Session Six: Week 5

Tuesday

Written by Frannie

After a brief warm up, we sat down to read Act One, scene one. We read through the entire thing and then stopped to discuss.

“He is something else,” said a longtime ensemble member about Richard, in regards to his interactions with Clarence, who is heading to the Tower. “He has no desire to get him out or serve his time. It makes me emotional. He’s manipulating his own brother. It makes me sad.”

Another person said, “He’s ballsy, though. He doesn’t care. Clarence isn’t in a position to tell Edward anything.”

We began to discuss Richard’s plotting as opposed to Iago’s – that Iago is a puppet master, while Richard is an opportunist. “Most people that are manipulative like that think a lot about their plans,” said one woman. “Powerful people… put on a front. They pretend to be one way when they’re actually feeling something different.”

A newer member chimed in, “In any sibling relationship, you’re gonna have one trying to get another on his side. George is the dumb one, right? So Richard tries to get him on his side.”

We talked about how violent the times were throughout Richard’s life – how inured he must have been to murder and manipulation. One woman offered another perspective, saying, “Richard has been the pariah his entire life, and now this is the only way for him to be respected, to have people do what he wants… That’s what drove him to this point. I mean, dogs bark at him when he walks by. This is his breaking point. He wants to get away from that feeling by any means.”

“It amazes me that these people make all these plots to get in power, but do they ever realize these things will happen to them once they get power?” mused another woman. “They don’t think it through to the end,” responded another.

Another woman joked about all of Richard’s crimes, “He’s like Pringles. Once he popped, he just couldn’t stop.”

We then decided to continue with Act One, scene two, in which Richard woos Lady Anne. There were many different perspectives on this scene, which is very open to interpretation.

“She’s easy,” said a newer participant. “She just left her dead father-in-law in the hands of his killer to go wait for him.” Another woman responded, “She’s vulnerable – she’s going through it. She’s grieving and he’s just kind of sweeping in… He keeps going at her. He’s got game.”

Another woman said, “I think she’s bloody brilliant. We have to think about the time. She married into power. This dirt bag stole it by killing her husband. The only way to get the power back is to marry the next in line. She’s brilliant. She is just getting back what he took.”

Another ensemble member disagreed. “I see many stages of grief in this scene – she's crying, angry, making poor decisions…” Building on that, another woman said, “She’s painted into a corner. It’s keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It’s a power play.”

“Women want to be loved and wooed,” said another, “and he just did all of that. She’s had a lot of loss in her life, and she’s getting all of the attention. He’s giving her a reason for her loss. She wants to cling to whatever she can… The best manipulators are charming. He’s manipulating the crap out of her in a really vulnerable time.”

The conversation shifted as we neared the end of our session. It was the last night for one of our ensemble members She read a bit from her journal, and then said a few words. “I really enjoyed this group,” she said. “It’s helped me a lot within myself. Things I didn’t realize were in me, I could see within myself and in the characters. Seeing things in different ways has helped me become a better woman. When I came here, I was really angry and didn’t care about anything but myself. Now I see things differently.”

“You’ve grown up a lot,” said another woman.

We ended on a positive note, wishing her luck on the outside.

Friday

Written by Kyle

Today when Lauren and I arrived, some of the ensemble members had already started messing with me about being the substitute teacher since Frannie was not there that week.  I have confided with them in the past that I feel that way and they were quick to remind me.  I wonder how they feel about an SIP session that which Frannie is not present. It definitely has a different feel to the night.  It’s difficult to put my finger on exactly what exactly the difference is. Maybe it’s that I feel nervous that I’m going to mess it up- like I’ve been given the keys to my Dad’s car or something.

Right away we started reading act 1.3 - the famous scene with Margaret’s “prophesies” about Richard’s villainy.  It clipped along without too much stopping for comprehension.  I get the feeling there is a pretty high level of comprehension of the text; I don’t know if it is the edition we gave them that is filling the gaps, or if the group has a higher reading level.  Either way the speed at which we read, and depth of conversation is palpable.

We finished the scene, and one of the ensemble immediately said how much she loved Margaret.  She said you could tell that Margaret had her “soul ripped out” and was there to ‘rub it in.’  She liked that Margaret’s whole M.O. was to just stir the pot and didn’t want anything else.

