The San Quentin Experience
Last Sunday I had the unique oppoortunity to do a Shakespeare workshop with inmates inside of San Quentin prison. Before going in I really had no idea what the experience would be like other than that it would be similar to the Theatre of the Oppressed workshop we had done earlier in the year. I was surprised at the strict dress code that was enforced for visitors and also shocked at how beautiful the view was driving up to the prison. I had expected it to look the same way Statesville and Cook County prison looked in Illinois — large grey walls in the middle of nowhere holding hundreds of prisoners in a cage. However, walking into the prison and through the entrace was much more reminiscent of the castles I had seen in Spain, or even a large college campus. I could have been fooled into believing so if it hadn’t been for the barbed wire, watchtowers, and the pants reading “CRC PRISONER.”
When we started the workshop tons of the inmates flooded in and we all began with our silly name exercise. I wasn’t sure how it would go around the circle but I was delighted that everyone was putting 110% into the exercise. The same followed for the balls of energy we threw around the room and the exercise where we expressed our feelings. Years of stigma and stereotyping told me that I should have been afraid of these “hard thugs,” but I laughed and smiled and had tons of fun doing these things. I was very appreciative of everyone’s honesty and willingness to be vulnerable to strangers.
When we went around the circle discussing what brings unity and division in the world I heard so many answers from so many different perspectives. I loved that we used different motions to represent our words because it truly made the words feel more tangible and real. Like we discussed in class, I was astounded by the amount of hope and positivity incarcerated men could be expressing. I really saw more passion, hopes, goals, aspirations, and desire to grow in San Quentin than I see in many of my peers. If only everyone was able to see these qualities and humanity in these men! Never in my life have I heard someone ask us to stop and heal, or to send Trump the love and prayer that he “deserves” to heal his hurt.
Just like Julia had said, leaving the prison was hard. I talked much with the men in my tableu/dance group and was glad I had a bit of a chance to mingle before we had to leave. There has definitely been a lot to process following the experience and it has very much reinforced my understanding of the human rights crisis that is often perpetuated in prisons. After Phil told us how San Quentin was an amazing prison program that was much more focused on self-healing I became very curious on what a higher security, less funded prison would be like. In conclusion, I will 10/10 recommend that everyone in following classes attend this group!
