{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Rehabilitation through theatre in US prisons' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bec7d8eafeecae13e3e8' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bec7d8eafeecae13e3e8' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nRehabilitation through theatre in US prisons\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAn acting outreach project founded by Hollywood star Tim Robbins in a Californian prison is offering prisoners the chance to re-invent themselves on stage and within the prison community. By donning a mask of thick theatre make-up and...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAn acting outreach project founded by Hollywood star Tim Robbins in a Californian prison is offering prisoners the chance to re-invent themselves on stage and within the prison community. \u003cbr/\u003eBy donning a mask of thick theatre make-up and exploring improvisation techniques, participtants say they can truly be themselves. \u003cbr/\u003eAppyling the foundation and getting ready to hit the stage.\u003cbr/\u003eBut this isn't a dressing-room in Broadway - this is the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California.\u003cbr/\u003eThese men aren't professional actors, they are inmates.\u003cbr/\u003eAnd applying thick stage make-up is a way to mask and recreate their identities.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Everybody has a mask, right, that we wear every day when we're out there. Well, when you come up in here you're able to be yourself, you know?\" says Rudy Ferrel, an inmate in the programme.\u003cbr/\u003e20 years ago, California had a nationally recognized arts curriculum in its prisons but funding dried up during tighter budget times.\u003cbr/\u003eNow, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has invested new money to restore arts as part of a growing emphasis on rehabilitation.\u003cbr/\u003eThe changes are being driven by a complete overhaul of the California corrections system to address severe overcrowding and a sky-high recidivism rate.\u003cbr/\u003eA pilot arts project is distributing $2.5 million over two years, which means new programmes are available in everything from theatre, drawing, and even poetry at more than a dozen prisons around the state. \u003cbr/\u003eThe Actors' Gang Prison Project has already been operating in the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California for nearly eight years.\u003cbr/\u003eThe actors in the programme focus on the Commedia dell'arte method of acting. \u003cbr/\u003eThey choose one of a dozen stock characters, such as the miser, the town buffoon or the lowly servant, and act out scenes in bold, harlequin-style face paint.\u003cbr/\u003eChristopher Bisbano, 47, was sentenced to 23 years and four months in prison for attempted murder. \u003cbr/\u003eHe has three years left on his sentence and loves acting so much that he started a separate acting club for inmates, their next performance will be in January.\u003cbr/\u003e\"So in the community of characters, we have social class, from the richest old man in the village to the lowliest servant, you know? We get to, uh, choose these characters and we see where we fit in,\" says Bisbano.\u003cbr/\u003eThere are no current studies to show that arts programmes inside prisons help reduce the re-offending rate once prisoners are released. \u003cbr/\u003eBut a seven-year study done by the state prison system in the 1980s, when the arts programmes were still robust, found that two years after release from prison, inmates who had participated in the arts while behind bars were 27 percent less likely to have reoffended.\u003cbr/\u003e\"This is nothing like that out there. This is our world in here. This is our community in here, this is our world in here. Everything in the world is right here in this room, right? We just create it with our imagination,\" says Bisbano.\u003cbr/\u003eWardens at the Norco prison say they notice positive changes among inmates who take the acting classes too.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The ones that have attended, they find something and I think the other inmates see something in them (that's) different: attitude, the mindset, the mentality, the way they are, the way they intermingle with the other inmates,\" says Captain Martin Alexi, who supervises the inmates.\u003cbr/\u003eActor Tim Robbins - famous for his role as a prisoner in the Shawshank Redemption - who started prison outreach, says the inmates turn their lives around when they start to act. His program has trained about 500 inmate actors and has a long waiting list.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It gives them a way to focus their energies and to get in touch with emotional states that they've never felt in their life - or that were deemed inappropriate for prison,\" says Robbins.\u003cbr/\u003eChristopher Bisbano agrees.