Prison Theatre and the Global Crisis of Incarceration

by Ashley E. Lucas, Patrick Lonergan (Editor), Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. (Editor)

Overview

Obscured behind concrete and razor wire, the lives of the incarcerated remain hidden from public view. Inside the walls, imprisoned people all over the world stage theatrical productions that enable them to assert their humanity and capabilities. Prison Theatre and the Global Crisis of Incarceration offers a uniquely international account and exploration of prison theatre. By discussing a range of performance practices tied to incarceration, this book examines the ways in which arts practitioners and imprisoned people use theatre as a means to build communities, attain professional skills, create social change, and maintain hope. Ashley Lucas's writing offers a distinctive blend of storytelling, performance analysis, travelogue, and personal experience as the child of an incarcerated father.

Distinct examples of theatre performed in prisons are explored throughout the main text and also in a section of Critical Perspectives by international scholars and practitioners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472511706
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/03/2020
Series:	Critical Companions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ashley Lucas is Associate Professor of Theatre&Drama and the Residential College at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, and Former Director of the Prison Creative Arts Project. She and Jodie Lawston co-edited the book Razor Wire Women: Prisoners, Scholars, Artists, and Activists (2011), and they cofounded a blog by the same name. Lucas also write the play Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass, which she has performed as a one-woman show since 2004.
Ashley Lucas is Associate Professor of Theatre and Drama at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Director of the Prison Creative Arts Project. She and Jodie Lawston co-edited the book Razor Wire Women: Prisoners, Scholars, Artists, and Activists (SUNY Press 2011), and they coauthor a blog by the same name. Lucas also wrote the play Doin' Time: Through the Visiting Glass, which she has performed as a one-woman show since 2004.
Patrick Lonergan is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at University of Galway, Ireland.
Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. is professor of theatre arts at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, USA, the author and editor of ten books including The Empire Triumphant: Race, Religion and Rebellion in the Star Wars Films, and a contributor to numerous volumes on sci-fi, pop culture and religion, including essays on Godzilla, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. His areas of expertise include Japanese theatre, African theatre, Shakespeare, Greek tragedy, stage combat and comedy. He is co-editor with Patrick Lonergan of Bloomsbury Methuen Drama's Critical Companions series.

Table of Contents

Foreword Heather Ann Thompson (University of Michigan, USA)
Acknowledgments
Part I Prison Theatre: Strategies for a Better Life
Introduction: Journeys in Prison Theatre
1 Theatre as a Strategy for Community Building
2 Theatre as a Strategy for Professionalization
3 Theatre as a Strategy for Social Change
4 Theatre as a Strategy for Hope
Conclusion: Glorious Beings Live Here
Part II Critical Perspectives
5 Dancing in the Wings: Does Prison Theatre Offer a Radical Containment or a Pedagogy of Utopia? Selina Busby (The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama , UK)
6 “The Actors Have All the Power”: Angola's Life of Jesus Christ Stephanie Gaskill (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA)
7 Citizens Theatre, Scotland, Facilitates Changes in Life Directions through Creative Arts Mediums Neil Packham and Elly Goodman, (Citizens Theatre, UK)
8 Bad Girls, Monsters, and Chicks in Chains: Clean Break Theatre Company's Disruption of Representations of Women, Crime, and Incarceration Caoimhe McAvinchey, (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Notes
Selected Bibliography on Prison Theatre
Selected List of Prison Theatre Companies and Programs
Notes on Contributors
Index