Living Shakespeare at the Lansing Correctional Facility, Kansas: Rehabilitation and Re-creation in Action BY Scott L. Cox Submitted to the graduate degree program in Theatre and the Graduate Faculty at the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy _________________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Rebecca Laughlin Rovit _________________________________ Dr. Henry Bial _________________________________ Dr. John Gronbeck-Tedesco _________________________________ Dr. Randal Jelks _________________________________ Dr. Jeanne Klein Date defended: April 15, 2016 The Dissertation Committee for Scott L. Cox certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Living Shakespeare at the Lansing Correctional Facility, Kansas: Rehabilitation and Re-creation in Action ________________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Rebecca Laughlin Rovit Date Accepted: April 15, 2016 ii Abstract Living Shakespeare is an all-male, all-inmate theatre program offered under the auspices of Arts in Prison at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. It was founded by Scott L. Cox in September 2011 and has produced four full-length productions of Shakespearean plays to date. The program, inspired by Shakespeare Behind Bars at the Luther Luckett Correctional Center in LaGrange, Kentucky, operates under the belief that participation in a Shakespeare- based theatrical production program offers the inmates opportunities to develop skills necessary to their successful reintegration to society. This dissertation explores the first three years of the Living Shakespeare program with the aim of determining whether the program aids in the prison’s stated goal: rehabilitation. The dissertation includes a brief historical account of the development of prison theatre, focusing on the use of Classical and Shakespearean drama with incarcerated populations, culminating in a case study of Shakespeare Behind Bars. The primary case study, which makes up the bulk of this dissertation, is of Living Shakespeare and its ensemble members. The author frames the study as Practice-as-Research (PAR), an approach to performance studies which values performance and theatrical practice as a valid research model. Knowledge is ascertained not solely through an account of the practice but by applying the methodology of ethnography. Observations of the process, field notes, conversations with the participants, questionnaires and interviews all figure into a qualitative analysis of the Living Shakespeare program. The author aims to demonstrate that a Shakespeare-centered theatre process provides the prisoners with the means of attaining twelve specific goals related to rehabilitation and offers rare opportunities for transcendence. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my wife, Amber Cox, first and foremost. She encouraged me to go back to graduate school in my thirties and her hard work sustained us through the lean years. She recognized that I was meant to be a Theatre professor and her belief in me has never wavered. I am a fortunate man. I am grateful to my mother, Shelley McLendon, for always supporting my desire to work in Theatre and never once doubting me. I also owe a great debt to my step-father, Rick McLendon, who raised me with positive-thinking seminars on cassette tapes always in the background. Those affirmations sunk into my subconscious and I now realize that those philosophies have driven me towards success and self-actualization. My step-father is a wise and loving man and I owe him my sanity and my state of mind. I thank my father, Timothy Cox; he was a prisoner for twelve years and made the best of every moment. He left prison an educated man, an ordained minister, and has become a successful businessman in the intervening years. His wife, Cindy, stood by his side throughout, providing me an example of grace and fortitude in the meantime. I am also indebted to my wonderful in-laws, Rick and Catherine Holman, who are not only excellent models of love and kindness, but who provided me with a lake house in the Ozark Mountains in which much of this dissertation was written, far away from the distractions of the city and home. I would be remiss without acknowledging the academic inspirations who played roles in getting me to where I am today. I owe much to Dr. Michael Mauldin, who gave me my first Shakespearean role; Dr. Tita F. Baumlin, who sparked my love of Shakespeare’s language; Dr. Felicia Hardison Londré, whose enthusiasm for dramatic literature is infectious and who was directly responsible for saving me from a deadly desk job and plunging me back into academia iv after a three-year absence; Dr. Richard “Buzz” Herman, who gave me my first teaching job; Ryan Morehead, who put me in a position to become Chair of Theatre and Dance at Benedictine College, which has been one of my life’s greatest blessings; and Dr. Kimberly Shankman, my Dean, who has been so patient and supportive during the long dissertation process. I am especially grateful to Dr. Rebecca Laughlin Rovit, whose kind yet gentle prodding kept me on track during the nearly four years between passing my comprehensive exams and defending my dissertation. She has been a beloved professor, a valued advisor, a source of solid feedback and support, and a friend. I am also grateful to Professors Henry Bial, John Gronbeck- Tedesco, Randal Jelks, and Jeanne Klein for their patience, their wisdom, and support. Each of them has taught me much in coursework and in conversation. I must also acknowledge my students in the department of Theatre and Dance at Benedictine College. Their talent, intelligence, and grace combined with their patience and unwavering belief in me has made these last four years a complete joy. I am especially grateful to Danielle Shanahan, whose technical assistance saved me in the final weeks of this process. I am equally indebted to my colleagues in the department—specifically Anita Buhman-Wiggs and Derek Trautwein—for working hard to make our program great, supporting me when I needed to play the student, and being excellent friends and coworkers. I issue a special thanks to Leigh Lynch, Arts in Prison, and the inmates themselves, for making Living Shakespeare possible. Finally, I thank my friends for sustaining my spirit, listening to me when I needed to carp, and providing me an escape from the hectic nature of a life in the Theatre. Specifically, I wish to extend my gratitude to Trevor Belt, Mark Hill, Angela Lorang, Cyndi Price, and Devin Tesar. v Table of Contents Acceptance Page..............................................................................................................................ii Abstract...........................................................................................................................................iii Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................iv Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 Living Shakespeare – A rehearsal for freedom....................................................................1 Carceral Conversations – A Review of the Literature.........................................................8 Methodology: An Ethnographic Account of Practice-as-Research...................................20 The Structure and Contents of the Study...........................................................................27 Chapter One – Shakespeare Comes to the Prison..........................................................................37 A Brief History of a Rough Practice..................................................................................37 Prison Theatre in America.................................................................................................46 Curtis E. Tofteland and Shakespeare Behind Bars............................................................51 Rehabilitation or Mere Recreation?...................................................................................70 Chapter Two – Giving Life to Living Shakespeare.......................................................................80 Notes on Ethnographic Storytelling...................................................................................80 Shakespeare Comes to a Kansas Penitentiary....................................................................83 The Origins of an Ensemble..............................................................................................90 Rehearsals and the Revolving Door..................................................................................98 “Screw your courage to the sticking place and we’ll not fail”........................................106 Reflections on Year One..................................................................................................110 Chapter Three – Season Two (2012 – 2013)...............................................................................116 Into the Storm..................................................................................................................116 The Female Question, Complicated.................................................................................121 The Players: Noblemen, Monsters and Fools..................................................................125 The Audience Experience................................................................................................128