Another longtime member said how much she liked Margaret’s and Richard’s relationship.  They had both done grimy things, and they were more or less on the same wave length.  They understood each other, and were equals.  I talked about how hurt Margaret was, but it was in part because history is written by the victors - they could paint her in whatever colors they want, and conveniently forget their own war crimes.

After the discussion of Margaret, we read the scene where Clarence is killed by the two murders.  There was talk that there needed to be more vulnerability in Clarence, and that he needed to “beg for his life.”   I am really liking the way that the ensemble is really reading into the scene and are starting to have a clear picture of what the scene should look like. This is definitely the earliest in the season that I’ve seen that happen, and I am excited to see the progress from one season to the next.

The woman reading very enthusiastically said that she loved playing murderer #2 because she “felt connected” to him.  She liked that he had a moment of reflection before carrying out the murder, and that the scene was funny, which was something she felt she could do well.

We finished the scene, and everyone asked to play a game we have had mixed results with in the past.  I was very hesitant, but it was almost unanimous from the returning members of the group.  I didn’t want to make a unilateral decision for the group, so I made everyone take a pledge that they would not get really competitive with the game.   We were going very slowly so that the newer members could get the hang of it before we started playing for real.  One member commented several times when I didn’t get someone ‘out’ who had made a mistake.  I and others reassured her that we were still giving the newer members a chance to get used to the game.  It seemed like the competitive nature of the game was getting the better of us, and I quickly changed to a different game to try and finish the night on a good note.  This did not go well with the member who was struggling- she left early and angry.  I’m not sure if it was about me, the game, or something else, but I was pretty upset about how that went down.  I decided that I am never playing that game there ever again; as much as I love it, it causes too many problems.  I was disappointed that it went that way, and I don’t know why that game seems to bring out the worst in everybody.  I feel like there is a reason that we are in prison, and that scenarios like that are difficult for some people to navigate - it is part of the work we do to help them better navigate them in the future.  It’s all I can really do.  Needless to say though, it felt like a crappy way to end the evening and I continued to think about it all weekend.  I’m eager to get back on Tuesday to make right whatever I can to make it right, and move on as a group.

Session Six: Week 4

Tuesday

After warms ups and check in, we returned to our monologue and scene exploration.

The first group read the scene in which Clarence begs for his life and is then killed. The woman reading Clarence remarked that she had really started to feel it toward the end. One of the women reading the second murderer said, “I can relate to this guy. He’s a total douchebag. He wanted the money, but he didn’t want to do the work.” Another woman asked, “Did he maybe have a conscience?” The first woman thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t think so.”

A new participant read a short Margaret piece. We asked her why she chose it. “It’s like Margaret was seeing her revenge,” she replied. “The kingdom is crashing down and she’s like, ‘Yes.’” She said she had chosen Margaret because she’s “kind of awful” and “it’s different.” She also admitted that she’d been very nervous, and a returning participant suggested that next time she bring others on stage to talk to.

Another woman read Richard’s monologue to Anne in the wooing scene. “We know that Richard’s not a nice man,” she said. “This is one of his most vulnerable moments.” We talked about whether he is lying in this scene or if any of it is truthful. There is some disagreement there that will likely be cleared up when we read through the play together. But this woman maintained that it actually doesn’t matter whether or not he was lying – the objective, to get Anne to marry him, is the same either way.

Last year’s Othello read a Richmond monologue. “I always really like when people lay out battle plans. They’re always strong characters in the moment,” she said.

Three returning participants then read the scene in which Richard is visited by ghosts. The two ghosts went back and forth between partially closed curtains, and it was very effective. Then the woman reading Richard jumped up and performed the ensuing monologue. Her delivery was clear and intelligent. She was the one who had chosen that scene. “It’s one of my favorite scenes,” she said. “He’s finally getting what he deserves. He caused so much misery, and now misery comes to visit him.”

One of those participants then read Anne’s monologue over King Henry’s body. “I’ve never been so upset that I’ve wanted revenge. I like how she goes through so many emotions,” she reflected.

One of the women who read a Richmond monologue rousing the troops for battle last weektried the same piece again, with more gusto. She said that it felt better that time. She gravitates toward the language in the piece: “He’d be like HUH and HUH and WOMEN!” We all laughed.

Then a returning member read part of the Anne/Richard wooing scene with Sarah, one of the facilitators. “It’s disgusting,” she said. “It was different with Richard in it (the scene). We’ve all been in situations where you’re angry, they’re nice, and it makes you more and more mad.”

