Session Five: Week 3

Tuesday

As we were warming up tonight, a returning member remarked, “This play is so much better than Shrew.” I asked her to expand upon that comment. She responded that she feels it’s better written: the plot isn’t as confusing (both for the ensemble and the audience) and “the words are better.” Others in the ensemble agreed - as did I! She seemed tentative in her opinions, and I reassured her that she’s not off base - Othello was written years after The Taming of the Shrew, which was among Shakespeare’s first plays. “Isn’t that reassuring?” commented Sarah. “Even Shakespeare got better at what he did.”

Another returning member requested that we play a very physical game, which meant that some of us who weren’t feeling up to it sat out. But we were all still invested in the game, paying attention, and learning from each other. Those actively playing had a blast, beginning to learn how to maintain focus and listen to each other during a game that can get rather raucous. 

We then continued our work on Act I Scene II, which we read last week. We cast it and put it on its feet, working together to figure out where entrances should be and letting it play out from there. When the scene had finished, the ensemble was very vocal and constructive, both about aspects that worked and those that didn’t.

We all were excited that the woman who played Iago felt the instinct to slink over to the side to watch things unfold without being actively involved until she had to be - we feel it’s consistent with the character. In this first go at the scene, everyone except Othello had swords drawn, and we had a lengthy discussion about whether or not this was appropriate and what evidence there might be in the text to guide us. We ended up deciding (at least for tonight) that if Brabantio and those with whom he enters come in “with pitchforks,” or at least with swords drawn, then it would be natural for Othello’s people to draw swords to protect him, and then it would be natural for him to remain calm and tell them to put their swords away.

At this point a returning member offered two points of constructive criticism for the ensemble (including herself). The first was that, in our excitement, we are frequently speaking over each other, and it can be frustrating. We need to make more of an effort to take turns speaking. This is an excellent point, and something we will work on. She also voiced her apprehension about moving through the material too slowly and suggested that ensemble members should be reading ahead on their own. A few members of our ensemble respectfully suggested that this isn’t an entirely reasonable expectation, as they find the language too challenging to read on their own and don’t understand it till they speak or hear it out loud with the group. I suggested a compromise in which I would provide a modern language synopsis of each scene so that the content could be covered individually ahead of time, even if the actual text was not. This was accepted enthusiastically. 

We also decided that, rather than assuming we all remember a scene we read several days or a week ago, any time we put something on its feet we will read it together first to refresh it. Our ensemble is diverse in many ways, and some are prepared to move at a faster pace than others. It is a challenge to keep everyone engaged without moving so fast we lose some, or moving so slowly that we lose others. We are hopeful that we can find a good compromise with this “hybrid approach.” 

We then played the scene on its feet again and found that the ensemble members on stage had really listened to and taken the notes of the audience. The scene worked so well - we saw stage pictures that clearly foreshadowed dynamics in future scenes, which was exciting so early in our season.

Tonight was pretty much the ideal of how Shakespeare in Prison functions: we worked together as a team, listening to one another, giving and taking criticism constructively, solving problems, bolstering one another’s confidence, and ending on a very positive note.

Friday

Sometimes we are delayed getting through security at the prison, and tonight was one of those nights. We have always encouraged the ensemble to begin working without us so that time isn’t wasted, but in years past it hasn’t been a surprise to walk into our room a bit late and find that warm ups haven’t yet begun. Tonight, however, we walked in to a circle that had already warmed up, checked in, and decided to hold the Ring when they saw us coming down the hall. I feel like a broken record in this blog, stating again and again how exciting it is that the ensemble is working together like this so early in the season, but it is truly a thrill, and the result of years of problem solving by the ensemble, as well as a testament to the energy of our new ensemble members.

