingly insurmountable challenge of putting on a Shakespeare production in a seemingly hopeless environment.  

The women could not have been more welcoming. Everyone acknowledged and seemed to appreciate our presence. This was so important to both of us.  

My fellow student facilitator expressed that her only reservations about coming into the incarcerated women’s production lay within her fear of intrusion. She and I shared the fear of the women perceiving us as outsiders attempting to impose on their ensemble. After such a warm welcome, it was revealed to both of us that that was a nonsensical fear. In fact, one woman made an effort to comfort us, by confessing that although she has been in prison for 13 years, she still hasn’t gotten used to the gates. 

Before check-in we had official introductions and we were asked the two questions that are asked of everyone that joins the ensemble: “What will you be bringing to the group?” and “What would you like to take away from the group?” We both answered to the best of our abilities; although I have a good feeling each of our personal goals as a student-facilitators will become clearer as we continue. 

We proceeded with check-in and the members opened up about their past few days.  Again, the stark contrast between life outside of the gates of the prison and life inside of the gates became clear even through the most mundane question, “How are you today?” 

One woman’s response to the question was extremely powerful, as she had had spent that day working as a mentor with troubled youth. Young girls came in with the Boys and Girls club to talk to prisoners in hopes that they might deviate from their current behavior. She assured the group that this scenario does not, in reality, mirror the Netflix show “Beyond Scared Straight.” The woman mentioned that she was still processing the experience but she seemed to really fear for the young girl that she talked to. 

We then joined the group in raising the circle.  It was at this point that I was struck by the beauty and power of theater to transform even the darkest spaces into spaces of light, warmth, and community. A theater exercise that I had performed countless times before left me speechless.  

As the ensemble members envisioned a circle of light above their heads, one ensemble member led the group, and we all placed our hopes and worries for the session up there, in the nebulous space above our heads.  To know that my own hopes and worries of passing exams, buying gas and groceries, were dancing next to the hopes and worries of some of these women did a great deal to put my world in perspective. We lowered the circle together, carefully balancing each other’s hopes, dreams, worries, and fears on the palms of our hands, to the floor.  After the circle was lowered, we all took a step inside of the circle, our heads bowed. It was then that the directing ensemble member instructed us to spread the contents of this circle around the space.  

It was in this space, filled with the hopes and fears of everyone in the room, that we began rehearsal.  

The excitement to delve into the script was palpable.  All of the women in the room jumped up with their scripts in hand, excitedly chatting and falling into place.  Again, by simply being present in the room during this simple run through I was able to bear witness to the transformative power of theater. 

Despite the fact that backs were given to the audience and some lines were skipped in the readings, the genuine quality of the performance was still visible.  In fact, it wasn’t just visible, it was vibrant, and it continued straight into the ensemble’s work blocking Act I, Scene III. 

There was a slight delay while the group decided who would stand-in as the officers, senators and messenger; as those had not yet been cast and we filled in the missing spaces. One of the members offered us her script and we hopped on stage. We stumbled through with books in hand, although many of the cast members have begun to memorize lines. 

After this scene a woman announced that she would like to try her hand in directing during this process. Everyone was incredibly supportive and told her that she would make an excellent director, that she had a good eye for that sort of thing. This was lovely to see! It can be hard to find an ensemble that is free from making judgments or fear of one member being superior to another. There is clearly an attempt to create a non-hierarchal group, which I believe to be an extremely important aspect of a successful production. 

We ended the meeting with a fun improv game and the raising of the ring. As we began to depart, a woman mentioned that sometimes she leaves rehearsal and still has to remind herself that she is in prison. Then, we each said our goodbyes and began our respective journeys back to our respective worlds.  

Yet, the whole ride home we reflected. We found ourselves stupefied and amazed that through this nearly four hundred year old text, people normally separated by concrete walls, barbed wire fences, and security guards were able to truly, deeply connect.  Isn’t this, we concluded, the true goal of all great works of art? To move, touch, transform, reach, resonate, and connect to the heartstrings and minds of all. 

