Prison Theatre and the Global Crisis of Incarceration: Performance and Incarceration

ISBN-13: 9781472508416 / Angielski / Twarda / 2020 / 272 str.

Ashley Lucas; Kevin J. Wetmore Jr; Patrick Lonergan

Opis

Obscured behind concrete and razor wire, the lives of the incarcerated remain hidden from public view while serving as fodder for performances which try to imagine or rationalize a nation's practices of imprisonment. Inside the walls, prisoners stage their own theatrical productions, articulating their identities and experiences for audiences carefully monitored by gatekeepers. Prison Theatre examines plays about incarceration and theatre within prisons across the globe, offering a uniquely international account and exploration of prison theatre. By discussing a range of performance practices tied to incarceration, this book looks at the ways in which playwrights and prisoners use theatre as a means to identify, reify, and critique national discourses on criminal justice.Distinct examples of theatre performed in prisons are explored in a section of Critical Perspectives by international scholars and practitioners exploring and considering the rationale and the impact on audiences and actors. A section of additional resources, including bibliographies, lists of organisations facilitating prison theatre workshops and of online resources, make this volume a terrific resource for students, facilitators and teachers of prison theatre.