The Mission of Shakespeare Behind Bars is to offer theatrical encounters with personal and social issues to the incarcerated, allowing them to develop life skills that will ensure their successful reintegration into society.
Shakespeare Behind Bars was founded on the beliefs that all human beings are inherently good, and that although convicted criminals have committed heinous crimes against other human beings, this inherent goodness still lives deep within them and must be called forth. Participation in the program can effectively change our world for the better by influencing one person at a time, awakening him or her to the power and the passion of the goodness that lives within all of us.
Shakespeare Behind Bars offers participants the ability to hope and the courage to act despite their fear and the odds against them. By immersing participants in the nine-month process of producing a Shakespeare play, Shakespeare Behind Bars uses the healing power of the arts, transforming inmate offenders from who they were when they committed their crimes, to who they are in the present moment, to who they wish to become.
The Shakespeare Behind Bars program allows each participant the opportunity to:
- develop a lifelong passion for learning, especially those participants who are at high risk of not completing or continuing their education;
- develop literacy skills (reading, writing, and oral communication), including those participants who are classified as learning disabled and/or developmentally challenged;
- 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;