True to what we decided on Tuesday, we began by re-reading the majority of Act I Scene III to make sure it was fresh in our minds. We then discussed how to stage it - we all agreed that we should use a table as is noted in the text, but there were varying opinions on whether there should be chairs at the table, who should sit at them, and what should be on/around the table. For tonight, we decided that there should be a map on a chalkboard that the Officer could write on as information came in, as well as letters and maps on the table. 

Having set our physical scene, we discussed its atmosphere. Ensemble members threw out words like tired, contentious, chaotic, high stakes (“It’s a war room!”). We talked about how this beginning energy must stand in contrast to Othello’s energy, and, later, Desdemona’s. “What do they bring?” I asked. Othello brings a measure of calm and control, we decided. As far as Desdemona, one ensemble member said the energy at first should be masculine because she is so feminine. “She’s virtue; she’s love,” said one woman. “She’s gonna bring down the tension in there room because she smells good, she looks good - I mean, come on, she’s Desdemona,” said another. Another said, “Desdemona isn’t just the counterpart to Iago - she’s the counterpart to this whole scene.”

We began exploring the scene on its feet and found that we only got through the first part, in which various information comes in about the impending Turkish invasion of Cyprus, because so much is happening. We continued to work together to figure out where people come from and where they go. We are still talking over each other a bit, but there is clearly an effort being made to do better. Kyle mentioned to the group how unusual it is for people who are new to theatre to be so naturally able to create appropriate and effective stage pictures, and he’s right. It’s quite an exhilarating thing to be a part of.

One of our returning members quietly told me an idea she has for our set: we re-paint one side of our existing flats to be a giant map of the region in which our play takes place, and then, as the play becomes less and less about war and more and more about relationships, we flip the flats to a more intimate setting or image. I have to say that, as a professional director, this is an idea that resonates with me as one that I would love to have in any production of Othello. She chose not to present the idea to the ensemble yet - she didn’t want to interrupt the work that was being done on this scene - and it’s possible that, even if this idea is universally embraced, our ideas will evolve, but this is a wonderful place to begin our conversation about the set. It also shows very clearly how confident this woman has become in her analysis of Shakespeare and ability to express her opinion - we have not read through this play together as a group yet, but she’s read it on her own and clearly understands its themes very well. She did not have this level of confidence when I first met her - she was reticent to share opinions unless nudged - and it speaks volumes to me about her personal growth that after such a short time she has such a clearly defined concept for this play.

We closed with a game. When I was eliminated from the circle, I took the time to really observe the group. All of us - those still in the game and those who were “out” - were smiling and participating. There was a palpable feeling of camaraderie. Earlier in the evening, I asked a woman who is now in her fourth season of SIP if it’s just me, or if this group is actually different, and she agreed with me. “I think we did a better job welcoming the new people in,” she said, “It made them comfortable right away. And they’re just great.” Those who have been following this blog for awhile will know she’s right. The solutions developed by past ensembles to deal with the beginning of a session appear to have worked. We’ll see how our solutions for other challenges work as we go along.

Session Five: Week 2

Tuesday

Last session’s ensemble suggested that we watch the Shakespeare Behind Bars documentary very early in this session, so that’s what we did tonight. This is at least the tenth time I’ve seen the film, and it never fails to move and inspire me. This proved to be true for our ensemble as well.

The past four times I’ve viewed the film with an SIP ensemble (membership has varied since 2012), the focus of our discussion afterward has been predominantly about the group’s mechanics – how they retain members, how often they meet, the differences between working with men and women, the willingness of the men in the film to go all out for their roles. But tonight’s discussion was very different.

When the film was over, I asked the group if anyone would like to share her thoughts. The first response was from a returning member who said, “Well, that’s never easy to watch.” When we asked her why, she responded, “Because… I’m a criminal. It’s just not easy to watch.” She said that people think things about her because of her offense, but they don’t know the whole story.

Another woman said, “Until I got in trouble and came to prison, I used to say things, too. Now I’ve learned that everything is not black and white.” We talked about how the way we judge and are judged is often based on very little information – we make assumptions based on the little we know and run with them. “I’m afraid of how I’m perceived by other people,” said one woman.