We decided to spend one more day exploring in this way before hunkering down to read through the play together. This has been a really valuable way for people to get their toes wet and begin to take ownership of our project.

Friday

Tonight we welcomed two new people into the group. We then warmed up and went right back into our monologue and scene work.

Two new members read a scene together in which Clarence describes his dream. One of them said, “I felt like I was gonna puke. I was nervous, shaking… but it felt really good. When he went down to the sea is when I really started feeling it.” She also shared that she has suffered frequently from nightmares, and that’s what drew her to this scene. The other woman in the scene shared that she felt like a good comforter. She is clearly nervous to be up in front of people, but she did a wonderful job.

A returning member read Richard’s “Was ever woman in this humor wooed?” soliloquy. She read it with a great deal of humor, causing many of us to laugh. She also mimed eating an apple. We asked her about that. “I feel like – ‘cause he’s talking shit, you know? An apple is a perfect prop.” She continued, “He’s, like, so cocky… a jerk… He thinks he’s the baddest ass ever… So it’s kinda like me, and I like that.”

Two other returning members read part of the Richard/Anne wooing scene. The one who read Richard remarked, “Richard is an a-hole.” The woman who had just read a Richard monologue argued, “No, he’s not. You don’t know his struggle.” The first woman pressed on, “I felt that same arrogance. He left her no choice – if you want to continue to be royal, you’re gonna come with me.”

“I don’t know,” mused the woman who had read Anne. “I felt drug into it. I feel like she’s not as mad as you would think… She’s mad and she’s upset… She’s a little dramatic. I think she’s getting off on it… Enjoying being nasty to him.”

Three new members read a scene between Margaret, Elizabeth, and the Duchess. The woman reading Margaret was particularly powerful, instinctively working with the meter, playing with emphasis, and varying the volume and quality of her voice. We were wowed. “I don’t know what it is about this character, but I really identify with her,” she said. “There’s a lot of pain there. Sometimes when you hurt so much and someone else is going through something, they finally understand you.”

Our new brand new members each read a scene with a returning member. One said that although she had been nervous, it was fun, and she liked it. The other remarked, “It was a little bit overwhelming, but I liked it. It was something new – I needed that edge, that spark.”

Two returning members read part of the scene between Richard and Elizabeth. The one who read Richard said, “He’s so creepy. In this scene, he’s comparable to me when I was in my addiction. He really worked to make it make sense.”

The woman who’d been working so hard on the opening soliloquy decided to try the piece without her script. Another woman stayed on book for her, and she made it through the whole thing. “It was daunting without the script,” she said, “but it was okay!”

As we wrapped up, a woman who has been in the group for almost five years remarked, “This is a good group, full of participation. Normally people need to get comfortable, but y’all got some boxing gloves on!”

Session Six: Week 3

Tuesday

Tonight we focused on getting to know each other. There are three questions that we always ask at the beginning of the process, and, after a name game, we took turns answering them:

1)What brings you to Shakespeare?

2) What is the gift you bring to the ensemble?

3)What do you hope to get out of Shakespeare?

Some answers included:

“I love this – what we do, the process, the hard work that culminates in successful shows the last four years.”

“I hope to make connections with other people, and I hope to grow into a well-rounded individual that can connect, be normal, and have feelings.”

“I want to learn more about myself and the characters, learn to relate to things that are different, see from other perspectives, and make friendships.”

“I hope to become something great at home from getting out emotions through the characters.”

“I want to gain discipline and people skills – dealing with life on life’s terms. We learn to work through situations and not quit when things get hard.”

“This is my favorite thing that I do. I love the process. The performance is a whole new high – we follow through and don’t flake. It’s nine months of something I never thought I could do. This is my family. You will bare your soul because Shakespeare is timeless. This is a safe place. These are my best friends. ”

“I thought I was too old, but the unity has brought me back – the bond. Someone said something about safe space. The outpour from everyone, their concern – I want to take what I’ve seen, get people to send money and supplies. I’m proud to be a part of this and want to let society know about this work.”

We wrapped up by saying goodbye to a member who is going home tomorrow. We wished her luck and sent her on her way with enthusiasm and the feeling of camaraderie she has often expressed as the thing she loves most about our group.

We also took on a challenge of performing the opening soliloquy of the play on Friday, whether memorized or not. We’ll see how it goes.

Friday

Tonight after our warm up, we decided to jump right into monologues. One of our new members volunteered to go first. She read from her chair and said that it felt good, even though she stumbled in a few spots.

