Reel Conviction
JILANN SPITZMSLLER '89 ANDHANK ROGERSON '89bring new meaning to thephrase'"captured on film."
In the documentary Shakespeare BehindBars, filmmaking couple Rogerson and Spitzmiller follow an unlikely troupe of actors—convicted felons—as they stage The Tempest. The film is set at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Kentucky and centers on 20 male prisoners who rehearse, perform and grapple with their demons as they bring Shakespeare's last play to life.
Rogerson was drawn to the story when he read about Curt Tofteland, the director of the innovative Shakespeare Behind Bars rehabilitation program at Luther Luckett. "I always wanted to make a film about acting," says Rogerson. "Curt's program had all the right elements and stakes. By taking on a role, these men have to come to terms with the worst things they've ever done."
Exploring The Tempest's theme of redemption is challenging for the inmate actors. After all, they're not petty thieves. Most have committed heinous acts, from murder to child molestation. Hal, who plays Prospero, electrocuted his wife by throwing a hair dryer in the bathtub. And Big G, who plays Caliban, shot a police officer when he was 21. For these men acting is a way to get at emotions that have largely been suppressed. "After 46 years of being in a tight clamp, I don't know how to unclamp," says Hal.
The filmmakers don't celebrate the crimes or judge the criminals, they focus on the acting process itself. What surfaces are tough questions about the nature of forgiveness and transformation—both on- and off-stage.
Rogerson and Spitzmiller first collaborated on a class of 1989 video their senior year at Dartmouth. "As crazy as it sounds," says Spitzmiller, "that project motivated us to make films together." The couple married in 1996 and now has a 3-year-old daughter, Isabel. Shakespeare BehindBars, their second featurelength documentary, premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival. It will be released on DVD in the summer and air on the Sundance Channel in January. For details, go to www.shakespearebehindbars.com.
