Shakespeare Behind Bars

press release: Join the UW-SLIS Jail Library Group and MPL for a screening of the documentary "Shakespeare Behind Bars." Winner of 11 festival awards and a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury nomination, "Shakespeare Behind Bars" follows a year in the life of the renowned Shakespeare Behind Bars troupe at Luther Luckett Correctional Facility in Louisville, Kentucky. Led by director Curt Tofteland, whose innovative work with Luther Luckett inmates began in the mid-1990s, the prisoners cast themselves in roles reflecting their personal history and fate. Their individual stories, including information about their heinous crimes, are brilliantly interwoven with the plot of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. As the inmates delve deeply into the characters they portray, they are forced to confront their personal demons. The result is an extraordinary story about the creative process and the power of art to heal and redeem–in a place where the very act of participation in theatre is a human triumph and a means of personal liberation. (from http://shakespearebehindbars.vhx.tv/) Q&A Session following the show; speakers include Zachary Fannin, Treasurer for the Jail Library Group, and Claire Mason, Program Coordinator for the Oakhill Prison Humanities Project.