A beacon of hope in the darkness of prison life.
“Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett - San Quentin State Prison - 1961
“I began first to act in Beckett’s plays in 1961 while serving a life sentence at San Quentin in California. Although many other of my fellow convicts had similar interest, as early as 1958, we were all none the less, required to be patient and wait until the Warden of that day decided to allow us the special sanction of an experimental workshop, where such plays might be performed.”
-Rick Cluchey co-founder of the San Quentin Drama Workshop and founder of THEATRE in Prisons.org
LINKS
BROWN UNIVERSITY - PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - USA - CORRECTIONS & EDUCATION
PRISON ARTS NETWORK - Wikipedia
PRISON ARTS FOUNDATION - BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND
PRISON EDUCATION NEWS - DUBLIN, IRELAND
THEATRE to PROMOTE CHANGE - MANCHESTER, UK
WILLIAM HEAD on STAGE - VICTORIA, BC. CANADA
ESCAPE - European Site for Creative Arts in Prison - DUBLIN, IRELAND
INTERSECTION for THE ARTS/The Prison Project - SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
THEATRE NEMO - BARLINNIE PRISON & POLMONT PRISON PROJECTS UK
ARTICLES and NEWS
DEC. 24, 2008
Theatre has dramatic effect on Lebanon jail
JULY 4, 2008 - VIDEO
THEATRE OPENED IN POLISH PRISON(in Polish)
JULY 26, 2008
THE TIMES ONLINE - THEATRE SAVES LIVES
FEB.23.2008
THE TELEGRAPH UK - FIRST PERSON SINGULAR - ONLY CONNECT
FEB.20. 2008
LONDON SHAKESPEARE WORKOUT PRISON PROJECT PUTS THE BARD BEHIND BARS
-2006-
BBC NEWS - PRISON THEATRE in INDIA
EVENTS - PAPERS - BOOKS
ART IN PRISONS CONFERENCE - SOFIA, BULGARIA MAY 13-19, 2008
PRISON ARTS NETWORK EUROPEAN MEETINGS FROM 1994 - 2007
PRISON THEATRE in AUSTRIA - by SABRINE SANBERGER
From the birth of a movement some 50 years ago with the founding of a theatre workshop in San Quentin Prison we present a new organization that will hopefully bring together resources and future programs for the worlds imprisoned populations through the device of theatre.
Theatre in Prisons.org will in time we hope serve as a platform or
“a stage” providing the world resources and tools through not only technology but, one on one education and performance.
The basis of Theatre In Prisons.org outreach is humanitarian, educational and sound psychologically as a building block to individual self-confidence. Which in my experience is very necessary if the ex-offender is to find a truly successful path upon which he or she might return to society. Considering it is society that has been wrongly served, or has become a victim of these convicted individuals. We therefore strongly suggest returning offenders need better communication tools.
Theatre offers the individual greater social inter action and skills. He or she can discover the self confidence to alter personal or anti-social patterns of behavior. Prison does not serve society and they certainly do not serve the larger human community or the individual. Theatre In Prisons.org offer a greater return on the social investment by re-directing negative human energies into positive inter-communal voices supporting personal growth. Individuals with learning disabilities, or who suffer deep emotional problems can use theatre as a form of therapy. My years in prison theatre work helped change my tendency to violent anti-social behavior. Theatre can be a powerful means of therapy in addressing personal change.
Theatre provides the social agency of self expression for any individual regardless of his or her standing in the world. Returning to the community with a sense of greater self-confidence demonstrates that the individual can become a useful agent of change. We must provide the vehicle for his or her re-direction. Its an old maxim that one must reach out for the good in mankind before someone exploits the bad.
I hope by giving voice to my own practical use of theatre for change, that somehow our community of theatrical voices will continue to light up and glow. A beacon of hope in the darkness of prison life.
words from: Rick Cluchey
ESCAPE ARTSIST UK - LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, UK
With over ten years of experience of working within the secure estate throughout the UK, as well as in high-security prisons in Northern Ireland, Italy and Germany Escape Artists is thoroughly accustomed to working with offenders and ex-offenders.
ATRIDEN GEFANGENTHEATER -TEGEL PRISON
PETER ATANASSOW - BERLIN, GERMANY
aufBruch is a free and independent Berlin theatre project, which is artistically with social and political processes and cycles. The institution is aufBruch prison as an example par excellence: By the prisoners exclude from society, it creates within its walls it makes to the exclusion of the public. This is the starting point of artistic confrontation aufBruchs.
ARMANDO PONZO and Compagnia della Fortezza - VOLTERRA, ITALY
The Theatre Laboratory in Prison Volterra was born in August 1988, edited by Carte Blanche under the direction of Armando Punzo. Today the company's contribution: Ministry for Cultural Heritage, Tuscany Region, Province of Pisa, City Of Volterra, Corporate Local Health Centre Volterra, Fondazione Cassa Risparmio Di Di Volterra.