Friday

Written by Frannie

Tonight was our first meeting after Kyle and I attended the Shakespeare in Prisons: In Practice conference, and, after checking in and supporting a group member who is really struggling right now, the ensemble asked me to share. I learned a lot at the conference, and my sharing led to an emotional conversation about the work we’re doing. I’ll share some of the ensemble members’ words.

“This group has allowed me to associate with and care about people I normally wouldn’t, and learn about how people can be… It’s made me feel normal. The fact that we’re all different makes us all normal… It’s allowed me to be myself again, for the first time in 20 years. If someone were to ask me what got me through prison, I’d say God and Shakespeare.”

“Praise is important when you’re an outcast. We get that here.”

“Being here brought me out of my shell – I had lost myself for awhile.”

“Every aspect of prison is dominated by fear and intimidation. Every aspect of our lives is controlled. This is the only place where it’s okay to be goofy, have fun, smile, and laugh. It’s something artistic, too, which is smothered in an institution. This time when I’m here, I feel like I’m not here.”

“It’s like skateboarding. I get life lessons. In skateboarding, you fall, and you get back up. But that takes a lot of hard work. Shakespeare in Prison is similar. Without Shakespeare, I wouldn’t be open to letting myself be viewed in an imperfect way. This gets me motivated for when I’ll be working – I have a sense of worth – I have something in me that may be untapped. I have to work hard and give it my best, and I get how to function on an every day basis. I might make mistakes and not meet expectations, but it’s okay – It’s okay to fail.” 

“Shakespeare in Prison gives consistency year after year. Without consistency, you can fall into the wrong things. To be given the opportunity to learn more and more… It’s more than acting, it helps you deal with people.”

“This whole process reminds me of the best part of who I used to be before I came to prison. The darkness can overwhelm… This is my light. Not only can I be that girl again, but I can be better. Whatever we’re feeling, it’s okay here.”

“Everybody needs something different, and we all get it. It’s hard to explain because it’s a feeling; sometimes there aren’t any words.”

“I was upset because I wanted more, but being here, I get it anyway. Just being here. I’m sorry for my outburst.” (This ensemble member was not cast as she hoped, and she let out her frustrations in the group. A constructive conversation was had in response, and everyone is communicating better now.)

“Shakespeare is like mining. It takes a lot of work, it’s ugly and dirty, but after awhile you get muscular, ripped, strong. You get so focused, and when you and that diamond finally get cleaned up, everything looks so good.”

“Shakespeare is like Cake Boss! You get flour and icing everywhere; it’s all messy, but when the cake is done, it’s so pretty.”

“Shakespeare is like puberty. It’s hard and confusing at first, then you get to the awkward stage, then finally there’s the end when you blossom.”

We closed our session with a fun circle game, coming together as an ensemble to get energized and have fun. While we didn’t do any Shakespeare tonight, sometimes that’s not the point. Sometimes that’s not the point at all.

Session Five: Week 21

Tuesday

Written by Frannie

Tonight was both challenging and encouraging.

We began by working on the first scene of the play. We talked about how many of us will need to learn to “walk like a man” since we’re playing men, and we tried to define exactly what that means. We came up with things like placing our weight squarely on both feet instead of resting on one hip and taking longer, purposeful strides. What it comes down to for us is that we as women apologize for our bodies with our posture much more than men do, and we need to learn to acknowledge and use the power we have.

We spent some time figuring out the entrance to this scene – we want to grab the audience’s attention right away. Some suggested an entrance through the house, down an aisle, but we abandoned that idea after trying it several times – we didn’t think we could get the audience’s attention right off the bat that way. We came up with another solution. We began to try to figure out how not to make the scene stagnant, and one woman who has simply amazing instincts for staging sort of took over, explaining and showing the way she thought the scene would most effectively move. This is the role she’s chosen for herself – to be a director rather than a performer – and she is wildly good at it. Members of the ensemble encouraged and praised her for her input. One longtime ensemble member turned to me and said, “This group gets better and better, every year.”

At a certain point, one ensemble member got up, saying “I can’t deal with this,” and began to leave. As she walked, I asked her if she was okay and if she wanted to talk. She sat down with me, and I listened to her for about 45 minutes or so. She is having a very hard time right now, feeling hopeless, and it helped her somewhat to have someone holding space for her, so I focused all of my energy on our conversation.