Then one participant asked if we had to do the opening soliloquy or if we could choose something different. “You can do whatever you want,” I said. A new member leaned over to the person next to her and said, “How often do you hear that?”

Another new member read her piece from her chair, stating that she had been trying to memorize it but was just too nervous to work without her notes. A returning member reassured her, saying, “Ifyou were uncomfortable, I couldn’t tell. You made me comfortable.”

At this point, people started volunteering to read and/or perform all sorts of pieces from the play. As it turns out, many of them had been intrigued by other characters and wanted to explore them instead of Richard. One woman read one of Richmond’s pieces, working to incite our group to go into battle with her. The response was enthusiastic and invigorating.

Others felt drawn to Margaret. “She’s just angry and hurt because she’s lived this life for so long,” said one woman. “Now she has nowhere to go.” This same woman later remarked about Anne, “I can’t feel the hatred of Richard. I feel like I’ve known hurt and something being taken from me that meant a lot.”

Another woman read Anne’s speech over Henry’s corpse. It was powerful, and she said, “I felt like it was just coming out of me, like I couldn’t contain it.”

A pair of ensemble members read a scene in which Margaret curses Richard. “I think part of the reason why he hates himself is the mother,” said one of the women. “There’s so much dysfunction in this family… You just know that it’s bad.”

We branched off into a discussion about how we handle mistakes in performance. Returning members of the group mentioned using the improvising skills we develop to help recover from anything that goes haywire. We told stories of past mistakes and how we dealt with them, and there was a lot of laughter.

At the end of our meeting, two participants read to us from the journals they are keeping about our work. We all loved hearing their reflections, and the group decided that anyone who wants to read in the future is welcome to do so.

We decided to each choose a different piece to work on for Tuesday. After this, I imagine we’ll begin our reading and analysis of the play, but the group is already ahead of where they usually are at this point. I would credit this to our use of the “No Fear” Richard III, which has made it so people for whom the language is unfamiliar can still read and understand the plot.

Session Six: Week 1 and 2

Friday, September 2

On this first night of our sixth season, many members returned, and we all welcomed our newcomers. We had a casual conversation about the purpose of the group, some of our challenges, and what we enjoy about our work. There was a lot of laughter and some very earnest conversations.

“This is the place to be… or not to be,” joked a returning member.

“Even when you don’t want to come, come… Those were some of my best moments,” shared another.

“All the emotions you want to show on grounds, but you can’t… You can in here,” said another member.

“You can take off your mask in here,” said a longtime member.

We played a game to end the evening, and the new members left smiling and enthusiastic about returning to the group. We are all fired up for another year.

Tuesday, September 6

Tonight we began with our usual check-in and warm up. Many people shared during check-in, both the good and the bad things happening in their lives. The atmosphere in the room is already one of support, and the new members embraced our warm ups without complaints.

This season, we have been given permission by the prison to conduct a case study of our program that will measure participants’ identity development. We took some time to go over this case study – what it’s about and how it will be conducted – and made sure everyone understood prior to signing a consent form agreeing or declining to take part in the study.

We then decided to dig into the opening soliloquy of Richard III. We went around the circle, each reading one line, and then we talked about what we had gotten out of it. “He hates himself,” said one person. “He hates everybody. He’s so angry,” said another. We then broke the piece down, word by word, to see what else we could discover. Following that, several people read it on its feet, circling around the group and connecting with us.

This led us into a more in-depth conversation about Richard and his motivations (returning members had the summer to read the play and have a lot of insight already).

We talked about Richard’s appearance and how it might affect him. “Why wouldn’t I be the bad guy since I look like the bad guy?” said one person. “He’s jealous and envious of normal people with normal lives,” said another. “He wants to be the leader,” said one participant. “He’ll stop at nothing to be king. He’s heartless.”

Someone suggested that Richard’s actions might be considered evil. “It’s not evil,” responded one woman. “It’s all these hurt emotions stuffed down for years. I feel sorry for this guy.” Someone else suggested that Richard may have low self esteem, even with a seemingly inflated ego. “He seems like he only takes joy from others’ misery. He enjoys it – the plotting, the planning, the gratification of seeing what he put into it. He’s not just some average villain – he’s the epitome of it.”

