In May of 2020, as the entire world scrambled to cope with the COVID19 pandemic, our country’s incarcerated population lost some of the only aspects of their daily life that afforded them a sense of normalcy. In a 2021 report by The Marshall Project Nicole Lewis writes, “Even on the best days, prison can be a soul-crushing place. Now the pandemic was stripping away many of the things that make incarceration bearable: Visitors were shut out. College classes ended abruptly or moved online. Recreation time was limited.” During this time, myShakespeare was adjusting to the influx of students and teachers who arrived on our platform desperate for a way to teach Shakespeare remotely. Because our tools and resources are designed to seamlessly support both in-person and remote learning, we also found ourselves playing a small role in the delivery of curriculum for the New York City Department of Corrections. Concerned about the abrupt cancellation of in-person learning, educators facilitating a course at Rikers Island reached out to us to request content for one of our plays in a format that could be viewed offline, which we were happy to deliver.
Since then, we have learned more about the history of Shakespeare in the justice system as both the study of classic literature and a chance for incarcerated people to participate in performance art. The Bard has been showing up behind bars for more than fifty years, with a dramatic increase in educational and theater programs occurring after the Attica Prison Riot drew national attention to the poor living conditions of our nation’s incarcerated population in 1971.1 In the decades that followed, artists and educators began advocating for enriching classes and theater programs in prisons, bringing the works of one of the most acclaimed writers of all time in conversation with the most ostracized people in our society. This pairing has produced some surprising and profound results, leading to intellectually stimulating and emotionally moving experiences for incarcerated folks and those who have been brought into community with them through these programs.
Why Shakespeare?
At first glance, Shakespeare might not seem like the most logical choice for a literature course or theater production happening behind bars. Shakespeare’s plays are over 400 years old. His language is archaic and often difficult to read and understand, and he has come to represent a cultural elitism that often works to further marginalize those on the outskirts of society. However, when all the cultural weight of his name is stripped away, Shakespeare speaks to the humanity in all of us and helps us grapple with some of life’s biggest questions. The themes of power and masculinity in Julius Caesar, revenge and inner conflict in Hamlet, and reckless ambition in Macbeth are all concepts with which much of the prison population is intimately familiar. Karen Swallow Prior’s 2014 article for The Atlantic quotes educator and Shakespearean actor and director Scott Hayes: “Shakespeare’s tragic figures are very much imprisoned by both their circumstances and their choices. Prisoners connect deeply with that sense of imprisonment. The consequences of choices made by Shakespeare’s characters are tremendous, and the prisoners truly understand and connect to the power our choices have to reap tragic consequences.” Swallow Prior elaborates, “Imagine how well the convict understands when Hamlet says, ‘Denmark’s a prison,’ or this line from Merchant of Venice: ‘Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long.’ Clearly, Shakespeare knows something of the rebel’s heart.”
Additionally, studying Shakespeare means earning a great deal of cultural capital, a currency that most incarcerated individuals, who tend to come from disadvantaged educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, have never had access to. But despite his elite status and the challenge of his language, prison program educators say that Shakespeare’s style is uniquely appropriate for this population to engage with. “The sheer inventiveness of the language (Shakespeare is credited with coining more than 500 words) both accommodates and challenges the deep structures of society and the human condition (much like the best rap lyrics do),” Swallow Prior says. Scott Hayes goes on to say that the emphasis on comprehension through performance while studying Shakespeare also lends itself to a course designed for the incarcerated population.2 This is because incarcerated individuals have a significantly lower literacy rate than the general population, a problem that is deeply rooted in systemic issues that work to produce the school-to-prison pipeline. In a 2016 Prison Policy Initiative article, Corey Michon notes, “In ending mass incarceration, we will need to grapple with how our educational system is failing large portions of our nation — to the detriment of everyone.”
Shakespeare & Mass Incarceration
The result of this and other systemic failures is something those who facilitate Shakespeare-in-prison programs seek to address. A 2024 Santa Clara University article by Nicole Calande points out, “At almost 2 million people, the United States has the largest incarceration rate per capita in the world, a statistic made even bleaker by the disproportional convictions of lower-income people and people of color, who often face biases and disadvantages within the criminal justice system.” While prisoner rights advocates likely envision a more radical transformation to our justice system, art and education have become small but effective ways to make a difference. Calende goes on to note, “Many participants [in Shakespeare-in-prison-programs] report being inspired to drop out of gangs, pursue higher education, and reunite with family members. Positive personal and professional outcomes continue after release, with some alumni recidivism rates remaining under 5 percent—a mere fraction of the average state prison rate of 83 percent.”
Ending mass incarceration and the structural racism that enables it requires a radical recognition of the humanity of our fellow citizens, a feat that most educators and artists involved in these programs name as a key priority. In a 2002 episode of This American Life, an inmate participating in a
production of Hamlet describes his theater teacher, saying, “She makes us feel human, man. She really does…all the [dehumanizing]-- the humiliating things that they do to us here. And when she comes in and does what she does, for that minute, them two and a half hours, all these guys with PhDs that can be doing other things, they come in, I at least can feel human in here.” As for the more recent program out of Santa Clara University, humanization is an intentional result of bringing students to collaborate on productions with inmates at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. A student participating in the program explains that seeing his teacher “connect teaching with compassion made him believe that literature can build a more humane world.”1
Performing Behind Bars
While Shakespeare provides plenty of fodder for meaningful literary analysis, performing his work can be an even more transformational experience for incarcerated individuals. A 2024 article about Shakespeare in Utah’s juvenile justice system describes the profound and lasting effect that staging Shakespeare has had on minors with criminal backgrounds. The program seeks to provide “a stage where disadvantaged youth can step into exciting roles, develop new skills, and gain confidence through the transformative power of theater.” Studying Shakespeare in the juvenile justice system is not dissimilar to studying Shakespeare in high school. The group “spends time contextualizing, studying, and dissecting the play––making it more accessible than ever to youth who’ve never experienced Shakespeare.” However, these students bring especially complex narratives and life experiences into the conversation, creating unique opportunities for personal growth and “meaningful connections with the kids who need it most.”
Maura Tarnoff, the English lecturer behind the program at Santa Clara University, describes the liminal magic of performance in the context of the justice system, saying, “I believe that theater creates this third space between people that can mediate between different perspectives and cultivate the compassion necessary to transform this broken system.”1 As the space at the intersection of Shakespeare and the justice system continues to grow, we hope to foster more opportunities for this revolutionary compassion and a continued love for Shakespeare in even the most unexpected places.
Sources:
1. Santa Clara University: “The Play’s the Thing” by Nicole Calande
2. The Atlantic: “Why Shakespeare Belongs in Prison” by Karen Swallow Prior
3. Prison Policy Initiative: “Uncovering Mass Incarceration’s Literacy Disparity” by Corey Michon