When the group realized that I needed to be fully absorbed in this ensemble member, they immediately took over my role as guide and helped the actors in the scene to find blocking and motivation. This is an essential part of our group dynamic – since I was the only facilitator present, but I needed to focus all of my attention on one person, the group has become empowered enough and taken enough ownership of the play to do just fine without my input.

Peripherally, while staying focused on the inmate who needed a listening ear so badly, I heard one new member of the ensemble begin to get extremely frustrated with the blocking process – she had told me before I began the one-on-one that this was challenging for her because she didn’t “have the vocabulary for it.” As she became more frustrated, I heard one longtime member reassure her, saying, “I know you’re frustrated, but try to relax. Blocking can take a long time and it’s frustrating, but we have a lot more of it to do, and you’ve got to stay calm.” After the scene had been more or less blocked, this woman was still frustrated, so the group unanimously decided to take a break.

It is extremely important to our process that we acknowledge when people are having a hard time, honor it, and try to help them deal with it. While we are not therapists, we can hold space for people and encourage them along the way. As I did this for one member of the ensemble tonight, the others did it for each other. This bodes very well for the rest of our process.

Friday

Written by Lauren

We started off today by running act one, scene one. Our Iago tried walking like a man for this scene, made the comment that "walking like a man felt weird," and admitted that she stopped during the scene because it started to make her feel self conscious.

Everyone was anxious to get to work, so as soon as they were done refreshing their memories on that, they were ready to start blocking scene two. A lot of people had ideas for this scene. One idea was the idea that at the end of the scene, the attendants should back away slowly as if they were still anticipating a fight. Most of the group was really supportive of this idea and were ready to try it.

Our Othello had an idea for the scene, too, but wasn't sure if she should say it because everyone on board for the other idea. Everyone encouraged her to share, and they ended up being able to combine the two ideas for the staging.

While we were running these ideas, one woman approached me and expressed a concern. As someone who had been in the military, she told me that the way the officers were having a "stand off" was something that would never happen in that world. While she was saying this, she said that she would also look at the action and decide if she wanted to share with the group or not. She ended up liking what she saw, and even seemed to have a fun time when she stepped in as one of the officers when we ran the scene again.

She had also expressed concern regarding the layout, as we could not see everyone who was on the stage. This was something that was shared with the group, and everyone adjusted themselves accordingly. This woman has a good eye for direction, and I was pleased when she decided to share with the group.

Tonight had a lot of good energy and everyone seemed to have great ideas to share as well as support for each other and other's ideas!

Session Five: Week 20

Tuesday

Written by Frannie

We had another night of making cuts to our script tonight, and although it’s tedious, we had some fun along the way, joking with each other about the process.

We got to a quintessential Iago monologue, and Kyle remarked, “I love this speech.” Our Iago, who is a ruthless cutter of Shakespeare, replied, “Well then, you’re gonna hate what I did to it.” Her cuts were good, though, and well thought out.

We kept to our resolution of not cutting anything belonging to people who weren’t present, although several members of the ensemble told us sincerely that they wanted us to go ahead and cut things. “Whatever’s best for the play,” said one.

One of our ensemble members found it intriguing that Othello talks about women’s appetites during his unraveling, and Emilia talks about men “eating” women later in the play. She was concerned about cutting those lines of Othello’s, but after talking about her discovery being more literary than performance-oriented, she felt better about it.

When people became hesitant about making large cuts, I encouraged them to be brave. I reminded them that we own this script; it doesn’t own us. “I can be brave,” said one woman. “I’m not brave, said another.

“I’ll be brave for you,” said a third member of the ensemble.

And that’s a really important aspect of this process.

Friday

Written by Lauren

Today we started out continuing to discuss possible cuts to the script. Many of the women admitted that they had not been doing cuts on their own when not in class, but those who had seemed fairly engaged in the process at first. During this portion of the session, we discussed how important it is to be familiar with any material that doesn't make the cut since that is still information that can shape how a person plays their character. During cuts, the focus seemed to start shifting and people started to get more and more distracted, so we stopped doing cuts and moved on. Everyone present agreed that, in the interest of time, Frannie should complete the first round of cuts, keeping each person’s preferences in mind.

