Watch Shakespeare Behind Bars For Free

What makes it different from others?

Overrated

A Brilliant Conflict

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The Luther Luckett Correctional Facility is the setting for "Shakespeare Behind Bars," which is a look at prisoners performing Shakespeare in one of 66 programs this particular prison runs. SBB was founded by actor-director-producer-writer Curt Tofeland, and at the time of the filming of this documentary, the program was in its 16th year.The documentary not only takes us through the rehearsals and performance, but more importantly gives us a look at the convicts portraying the various roles. Despite the fact that they're in for things like murder, manslaughter, and child molestation, they come off as likable, troubled people using the performance experience to learn more about themselves and others. There's Sammi, the computer wizard who runs a computer program at the prison; up for parole in six months, he already has a job waiting for him; Hal, a gay man from a conservative religious family who married and ended up killing his wife; Red, who plays the female role of Miranda, a part that dovetails his own life experiences perfectly, Big G, who plays Caliban, and three men who are cast as Antonio at three different times due to problems.The production at the time of the documentary is "The Tempest," which is set on an island, very much like the prison itself.The program gives the men who embrace it some understanding of what they did to their victims and who they are themselves, self-esteem, with the knowledge that they can perform Shakespeare and learn the difficult lines, and a sense of accomplishment, as some of these men have never completed anything in their lives, and provides some catharsis for their emotions. One hopes that if they ever get out, they can bring some of the compassion and discipline with them. Will they? Hard to say.To hear each of these men describe his crime is a very emotional experience, for them and for the viewer. We're not seeing one-dimensional monsters here, but human beings who have hurt or destroyed their lives and the lives of others by making some really stupid choices, sometimes on the spur of the moment.Viewers should find this both interesting and fascinating. Even more interesting and fascinating is an update on the prisoners, found here: http://www.shakespearebehindbars.org/documentary/castupdates.htm.

Shakespeare Behind Bars was the most surprising and delightful film I've seen all year. It's about a prison program, somewhere in California if I recall correctly, where the inmates have rehearsed and performed a different Shakespeare play every year for the past 14 years. The film follows their production of "The Tempest" from casting through performance, and in the process we learn some pretty amazing things about these men, who are all in for the most serious of crimes. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction -- if anyone tried to adapt this story into a fiction film, the audience would never buy it, but knowing that it's real makes it breathtaking to watch -- literally; I gasped out loud when I learned of one particularly gifted felon's crime. It's like some loopy episode of Oz, and all the more entertaining because the characters and their bizarre stories are real.

I saw this film in 2005 at the River's Edge Film Festival in Paducah, Kentucky. I was moved by its depth and the incredible candor of the subjects. It was at once about the Shakespeare program and about the actors, each a convicted felon. Most of the senior members of the troupe were hard-timers who had been performing in the program for years. The American public has a tendency to think of the prison population as numbers or tax liabilities or monsters. This film revealed that regardless of their past, prisoners are actually living, breathing human beings that still have real emotions and real ideas. This is not a film about prisons. This is a film about people.

One of the best parts of Sundance is seeing movies that you would otherwise almost certainly miss. Unless you're a real art-house devotee, you probably don't catch many documentaries. Only a handful get any recognizable distribution. Fortunately, Sundance has increased its commitment to documentaries in recent years.Shakespeare Behind Bars is a powerful documentary about a dramatic production group at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in LaGrange, Kentucky. Every year a group of inmates present a Shakespearean play. Director Hank Rogerson and his crew follow the troupe as roles are self-selected, interpreted, rehearsed and ultimately performed.The movie is filled with fascinating revelations for those of us that have not been exposed to prison environments. Despite the labels we know them by (convict, felon, murderer, etc.) we soon began to appreciate and respect these men as thinking feeling human beings. Serendipitously, the play chosen for the year of filming was The Tempest, with its penetrating focus on forgiveness and redemption. The actors all grapple with the relevance of the play to their lives, finding patterns and parallels with their characters and the meaning of the drama.For a documentary film, like a book, the best that can be hoped for is that we experience something that changes our lives. Shakespeare Behind Bars was a personal revelation for me. "O brave new world, that has such creatures in it."