Season Eleven: Weeks 12-16

WEEK TWELVE

Tuesday / April  11 / 2023
Written by KFG

We started the night with one ensemble member speaking about how much the program has meant to her so far. It was a great way to start the evening, and we jumped into the work in short order. We’ve gotten into a good rhythm of starting each evening with performances that the ensemble has been working on in their units. 

This evening began with five different performances from the group, including one member who had never performed before. We’ve been encouraging (and sometimes outright goading!) her to perform for a few weeks, and she has had the same answer: “Too much stage fright.” So it was really exciting to see such an active and dedicated member start to explore this aspect of the program. She said, “Believe it or not, I felt pretty good. I was freaked out, but I wanted to stay with it. … The more I read, the better I feel, and I’m breaking out of my shell.” A few ensemble members got a scene up on their feet that they had not yet rehearsed. That may not sound like much, but sometimes it can be very difficult for the ensemble members to even read aloud because of embarrassment. To be on their feet with no rehearsal—just trying a character on for size—was really indicative of the sense of safety we have cultivated. 

We continued on with Hamlet and read through Act one, scene four: the big one that everyone in the group has been anxious to read. It’s the scene where Hamlet confronts his mother Gertrude, and is so forceful in his confrontation that the ghost returns to keep Hamlet in check. Additionally, it is the scene in which the first blood of the play is drawn, when Hamlet kills Polonius. The idea of Claudius being the villain of the play because he has killed Hamlet’s father, and now Hamlet killing the father of Laertes and Ophelia, was a big point of discussion. The idea that Hamlet has become the thing he hates loomed large in the group. One person said, “Hamlet is turning Laeretes into Hamlet by killing his father!” Some pointed out that it was an accident: “How many people are here because of being caught in the heat of the moment?” One ensemble member responded, “That’s why I’m here, because of two minutes of my life.” So the scene really seemed to land, and the gravity of Hamlet’s situation was not lost on the ensemble. 

Another big point of discussion was the return of the ghost, and why it is that Gertrude cannot see him. The guards and Horatio can all see him in the first scenes of the play, so why is he now invisible to Gertrude? There were a flood of theories and we had a great time picking them apart. 

We ended the night with a challenge: to start framing the conversation around what each character wants in each scene. It is one of the big questions in modern acting and immediately seemed to activate the group. In the last 15 min of the night no doubt. “He wants love and acceptance!” said one woman. “He wants Gertrude to know his pain,” said another. Other comments included: “He wants to know if Gertrude was part of the murder”; “She wants to shut him out so she doesn’t have to deal with him”; and “She wants to protect him.” It was like a rapid fire lightning round on a game show—we facilitators could barely write down all the responses, they were coming so fast. It seems like the challenge has been accepted.

Friday / April  14 / 2023

Tonight was another great night in the ensemble. The check-ins have all been very thoughtful and vulnerable, and the group's cohesion is apparent during those first fifteen minutes. Afterward, we jumped right into reading the play, and tonight's selection seemed to fly by. There were several small scenes that ran back-to-back, so it seemed like we were able to just knock down several scenes in one go. We were also able to get most of them up on their feet, and because of their brevity and straightforwardness we were able to play with the staging of the scenes without getting too far into the weeds.

A favorite of the group’s was Act Four, scene three, where Hamlet is flippantly defiant to his uncle. “That felt great! I love being cocky!” said the actor who played Hamlet. Another remarked, “Claudius is next. We all know worms eat dead bodies, and so you’re next.” The night’s selection ended with Hamlet’s encounter with Fortinbras—most of the ensemble had to remember who Fortinbras even was and how he related to the story. “Hamlet is so wishy-washy,” one woman said. “This guy Fortinbras is doing it right!”

We finished the night playing Hitchhiker, a historical favorite of the group. As always, it did not disappoint, and we were able to finish the evening with some much needed silliness. At least seventy five percent of the group participated in this improv game, and one hundred percent were laughing along with us. 

WEEK FIFTEEN
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tuesday / April 25 / 2023

We began the night with a request to play an improv game, which made for a nice change and a great way to start. The ensemble have not been too interested in the improv games so far this year, so they have tended to happen at the end of the evening with whatever time is left, if we play them at all!

Tonight, there was a specific request to play a game we played earlier in the season when we had a very light attendance night, so it wasn’t really clear who knew the game already. The game was Dr.-Know-It-All, the crux of which is that each member of a three-person team can only say one word at a time to give (sometimes nonsensical) answers to questions from the group. There were a lot of hiccups at first, but we muddled our way through the game and were all having a great time. We then tried the game in Spanish, as a few of our members only speak Spanish. It was a lot of fun trying to get everyone on the same page, and my face hurt from smiling by the end of the game.

After we finished the game we started reading Act Four, scene five. It’s a very consequential scene for a number of reasons, mainly because we learn that Ophelia, (Hamlet’s love interest), in the wake of her father’s death at the Hamlet’s hands, has gone mad. Unlike some of the madness earlier in the play, Ophelia is completely divorced from reality, and it is clear that she is past the point of return. 

