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Drama activities in Norwegian Prisons |
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Since
year 2000 there has been permanent drama activities in several prisons
in Norway. Music, dance and drama is successful so far both in Steinkjer,
Ila prison, and at my school; Grønland
Adult Education Centre in Oslo prison.
Oslo
prison is situated close to the centre of
Oslo and has approximately 400 inmates. The prison is for men only,
where almost 50% are in custody. Most of my students are doing their
sentences, although their stay varies from a few months up to a couple
of years. One of the challenges is therefore to find a group of men who
will be there for the same period of time. What a 'terrible' situation
if one of my actors is being released a few days before the performance!
So far this has happily not happened except in our last play in December
2005 where we had an extra stand-in for the main character, just in
case. |
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The
main focus is on the drama education, although we always like to
implement some music and singing as well in our performances. Both
students and other inmates in the audience are very fond of music, an
international and common ‘language’ .Normally I start the process with 4
– 5 students in the group. Later on, other inmates join the group in
order to decorate the stage, and to manage all technical tasks. Our
class room is situated in the basement of the 150 years old prison, and
has actually a warm atmosphere in spite of the surroundings. I like to
believe that this is due to happy moments, laughter and many experiences
into a total new world, the world of creative thinking and fantasy. |
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The age
of my students vary from young people in their early 20s, up till 40
years old, and they have a wide international background. Because many
of the inmates will be sent out of the country after sentence, we
sometimes have both process and performance in English. In our last play
for instance, ‘Hotel Norway’, my actors came from Iran, Algeria, Turkey
and different African countries.
In
every new group, whether they are Norwegians or foreigners, it is always
a challenge to find interesting subjects, get ideas that we eventually
can use in a performance. Through various improvisations I can after a
while see the potential in each one of them. It is important that the
goal is realistic and not too difficult to achieve. When introducing
drama 6 years ago, I often combined different ‘cabarets’ with familiar
songs and lyrics from other plays and musicals.
‘Do you
really appreciate my crazy dreams and wild fantasy?’ Yes, indeed I do.
How sad it must have been in their former years in school where teachers
became angry instead of encouraging when a free, artistic and young mind
tried to do his best.
Is it
always necessary that the drama activities in the class room shall end
in a performance? Yes, from my earlier experience , both grammar and
college level outside the prison walls, I would definitely let the
inmate students enjoy the wonderful experience to succeed in front of an
audience. Other inmates are eager to see their serious effort on stage
and help them to shine as successful artist in the spot light.
So far,
my different groups of students have all together made 17 different
productions. The most familiar plays are: ‘Brave New World’, ‘Les
Miserables’ and not to forget ‘Othello’. It is both impossible and
totally wrong to talk about ‘the greatest success’ in our performances
so far. From my point of view, each student succeed if he has achieved a
goal, obtained self-confidence, and is being seen and acknowledged as a
normal human being – and not only as a prisoner. As many of my students
have put it, ‘I discovered new dimensions and talent in myself.’
Elin
Barth, Drama
Teacher, Grønland Adult Learning Centre, Oslo,
Norway |
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Prison Theatre |
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The
theatrical team of the 2nd Gymnasium and Lyceum Classes in Avlona Prison
for Minors and Young Offenders (APMY) have been very productive
especially in the last number of years. In December 2005 the team
performance was a one act play titled ‘The tree of recollections’ and
was based on the scenario of how to construct and decorate a Christmas
tree in a cell with nothing but the simple materials found in prison
cells. |
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In May
2006, they produced a three act play called ‘Prison Dialogues’, which
went on to win third in the Twelfth Hellenic Schools Artistic
Competition. The first act was titled ‘The trial’ and represented a
‘real’ trial. The second act was titled ‘The cell’ and captured scenes
from their everyday prison routine. The third act, titled ‘Prison
visit’, presented two different stories of prison visits that happened
during the same visiting hour in prison... one was about the
relationship between a father and his son and the other was a narration
of a student from Albania describing his experiences entering Greece,
struggling for a better life until he became involved with illegal
misdeeds. |
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"I act
therefore I exist" is the theme of the cultural theatrical program of
APMY. Producing theatre in a prison setting poses a variety of
difficulties and challenges. The frequent transfers of students who take
part in a theatrical team to another prison can break the team's spirit.
