Directed by Hank Rogerson.

“I thought convicts would make good actors,” says prison inmate Big G, “…‘cause they’re used to lyin’ or playin’ a role; but it’s the exact opposite of that. It’s to tell the truth.”  

Big G has been behind bars for 20 years for killing a cop. In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, he plays Caliban, the savage but noble monster who overcomes his rage. 

In this acclaimed documentary, shot at Luther Luckett Correctional Facility in Kentucky, we see the life-affirming nature of theatre when it takes place in a small, hothouse environment. It may be a dying form of entertainment in the outside world, but in prison it has found a home. 

Shakespeare Behind Bars is run, on a volunteer basis, by professional theatre director Curt Tofteland. Each year, inmates rehearse a full-length Shakespeare play and perform it for visitors and the guys from the yard.

The program owes it existence to forward thinking warden Larry Chandler, who says, “The day they walk in, we should start preparing them for the day they leave.” 

Luther Luckett has many educational programs in place. We are given a glimpse of some of these and we see the day-to-day, routine existence of the prisoners, on work duty and in the yard. The film makers have been given remarkably free access to most areas, including solitary confinement (“the hole”).  

As well as showing a different side of prison life, Shakespeare Behind Bars is a chance to see a great director at work on a great play. It should be seen by anyone with an interest in theatre or performance. 

Tofteland feels that The Tempest is a particularly apt play to do in prison because of its themes of redemption and forgiveness, and its setting on an island which offers no hope of escape.

A key decision he makes is to allow the inmates to cast themselves in their roles. This brings a sense of ownership to the ensemble. As in Shakespeare’s day, men play the female roles. 

In rehearsal, he rarely “directs”. He leads, motivates and offers feedback. Like all great directors, he allows the cast make their own discoveries. 

There is a huge emotional power in the process. When Shakespeare’s plays are put on dusty shelves and labelled “Literature”, it’s easy to forget that they were never intended for the shelf at all. Shakespeare Behind Bars reminds us what it’s all about: humanity. 

"[Shakespeare] never ceases to teach me,” says Tofteland. “In his plays I can find human behaviour that is as true today as it was 400 years ago.” 

It is the truth of the play that motivates the cast. They invest every waking moment to running through the lines. It seems to help that they probably never studied Shakespeare in school. They're excited about this guy who wrote this great stuff. And they’re surprisingly articulate. 

Throughout the documentary, several key players are given the opportunity to talk about their crimes. It’s an emotional experience for them.  

Inmate “Sammie” plays Trinculo, the alcoholic clown. He talks about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child and the latent anger that led him to strangle his lover in a moment of rage. 

Inmate Hal Cobb plays the banished duke Prospero, who learns to forgive those that wronged him. An emotional Cobb describes the morning he murdered his pregnant wife by dropping a hairdryer into her bath. After ten years of torment, he finally confessed to the crime. 

These uncomfortably naked moments bring real power to the documentary, and remind us that Shakespeare's heroes and villains are drawn from the stuff of real life. 

Adrian Butcher