DIRECT ACTION with Heidi Arneson a multidisciplinary artist with over twenty-five years in theater.
A Writing/Performance Workshop for Inmates at:
Ramsey County Correctional Facility - SAINT PAUL, MN
CENTRO EUROPEO TEATRO e CARCERE
EUROPEAN CENTER OF THEATRE IN PRISON
Born to promote and disseminate the theatre and the various artistic languages in places of hardship and in prisons in Italy and Europe, especially in countries where this experience is not yet known. This spread is now aided by a network of European realities (Prison Art Network), born with the support of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Community, after the project headed by Cetec and realized so travelling in Europe: "Diary of travel from places inmates. Cambridge, Belfast, Parigi, Wuppertal. Berlino, Milano, Roma, Reggio Calabria".
The main purpose of the Project
The ferment of dramatic activities in Prison and the strong interest that is growing around them in many fields and at various levels, are often clashing with an inadequate legislation, with rules that are stopped to years ago and which are not representing the big changes of culture, giving always the idea that prisons have to be and to remain realities completely different and detached from"civil life".
The comparison between different European experiences among Institutions that gave their availability to collaborate and to be part of the Project, is, at the same time, the aim and the structure of the Project itself. It has also the purpose to create an active and visible "space of discussion" upon the status of jails in Europe and upon prisoners' rehabilitation and redevelopment systems.
Only Connect is a theatre company and resettlement charity working in London prisons. We stage professional theatre productions, with prisoners as cast and crew, performing to audiences of fellow prisoners and outside guests.
Only Connect works with prisoners and ex-offenders to prepare for release and adjust to life outside. We provide mentoring and support to get our clients into housing, rehabilitation, training and work.
working to promote sound principles and good practice for prison education in Europe
... and beyond
The European Prison Education Association is an organization made up of prison educators, administrators, governors, researchers and other professionals whose interests lie in promoting and developing education and related activities in prisons throughout Europe in accordance with the recommendations of the Council of Europe.
THEATRE TO PROMOTE CHANGE - UK
TiPP work from the belief that theatre and related arts have the power to transform people's lives. We develop and implement participatory arts projects and undertake training for artists and for professionals working in the Criminal Justice System.
INTERSECTION for the ARTS - CALIFORNIA
INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS introduces The Prison Project a year-long series of events and programs exploring the California prison system. With this project, an array of artists working in fields as broad as visual art, theatre, dance, poetry and jazz challenge us to recognize that incarceration is a fundamental part of the fabric of contemporary Californian, and U.S. society. Incarceration affects those inside and outside of prison and within these stories are human beings, families, and communities that make up a large cross-section of California's population.
THEATRE IN PRISON: Theory and Practice
by Michael Balfour
Often a book can become an inspiration to start a new project. This is an example.
"From role-plays with street gangs in the USA to to Beckett in Brixton; from opera productions with sex offenders to psychodrama with psychopaths, this book discusses, analyses and reflects on theoretical notions and practical applications of theatre for and with the incarcerated."
Theatre in Prison is a collection of thirteen international essays exploring the rich diversity of innovative drama works in prisons. The book includes an introduction that presents a contextualization of the prison theatre field. Thereafter, leading practitioners and academics explore key aspects of practice - theorizing and describing specific approaches to working with offenders. The book also includes extracts from prison plays, poetry and prisoners' writings that offer illustrations and insights into the experience of prison life.
Theatre in Prison: Theory and Practice
by Michael Balfour (Editor)
ISBN: 1841500666
The Proscenium Cage:Critical Case Studies in U.S. Prison Theatre Programs
by Laurence Todd
The Proscenium Cage is an examination of sample companies that produce theatre with and for prison inmates. The book is a compilation of comprehensive case studies of three such producing companies. Based on personal interviews, newspaper reviews and articles, and other testimonials from participants, each case study catalogs the working processes of the given company, the conditions they faced working in the prison environment, and how the theatre-artists tailored their work to meet these conditions. Alongside the empirical study of the companies, the author has employed prevalent theories from criminology and penology, as well as applicable performance theory, to discuss the significance of the theatre work as a social phenomenon within the very specific culture of the prison. From these individual studies, the author draws conclusions about the potential importance and place theatre could have in the penal system.
This book, a first study of its kind, is a groundbreaking and important contribution to theatre studies. The foreword is by Dr. Lorraine Moller, Assistant Professor of Performance at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Artistic Director of Rehabilitation Through the Arts.
We advocate for ACCESS TO THE ARTS in all its forms; and for active participation in arts activities. In all areas of our work PASMI focusses on participating with and performing to people who live in the socio-economically marginalised sectors of society, both in Chile and in other countries, for example:
the urban periphery;
low income communities;
regional and rural cities, towns and communities; and
socially excluded communities (prisoners, migrants, women suffering violence, etc).
