Feedback About Our Work
Rios Extraordinary Christmas
HMP Springhill Nov-Dec 2019
Comments from the actors and musicians:
I never understood what it means to put something like this together. To take the improvisation and ideas and then write a script from it. I loved that my ideas were included and I was happy that was going to play the parts I’d created. But then because of circumstances I was asked to be a much larger part, Buddy the Elf. You said you believed in me. That gave me confidence and then you gave me all the direction with building the character and movements that I needed to make sure it all worked out. Then set and costume came in and then the music was added. I had no idea before of this process. Thank you for inviting me into your world.
Andy
Its been a beautiful thing, therapy in a way and given us the opportunity to be ourselves.
Daniel
I’d never have done anything like this before but you have taken me on an amazing journey. I’m the old guy in the group but everyone accepted me into it. I’m not an extrovert but you have supported me with patience and always with a smile.
Stephen
Thanks for bringing me out of my shell. I realise now why we had to play those silly games at the beginning of the project. They helped us feel OK around each other and instilled confidence. Thank you for having confidence in me.
Sebastian
I can honestly say I have had so much fun. It will be sad going back to normal life.
Endurance
Comments from the audience:
I watched your Xmas Panto this morning and what an absolutely brilliant production it is. You have all worked so hard and I really want to thank you for such a great morning – it has put me in a fantastically happy mood.
I am so proud of you and the guys! Really wish my kids had been there to see it, and I am 100% convinced the men’s families will absolutely love it.
Well bloody done all.
Lisa Daley – Band 6 Head of Industries and Business Engagement
How glad I was to see Rio’s Extraordinary Christmas. A great ensemble show, with loads of contrast, personality, wit and fun. Well done all. You must have been very proud of the result.
Mari Prichard
Congratulations – The Panto was a triumph!
We totally loved the story, characters, costumes and music, it was an absolute hoot . Such an engaging experience.
Really well done!
Simon Tennant
Short Play Festival
HMP Grendon July 2019
Comments from the men:
It’s been a brilliant process. I found my lack of confidence gets in the way and doing this made me realise I’m more capable than I thought. You have to give yourself a pat on the back for the fact that you even started to write a play – it’s a difficult task and we should take credit for it. But once I started it I loved it, and found the most challenging bit finishing it and letting it go.
Michael
I love writing stories but had never written a play before and I wanted to see what writing for theatre was like. I went through two whole pads of paper having a go at writing dialogue. I felt excited doing it – seeing my characters coming to life. I found it inspirational getting the notes back. I feel more confident in how to use grammar and structure now. I’m proud of what I have achieved and am thrilled at the prospect of professional actors reading my work.
Johnny
Comments from the audience:
The consistently high quality of the writing and storytelling was absolutely amazing. Plays are meant to grab your attention, and all these pieces certainly did that.
Yet again I am in awe of what you have encouraged and brought forth: all five plays were well structured and absolutely held our attention. As a bonus to be ale to talk to the playwrights afterwards and see how proud they felt.
Comments from staff:
We understand from feedback from those who participated that the experience had a very powerful positive impact on them overall, the opportunity to listen and hear ‘played back’ to them their own words, in the voice of another, surrounded by an audience who were also witness to this. Some residents who participated later stated they were very moved by this performance, the sense of recognition for their talent, and the opportunity to engage in a different way in some of the emotions contained within their stories.
Jo Augustus, DTC Lead Core Creative Psychotherapist, HMPPS Grendon.
Puppet Stories
HMP Bullingdon 2019
Comments from the men:
I am so glad I did this. My kids will love it and I hope it will make me apparent in their lives. It’s something that they can keep for the rest of their lives that shows I care. We are stuck in a horrible place but doing this we can be dads again, which is all I ever wanted to be.
Working with a puppet has been brilliant. Marcus is incredible at interacting with you and for me it took a lot of the pressure off. I know my family worry about me being in here but seeing me looking happy and having a laugh with the puppet will be a weight off their shoulders.
I was nervous about doing this but it’s been the highlight of my time here. I feel like when I get out I will be a better dad than I was before – time away gives you time to reflect. You feel so disconnected, everything is taken away from you, but this gives you the chance to show your kids that their dad is OK. It shows us being normal, how we used to be.
It’s the first time I’ve seen myself on TV not CCTV! I think the end product looks so professional. It’s like we’re on CBeebies! We are so lucky to have been given this opportunity. Thank you to everyone.
Comments from a mum:
I would like to thank Blue and the team for taking time out to help Tyrone record The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Even though the girls cried whilst watching the DVD, it’s little things like this that put a smile on our girls’ faces. Being able to see their dad has made them so emotional but so happy at the same time. I can’t thank you all enough for letting Tyrone have the opportunity to do this!
Drama Club
April – July 2019
Comments from the men:
Tuesday evenings working with Kestrel have literally kept me going and helped me through the dark periods during the last few months. I don’t know what I would have done without them.
Resident
Thank you for your amazing contribution to the community here, everyone involved was transported out of prison for that short time.
