If I Ran the Shakespeare Prison Project: Alumni of the Shakespeare Prison Project (SiPC4) Artwork

Shakespeare at Notre Dame

Shakespeare at Notre Dame is a program that recognizes the centrality of the study of Shakespeare in humanistic pedagogy at the University of Notre Dame. Officially established in 2007, Shakespeare at Notre Dame's mission is to fuse the University’s pursuit of compassionate social justice with the study of the works of William Shakespeare. The program’s reach extends deep into the South Bend community, with a number of community-focused events every year, and beyond, to audiences from over a dozen countries across the world. Combining humanistic pedagogy and the world’s greatest works of literature, Shakespeare at Notre Dame encompasses a number of different initiatives including the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Actors From The London Stage, and many others. Shakespeare at Notre Dame also partners with their sister organizations, the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company and the Robinson Community Learning Center. Visit shakespeare.nd.edu to learn more.

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Shakespeare at Notre Dame

If I Ran the Shakespeare Prison Project: Alumni of the Shakespeare Prison Project (SiPC4)

February 02, 2021 • Shakespeare at Notre Dame • Season 2021 • Episode 9

Why Shakespeare Now?
The 4th International Shakespeare in Prisons Conference (SiPC4) gathers theatre arts practitioners, researchers, and scholars who are currently engaged with or interested in programs for incarcerated (and post-incarcerated) populations. SiPC4 stimulates discussion through speakers, performances, and workshop sessions offering case studies and best practices within the prisons arts movement.

If I Ran the Shakespeare Prison Project: Alumni of the Shakespeare Prison Project (SiPC4)
Formerly-incarcerated actors share their thoughts about "best practices" and new possibilities for prison Shakespeare programs. Drawing from their own experiences, insights, and ideas about "what would make life more wonderful," participants explain how they would design and facilitate a program. Participants include Steven James, alumnus of The Shakespeare Prison Project (Australia), and Michael Shortt and Haisan Williams, alumni of The Shakespeare Prison Project (Wisconsin). The conversation is facilitated by Rob Pensalfini, Artistic Director, Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, and Founder/Director, The Shakespeare Prison Project (Australia), and Jonathan Shailor, Professor of Communication, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Founder/Director, The Shakespeare Prison Project (Wisconsin).

Learn more about Actors From The London Stage, the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, the Shakespeare in Prisons Network and more at shakespeare.nd.edu.