The main focus of the conversation though was not on Ophelia’s insanity, but on Gertrude’s initial refusal to see Ophelia. We spent almost no time discussing why we thought Ophelia had gone insane, which typically is the main attraction of the scene, but on a few lines from Gertrude. “Gertrude is responsible for Polonius’ death because she asked him to spy, so she probably feels guilty,” said one member. Another said, “She has to feel some kind of responsibility for the things going on in the castle!” Still another said, “She thinks this is happening because of Ophelia,” on account of Ophelia’s participation in the previous spying, “No one wants to be responsible for anything that is happening. She’s heartless—only concerned with protecting Hamlet!” Another added “[All] the indirectness is responsible for all the bad things in the play.”

In the second half of the scene, Ophelia’s brother Laertes returns and wants revenge on the person who killed his father. This is the opposite of Hamlet’s response to King Hamlet’s murder, and the ensemble really enjoyed seeing a character who was ready to take action. One woman said, “[Laertes] is taking charge, and I can feel it! This is how I would feel about my dad. He’s all business. I can feel the anger.” Another member pointed out, “The irony is that Claudius is still controlling everything and staying on top.”

We were all pretty excited to get the scene up on its feet; the ensemble is starting to develop a bit more understanding of acting technique. The ideas of staying in character when you don’t have lines, of reacting and responding to what the other characters are saying, of committing to the character fully, all are slowly being developed. Until now, it has been more about just getting up on your feet and reading aloud, and that has been more than enough of a challenge for many ensemble members. It feels like we are transitioning to another phase, where we are “leveling up” as a group. One member really demonstrated this by playing Laertes and going down on her knees, really committing to the role. Then she backed off and made a joke. We talked about this afterwards, about how just as she was right at the edge, she immediately laid off the character. It was right at the end of the night, so the ensemble agreed that we would talk more about this on Friday, and that we’d continue to work towards a deeper connection to the text.

Friday

Tonight felt like a real breakthrough, in that we worked within a new structure, with a level of personal challenge from the ensemble as a whole to which only a few had really committed before. We decided to revisit Tuesday’s scene, which was the ideal for taking a deep dive. Each character has quite a bit to do, but there is not the extra layer of wordplay that occurs in so many other scenes. It’s easy to get in the weeds a bit with double meanings and philosophical musings, but in this scene each character’s objective is unique, dynamic, and their “want” is very high-stakes. There are also a lot of characters, so everyone in the ensemble was able to have a part in the scene.

We decided to work this like a rehearsal of sorts, where we set the stage ahead of time, and went beat to beat, stopping where we didn’t feel like the scene was working. Right away, our Ophelia had difficulties committing to the madness. We talked about different ways she could imagine it, and how there was a definite detachment from what the other characters are concerned with and thinking. She said, “I feel like I have the whole stage, and I don’t know what to do with it!” We also talked about how she started goofing around when she started feeling nervous, and that the nervous feeling comes from vulnerability, which is where the acting starts happening; that it is like a car that won’t start, and she is pulling the key right as the engine is about to turn over. She smiled really big and said she’s excited to give this a try. She also added that it was hard to do with a book in hand, and that she wants to work on it over the weekend for Tuesday night.

The group as a whole was engaged during this time, throwing out lots of supportive comments and snaps while we stumbled through the scene. Each character went through a similar treatment: we asked what they wanted, where they were going, and we would stop when the movement seemed off or the commitment seemed to wane. Our Laertes had to address the subtle movements and non-movements of her character. There was the immortal director’s note in every theatre in the last hundred years: “If you want to move, then move!” We talked about what that looks like, the way children do a dance when they need to use the bathroom: if you have to go then go! Don’t stay in one place and dance around the fact that your character wants to move, just do it and do it completely. 

It was a really fun night, and the whole ensemble was abuzz with excitement. One member said, “I’m super pumped. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go to bed now!”

WEEK SIXTEEN
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tuesday / May 2 / 2023

Some ensemble members are really starting to take ownership of some of the roles in the play. One woman feels a particular affinity for Laertes and reads for that role every chance she can get. She started the night by asking, “At the end of my scene, am I appalled by Ophelia?” We weren’t talking about that scene at that moment, she just brought it up, knowing we would know that she meant Laertes' big confrontational scene, and that she would be playing Laertes. 

We continued moving forward with the play. In the first part of Act Four, scene seven, King Claudius convinces (and, arguably, manipulates) Laertes into taking his revenge on Hamlet covertly, which requires complicated plans and lots of poison. There was a lot of discussion about how much, or to what degree, Laertes is actually being manipulated. “He was already to go. Laertes was ready to kill—he didn’t get manipulated,” said one woman. Another counted that it’s not that he’s being manipulated to take his revenge, but how he’s taking it. “Now he’s the poisoner” instead of doing it in the light of day, she said. 

A few weeks ago, one member pointed out that all the bad things in the play stem from indirectness, and now she pointed out that Laertes is moving from a direct to an indirect mindset in his approach to the task at hand. The first instinct in the group was to reproach Claudius for his manipulation, and there was some identification with being manipulated by “a Claudius” in their life. 

