Performing New Lives draws together some of the most original and innovative programs in contemporary prison theatre. Leading prison theatre directors and practitioners discuss the prison theatre experience first-hand, and offer valuable insights into its role, function, and implementation. A wide range of prison theatre initiatives are discussed, from long-running, high-profile programs such as Curt Tofteland's "Shakespeare Behind Bars" in LaGrange, Kentucky, to fledgling efforts like Jodi Jinks' "ArtsAloud" project in Austin, Texas. The book offers unique insights into the many dimensions of the prison theatre experience, including: negotiating the rules and restrictions of the prison environment; establishing trust, teaching performance skills and managing crises; building relationships and dealing with conflicts; and negotiating public performances and public perceptions. Excerpts of interviews with inmates, and a conversation between practitioners in the final chapter, reveal the impact that prison theatre programs have on the performers themselves, as well as audience members, and the wider community. Exploring prison theatre processes and theory with insights into how it works in practice, and how to replicate it, this book is essential reading for drama therapists, theatre artists, and prison educators, as well as academics.

Theatre of Witness is a model of performance that gives voice to those who have been marginalized, forgotten or unheard in society, creating a safe forum for audiences to bear witness to real-life accounts of suffering and transformation. This book chronicles the author's 26 years of creating and producing theatre with people whose stories have previously gone untold, including: prisoners and their families, refugees, immigrants, survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse, ex-combatants, teenage runaways, people living in poverty or without homes, families of murder victims, women in transition, people in recovery and survivors of war. With an engaging and heartfelt narrative, it beautifully conveys the key principles of Theatre of Witness and explores the author's own journey that led to the conception and growth of this unique model of performance. Exploring diverse human experiences in the United States, Poland and Northern Ireland, this book will be of interest to practitioners and students of applied theatre, peace and conflict studies, professionals working in conflict resolution, counselors, psychotherapists, professionals in the field of criminal and restorative justice, dramatherapists, psychodramatists and spiritual seekers.