Hope Church in the Community
Have you heard of “Shakespeare Behind Bars”? What does this name bring to mind for you? Well, the name exactly describes what Curt Tofteland has spent the last 20 years of his life doing: creating and running a program that “serves incarcerated adults and youth using exclusively the works of William Shakespeare.” (See www.shakespearebehindbars.org) The program began and continues in Kentucky, and Curt is also working in Michigan in two prisons with 250 men at least once a week, with eight year-round SBB programs.
I asked Curt why he wanted to create this program. He said, “I created Shakespeare Behind Bars in 1995 to extend my life-long journey into houses of correction. I am an Arts Practitioner whose life-long work with ‘outsider’ populations often labeled as ‘the other’ has proven both therapeutic and healing for participants. Our recidivism rate in Kentucky over the 20-year life of the SBB program is 5.3% [compared to the State of Kentucky’s average, 29.5%, and the national average, 60%].”
Curt believes that Shakespeare’s plays are the perfect vehicle to help inmates:
- relate the universal human themes contained in Shakespeare’s works to themselves, including their past experiences and choices, their present situation, and their future possibility
- develop a lifelong passion for learning
- develop literacy skills
- develop decision making, problem solving, and creative thinking skills
- develop empathy, compassion, and trust
- nurture a desire to help others
- increase self-esteem and develop a positive self-image
- take responsibility for the crime/s committed
- become a responsible member of a group, community, and family
- learn tolerance and peaceful resolution of conflict
Think about it. Giving inmates the opportunity to work together for many weeks; memorizing lines; coming to understand and identify with the hidden motives and struggles of their character; working through disagreements; and then to perform the play in full costume for fellow inmates, families, and friends, must bring joy, pride, and a new understanding of what it means to be part of a meaningful, beautiful endeavor with others.
If you haven’t seen it already, please take the time to watch the film Shakespeare Behind Bars, the award-winning documentary about Curt’s work that received its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. The DVD is available at Hope Church. You will watch these men (some convicted of serious crimes) discover important things about themselves through coming to understand and identify with their Shakespearean character. You will never forget it, and you will finish the film with deep love and hope for the men portrayed there. And we love you, Curt, for bringing hope to so many. Hope Church is honored to help support your work. Thank you.
For anyone interested in visiting the Shakespeare Behind Bars program, please contact Curt Tofteland.
~Written by Kath Brownson, Community Ministry Member
“To these actors, Shakespeare is about telling the truth from their own lives and finding the freedom they need in their souls to be at peace . . . It made me reflect on my own life, and how I need to grow as a person.” -Audience member