May 4. Day 123. Behing bars

Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble artistic director Rob Pensalfini and creative Liliana Macarone 

You'll find a lot of actors behind bars. Hollywood is full of them waiting tables between gigs. But this about actors behind actual bars; prison bars, voluntarily and not because they fraudulently tried to buy college places. This is about using the power of performance to enrich and educate both those held at Her Majesty's pleasure and the people from the outside who journey to watch the performance.  The Shakespeare Prison Project has been a journey facilitated by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble since 2016. The Tempest in the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre will be the 11th production but the first in a women's prison. In a broadranging interview at QSE's headquarters at UQ this afternoon QSE artistic director Rob Pensalfini and The Tempest facilitator Liliana Macarone spoke of how taking Shakespeare behind bars gave agency to the inmates and helped break down stereotypes held by the public who bought tickets to the experience.
For some of the prisoners this is the first time they have been applauded for something that they have done. Receiving accolades is powerful and that holds in equal measure but in different ways when those clapping on are family and friends and when it's complete strangers praising your work. It's giving voice to the voiceless and helping find an outlet for the emotions that well up behind bars or those that helped land them there in the first place.
But for those like myself, who have bought tickets it's about seeing what a prison is like and talking to prisoners. The performance facilitates that dialogue and helps the general public understand just how like or unlike a women's prison is to what we see in Wentworth (hint Rob reveals that the women are surprisingly candid about what happens On the Inside).
There will be more after we see the performance on May 18 but for now hear all on our podcast here or read about the Shakespeare Prison Project here