Prisoners In The Tempest

568 Words3 Pages

This documentary shows the process of inmates working on a Shakespeare play The Tempest. This was a way for the inmates to feel like they had something more than just their sentence to their name. The process of rehearsing and finding the deeper meaning behind the Shakespeare script was a way to get outside of their comfort zones and to realize something new and different about themselves and the others who are working on the play as well. The men that were involved in this process seem to be coming to terms with themselves in a new and happier way. This is an outlet for them. Letting these men experience something totally out of the normal for them was probably the best decision that they could have made. This changed the group as a whole because they all got much closer. They realized …show more content…

He has been a part of this Shakespeare program for around seven years. Sammie was in jail for murdering his girlfriend. As displayed in the film, he was very broken about what he had done. I think that he can be so open about his crime in part because of this program. This allowed him to feel emotions and to try not to carry the guilt of his crime, to play a character that wasn't himself, and to find new meaning about subjects that were discussed within the play that was rehearsed. The play is rehearsed within the inner confines of the prison. This makes it an, even more, emotional process for these inmates. Having a rehearsal space that is unlike anything that is their normal makes it so the inmates have to experience things that are not what they are used to. It is a time that they separate the prison from the rehearsal space. This I believe, helps the inmates with the rehearsal process. Making it more of a challenge to reverse in this unconventional space allows for the inmates to connect with the play on another deeper level than if they were just rehearsing on a normal