One ensemble member went in another direction: “I’ve been manipulative like that. Everything that came out of my mouth was a lie… I learned everything on the streets. You think you’re living up to some expectations, but you’re dying a little everyday.” And suddenly the group moved to a place where we were discussing our identification with Claudius, our identification with Hamlet, and what we imagined Hamlet’s identification with Claudius would be. There was a lot of good natured debate, in the middle of which one ensemble member said, “This is what I love about this group, we can all disagree!” There were lots of head nods and vocal agreements. She went on to say, “I don’t have to be a badass when someone scuffs my shoes. I can be normal. I can be me.” Another member said, “I only stayed for my girlfriend [who was in the group], but now it’s something I want to be involved with. I want to get involved with the theatre. It’s part of my parole plan. I’d have picked on you in high school, and now I’m one of you guys!”

Friday / May 5 / 2023

It's a real joy to work with a text so familiar to me with ensemble members who are reading it for the first time while in session. The twists and turns are felt in real-time, and it can be hard to remember that everyone is not familiar with Hamlet. In tonight's scene, (the second half of Act Four, scene seven) we discover that Ophelia, Hamlet’s love interest, has died by drowning. This is reported in great detail by Gertrude, and it was the ensemble’s general interpretation that Gertrude was a witness, but cared little for Ophelia and felt nothing about her death. “She just watched her go down,” said one person. “I felt she’s all monotone,” said another. One member countered, “We don’t know Gertrude saw this. How I hear this is more like someone recounted this to her, or maybe Gertrude saw it from far away and couldn’t get to her.” 

We talked more about the episode in the text, and it was pointed out that Gertrude never actually says that she cares nothing for Ophelia; furthermore, she never says anything about feeling loving towards her, either. So, textually speaking, one interpretation was as valid as the other, and we asked if the ensemble member playing Gertrude, (Another member of the ensemble who has something of a monopoly on a character) would try it again with the interpretation that she was heartbroken about Opehlia’s death. 

She read the passage with this different interpretation and earned loud applause from the ensemble. We talked about how we felt about it now, and even gained the slightest of concessions from our Gertrude that the reading was still textually adherent. We even managed to get a few more dissenters from the ensemble. “It changed my mind!” said one. “It was more sincere. She was broken down,” said another. We finished the discussion with the decision going to the actor playing the role. It’s exciting to see the ensemble beginning to think about how they would interpret a given character, and it’s a joy to see that kind of empowerment take hold.

Season Eleven: Weeks 9-11

WEEK NINE

Tuesday / March 21 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tonight we started reading Act II, scene ii of Hamlet. It is a very long scene, and in a professional production’s rehearsal process it would be divided up into three or four smaller sections because of the text's density. So, needless to say, there was quite a bit to get through; some of Shakespeare’s most advanced and celebrated writing, so we quite deliberately took it slow as we made our way through the scene. 

The scene starts with the court discussing the love-tokens Ophelia has refused from Prince Hamlet. They are spoken about in detail, and criticized by Polonius, Ophelia’s father. Naturally, there was quite a bit of identification from the ensemble about the tragically hopeless love-tokens they gave and received when they were younger. In retrospect, they all seemed as misguided and cringe-worthy as Hamlet’s. Some of their stories were of mix tapes and playlists, keychains, antagonizing one’s childhood “love” interest, going bird hunting, and more. Everyone laughed and swapped stories about how embarrassed they were as young people trying to navigate their first “love”, contrasting it to Hamlet and Elizabethans customs.

As the scene progresses, Hamlet enters and starts to appear to be acting out of madness. The ensemble had a lot to say about the immortal Shakespearean debate as to whether Hamlet is acting crazy to throw everyone off his revenge plans, or whether he has actually gone insane. The ensemble's general consensus was that Hamlet is only pretending to be crazy to throw everyone off his scent. That being said, several ensemble members acknowledged that Hamlet must be in a tremendous amount of emotional pain, even if he is pretending to be mad. One member said, “Can you imagine that kind of weight? Knowing what you gotta do? It’s giving him bad dreams—he has to keep Ophelia away from him while he carries out his task.” Another said, “He has to kill. He can’t be with Ophelia because he doesn’t have choice, and so he doesn’t feel free.” She continued, “Everything is a shadow…He’s wondering if this is even real. To kill someone is a big deal, [and he doesn’t even know where to begin].” There was more conversation about the fact that Hamlet could not pursue love and revenge at the same time, and he was in a great deal of pain having to give up Ophelia, all while having to keep it a secret. Hamlet goes on to say that Denmark is a prison, and that he was in prison because in his mind, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” We discussed whether that is true, and whether Hamlet is right to call his world a prison. In response, an ensemble member said, “My body is here [in prison], but my mind is somewhere else—somewhere free.”

We ended the night with some games, and although they were quick, it was a great way to finish the evening.

