A prison chapel served as a theater for San Quentin inmates as they revealed some of the hardest parts of prison life through performances inspired by Shakespearean plays.
Inmates performed a total of 16 acts in their October showcase, “Parallel Play: Original Theater Inspired by Shakespeare,” in the San Quentin State Prison Protestant Chapel. About 100 Bay Area community members and 50 inmates and prison staff made up the audience.
“These performances are ripe with vulnerability, honesty, creativity and wisdom,” director Suraya Keating wrote in the play’s program. Keating noted that the plays invited the audience to reflect on the men’s real-life experiences through Shakespearean themes like manhood, loyalty and betrayal.
Inmate Eric Durr opened the show with comedy based on themes from Macbeth and Julius Caesar. After some laughs, the stage was set for serious drama. Performances included Highs and Lows by Le’Mar “Maverick” Harrison and Growing Pains by Andress Yancy.
Some inmates served as both actors and writers. Chris Marshall Sr. was incarcerated in 2001 and arrived at San Quentin in 2010. He is serving a life sentence under the Three Strikes Law. His third strike was forgery. He never considered pursuing the arts until joining Shakespeare at San Quentin and deciding to write a piece for performance.
“With the arts, I must open myself thoroughly to an audience,” Marshall said. “I’ve never done that before. It caused me to be authentic.”
Marshall wrote a piece titled Power of the Pronoun about transgender inmates.
“The most disadvantaged people in the prison system are transgender females,” Marshall said. “I got to know two transgender females, and they allowed me to tell their story.”
Actor Jarvis “Lady Jae” Clark, a transgender inmate, said Power of the Pronoun conveyed a message of tolerance and acceptance — “to look beyond the person’s appearance and see the spirit, not just the shell of the person.”
Clark said the theater group offers her an opportunity to humanize herself to other inmates.
“I’m not this transgender just running around here,” she said. “I have emotions. This allows me to show that I’m human.”
The event inspired audience members who visited from outside the prison walls. Bay Area native Stan Urban said the first time he came inside San Quentin was on a field trip in 1971 as a high school student.
“It was a very different place than it is today,” Urban said. “What I see here today is incredible.”
Steve Emrick, the prison’s community partnership manager, was happy that community members were able to witness the inmates’ success.
“When I see guys come to San Quentin from other institutions — higher levels — and perform here, it’s a big reward for me,” Emrick said. “Also rewarding is to see people who’ve never been in here see the talent and energy and be able to compare it with what they see from the outside. The arts allow inmates to address these issues and say, ‘I’m an actor. I’m an artist.’ They are finding who they are at their core.”
The show ended with a question and answer session. Many audience members asked about the interaction between the inmates and women volunteers, since the Shakespeare at San Quentin program is conducted by females.
“It seems that it takes a lot of courage,” said Lisa from the audience. “Were you worried about saying something controversial?”
Lesley Currier of Marin Shakespeare a volunteer, responded to these queries, saying that the program allows inmates to practice male/female working relationships.
“In here, it’s a hard life,” inmate/actor Azraal Ford said. “Theater is like stepping out of the comfort zone. You begin to question yourself. They are used to seeing me as a brutal Viking type of person. Doing theater allows me to return to myself. However, I still question myself: How will my peers see me when I’m known as the tattooed monster? So what I’ve done to step out of my comfort zone is not to just stick my foot in the water; I just jumped in.”
Another audience member asked about the common themes of violence and masculinity in many of the performances.
“It’s how we’ve learned masculinity,” inmate/actor Adnan Khan said. “We’ve learned masculinity through violence. After being in this program, we’re learning that masculinity is being sensitive and caring — which are definitions that we didn’t consider before.”
Inmate/actor John Windham added, “Masculinity comes from understanding self. It’s not about what other people think of me; it’s what I think about myself. In the past, we let other people define who we are. Now, it’s about who I know I am. It’s time for me to be me. Masculinity includes loving, care, empathy, respect — it’s all these that defines being a man for me.”
San Quentin’s theater program is sponsored by Marin Shakespeare Company. Currier hosts training workshops, Shakespeare for Social Justice, where community members learn to guide inmates to use their performances as a form of therapy and rehabilitation.
Shakespeare at San Quentin was established in 2003. It can be supported by contacting Currier at (415) 499-4485 or lesley@marinshakespeare.org or Marin Shakespeare Company; P.O. Box 4053; San Rafael, CA 94913; www.marinshakespeare.org.
Music for the event was provided by: John Holiday, congas; Allen “Squirrel” Ware, keyboard; Charles “Ceeboo” King, drums; “Funky” Walker, bass. Don’t Cry For Me was performed by Maverick and Banks.