Frannie took a couple of women aside to do more cuts while the rest of us started to play around with staging strategies. A couple of people at a time would go on stage while those of us in the audience would suggest blocking. We observed how stage positioning can completely change how a scene feels from an audience member's perspective. Discovering different planes of action shifts an audience member's focus and it can completely change the action. It was observed by some inmates that changing levels, such as having some folks kneel or sit on the floor while one character is standing and walking shows the standing actor's dominance over the rest of the actors. Some comparisons were teacher vs. students as well as prison guard vs. prisoners. One woman observed that the person standing looks like they're attentive and "ready to go."

We ended the session working on a specific scene with Iago, Emilia, and Desdemona. Desdemona is openly distraught. We ran through the scene a couple of times. At one point, it was suggested that the woman playing Iago should try playing the scene as if she feels sorry for what she has done to Desdemona. It changed how the scene felt for the actor, and she said she would explore this interpretation more in the future. It was observed that it's interesting how little changes can completely change how a scene is played out. 

Session Five: Week 19

Tuesday

We got right down to the business of cutting our play tonight. We reviewed our cutting “policy” – essentially, if we don’t need it (and if the person playing the part isn’t really attached to it), we cut it. We need to be able to perform our play in about an hour and a half, and that necessitates some pretty ruthless cutting.

One woman, who is in her third year and has grown to love this process, has already made many cuts to her own lines. We applauded her for this and encouraged others to do the same. We decided also to table any cuts that affected people who were absent.

Although some group members were hesitant about this at first, by the time we left everyone was working together to stay involved in the decision-making. This has always been how it goes – we move slowly as new members get acclimated to the process, and then we begin to cut rather gleefully. It’s an important part of our process even if it’s a bit lengthy and repetitive because it is so empowering – we own the script; it doesn’t own us.

This is our story, and we’re making decisions together about how to tell it.

Friday

Tonight when we circled up, one of our ensemble members shared with the group that she had had a very bad day and was upset and anxious about something that is happening in her personal life. Nearly everyone in the group had had an experience like the one she spoke of, and we took some time to offer words of comfort and suggestions of how to manage her anxiety, such as breathing and meditating on a “safe place.”

When she had calmed a bit and said she was ready to work, we did, continuing with our cuts. When she began to seem anxious later, another ensemble member sat beside her and quietly talked to her while the rest of us kept working, respecting the comforting that was happening in our circle.

We continued to work together to sort out the necessary text from text that is repetitive, unnecessary, and/or potentially confusing to the audience. This meant that nearly all of the scene in which Iago jokes with the people waiting for Othello was cut – the word play is complex and will most likely be lost on our audience (perhaps on any audience), and we weren’t comfortable with it, so most of it was cut. “It’s not about us,” said the woman who is playing Iago, “It’s about the audience, and I don’t want to lose them… I want to say what I’m doing, how and why, and I don’t want to give more words than I have to.”

Most of the women are now eager to lighten their workload by cutting their own lines. Nearly everyone is taking the suggestions of the group, while the group is being respectful when people stand their ground about keeping certain lines. A debate broke out about whether or not we need the Herald’s speech that leads into the “party scene,” and we tabled it for the time being so we could move forward. Certain things don’t crystallize until we get on our feet, so we feel all right about making this first round of cuts, knowing that more will likely be cut as we go.

A few members of the group are frustrated by how long this is taking. It’s a very dense play, so it makes sense that it’s taking longer to do these cuts than it has in the past, but I suggested that everyone take a look at her own lines between meetings and make cuts so we can move a bit faster. This suggestion was well taken.

We did a bit of improv, then, returning to an old game with a new twist – playing what is normally a two-person game with three people. This was a lot of fun. We moved on to a really great game that Kyle taught us at the beginning of the year, and it was great to see how comfortable everyone is with it now, and how good we’ve gotten at it.