Friday / March 24 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tonight, we continued working through Act II, scene ii, which we were able to finish and get parts up on their feet. The second half of the scene is incredible as Shakespeare starts to break down the nature of reality, dreams, and the theatre. That being said, it’s largely symbolic and gets further away from any progression of the plot. It’s a tricky bit of text for those unfamiliar with Hamlet. There is a lot of discussion of characters in a play Hamlet has seen that the audience never does, and it was difficult figuring out with the ensemble who and what he’s talking about, only to follow up with “don’t feel like you have to remember all that!” Once we were through the thick of the scene, the point really began to become clear for many ensemble members.  At the very end of the scene is the second of Hamlet’s  great soliloquies. These are some of Shakespeare's most celebrated texts, in one of his most celebrated plays, so there is always a ramp-up in the ensemble's attention when we arrive at them. 

We spent all of Tuesday reading while seated, so there was a big push tonight to be active and up on our feet. With the first big soliloquy (“Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh…”) the ensemble had had a real breakthrough when each member performed with a partner, switching off verse lines. One member specifically asked to do that exercise again, so we broke off into pairs and small groups to work on part of the text from one of the soliloquies. Most groups worked on the final soliloquy (“Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I…”), but a few branched out to other parts of Act II, scene ii. After about 15 minutes, each group showed what they had been working on to the rest of the group. Like last time, it felt like we were catching magic in a bottle. Every single group performed, with several performing for the very first time. One member, who does not speak English, performed part of the soliloquy in her native language. It was a very vulnerable moment for her, and the group responded with resounding support. It was a really beautiful moment at the end of the night. You could feel the Shakespeare-fellowship being very deeply cultivated in our little group.

As the soliloquy was performed over and over again, a few in the group commented on how much clearer the text was when seeing it up on its feet. There were identifications that I don’t think would have been made otherwise. One member said, “It’s like [facing a family tragedy] and feeling helpless. All I have to say are words, and words don’t help. What do they even mean? I’m not telling them what I’ve told them a thousand times before. You gotta show what you mean, because words are meaningless.” In the scene, Hamlet labels himself a weakling because he knows what he needs to do and can’t do it. A few members likened it to some of the struggles they experienced before coming to prison, knowing they needed to stop but not quite being able to go through with it. It was a really powerful night, and there were so many moments when the group were able to make profound identifications with the text in a truly supportive environment. At the end of the night, I issued a challenge to work on something from Hamlet and bring it to the group on Tuesday. There were several promises to do so, and a lot of enthusiasm for next week.

WEEK TEN

Tuesday / March 28 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

At the end of last week’s session, I issued a challenge to the ensemble: I believe I said, “I double-dog-dare you” to prepare something for the next session. The parameters could not have been looser: choose a monologue or dialogue, any character, any part in the play or any other play, and bring it in to show the ensemble. I thought maybe three or four members would do it—but we had eight performers! It was wonderful to see the ensemble jump head first into this challenge so completely. They brought pieces from various parts of the play, and a good range of characters were represented as well: a couple of Hamlets, a Claudius, a Gertrude, an Ophelia, and a Ghost. Truth be told, I’m not sure everyone was planning on performing what they had worked on over the weekend. As we worked our way around the circle and more and more ensemble members said, “I’ll go next.” The willingness to perform became contagious, and the night seemed to pick up momentum. It was fantastic!

We didn’t finish the performances until almost 7:30, almost an hour after we started. We started reading from Hamlet, and started Act III, scene i. This is a VERY famous scene, which contains the “To be or not to be…” speech: perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of text in all of English literature. We really took our time with it and made sure we understood each line of verse, and there were many identifications with their lives, and with their experience of incarceration. 

We continued on in the scene, in which Hamlet cruelly scorns his love interest and arguably ends their relationship. It is, like so many parts in Hamlet, a complicated scene that scholars have debated for years, and our ensemble was no different in their abundance of theories and interpretations. “‘Get thee to a nunnery’ is about ‘get out of the picture and be safe.’ He’s trying to save her,” said one member. Another said, “He’s pushing her away—he can’t let his feelings get in the way…Now is not the time to let his love-feelings out.” Some thought that Hamlet thinks Ophelia is just a pawn and is really talking to Polonius and Claudius. Some said he was showing tough love to get her out of the picture, some thought that he felt betrayed and was scorning her, and some thought he can’t pursue love and revenge at the same time. The discussion brought us right to the last minute of the evening, and we finished the night eager to pick up the conversation on Friday. The ensemble did make sure to “triple-dog-dare” me to perform something on Friday night, a challenge which I gladly accepted.

Friday / March 31 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

As soon as we got into the room, the ensemble asked me if I had worked on a monologue. I said that I had, but it is a monologue from a little later in the play. After check-in and bringing down the ring, I launched right into a performance of it. Everyone was very supportive, and it was really nice to hear them coming together to be so encouraging. 

We launched into the working on Act III, scene i on its feet. We read right up to the end of the session on Tuesday, so we didn’t get to act out the scene. The ensemble talked about how much easier it is to perform in front of each other, even feeling comfortable working through material they hadn’t practiced or even read before. One member, who has been too nervous to perform before now, completed an entire scene on her feet tonight. The ensemble cheered her on and gave her lots of support all the way through and after. We continued on and worked Act III, scene i, “freeze” style, meaning the ensemble could say “freeze” and take over one of the characters they wanted to try. 

