Agnes Wilcox (Prison Performing Arts): A new blog!

An excerpt from a recent post:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010

Locked down -- terribly inconvenient

Rehearsed The Caucasian Chalk Circle from 1-4pm, as usual. The actors were released at four, but returned to our classroom, as the institution was in cease movement. One actor, a longtimer, warned that we probably wouldn't have Spoken Word poetry class tonight because an emergency exercise for staff had begun, and would take hours. How many hours? Lots.

Follow Agnes Wilcox's reflections on her prison theatre work at http://prisonperformingarts.blogspot.com/

Hamlet at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center

Prison Performing Arts (St. Louis, Missouri)

Agnes Wilcox, Founder and Artistic Director

Laura Bates at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility

Laura Bates, associate professor of English, journeys inside the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility to teach Shakespeare's criminal tragedies to inmates.

Curt Tofteland on "Shakespeare Behind Bars"

KET Local Video Player

One to One with Bill Goodman

Music for at-risk kids: Chicago Symphony Orchestra participates in corrections performance - chicagotribune.com

Music for at-risk kids: Chicago Symphony Orchestra participates in corrections performance - chicagotribune.com

Storycatchers Theatre, Meade Palidofsky, Founder & Artistic Director

Book announcement

Performing New Lives: Prison Theatre

Jonathan Shailor (Editor). London & Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Performing New Lives contains essays by 14 facilitators of prison theatre programs across the United States. In sharing their compelling experiences and observations, the authors show how prison theatre programs can function as sanctuaries within correctional facilities, where inmates can safely explore their own vulnerability, as well as empathy for others. By working intensively with volunteer facilitators and a diverse group of inmates over an extended period of time, prisoners have the opportunity to practice commitment, discipline, and teamwork--skills that will be essential for their survival and reintegration into the community. Many of these programs include performances for other prisoners, and for public audiences, a wonderful opportunity for prisoners to realize their capacity and worth.

BUY IT NOW!