LAST UPDATED : October 13, 2009 10:54 AM
Funded by:
A resource for the movement of THEATRE in PRISONS worldwide.
Theatre Behind Bars - can the arts rehabilitate?
Author: Philip Taylor
ISBN: 9781858564555
by Philip Taylor
Theatre behind Bars invites readers into the harsh world of prison culture, and reveals how an applied theatre project changed the lives of the men who experienced it. Granted unique access to a correctional facility, the author presents the findings from his three year study investigating the impact of a sustained prison theatre programme. The book tracks the work of twenty of the men, most of them serious offenders, as they participated in this programme.
The text eloquently recaptures the inmates’ involvement with the theatre arts as they crafted scripts and monologues, engaged with process drama, forum theatre and public performance, and as they reflected on how their lives were forever changed once they were behind bars. The rehabilitative potential of theatre as shown through the eyes of the inmates pervades the text with compelling authenticity. The book is not just about the arts in prison but is also an important resource for everyone who is interested in the humanizing aspect of theatre.
This book will be of interest to researchers, educators and students interested in applied theatre and the scholarship which informs it. It will be an important library addition to college programmes which specialize in theatre studies and educational theatre, and of particular interest to community artists and activists, and in criminal justice and youth detainment programmes. While the focus is on theatre in prison and its rehabilitative potential, the book will have broader appeal for those concerned with the social and civic impact of theatre, and in counselling and general training programmes. Importantly, it contributes to recent debates on the purposes of applied theatre.
CONTENTS
Chapter One: Why do Theatre behind Bars
The chapter provides an overview of exceptional prison arts programs worldwide, including Rehabilitation through the Arts (RTA), Geese Theatre, Cell Block Theatre, Rideout, Theatre for the Forgotten, the Prison Arts Forum, and the Theatre in Prison and Parole (TIPP)
Chapter Two: From monologue to dialogue
Readers are introduced to the contribution of critical social theory to applied theatre. Foucacult’s history on discipline and punishment in prisons, his critique of power and knowledge, serve as a backdrop the study. Breaking through the men’s stereotypical notion of theatre is explored, and how applied theatre offered them alternate ways of engaging with art.
Chapter Three: The Rehabilitation Argument
The chapter examines what rehabilitation means within correctional facilities. Research by Balfour, Moller, Tocci, Thompson, Troustine and others has suggested that arts programs in prisons can affect the inmates’ anger management and coping strategies, reducing their time spent in lockdown. Theatre Chapter Three explores the educational aspects of theatre behind bars, and the contributions that drama education, especially the movement known as process drama, has made.
Chapter Four: The Ethical Dimension
The ethical dimension associated with prison theatre as artists strive for freedom and democracy in a penal environment is unpacked. Chapter Four examines the tension between releasing the imagination of inmates given the reality of incarceration and the despair that inmates often experience. While
Chapter Five: Evaluating theatre behind bars
The chapter will summarise the justifications which the inmates offered for applied theatre in prisons. These tend to focus on three main areas:
1. Interpersonal and intrapersonal development.
2. Decline in recidivist rates
3. The importance of aesthetic education
Dr Philip Taylor is director of the educational theatre programme at New York University. An acclaimed author, his previous book for Trentham (with Christine D.Warner) is Structure and Spontaneity: the process drama of Cecily O’Neill.
DRAMA WITH OFFENDERS AND PEOPLE AT RISK
Edited by Clark Baim, Sally Brookes and Alun Mountford
The Geese Theatre Handbook explains the thinking behind our approach to applied drama with offenders and people at risk of offending, including young people. It also contains over 100 exercises with explanations, instructions and suggestions to help practitioners develop their own style and approach. The materials can be readily adapted to other settings including conflict resolution, restorative justice and interpersonal skills training. The handbook is a key resource for:
Offending behaviour groupworkers
•Probation officers
•Youth workers
•Youth offending teams
•Prison officers
•Social workers
•Criminologists
•Community workers
•Forensic psychologists
•Psychotherapists
•Community theatre workers and actors
•Drama teachers
•Drama-in-education and theatre-in-education practitioners
•Drama therapists and other creative arts therapists
•Adventure therapists
•Group and individual therapists and counsellors
•Mental health professionals
•Psychodramatists
•Sociodramatists
•Professional team builders
•Team supervisors
•Family therapists
•Staff training and development officers
•Conflict resolution workers
•Special needs workers and teachers...
...and people training or studying in these and related fields.
Contributors:
Clark Baim, Sally Brookes, Irene Brown, Vivienne Cole, Hilary Dawson, Mark Farrall, Camilla Gibbs, Louise Heywood, Wendy Meakes, Stephen Morris, Alun Mountford, Juliet Raynsford, Mark Robinson, Jeremy Thomas,
Andrew Watson
Published: March 2002
ISBN: 1 872 870 67 8
Cost: £25.00 +post and packaging.
For orders from outside the UK please email us with your order request and we will contact you to arrange payment information.