We had to end the night early, but we’ll be back in action next week!

WEEK ELEVEN

Tuesday / April  4 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

After check-in, we got right to work reading Act III, scene ii. This is a very long scene, and it is a mystery that Shakespeare did not split it up into smaller scenes. There was no way to finish it all in one night, but we sat down, dug in and started reading. Hamlet is arguably at his most unhinged, so this text can be quite challenging for those unfamiliar with Shakespeare. Shakespeare is sometimes difficult to understand when all the characters are making sense, but when you have a character acting out of his mind and responding in a way that isn’t intuitive, it can pose even more questions. This is a scene in which the characters watch a play, and that also can be confusing. Once over that hill, though, the ensemble had some good ideas on how we could stage this part of the play.

There were some really wonderful identifications with Hamlet’s craziness before the play-within-the-play. One member said, “He’s anxious right before the play. He’s about to find out if it’s fake or the real deal. …He’s going crazy because he’s about to find out if he is going to kill someone. Reality is not what he wants, so he’s all ‘delay delay delay!’” Nearly everyone shared a story about trying desperately to delay the onset of the reality of a situation. Some referenced their lives in general, some referenced the time that led to incarceration, some about leaving prison and being nervous to be on the outside again. Most members had something to add, and by the end of the conversation, Hamlet’s craziness seemed a lot more normal.

Friday / April  7 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tonight we had another round of performances, which is always a real joy to see. The ensemble is really getting the hang of the process, including that they have the ability to work on whatever they want to bring to the group. It was a great clarification that the “double-dog-dare” from a few weeks ago is an ongoing challenge that can be taken on at any time. And so we spent the first part of the evening checking out what the ensemble has been working on, and giving snaps and support to those up on their feet.

We started on Act III, scene iii, which albeit less famous than “To be or not to be…”, is still up there in the canon as some of Shakespeare’s best stuff. It’s a densely layered scene in which Claudius attempts to pray and finds he cannot actually pray until he repents, and he cannot repent until he gives up the throne—which he will not do. He is followed closely by Hamlet, who is about to take his revenge but decides not to take the king's life while he is praying, lest he go to heaven. Hamlet wants a darker outcome and decides that he will take revenge when Claudius has more dirt on his soul. The great irony here is that Hamlet is unaware that Claudius cannot repent, and, thus, the cycle of procrastination and inaction continues. There was a lot to talk about, and lots of identification to go around. Most of the conversation centered around whether Claudius felt any guilt, and what justice could look like if the characters could make different choices. There was a lot of identification with Claudius, in that he feels like he knows what he needs to do but can’t quite give it all up. 

One woman said, “You can be honest and repent, but the hard part is to admit to yourself that you’re that kind of person…What does that say about myself? He probably doesn’t want to confront himself.”  Another responded, “In order to heal, you have to confront what you’ve done wrong. You gotta accept that in yourself. You gotta forgive yourself.” Another member said, “You gotta take action steps!” Yet another said, “He’s like, ‘Can I be forgiven and keep the crown? Can I keep this shit, have my cake and eat it too?’” “I like the part about the angels, I can relate to that!” another woman said, meaning there would need to be an intervention that allowed him to pray in order for him to do it.

We moved on to Hamlet’s soliloquy, and what a change had come over him. Suddenly, it was not enough for Hamlet to seek revenge. Now, he wanted Claudius to suffer and go to hell, which made for a dramatic change in his outlook and objective for the play. I felt certain that his monologue would spark the same kind of response that Claudius’ had, but the conversation kept finding its way back to Claudius’ prayer, or non-prayer, depending on your interpretation. We got the scene up on its feet and even introduced some staging for the ensemble members to make it read a bit more clearly. “I imagine Hamlet creeping in while Claudius is praying!” said one member, and we thought of ways for Hamlet to do so. We finished the scene, and the group was VERY eager to know what Hamlet was going to say to his mother Gertrude, so we dove into the beginning of that scene, knowing full well we’d have to read the bulk of it next Tuesday.

Season Eleven: Weeks Six thru Eight

Friday / March 3 / 2023

Tonight was a great night at the Valley in SIP. We completed a long running SIP tradition of asking the ensemble the “Three Questions.” They are the same three questions we have asked every ensemble at the start of the season since the program’s early days, and, as per usual, it took up the majority of our time together.

The three questions are as follows:

1. What brought you to Shakespeare in Prison?

2. What do you hope to get out of Shakespeare in Prison?

3. What is the gift that you bring?

The responses have always simultaneously seemed to vary and be remarkably similar, and tonight was no different. Some members were very frank about the fact that a friend signed them up, or that they just wanted out of the unit for a bit. Others took it a step further, and said they were looking for something different. We have been working in the facility long enough that the program is known to women who have never signed up; either they have seen one (or more!) of our past performances, or been close with an ensemble member and heard all about us. One member said one of her bunkies was a member a few seasons ago, and she “always saw her come back happy and full of energy,” and wanted to see what it was all about. 

