In 2002, the radio program "The American Life" made an hour long show on a very particular performance of Hamlet's Act V. The show begins with a small compilation of Hamlet death scenes performed in different parts of the country and then introduces the place where the extraordinary performance was excecuted: Missouri Eastern Correctional Center.
This is a high security prision where criminals are motivated to participate in a different prodution of Hamlet. The director, a woman called Agnes, has been producing individual acts since December of 1999 (it is illegal to congregate prisioners for the 4 hours that last the entire play so she breaks it up in acts every six months)
The play and the actors have a win-win interaction since the emotions portrayed by the actors fit perfectly those intended by Shakespeare. They are people who have felt desire for revenge, hate, assasin impulses and who have committed crimes worse than the ones in Hamlet. Their past allows them to personify the characters perfectly and give the play accuracy and vividness.
On the other hand, the play gives them contact with the literary world, as well as it demonstrates them that violence is not the only was out and proves them that even though many of them don't have a high school degree, they are still smart and capable people.
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