Curt Tofteland: Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Centenary College

Centenary College (New Jersey) will be holding the first event in the 2012-2013 Distinguished Visiting Series Gates-Ferry Lecture on Sept. 5. Curt L. Tofteland will be showing his documentary “Shakespeare Behind Bars” at 6 p.m. in the Sitnik Theater at the David and Carol Lackland Center (715 Grand Ave., Hackettstown) with a refreshment break at 7:30 p.m. and then a separate talk back discussion with Tofteland about his professional experience at 8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Tofteland is the founder of the internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Behind Bars (SBB) program. Shakespeare Behind Bars offers theatrical encounters with personal and social issues to the incarcerated, allowing them to develop life skills that will ensure their successful reintegration into society.

Now in its 18th year, Shakespeare Behind Bars is the oldest program of its kind in North America. SBB programming serves incarcerated adults and youth using the works of William Shakespeare. Philomath Films chronicled SBB in a documentary that premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and 40+ film festivals around the world. Tofteland has been invited to share his Shakespeare Behind Bars experience through screening the documentary, facilitating a post-screening audience talk-back, teaching master classes, and visiting classrooms at 33 colleges and universities (49 visits) across the United States.

“I am very pleased to serve as Gates-Ferry Distinguished Lecturer this fall and hope that my talks are informative and enlightening for those who are in attendance,” says Tofteland. “My work has made a difference in those who may have been uninspired. To make a positive impact on these individuals has been an experience that has been so rewarding.”

Tofteland will be teaching on the Centenary campus all week to students as part of his lectureship. The Spring Gates-Ferry lecturer will feature the former congresswoman Liz Holtzman.

by Warren Reporter, nj.com