It’s always interesting to hear from those who are trying something completely new, compared to those who are trying to reconnect to past positive experiences with the arts. One member said she is “committed to being someone she has never been before,” while another said she wants to “find new ways of handling myself and be better than I’ve been before.” Both comments were received with lots of head nods and supportive snapped fingers from the group. Another ensemble member said that she had done community theatre while she was growing up and was “looking for that kind of family here.” One returning member said that she has been in the program several seasons, although she has not been able to complete them all. “Not this time!” she said with a big smile. “I love Shakespeare, love the ensemble, love the sisterhood. The collaboration to bring a show to its feet.” More than one person said that they had family outside that had encouraged them, and took the time to find the website and this blog. It was nice to feel SIP rippling out that far, and we’re excited for this new season!

After the three questions, we played a few improv games that were decidedly very silly. Some improv games are about focus and multitasking, some about thinking on your feet, and some – the ones we played tonight – are about getting the ensemble laughing and having some fun. They didn’t disappoint, and even the most reserved members couldn’t help but laugh and play along.

After the games, we read a little bit from Hamlet. We did not get too far into Act 1 scene 2 before we had to break for the night. Already, the ensemble is picking up on the insensitivity of Claudius and Gertrude towards Hamlet, and the impropriety of the relationships. One comparison to Jerry Springer got the whole ensemble laughing and agreeing. So far the group is excited, and there is a lot of buy-in even this early. There is a lot of chatter and a lot of laughter, a lot of camaraderie, and the three questions really seemed to pull the group together this evening.

Tuesday / March 7 / 2023

This past week of SIP really felt like we were hitting our stride as a group. One newer member said she is “impressed with the camaraderie” of the group, while another said that “Even though I just started, I already feel a change,” and that she is “definitely coming out of my crabshell.” It’s nice to hear, and it's exciting that several ensemble members are bringing their SIP experience back to their units. They talk about reading the Shakespeare dictionary and teaching some of the improv games to their friends. When we did the three questions, there were several new members who talked about noticing the buzz around the facility, and feeling drawn to the program because of how happy everyone seems; it’s nice to know that process is in full swing, and that the work we do radiates out. One member admitted that she was still unsure about the program and was “auditioning” us as part of her week.

On Tuesday, we came across one of the more famous of Hamlet’s soliloquies in Act 1 Scene 2. It's the monologue that begins, “Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt…” and talks about Hamlet’s feeling of dread about his lot in life. It’s arguably some of Shakespeare’s best stuff, so we really took our time to play. We broke off into pairs and worked through the text as best we could, with each person in each small group taking a shot at the text. Then we worked on an old drama school exercise where you drop the consonants and try to say just the vowels, and the ensemble got a real kick out of it. Then after the actor tries just the vowels they return back to the text and try it again as written. Everyone really did well at commiting to the exercise, and there was a lot of laughter that accompanied a monologue about being depressed. 

When we returned to the circle to debrief, there was mostly positive feedback. One group said they didn’t stumble over the parts of the speech that they worked in the exercise. Another group said they didn’t like it because they felt silly, and then had trouble connecting to the serious nature of the soliloquy. Once we had debriefed, we opened it up to see if anyone wanted to perform, and we had a volunteer. She got up and when she went to start the speech she just kind of laughed for a beat and told her scene partner to get up with her. They read through the monologue, alternating lines of verse and building on each other’s energy. They didn’t even really talk about it much, they just did it– and it was great! We all gave them snaps of appreciation and opened it up to the group again for another pair to try the same exercise. One group after another performed the speech in tandem with their partners, and it became a very low stakes way to have some backup onstage. The energy built with each group as well; at first everyone was a little skittish, and I doubted if anyone was really ready to get the text up on its feet just yet. One by one, the groups volunteered, and the excitement grew in equal measure. It was a really special night, and the ensemble were beaming with pride on their way out.

Friday / March 10 / 2023

Much of what dominated tonight’s check in was how special Tuesday night had been to the ensemble. The ensemble member who only a few days ago told us she was still deciding if she was going to stick with SIP said that it cemented it for her, and that she was sticking with the group. The other big piece of news was that the copies of No Fear Hamlet arrived, and the ensemble were eager to get their copies so they could read it between sessions.

Most of the evening was spent reading the next couple scenes of Hamlet. The group seems really interested in the play and eager to hear what happens next. So we read Act 1 scene 3, which contains a lot of Shakespearean gems (“To thine own self be true,” “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” etc.) but is a somewhat boring scene. The ensemble, to my surprise, loved it and shared some surprising identifications. One member said she really identified with Polonius in the difficulties of parenting: “Parents gotta lay it on thick and give him all. I sure do it to mine!” She also noted that her adult children pay about as much attention to her as Laertes does Polonius. She went on to say that she tries to tell them, but they just never seem to listen. There were more lively discussions about Ophelia and the prince Hamlet’s relationship; they reveal in the scene that there are some improprieties, but it's never clear how far things have gone. There were all kinds of theories and questions about what it actually looked like, and what Hamlet and Ophelia must’ve been up to, that they got so much attention from Ophelia’s father and brother.

