Shakespeare in Solitary

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.8 • 878 Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2016

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For ten years, Laura Bates, a professor at Indiana State University, taught Shakespeare to a group of inmates considered the worst of the worst – men incarcerated in the solitary confinement unit at Indiana’s Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. These are, for the most part, prisoners considered so dangerous they were kept apart, even from the other prisoners. Every week, Professor Bates would drive out to the prison, make her way over to solitary confinement and sit down in a space in between the cells of these men to discuss Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and Richard II. She wrote about her experiences in a book titled "Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard." Laura Bates is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. This Shakespeare Unlimited episode, "How I May Compare This Prison Where I Live Unto The World" was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. Audio of the inmates Laura worked with was provided by Indiana State’s Video Production Manager, Tracy Ford. It was edited by Ciara Gillan. We had additional help from Mike Paskash and Casey Zakin at WFIU, Indiana Public Media and Bill Lancz at Marketplace Studios in Los Angeles. http://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/solitary-prison

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:11.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.
0:14.0	We talk a lot about Shakespeare's huge appeal, how practically anyone can appreciate and draw lessons from his writing, whatever their life situation.
0:22.6	Beginning in 2003, Laura Bates put that theory to a vigorous test.
0:28.6	For 10 years, Bates, a professor at Indiana State University,
0:32.6	taught Shakespeare to a group of inmates considered the worst of the worst.
0:38.3	Men incarcerated in the solitary confinement unit at Indiana's Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.
0:45.3	These are, for the most part, prisoners considered so dangerous they were kept apart, even from other prisoners.
0:52.3	Every week, Professor Bates would drive out to the prison,
0:56.1	make her way over to solitary confinement, and sit down between the cells of these men to discuss
1:02.5	Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, and Richard II. She wrote about her experiences in a book titled
1:09.6	Shakespeare Saved My Life, Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard.
1:14.6	We brought Professor Bates in to talk about what she taught and what she learned in this most unusual of classrooms.
1:21.6	We call this podcast, How I May Compare this Prison where I live unto the world.
1:30.9	Laura Bates is interviewed by Barbara Bogave.
1:43.8	You know, quite a few people teach in prison, so I was thinking that we wouldn't be having this conversation on this podcast if you hadn't decided to teach Shakespeare to offenders, as opposed to all of the other possible subjects.
1:45.9	So before I ask you how you got into this work, why don't we talk about that? Why Shakespeare? Why not Hemingway or the autobiography
1:51.2	of Malcolm X or Doris Lessing or a picture of Dorian Gray? Absolutely. A key question. For a number of
1:58.0	reasons, why Shakespeare? One of them is that we recognize and your listeners
2:04.4	recognize and prisoners recognize that Shakespeare is one of the ultimate works of literature.
2:12.0	And they recognize a great, great sense of challenge when they take it on and a great sense of personal accomplishment
2:19.6	when they recognize that they are able to master the master of literature. And that also resonates
	...

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