Friday / March 3 / 2023

Tonight was a great night at the Valley in SIP. We completed a long running SIP tradition of asking the ensemble the “Three Questions.” They are the same three questions we have asked every ensemble at the start of the season since the program’s early days, and, as per usual, it took up the majority of our time together.

The three questions are as follows:

1. What brought you to Shakespeare in Prison?

2. What do you hope to get out of Shakespeare in Prison?

3. What is the gift that you bring?

The responses have always simultaneously seemed to vary and be remarkably similar, and tonight was no different. Some members were very frank about the fact that a friend signed them up, or that they just wanted out of the unit for a bit. Others took it a step further, and said they were looking for something different. We have been working in the facility long enough that the program is known to women who have never signed up; either they have seen one (or more!) of our past performances, or been close with an ensemble member and heard all about us. One member said one of her bunkies was a member a few seasons ago, and she “always saw her come back happy and full of energy,” and wanted to see what it was all about. 

It’s always interesting to hear from those who are trying something completely new, compared to those who are trying to reconnect to past positive experiences with the arts. One member said she is “committed to being someone she has never been before,” while another said she wants to “find new ways of handling myself and be better than I’ve been before.” Both comments were received with lots of head nods and supportive snapped fingers from the group. Another ensemble member said that she had done community theatre while she was growing up and was “looking for that kind of family here.” One returning member said that she has been in the program several seasons, although she has not been able to complete them all. “Not this time!” she said with a big smile. “I love Shakespeare, love the ensemble, love the sisterhood. The collaboration to bring a show to its feet.” More than one person said that they had family outside that had encouraged them, and took the time to find the website and this blog. It was nice to feel SIP rippling out that far, and we’re excited for this new season!

After the three questions, we played a few improv games that were decidedly very silly. Some improv games are about focus and multitasking, some about thinking on your feet, and some – the ones we played tonight – are about getting the ensemble laughing and having some fun. They didn’t disappoint, and even the most reserved members couldn’t help but laugh and play along.

After the games, we read a little bit from Hamlet. We did not get too far into Act 1 scene 2 before we had to break for the night. Already, the ensemble is picking up on the insensitivity of Claudius and Gertrude towards Hamlet, and the impropriety of the relationships. One comparison to Jerry Springer got the whole ensemble laughing and agreeing. So far the group is excited, and there is a lot of buy-in even this early. There is a lot of chatter and a lot of laughter, a lot of camaraderie, and the three questions really seemed to pull the group together this evening.

Tuesday / March 7 / 2023

This past week of SIP really felt like we were hitting our stride as a group. One newer member said she is “impressed with the camaraderie” of the group, while another said that “Even though I just started, I already feel a change,” and that she is “definitely coming out of my crabshell.” It’s nice to hear, and it's exciting that several ensemble members are bringing their SIP experience back to their units. They talk about reading the Shakespeare dictionary and teaching some of the improv games to their friends. When we did the three questions, there were several new members who talked about noticing the buzz around the facility, and feeling drawn to the program because of how happy everyone seems; it’s nice to know that process is in full swing, and that the work we do radiates out. One member admitted that she was still unsure about the program and was “auditioning” us as part of her week.

On Tuesday, we came across one of the more famous of Hamlet’s soliloquies in Act 1 Scene 2. It's the monologue that begins, “Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt…” and talks about Hamlet’s feeling of dread about his lot in life. It’s arguably some of Shakespeare’s best stuff, so we really took our time to play. We broke off into pairs and worked through the text as best we could, with each person in each small group taking a shot at the text. Then we worked on an old drama school exercise where you drop the consonants and try to say just the vowels, and the ensemble got a real kick out of it. Then after the actor tries just the vowels they return back to the text and try it again as written. Everyone really did well at commiting to the exercise, and there was a lot of laughter that accompanied a monologue about being depressed. 

When we returned to the circle to debrief, there was mostly positive feedback. One group said they didn’t stumble over the parts of the speech that they worked in the exercise. Another group said they didn’t like it because they felt silly, and then had trouble connecting to the serious nature of the soliloquy. Once we had debriefed, we opened it up to see if anyone wanted to perform, and we had a volunteer. She got up and when she went to start the speech she just kind of laughed for a beat and told her scene partner to get up with her. They read through the monologue, alternating lines of verse and building on each other’s energy. They didn’t even really talk about it much, they just did it– and it was great! We all gave them snaps of appreciation and opened it up to the group again for another pair to try the same exercise. One group after another performed the speech in tandem with their partners, and it became a very low stakes way to have some backup onstage. The energy built with each group as well; at first everyone was a little skittish, and I doubted if anyone was really ready to get the text up on its feet just yet. One by one, the groups volunteered, and the excitement grew in equal measure. It was a really special night, and the ensemble were beaming with pride on their way out.

Friday / March 10 / 2023

Much of what dominated tonight’s check in was how special Tuesday night had been to the ensemble. The ensemble member who only a few days ago told us she was still deciding if she was going to stick with SIP said that it cemented it for her, and that she was sticking with the group. The other big piece of news was that the copies of No Fear Hamlet arrived, and the ensemble were eager to get their copies so they could read it between sessions.