We moved on to Act 1 scene 4, where the ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals himself to the young Hamlet and sets him on a path to revenge. We made it to the very end of the scene, and had little time to discuss the finer points or get it up on its feet.  The group is very excited to find out where the play goes, and no doubt we will spend most of our time next week moving on the with the play. 

Tuesday / March 14 / 2023

There was a performance in the auditorium tonight, and we were missing a few ensemble members who had signed up to see it. It was a great night, but there was a little bit of figuring out what we were going to do. One of the group dynamics that we talked about was a commitment to getting the text up on its feet. It seems like the group is very interested in Hamlet, and is more inclined to read and move forward in the play. So with a lot of the group at the performance, we decided to take the night and work through the previous scenes. One thing that a few members spoke of was how involved they felt last Tuesday night working the Act 1 Scene 2 soliloquy. The thing that really allowed that, they said, was the ability to “goof around with the text.” So we decided to break off into small groups to give the ensemble a chance to explore those scenes on their feet. The scenes we were working on were Act 1 Scene 3 through the end of the act. For context, this is where  Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father and learns that his father was murdered by his uncle. There were only enough ensemble members present to have two small groups. Both groups took deep dives into the text and really stretched themselves, but each in a different way which was wonderful to see.

The first group focused on staging, and worked through the entire scenes several times with each playing a different part. They used the space and kept adjusting their movements and reactions to make sure they were textually supported. One ensemble member got really into playing the ghost and bellowed her lines from off stage. Additionally, they had two spare actors acting out the murder of the king as he told Hamlet the whole story. It was a really creative and active use of the time to “goof around” with the text, and they did a great job. The second group took a different approach and worked the same 10-15 lines of text for most of the time. We were able to talk about what their characters wanted, the tactics they were using to achieve their objective, and how to build the scene to a climax. 

After the “goof around with the text” time, we debriefed a bit and were able to come up with some new insights into Hamlet’s journey. One member said she was loving the character in this scene: “Hamlet is being assertive and keeping it real.” Everyone talked about how he was activated in the scene, and they’re excited to see what he does next. The first group wanted to present their work to the rest of us, so we took some time to see what they had worked on. We finished the night playing a game called Zumi Zumi, in which people pass energy around the circle according to each person’s assigned number. We have a lot of Spanish speakers, and so we thought we’d try to pivot to doing the game in Spanish. The group was excited to make sure that everyone was included, and we ended the night with a truly beautiful game of Spanish Zumi Zumi.

Friday / March 17 / 2023

Tonight was another great night, and it continues to feel like the group is solidifying. There were some painful moments in check-in that a few members spoke of, and the group learned how to give and receive “whooshes.” We moved on with the text and read most of the first two scenes of Act 2. 

The act begins with Polonius sending an attendant to spy on Laertes, his adult son who is studying in Paris. This seemed to resonate with the group, as just about everyone weighed in on either being a parent who admitted to spying on their kids, or being a child of spying parents. Many anecdotes were shared, as well as many theories about why Polonius would want to spy on his son. Some thought that Polonius was “doing a scared straight thing.” Others thought he was selfishly motivated and just looking out for his own name. Most of it was brushed aside by the second half of the scene, in which Ophelia, Polonius's daughter and Hamlet’s love interest, tells a story of Hamlet acting crazy around her. One member was eager to point out that Hamlet was fresh off of his encounter with the ghost of his father: “He probably wonders if she's even real … Are you just going to go up in smoke like my father?” She spoke more about the abandonment issues she thought Hamlet was facing. Others focused on Ophelia and thought that she either was trying to prove something to her father, that she was actually upset by Hamlet, or that she had been prejudiced against him by her brother and father. 

In any case, the conversation was rich, and the ensemble was itching to get the scene on its feet. They asked if we could break into groups again, and I offered that that can lead to clique-iness and can break up the cohesion of the group. Instead, I wanted to try SIP’s “Freeze” exercise, in which several ensemble members start the scene, and other members can call “freeze” and tag in for one of the actors. The ensemble seemed to really enjoy working this way, and we even ran the scene twice for all the ensemble members who wanted to try it. It was a dynamic night, and there was much to talk about with the different Ophelias playing the scene in different ways. 

Season Eleven: Week Five

Tuesday / February 21 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

We were back in the auditorium today, and we welcomed more new members. Almost every new member from last week returned, even those who’d said they didn’t think they would, so it felt like a full house and like the program is really expanding. As of now, there are only a few members who have taken part in SIP prior to this year, so with each activity there is a great deal of explanation, and although there is a lot of enthusiasm and buy-in, it takes some energy to get everyone on the same page—both in the figurative and literal sense of the word!

We started, as we always do, with a check-in and the ring exercise. Two ensemble members reported that they played the improv game from Friday in their unit and tried to teach others the rules. After the ring, we played a name game that was very active and high-energy. One member struggled with the silliness; sometimes that can serve to derail the exercise, but the ensemble did really well in letting her participate at her own pace. She said that next time she would try to really commit to the game. It was a real win for the ensemble. They have done a great job creating a safe space in a short amount of time.

