In August of this year, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections
cancelled the Shakespeare Prison Project (TSP) at Racine Correctional
Institution, a medium-security correctional facility in Sturtevant,
Wisconsin. TSP was scheduled to begin rehearsals for Hamlet on
September 4, but the plan screeched to a halt when the DOC rejected a
Wisconsin Humanities Council grant proposal that claimed the project was a valuable resource in inmate education, rehabilitation and reintegration. I learned that those claims obliged the DOC to evaluate my proposal using the same rigorous standards applied to "evidence-based" programs that are already in place in corrections.
Over the past several months, I have been in conversation with the DOC, pleading for a reconsideration of the decision. The movement to "Save The Shakespeare Prison Project" has also received considerable media attention, and a good deal of public support (over 800 people have signed a petition in support of the project).
When the new Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Edward Wall, took office in early November 2012, I asked him to review the decision to cancel The Shakespeare Prison Project.
After
holding conversations with his administrators, Secretary Wall sent me
an email that (1) supported the original decision to cancel, (2) expressed
appreciation for my devotion to the project, and (3) invited me to submit a
revised proposal that would address outstanding concerns.* Yesterday,
Racine Correctional Institution Warden John Paquin
acknowledged receipt of the new proposal, for HAMLET. It is now under
review, with a decision expected in
early 2013.
*The revised proposal explicitly addresses
concerns about the scale of the project, which in the past required
shutting down the prison gym for several days, and other major
accommodations at the correctional facility. The revised proposal also
addresses long-standing security concerns associated with bringing in
large numbers of guests, props, and costumes. Finally, the proposal
addresses the one issue that prompted this year's cancellation: it does not
include any implications that The Shakespeare Project is an officially
sanctioned DOC "program" that holds the status of other "evidence-based"
programs.
Stay tuned...
Information, resources and networking for artists/educators who facilitate performance work with prison inmates.
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Links to Programs and Resources
- ArtSpring
- Band of Brothers
- Community Arts Network
- ESC - Educational Shakespeare Company
- Jean Trounstine
- Judy Dworin Performance Project, Inc.
- London Shakespeare Workout
- Medea Project (Rhodessa Jones)
- People's Palace Projects
- Phoenix Players at Auburn
- Prison Arts Coalition
- Prison Arts Network
- Prison Creative Arts Project
- Prison Performance Network
- Prison Performing Arts
- Prison Performing Arts (Blog)
- QSE's Shakespeare Prison Project
- Rehabilitation Through the Arts
- Shakespeare Behind Bars
- Shakespeare Prison Project
- Shakespeare at San Quentin
- Shakespeare in Prison
- Shakespeare in Shackles
- Storycatchers Theatre
- The Actors' Gang
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