Most of the evening was spent reading the next couple scenes of Hamlet. The group seems really interested in the play and eager to hear what happens next. So we read Act 1 scene 3, which contains a lot of Shakespearean gems (“To thine own self be true,” “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” etc.) but is a somewhat boring scene. The ensemble, to my surprise, loved it and shared some surprising identifications. One member said she really identified with Polonius in the difficulties of parenting: “Parents gotta lay it on thick and give him all. I sure do it to mine!” She also noted that her adult children pay about as much attention to her as Laertes does Polonius. She went on to say that she tries to tell them, but they just never seem to listen. There were more lively discussions about Ophelia and the prince Hamlet’s relationship; they reveal in the scene that there are some improprieties, but it's never clear how far things have gone. There were all kinds of theories and questions about what it actually looked like, and what Hamlet and Ophelia must’ve been up to, that they got so much attention from Ophelia’s father and brother.

We moved on to Act 1 scene 4, where the ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals himself to the young Hamlet and sets him on a path to revenge. We made it to the very end of the scene, and had little time to discuss the finer points or get it up on its feet.  The group is very excited to find out where the play goes, and no doubt we will spend most of our time next week moving on the with the play. 

Tuesday / March 14 / 2023

There was a performance in the auditorium tonight, and we were missing a few ensemble members who had signed up to see it. It was a great night, but there was a little bit of figuring out what we were going to do. One of the group dynamics that we talked about was a commitment to getting the text up on its feet. It seems like the group is very interested in Hamlet, and is more inclined to read and move forward in the play. So with a lot of the group at the performance, we decided to take the night and work through the previous scenes. One thing that a few members spoke of was how involved they felt last Tuesday night working the Act 1 Scene 2 soliloquy. The thing that really allowed that, they said, was the ability to “goof around with the text.” So we decided to break off into small groups to give the ensemble a chance to explore those scenes on their feet. The scenes we were working on were Act 1 Scene 3 through the end of the act. For context, this is where  Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father and learns that his father was murdered by his uncle. There were only enough ensemble members present to have two small groups. Both groups took deep dives into the text and really stretched themselves, but each in a different way which was wonderful to see.

The first group focused on staging, and worked through the entire scenes several times with each playing a different part. They used the space and kept adjusting their movements and reactions to make sure they were textually supported. One ensemble member got really into playing the ghost and bellowed her lines from off stage. Additionally, they had two spare actors acting out the murder of the king as he told Hamlet the whole story. It was a really creative and active use of the time to “goof around” with the text, and they did a great job. The second group took a different approach and worked the same 10-15 lines of text for most of the time. We were able to talk about what their characters wanted, the tactics they were using to achieve their objective, and how to build the scene to a climax. 

After the “goof around with the text” time, we debriefed a bit and were able to come up with some new insights into Hamlet’s journey. One member said she was loving the character in this scene: “Hamlet is being assertive and keeping it real.” Everyone talked about how he was activated in the scene, and they’re excited to see what he does next. The first group wanted to present their work to the rest of us, so we took some time to see what they had worked on. We finished the night playing a game called Zumi Zumi, in which people pass energy around the circle according to each person’s assigned number. We have a lot of Spanish speakers, and so we thought we’d try to pivot to doing the game in Spanish. The group was excited to make sure that everyone was included, and we ended the night with a truly beautiful game of Spanish Zumi Zumi.

Friday / March 17 / 2023

Tonight was another great night, and it continues to feel like the group is solidifying. There were some painful moments in check-in that a few members spoke of, and the group learned how to give and receive “whooshes.” We moved on with the text and read most of the first two scenes of Act 2. 

The act begins with Polonius sending an attendant to spy on Laertes, his adult son who is studying in Paris. This seemed to resonate with the group, as just about everyone weighed in on either being a parent who admitted to spying on their kids, or being a child of spying parents. Many anecdotes were shared, as well as many theories about why Polonius would want to spy on his son. Some thought that Polonius was “doing a scared straight thing.” Others thought he was selfishly motivated and just looking out for his own name. Most of it was brushed aside by the second half of the scene, in which Ophelia, Polonius's daughter and Hamlet’s love interest, tells a story of Hamlet acting crazy around her. One member was eager to point out that Hamlet was fresh off of his encounter with the ghost of his father: “He probably wonders if she's even real … Are you just going to go up in smoke like my father?” She spoke more about the abandonment issues she thought Hamlet was facing. Others focused on Ophelia and thought that she either was trying to prove something to her father, that she was actually upset by Hamlet, or that she had been prejudiced against him by her brother and father. 

In any case, the conversation was rich, and the ensemble was itching to get the scene on its feet. They asked if we could break into groups again, and I offered that that can lead to clique-iness and can break up the cohesion of the group. Instead, I wanted to try SIP’s “Freeze” exercise, in which several ensemble members start the scene, and other members can call “freeze” and tag in for one of the actors. The ensemble seemed to really enjoy working this way, and we even ran the scene twice for all the ensemble members who wanted to try it. It was a dynamic night, and there was much to talk about with the different Ophelias playing the scene in different ways.