Resident
Comments from the audience:
It was a fantastic show. The participants clearly enjoyed it, and so did the audience, including me. And they were really very funny and aware of each other and the audience. It was really quite some something to hear at the debrief how much the last few weeks have meant to each of them.
Jack: A Lad in the Beanstalk
Comments from the men about the project:
I have been incarcerated for 13 years now and I have never been on a project where I have laughed so much. I enjoyed seeing people come together from different backgrounds, working with the same enthusiasm to create something brilliant. I was encouraged to push myself to a point where I felt I really excelled. It allowed me to develop and identify skills I didn’t know I had, it has opened up a new world in terms of what I would like to do with my life.
Noel (Actor)
I’ve enjoyed it more than any of you can know. I’ve done something I never thought possible – bought something to life that we wrote ourselves for our families, especially as I know how difficult life can be for them. In this pit of despair that is prison, this project has been a beam of sunshine in all our lives. I’ve loved being able to give people a breathe of fresh air. Everyone is special and talented in their own way and this project has shown us that.
Conall (Actor)
What I take away is the knowledge that we can do things differently – that we can drop our guard and be normal and human. I have been in jail a long time and it’s been a treat to see softness and emotion come through and the joy in people’s hearts in taking part.
Ben (Musician)
Looking at the faces of the kids today I could see they were tuned in and entranced. It was a great feeling that it was us who was doing that.
Today for the first time I forgot I was in prison. I’ve never done group work before and doing this made me realise I’m good at it. I’m definitely going to try doing more.
Jay (Actor)
Comments from the audience:
I bought my wife and kids to see the show. For the first time ever during visits, we were able to forget we were in a prison, and enjoy the normality of having fun together as a family.
Resident
The panto personified everything that a rehab culture should. The interaction with the men and staff took us momentarily away from the norm – you could really see the joy on the men’s faces at the end.
Mike Vail – Senior Officer HMP Grendon and Springhill
Broken Dreams 2
Comments from the men about the project:
As human beings we need hopes and dreams and aspirations and this project has given us those.
To be honest I’m not really a confident person and I suffer from
anxiety a lot. My main worry was failure and being laughed at and once I realized that we were all in the same boat and all in it
together things got much easier. I feel like I was a product of my
environment and I just did the stuff that was happening around me which was some bad stuff. I’ve been around a lot of positive people here and it’s helped me feel part of something positive and I like that feeling.
When we are in prison we wear a kind of mask – you cannot show vulnerability. This project has helped take us out of that zone. It shows how the environment is a big factor on how we all are and how we reflect ourselves in society. It’s a lesson that we shouldn’t write all people off because imaginative projects like this can reach those people. Everybody who gets the hand extended to them can move forward in a positive way.
This project has taught me that you should never set limits for yourself, you can do whatever you put my mind to.
It has been a unique experience. It has given me unforgettable
memories, friendships for life and a new meaning to teamwork.
Comments from the audience:
Saw Broken Dreams at Royal Court today. Beautiful storytelling, rich and layered yet uncomplicated honestly told – thanks to all for creating these kind of opportunities for audiences and performers alike.
I will never cease to marvel at the power of theatre. Broken Dreams at Royal Court is multi layered and poignant and not to be missed.
Powerful, moving, and utterly believable. Nobody in that audience would have believed what you and the guys gave us was possible. They have proved that, given the chance, people are so much more than the sum of their parts. Thankyou.
Puppet Story Workshops
Creation of story DVDs by dads from HMP Springhill, working with a professional puppeteer in March and April 2018.
Comments from the men about the project:
I thought working with puppets would be easy, you’d just stick your hand up them and away you’d go. But it was a lot more challenging than I thought.
It’s reassuring that our kids can see us in a library, a normal place like they see at school, that that where we live is not all barbed wire and locks and keys. It’s something special for them to keep that says I care.
Celebration of the Spoken Word 2018
Comments from the men about the project:
project.
Comments from the audience:
Broken Dreams
When Life Gives You a Fish a new play devised and performed at HMP Springhill and at The Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at The Royal Court Theatre, London in December 2017.
Comments from the men about the project:
This project has honestly opened up a new world of possibilities. I’m not sure if you even understand how empowering the work that you do is….keep going because you are changing lives, FACT!!!!!
I made something positive out of being in prison and I have done something, performed at The Royal Court in London, that people only dream of. It has changed me. It has made me look at life in a totally different way.
Comments from the audience:
Shoulder to Shoulder
8 weekly evening workshops at HMP Springhill ending in a performance to residents, staff and outside audience in October 2017.
Comments from the men about the project:
Comments from the audience:
The 360° Man
A film devised written and shot at HMP Springhill March 2017
Comments from the men about the project:
Watching the lads flourish together as a team has been a privilege. They drove it forward themselves and to have helped facilitate this has made me very proud.
Blood and Water
October 2016
Comments from the men about the project:
From The Royal Court audience:
Really wonderful to have the Royal Court endorsing it.
It was very heartening, too, to hear the cast members afterwards saying what a difference Kestrel had made to their lives in prison.