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Theatre Behind Bars: Can the Arts Rehabilitate?
Theatre Behind Bars Can the Arts Rehabilitate Author:Philip Taylor Theatre Behind Bars invites readers into the harsh world of prison culture, and reveals how an applied theatre project changed the lives of the men who experienced it. Granted unique access to a correctional facility, the author presents the findings from his three-year study investigating the impact of a sustained prison theatre program.... more » The book tracks the work of twenty of the men, most of them serious offenders, as they participated in this program.
The text eloquently recaptures the inmates’ involvement with the theatre arts as they crafted scripts and monologues, engaged with process drama, forum theatre and public performance, and as they reflected on how their lives were forever changed once they were behind bars. The rehabilitative potential of theatre as shown through the eyes of the inmates pervades the text with compelling authenticity. The book is not just about the arts in prison but is also an important resource for everyone who is interested in the humanizing aspect of theatre.
This book will be of interest to researchers, educators and students interested in applied theatre and the scholarship which informs it. It will be an important library addition to college programs which specialize in theatre studies and educational theatre, and of particular interest to community artists and activists, and in criminal justice and youth detainment programs. While the focus is on theatre in prison and its rehabilitative potential, the book will have broader appeal for those concerned with the social and civic impact of theatre, and in counselling and general training programs. Importantly, it contributes to recent debates on the purposes of applied theatre.« less