We talked a bit about Richard’s crimes. “If you kill somebody and have good in you, you’ll probably feel some type of way about it,” said one woman. “But he doesn’t He takes pleasure from it.” Another said, “He’s probably had years of abuse and anger. He wants to give back what was given to him.”

The returning members assured the newcomers that working with the text will get easier, and the new folks seemed enthusiastic about continuing.

We determined that only 11 people in our group will still be in prison when we perform in June, so we decided to add more people for Friday’s meeting. Our goal is to end up with about 15 people who are able to perform.

Friday, September 9

We welcomed more newcomers into the group this evening. We did brief introductions, our check in and ring exercise, and then we launched into a name game. This was a lot of fun and created a very warm and inviting atmosphere for those joining the group.

Kyle took aside the people who had not yet learned about the case study to fill them in, and the rest of the group played improve games. Those who are returning members took the lead and invited the others to join in. Some are more hesitant than others, but everyone was smiling.

We then decided to return to that opening soliloquy. One participant remarked that she couldn’t stop thinking about it and had made a lengthy journal entry, sorting through her thoughts. “Jeez, William,” she joked, “Can we not even get through the first monologue? It made my mind go in a thousand different directions.” Several more people got up to do the piece, and one person commented on how challenging it is to maintain the hunchback physicality. This lead to a discussion about how open to interpretation the physical deformity is.

People are already starting to think about casting, and which parts they are drawn to. It’s unusual for this kind of ownership to be taking place so early, and it’s exciting.

We’re looking forward to digging deeper into the play next week. We’re off to a great start.

Session Five: Week 41

Tuesday

Everyone arrived tonight ready and calm for our final show. Again, the ensemble worked together as a team to help each other through the rough spots and gave it their all. The woman who had been very upset last week nailed her scenes this week and clearly felt much better.

Once again, our audience gave us a standing ovation. It was well-earned, and put a nice stop on the performance part of our process. I distributed completion certificates and urged everyone to attend our final meeting on Friday, when we’ll discuss the program in general – what’s going well, and what needs improvement.

Friday

A good number of our ensemble members were present tonight to assess this year’s program, and those who weren’t present sent along their greetings and intentions to continue the program next year.

One of the issues brought up by the group was the “messiness” of our performances. Everyone agrees that this is due to inadequate rehearsal, caused mainly by absences and early departures. Some feel that there is also not enough structure. Our solution to this is to come up with a stricter attendance policy in the fall, to bump up our casting date to November (which we are hoping will be aided by next year’s use of the “No Feare” Richard III), and to have a rehearsal schedule of sorts so that people can make sure they are present when their scenes are being worked.

Due to those absences, we were not able to spend very much time on ensemble building during the rehearsal phase of our process. The group feels that we need to bring that back, and we hope that the solutions outlined above will make it so we have more time for group activities.

I then asked the group for an honest appraisal of the facilitators’ work. I anticipated constructive criticism, but the ensemble had nothing but praise to heap on us. They are incredibly grateful for our enthusiasm and commitment, and for the respect that we show them. “You made me feel like a human being,” said one woman.

One of the ensemble members, who had a very rough time this year, expressed her thanks to the group for sticking with her and helping her through. “It was an honor that you shared all of that with us,” said one woman. “You helped us, too.”

I asked the group how our pilot program with student facilitators worked. They expressed enthusiasm for this new aspect of our program. “New people on our side are unusual,” said one ensemble member. “It’s part of our escape.” Another woman said, “We’re helping them more than they’re helping us. That makes me feel better.”

The group then launched into an open discussion about the program, which wound its way back to facilitator feedback. A woman who has been in the group for four years got very emotional, saying, “I think everyone has a ‘better person.’” She looked at me. “You are my better person… I feel like you’re raising me. No one raised me at home. I’ve changed because of you.” I expressed what an honor it is for me to be that person for her, and my deep appreciation of everything she brings to the group.

Another woman said that she appreciates the way we model the handling of conflict and criticism. “We deal with real life situations in real life ways.”

Another woman specifically spoke about having Kyle in the group. “Guys are nice,” she said, becoming tearful. “They’re not all sleaze balls. They’re not all tricks… I used to think, am I ever going to be able to look at men and not see something sick inside of them? But Kyle’s just a normal guy, and it gives me hope for my future. If I hadn’t had you as a male around me, I wouldn’t have been able to grow like I have, for my life on the outside. I’m gonna be normal again, and it’s gonna be okay.”

We left feeling positive and excited to come back together after our summer break. I can’t wait.