Staging Prison Theatre in Canada
Setting the Spotlight on William Head on Stage
- Publisher
- Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
- Initial publish date
- May 2025
- Category
- Criminology, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780776644905
- Publish Date
- May 2025
- List Price
- $39.95
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9780776644912
- Publish Date
- Apr 2025
- List Price
- $69.95
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 15 to 18
- Grade: 10 to 12
Description
For over forty years, William Head on Stage (WHoS) has operated as an inmate-run prison theatre, making it one of Canada’s longest-standing prison arts initiatives.
Staging Prison Theatre in Canada: Setting the Spotlight on William Head on Stage delves into the story of WHoS through the voices of the men involved, offering a unique criminological perspective that situates their experiences within the prison context.
The analysis explores how WHoS creates an alternative space within the social and emotional realities of incarceration. By unlocking participants’ capacities, skills, and confidence, the initiative fosters a sense of agency and community both inside the prison and beyond. WHoS becomes a space for transformation, offering men opportunities to re-imagine themselves and build meaningful connections.
This work underscores the broader significance of arts-based initiatives like WHoS, not only within prisons but also in the fields of criminology, theatre, and community engagement. It offers valuable insights for correctional administrators, criminologists, theatre practitioners, scholars, students, and anyone interested in the intersection of art and rehabilitation.
About the authors
Sylvie Frigon est professeure titulaire au Département de criminologie de l’Université d’Ottawa, où elle est titulaire de la Chaire facultaire « La prison dans la culture, la culture dans la prison ». Mme Frigon a été directrice artistique du projet d’écriture en milieu carcéral de l’Association des auteures et auteurs de l’Ontario français (AAOF). Elle a été consultante auprès du Royal New Zealand Ballet en 2018 et poursuivra ce partenariat. Présentement, elle contribue à un nouveau projet de danse en prison avec les hommes, avec la chorégraphe parisienne, Claire Jenny.
Excerpt: Staging Prison Theatre in Canada: Setting the Spotlight on William Head on Stage (by (author) Thana Ridha & Sylvie Frigon)
How do you get a group of twenty-seven incarcerated men, all strangers, to trust you, and to trust each other? For starters, you show up.
We sit down on the prison’s couches and stare at the concrete walls, waiting for the men to arrive in the room, tucked in the program building. Some stride in confidently, smiling. Some hover at the door waiting to be noticed. Some are quiet, and some seem to take up all the space in the room. A few arrive late.
The men’s reactions mirror our own entrances. We are also entering an unknown place and walking into a culture we know very little about and can never fully understand. For them, stepping through the door is a big step out of their comfort zone and out of all they have known while incarcerated. For us, the encounter forces us to reach deeply into our knowledge and skills, struggling to kickstart a creative process in a restrictive environment.
