Reference no: EM133365656

Question: Describe the Shakespeare in the Courts program, including information about how the program works. Explain whether you think such programs would be beneficial to teens who would otherwise be sentenced to community service or juvenile detention. Be sure to include facts and details from the Article, as well as your own knowledge, in your response.

Case Study: act or not to act-that is the question. At least, it is for juvenile offenders who are referred to Shakespeare & Company, a theater company in Lenox, Massachusetts. Shakespeare & Company performs a variety of classic plays each year, offers a training program for actors, and has a school outreach program. It also works with the court system to give young offenders the option of performing scenes or speeches written by William Shakespeare as an alternative to community service or juvenile detention.

The theater group's program, called Shakespeare in the Courts, is offered to youth who have committed a variety of lower-level crimes, including larceny, assault and battery, and vandalism. Participants read various works by the illustrious bard, considering how scenes or monologues relate to their own lives, and then choose part of a play to perform onstage. They propose ideas for costumes and sets, memorize their lines, and rehearse. The program culminates with the teens acting out their roles for an audience of family, friends, and court personnel.

Shakespeare in the Courts was launched in 2001 by Judge Paul Perachi, who had originally recruited the theater company to work with students when he was employed as a high school principal. Years later, as a juvenile court judge, Perachi asked the theater group to develop a Shakespeare program for juvenile offenders.

"When I became a judge, I thought, these are the same kinds of kids I saw as a principal. They just come before me under different circumstances," Perachi said.

Juvenile Court Judge Joan McMenemy says the program stems from a rehabilitative approach to juvenile justice and is meant to help the teens learn to respect the feelings of others, fulfill a commitment, and develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Similar Shakespeare programs are offered to inmates in prisons around the country. Officials say that taking part in the productions boosts the participants' self-confidence and literacy and helps them acquire the skills they need to live productively outside of jail.

One teen said the Shakespeare in the Courts program taught him patience. "How long it takes us to do scenes sometimes, we've got to be patient and get through it," he said. That skill may forestall future legal problems for the teen.

Since the program launched, Shakespeare & Company founding member Kevin Coleman has worked with more than 300 teenagers, many of whom have struggled with poverty and family issues. Almost all hate the idea of performing Shakespeare at first, but by the end of the program, many say they've found new friends and feel good about what they've done.

"Honestly, you would never catch me doing this stuff if I didn't have to, but it's taught me teamwork and to just chill out and listen," said one 17-year-old boy who played Macbeth in the play by the same name.

"We take baby steps into [the program], because [many say] they'd rather go to jail than be involved in this project," Coleman said. "We get them to work together as a group, getting them to talk about themselves, getting them to name feelings, and then, bit by bit, we start with small bits of text, then larger amounts of text, then individual soliloquies and then group scenes."

During a recent rehearsal, three girls appeared to relish their roles as witches in Macbeth. They creeped and crouched, and then leapt around a small table, chanting, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair!"

Since the program began, only a handful of teens have refused to participate or dropped out before finishing the program, Coleman said. Those teens have been sent back to the judge to be resentenced.

Does Shakespeare in the Courts live up to its stated mission? The program's success is somewhat difficult to measure because the court hears only occasional anecdotal information about what the participants accomplish later in life. But McMenemy said one indicator of success may be the huge smiles on the kids' faces when they stand on the stage after their performances and hear applause from their family, friends, and teachers.

"I think it gives them confidence to overcome their fears," McMenemy said. Then, they have the tools they need to face the challenges in their lives.