Several foreigners are involved in the theatrical team and that causes a
lot of language difficulties. At the start most of the students do no
have a high opinion of theatre, are themselves shy and fear ridicule
from their fellow inmates. However, great motivation is achieved by the
fact that they write and perform the plays themselves. |
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Writing about their own life has proven to be very beneficial for the
team; through exchanging opinions, when writing the texts they learn to
respect and sometimes accept the different opinions that their
schoolmates from the theatrical team may have. Through the rehearsals
they learn the importance of team work and each day they discover
something new. By the time they get to the actual performance the feel
ready and are confident about their capabilities. It is true that when
they are on stage, their spirit escapes, their soul becomes smoother;
they leave their problems behind almost forgetting that they are
imprisoned. After every performance, more students are willing to
participate in the theatrical team. This fact proves that important
goals have been reached. Pedagogical, social and psychological objective
targets have been achieved. Theatre gives inner satisfaction and has
healing effect on their ‘wounds’.
This
year's three act play was an experiment for our students since it was a
comedy. In the text, comments were made about society, the media, and so
forth. They faced the challenge to act as characters different than the
ones in a prison setting that they were used to do. They competed in the
National School Theatre Contest and the result was far greater than we
ever expected. They were awarded with the 1st prize. The committee of
the Contest pointed out that the texts they wrote were not only
important, but had the ability to serve comedy in the best way.
Based on article published in the EPEA magazine, issue 32 (Spring,
2007), submitted by
Yuli Pezopoulou, Literature teacher in APMY, Dr Theatrology. |
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Working
with
Shakespeare in an Irish Prison |
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“The
purpose of this essay is to share with you some of my observations and
experiences working with Shakespeare within a custodial setting. It is a
phenomenological discourse, referenced by direct comments from the
participants themselves, including a long interview with one of the men,
(Stephen), given as part requirement for his FETAC L 5 Certification in
Theatre Performance and Acting Skills and Techniques. These comments are
more revealing than anything I could offer, on the impact Shakespeare
had on our work within the prison.
O reason not the need ! (King Lear 111. 4. 263
Theatre
does not sit easily within a pedagogical paradigm and perhaps this is
one reason why it is often sidelined as peripheral to need. Yet the need
it serves is perhaps the deepest need of all: the needs of the psyche;
those parts of our makeup that are less accessible, less visible, even
to ourselves. These needs are not always addressed in a curriculum which
privileges the rational and the logical over the irrational and the
illogical – the stuff of dreams, fantasies and nightmares, which inform
our conscious thoughts and decisions. The Shakespeare texts make the
invisible visible in a very direct and concrete way. Iago tells us his
most intimate thoughts, while he hides them from Othello. He plays out a
devious game in front of our eyes and we watch in awe and horror, as he
systematically sets out to destroy the beautiful and the loving. Hamlet
shares with us his deep introspections and we are with him and his
doubts and insecurities, as he tries to ‘figure it all out’.”
Helen
Hunt, Drama Tutor, Wheatfield Prison, Ireland
This
extract marks the opening paragraphs of Helen Hunt’s essay on ‘Working
with Shakespeare in an Irish Prison’.
The
full text of this essay can be viewed by clicking the following link:
Shakespeare.pdf
Helen
Hunt has a background in Movement, Dance, Theatre in Education,
Literature and Psychology. She holds a Masters Degree in Theatre Studies
and works full time for the CDVEC Education Service to Prisons.
Shakespeare's Othello,
adapted by Helen, was staged in Wheatfield prison in
December, 2006. The production was given a modern setting and was very
well received. Helen has been involved in drama productions in
Wheatfield Education Unit since its beginnings in 1990 and Othello
represents one of a number of Shakespearean plays that she has
successfully adapted for use in prison. In 1998 she staged 'Shakespeare
Unplugged', through which people were introduced to Shakespeare's
language and in which five of his characters told their stories (in
part) to a ‘Therapist’. At the end of each performance the audience was
asked which character interested them most; which character's story
would they like to hear in full? The majority wanted to hear Othello’s
story. The story of a man brought to a jealous ‘rage beyond words' by
whisperings, innuendo and deceit, seemed to strike a chord amongst the
prison audience.
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"However, the desire to
explore Shakespeare's great text on this theme was one thing," says
Helen, "The actual decision to do it could only be taken when (and if)
we could find the right partners; the interpreters of the text; the
players. A variety of life experiences, some as dark as those enacted in
the play itself, came together to make this piece of theatre. The
presence of so many international students among those who attend the
Education Unit in Wheatfield made it possible for us to cast our
Othello."
One of the cast members
described Helen as 'not the director of this production; she is its
soul.' and went on to say, "She believes that we all have it within us
to appreciate the real thing. Better yet, Helen has the ability to make
Shakespeare's writing accessible, without compromising it." Helen took a
varied cast of prisoners, a couple of wonderful professional female
actors and produced a stunning success.
   
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