“It’s beautiful to see how the men have so much fun with this program,” said another woman. “There are so few opportunities for true rehabilitation in prison. This is one. They found something to fulfill their lives – even the ones serving life sentences. It was beautiful.”

One woman shared how impressed she was by the level of empathy and support the men had for each other. Several of the men in the film share what their offenses were, and she asked if the entire group knew about one crime in particular. I responded (having heard this information from Curt Tofteland) that they did. “Wow,” she said. That crime resonated for her due to her own experience, and she talked about how conflicted she felt that, on the one hand, everyone has the right to seek to do better – to attain some sort of redemption, as the man in the film says – but she doesn’t know if she personally could see past the crime and have empathy for him, no matter how much she wants to.

Another woman brought up how interesting it was to see Red learn about himself and his life through playing Miranda. We talked about how this is one of the key reasons that we work with Shakespeare, and that it is likely to happen for a number (if not all) of us as well.

The discussion was open, honest, and emotional. Several of the women shed tears as we talked. It was an honor to be a part of such a frank conversation about issues that can be difficult to articulate, let alone to openly discuss in a very new group setting. We have had such discussions before in SIP, but it has always taken much longer for the ensemble to be so open to each other. It makes me even more excited to continue the process with this ensemble.

Friday

Tonight during check-in, we discussed the challenge of people needing to leave early fairly often to go to work or to take medication. We decided that we’ll switch up the format of our meetings to accommodate that as best we can – sometimes we’ll begin with games and end with Shakespeare, and sometimes we’ll do the opposite. Since last Friday was games-first, we began tonight with Shakespeare and had such interesting conversation about it that we never got to the games!

We continued our text work by reading Act I Scene II aloud. “I’d be pissed if I were Brabantio,” said one woman. We talked about this father’s unwillingness to see his daughter’s culpability in her “crime” – she’s gone, so it must be that Othello put spells on her. We also discussed how very much in control Othello is in this scene, and what an important person he obviously is – everyone is looking for him and everyone except Brabantio treats him with a lot of respect. We also talked about the class issue at play here – Othello and Desdemona are not in the same class, regardless of their skin colors, and this seems to be very important.

Since this scene doesn’t really resolve anything – it leads into the following one – we continued reading so we could see how things play out. It’s a long scene, and we stopped every now and then to make sure everyone was keeping up and that we understood what was going on.

One of our takeaways was that, although Othello says he speaks roughly, his language is quite evocative and compelling. He gets his meaning across. We also paid attention to the fact that Brabantio gives essentially the same speech four times, hammering home the point that the only way Desdemona could have done this is if Othello literally enchanted her, but the moment she states that she was a willing participant and loves Othello, he seems to completely deflate. “This breaks him. He’s broken now,” said one woman. His anger is gone, and he expresses hurt and disappointment.

Beyond his parental dismay at Desdemona going behind his back, the ensemble brought up the idea that this loss of control injures Brabantio’s reputation as a senator. “What do your actions say about me?” Several of us have had personal experiences that make us relate to this. One woman also volunteered that the “wealthy, curléd darlings,” – the suitors whom he wanted her to marry – would have enhanced his status and reputation, but the marriage to Othello does not.

This led Kyle to mention the “lace curtains” metaphor – a house may look beautiful from the outside, with lace curtains, but if the occupants have spent all of their money on those curtains, the inside is likely a mess. I remarked that the metaphor can work two ways. “Yeah,” said one woman ruefully, remarking that part of her family will have nothing to do with her because she’s in prison – they’ve written her off because of that label. “But that’s the thing about lace curtains,” said another woman, “If you get close enough, you can see through ‘em.” This, too, works two ways.