It was unanimously decided to start reading Hamlet, and we started with Act 1, Scene 1. The ensemble members who have been attending for a month now were very patient while reading over the scenes they’ve read several times already, and they got a special shout out and some well-deserved recognition. We read through the scene for comprehension first, and a few new members admitted to struggling with the text. They said they didn’t really understand the language, and didn’t know what really happened in the scene. It was their first night in the program, and they were met with an overwhelming response from the ensemble that this is normal. It was a great moment because it gave a few other members in the ensemble a chance to admit they didn’t exactly understand it either, and it gave the veterans a chance to explain that this is all part of the process. It seemed like the new members thought they might be out of place for not understanding the text on the first read, but they were met with a lot of reassurance and were encouraged to watch a few members read the scene on its feet, and to use copies of the No Fear edition.

Next we tried performing the scene in the circle. We were able to stop and adjust our “staging” several times, with most of the adjustments centered around the ghost’s entrances and exits. Each time, there was a chorus of ideas about how we could make the scene work better. Some members were focused on the current iteration of the scene, some thought in terms of a fully staged production at the facility, and some proposed ideas based on whether we were professionals with unlimited time/budget. It was great to hear all the creativity, and it was difficult to write down all the ideas that were shared. Everything from shadows, to scary music, to lighting effects and ziplines got play from the ensemble. It's also worth noting that the members who read the scene on its feet were really working on making some acting choices, even though we haven’t really delved into the acting technique just yet. Still, we did a redo of certain sections, with ensemble members giving and taking some constructive criticism. 

This was all very new to most of the ensemble and took a bit more facilitation from the volunteers than is typical. The ensemble is really taking shape, and is already feeling safe and supportive. One member who played the ghost admitted, only after she performed, that she had never performed in front of that many people before. The ensemble cheered for her, in typical SIP fashion. The ensemble members who had shared that they didn’t understand the text when reading said it was an entirely different experience watching ensemble members do the scene on its feet. This is also typical in SIP. Getting the scene on its feet feels like more than just the comprehension of the text crystalizing, it feels like the ensemble is coming together and finding its feet this season.

Season Eleven: Weeks Three and Four

Tuesday / February 7 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

We had another great night this Tuesday after having canceled Friday’s session due to opening night of The Peculiar Patriot at Detroit Public Theatre. At only seven ensemble members, the group is strong. There is an extremely high level of engagement, and an unusually high level of willingness from the ensemble; it feels as though we’ve worked together for years.

This Tuesday was a special night: the eleventh birthday of Shakespeare in Prison! We talked about the history of the program for a bit, and as we talked we collectively decided that it would be fitting to get “Silly Hamlet” up on its feet tonight. There was something about it that really spoke to the group; I think the combined seriousness and levity really hit the spot. We were short on scripts, so we were all constantly passing the scripts around, not to mention that we had at the very least three parts each. King Hamlet’s ghost did some of the Thriller dance, Banquo made a cameo and the participant who played him absolutely milked it, the death rattles for all the characters in Act Five were over-the-top and on-the-money, the “sword fighting” was mimed and completely ridiculous, every pop song Ophelia sang was sung with commitment—in short, it was a bit of a ruckus and everyone laughed from start to finish. For some ensemble members, it was their first time through the plot of Hamlet, and they were surprised at how many of the main characters do not live through the play. One new member explained that in Shakespeare “all the best parts get killed!”

We finished the run of the play with five minutes to spare, and before we put up the ring we sang a very big “Happy Birthday” to SIP.

Friday / February 17 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tonight we had twenty participants, many of them new. Because of the program’s long pause due to Covid, many of the new members did not have even a passing familiarity with the program; in seasons past we had been highly recommended by previous members, or someone had seen a performance. A few “newbies” thought they had signed up for a traditional Shakespeare class where they would be writing papers and receiving a grade. We explained that, although those types of traditional education classes are valuable, it’s not what we do in SIP. It was really exciting to see their spirits rise when they realized that they would be participating in a performance with props, costumes, and the like. Because there were so many new members, most of the night was spent in orientation mode. We discussed the program's values, history, goals, methods, expectations, and answered as many questions as we could. We could feel the slow roll of smiles as the nature of the program came into focus, and the excitement seemed contagious as the night progressed. A returning member from our Twelfth Night season really took a leadership role in facilitating the orientation. She told stories of learning her lines, being up on stage, and how she and her bunkie studied for hours to learn those lines. We finished the orientation with the ring exercise and jumped right into some improv games. The group seems to really be bonding, and one new member said, “I just want to perform right now!”

We started by playing a game we’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks. The new members loved it and had a great time trying to keep all the rules straight. Then, by unanimous vote, the ensemble decided to read some Shakespeare before the night was over. There were more willing readers than characters in the scene, and most of the readers were one hundred percent new to the group. There was a lot of excitement in the room, and the six members who have been in the group for the past month did a really great job of bringing newer members into the fold.