January, 2011

Art has the potential to create radical change in our world.  Art can alter the way we see the world around us.  Art is not just a pretty painting on the wall, or some nice words strung together, but it is an invitation to see the world in a different way.

Profiled in a piece on NPR (gosh I love NPR), one South Africa’s prisons is using Shakespeare to help rehabilitate its young inmates.   South Africa has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, including a large number of youth.

…Hundreds of boys pass through Bonnytoun each year, for everything from home break-ins to drug abuse to murder. Most are at the facility for a few months, but some spend years following a routine of meals, classes and counseling. But a new creative arts program has attracted a lot of attention.

In its second year, a program by the Independent Theater Movement of South Africa brings Shakespeare to Bonnytoun. The three-week crash course in speech and acting ends with a staged performance inside the prison, two or three times a year…

…”A lot of them were timid, reticent, shy boys, but here they were given the impression to become something else, outside of themselves, and to find some kind of release. It made a difference to how they felt about themselves. That much was evident,” he says.

He says the production even caused his staff to see the boys differently.

“You can almost see the light go on when they see that same boy, in a totally different light, with a tunic on, pretending to be some kind of warrior, you know? And they say, maybe this boy can change,” Baker says…

Here’s the link to the NPR story, so you can listen for yourself.  There are all sorts of programs like this around the world, with many in the US.  If you know about a program like this or other programs bringing arts to kids, we’d love to hear from you!