There was a strong reaction to Desdemona’s assertion of her love for Othello and desire to go to war with him. “I wish I could feel that way about a man at some point in my life,” said one woman. Her sentiments for her husband are truly beautiful. We talked about how, despite him being an admittedly hard man, Desdemona’s empathy for Othello and his struggles softened him emotionally toward her. There’s so much set up here for what follows.

We then branched off into a discussion of the term “Moor” – both its denotation and connotations. We are working toward viewing this play both through our own experiences and with the knowledge that Elizabethans had a very different worldview and use of language. It’s a difficult balance to strike. We noted that sometimes when people refer to Othello as “the Moor,” they are being obviously disrespectful, but sometimes they are not, as when Desdemona says, “… I do love the Moor…” We know she thinks the world of him. “Hey, you can say ‘white girl’ and have it be either a good thing or a bad thing,” one woman pointed out. We talked about what Othello might look like, and how much it matters – not exactly what shade his skin is, but the fact that he’s different and foreign – he’s not really part of this society and can never hope to blend in.

A few of the women seemed uncomfortable with the amount of time we spent talking about this, but others pointed out that, since it’s a theme in the play, we need to spend time on it. We don’t want to get bogged down, since it’s not the focus of the play, but we do need to continue to be able to have the open, respectful kinds of conversations we had tonight. 

Session Five: Week 1

Tuesday

Tonight was our first official meeting of the fifth session of Shakespeare in Prison, and the group was enthusiastic and happy to be there – and that definitely includes us facilitators!

After warming up and introducing ourselves, playing a favorite theatre game that leads into some gentle name memorization, we sat down in a circle to come up with this year’s expectations for ourselves and our group. Last year’s ensemble felt that this would be an important step to enhance early ensemble bonding, meshing between old and new members, and increasing the level of commitment among ensemble members.

The ensuing discussion was upbeat and constructive, outlining what we hope to accomplish and how we think we can go about doing it. The discussion lasted longer than I thought it would, and that was a good thing since so many of the women had the opportunity to volunteer their ideas, get feedback, and listen to others. While some were understandably quiet, others were outspoken and welcoming, and it seems that we are all on the same page.

What it seems to boil down to for this ensemble is the guiding principle that “we are adults who value open, clear, respectful communication.” Whatever we discussed came right back to that. If we can stay focused on that, we should do well in creating the safe, open, supportive environment that we desire, even when the going gets rough.

We all left happy to be together again and with great anticipation for our next meeting.

Friday

After tonight’s warm up and check-in, Kyle led the ensemble in a new exercise called “King of the Jungle.” We spend a lot of time in our first few months on games and exercises as we get to know each other and form our ensemble, and this game is bound to be a favorite from now on. The ensemble showed great willingness to commit to the silliness of the game, getting into its friendly competitive nature as well. It’s a great exercise in quick thinking, improvisation, and other skills that we seek to develop in our group.

We then sat in a circle to begin delving into Othello. We read through Act I Scene I, stopping every now and then to be sure that everyone was on the same page about what was happening in the scene. We discussed the atmosphere of the scene – how our play begins, how we see it in our heads – and we began to discuss the characters as well. One of our seasoned ensemble members reminded us not to judge anyone (including Iago) too quickly – it’s likely that our ideas will evolve as we work through the play, and we’re not doing ourselves any favors if we assume things right off the bat.

We got the scene on its feet to see how it works that way. For one of the women, it was her first time being on stage in this way, and we all gave her a round of applause for her bravery in stepping up on her second day in the group! The reading led us to discuss various ways of staging the scene, including how we might use some of the scenery in storage from past sessions. Three other women then led a reading of the scene on its feet, and this time we also brought in some others as Brabantio’s servants. The different readings were enlightening and exciting. Already, we’re talking about how the more people commit, the better things work.

We lifted our ring back up with smiles, taking until the very last minute that we could. It’s only the first week of the program, but already we are all so excited about the possibilities of this year. No doubt there will be challenges, but we’re off to a great start.