TERRE HAUTE — Larry Newton didn’t even know who William Shakespeare was when he was incarcerated nearly 15 years ago, let alone that Shakespeare would change his life.
Newton is one of 10 inmates at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility participating in the “Shakespeare in Shackles” program that began five years ago.
Program participants performed their adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” on Thursday. The adaptation was titled “Fortune’s Fool: The Tragedy of Young Romeo,” which showcased five scenes from the play highlighting the violent society Romeo lived in and the consequences of his choices.
The performance was videotaped and will be shown to teens of the Youth Incarcerated as Adults unit at the prison and students of Vigo County’s alternative high schools. A companion handbook for teachers also will be available.
“I hope they take away that they are not exactly the person that they think they are, that they claim to be,” said Newton, 32, of Muncie, about what he would like the teens to learn.
He said the teens try to live by things such as courage, honor and humanity without entirely knowing what those words mean and it doesn’t have to be like that.
“They can give these things substance in their lives,” Newton said. “They can actually start questioning what these things mean to them and build them into their lives.”
Like many of his Shakespeare companions, Newton was incarcerated for murder when he was a teen-ager. He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
After spending more than 10 years in the Special Confinement Unit, Newton said he was at a crossroads in his life and was contemplating suicide.
“I was at a breaking point in my life, I had been in segregation for so many years that … I was actually kind of desperate, I just needed something to direct my attention toward and it was just a natural fit for the time, it just perfectly lined up to my needs,” he said about getting involved in the program when it first started.
Though he said he’s learned a lot of things from the various stories they’ve read, the most important thing he’s learned is “I kind of direct the sail in my life. I get to determine what my life means, what I do with it, how I feel about it. I’m in control.”
Participants have been working for the past nine months to read, discuss and interpret “Romeo and Juliet.” They then wrote their own parts for their adaptation.
This is the first time they created an adaptation to present to at-risk youth, which the group hopes will prevent the youth from making the same mistakes they did to end up in prison.
The play opened with an introduction explaining Romeo’s society and the goals of the adaptation.
“Like Romeo, many of you live in a violent society and will someday face choices like Romeo’s,” the introduction stated. “… We hope that you learn from Romeo’s mistakes. And our own.”
Questions were presented at the end of each scene to engage students in conversation about themselves or their situations. Some questions involved peer pressure and revenge.
To participate in the program, inmates volunteer but must have a clear conduct record. No educational background is required.
For this particular play, they worked for five hours at a time over the past nine months, sometimes giving up recreation time, chow time or a Colts game, said program director Laura Bates, an associate professor at Indiana State University.
“Shakespeare in Shackles” is the world’s first and only Shakespeare program to originate in a segregation unit. It’s also the only Shakespeare program developed by prisoners to teach other prisoners how to use Shakespeare plays to examine their own lives, Bates said.
“We do believe that it has the power to change and even save lives,” she said.
Other plays the inmates have studied include “Macbeth,” “Othello” and “Hamlet.”
Kevin Henry, 50, of South Bend said the program has enhanced his critical thinking skills, and a big reason many people are incarcerated is because of a “lack of critical thinking skills.”
Another participant, Danjo Graziano, 40, of Chicago added that it has made him think of consequences.
Mitch Gooldy, 49, of Bloomington said he never expected to learn about Shakespeare in prison, but believes a program such as this one could change prisons everywhere.
Inmates’ families, teachers and invited community members who attended the performance Thursday gave them a standing ovation.
Family members of Patrick Cox, 31, of Anderson said they were proud of him and they’ve noticed a change in him that allows him to be a role model to others.
Newton’s family echoed those sentiments. His brother said they’ve even learned some things from him.
Another performance will take place Saturday for inmates currently taking college courses.
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
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Wabash Valley Correctional Facility inmates perform adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’
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