What’s So Special About Shakespeare?

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we saw that Prison Shakespeare may have a variety of effects on the individuals who participate in it, others who come into contact with it, the prison environment, and attitudes towards Shakespeare and prisoners in the general community. Something as simple as a group of people working together to put on a production of a Shakespeare play in front of an audience of peers can help to replenish long-empty stores of self-love, and give rise to the kind of aliveness and lightness reported by some participants, along with a capacity for feeling, and therefore empathy, that may have been suppressed. Participants experience themselves and others in new ways, and develop relationships built on constructive collaboration and mutual respect. For many prisoners, it is their first experience of being seen by others to be worthy of respect and attention. Participants develop a range of skills that have broader application, and their experiences with these programmes may lead them to develop and pursue further educational and personal goals. Members of the public who come into contact with Prison Shakespeare programmes, typically through attendance at a performance or sharing, often question their own attitudes and preconceptions about prisons and prisoners.