\u003cbr/\u003eHe says: \"You know, the guys get to explore their emotions and be able to deal with them, you know. I don't know what it is. It has a really profound impact on some of the guys through this programme.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSupporters of the arts are worried that the funding could dry up when the pilot programme is over in 2016 and are trying to drum up more support from state lawmakers and prison officials.\u003cbr/\u003eBut for now, the inmates are just enjoying the moment - and the chance to really know themselves for the first time.\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eNorco, California, US - 30 September, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e1. Close of two inmates applying stage make-up\u003cbr/\u003e2. Mid of inmates applying stage make-up in mirror\u003cbr/\u003e3. Close of inmate painting a gold star on forehead\u003cbr/\u003e4. Wide of inmate applying lipstick to fellow inmate\u003cbr/\u003e5. Close of inmate inspecting make-up in mirror\u003cbr/\u003e6. Wide of inmate applying make-up at a long table\u003cbr/\u003e7. Close of make-up on table\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rudy Ferrel, inmate at California Rehabilitation Center \u003cbr/\u003e\"Everybody has a mask, right, that we wear every day when we're out there. Well, when you come up in here you're able to be yourself, you know?\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Low shot of inmates standing in circle\u003cbr/\u003e10. Close of inmates' hands\u003cbr/\u003e11. Wide of inmates doing an improvisational acting exercise\u003cbr/\u003e12. Mid of inmate actors' painted faces as they are frozen in place\u003cbr/\u003e13. Close of prison-issue shirt reading: (English) \"CDCR PRISONER\"\u003cbr/\u003e14. Close of inmate acting\u003cbr/\u003eUPSOUND (English): Christopher Bisbano, inmate\u003cbr/\u003e\"I love you, Isabella! I love you! Mario, I love you too.\"\u003cbr/\u003e15. Cutaway of audience laughing and reacting\u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Christopher Bisbano, inmate at California Rehabilitation Center\u003cbr/\u003e\"So in the community of characters, we have social class, from the richest old man in the village to the lowliest servant, you know? We get to, uh, choose these characters and we see where we fit in.\"\u003cbr/\u003e17. Wide of two inmates acting\u003cbr/\u003eUPSOUND (English): Rudy Ferrel, inmate at California Rehabilitation Center \u003cbr/\u003e\"Parsley! Pepinos! A cherry ďż˝ tree! And some alfalfa! Now, I'm gonna do my secret ritual to make this come to life!\"\u003cbr/\u003e18. Mid shot of audience laughing, including actor Tim Robbins\u003cbr/\u003eNorco, California, US - 9 August, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e19. Pull of exterior of the California Rehabilitation Center \u003cbr/\u003e20. Mid of prison watch tower\u003cbr/\u003e21. Wide of guard station at prison gates\u003cbr/\u003e22. Close of prison sign reading: (English) \"Do not slam gate\"\u003cbr/\u003eNorco, California, US - 30 September, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e23. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Bisbano, inmate: \u003cbr/\u003e\"This is nothing like that out there. This is our world in here. This is our community in here, this is our world in here. Everything in the world is right here in this room, right? We just create it with our imagination.\" \u003cbr/\u003e24. Wide shot of inmates doing an acting exercise of moving as one body\u003cbr/\u003e25. Mid of inmates on the floor watching fellow actors perform\u003cbr/\u003e26. Wide shot of an improvisation exercise\u003cbr/\u003e27. Tight shot of inmate's face while acting\u003cbr/\u003e28. SOUNDBITE: (English) Captain Martin Alexi, guard at the California Rehabilitation Center\u003cbr/\u003e\"The ones that have attended, they find something and I think the other inmates see something in them different: attitude, the mindset, the mentality, the way they are, the way they act, the way they intermingle with the other inmates.\"\u003cbr/\u003e29. Close of inmate acting\u003cbr/\u003e30. Low shot of actor Tim Robbins watching\u003cbr/\u003e31. Wide of Tim Robbins talking with inmates\u003cbr/\u003e32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tim Robbins, actor\u003cbr/\u003e\"It gives them a way to focus their energies and to get in touch with emotional states that they've never felt in their life - or that were deemed inappropriate for prison.\"\u003cbr/\u003e33. Wide reverse angle of two inmates acting\u003cbr/\u003e34. Mid of inmates watching other inmates perform\u003cbr/\u003e35. SOUNDBITE: (English) Christopher Bisbano, inmate\u003cbr/\u003e\"You know, the guys get to explore their emotions and be able to deal with them, you know. I don't know what it is. It has a really profound impact on some of the guys through this programme.\"\u003cbr/\u003e36. 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