Surprise Me!

Prisoners Perform Shakespeare

2012-03-02 2 Dailymotion

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"All the world's a stage" is a popular line from Shakespeare's "As You Like It." That's especially meaningful to some high security inmates in Rome's Rebibbia Prison as you will see in our next report.

Detainees of a prison in Italy are the protagonists of the film which won the Golden Bear in the 62nd film festival in Berlin.

A section of High Security prisoners recite Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" in the movie "Caesar Must Die."

The film is shot entirely in Rome's Rebibbia prison.

The directors -the Taviani brothers- were electrified after seeing a show at the prison theater.

[Paolo Taviani, Film Director]:
"Let’s do a cinematographic work on this theme, which is one of the most powerful emotions that we had these last few years."

Salvatore Striano is a former inmate who has learned to recite in that prison’s theater

For the past couple of years Striano has enjoyed his new life as an actor.

Now he returns to the place where he served his sentence to interpret the character of Brutus.

[Salvatore Striano, Actor]:
"I was wondering what I'm doing, but not because of the fear of having to play with former friends in prison because I knew their talent, their energy, their artistic power, but for the place itself."

[Vittorio Taviani, Film Director]:
"One of them wrote to his woman: I beg you Laura. I will recite, I beg you come to see me because while performing it seems to me you could forgive me!"

The prison's director, who also acts in the film, believes that the theater can give an opportunity in terms of pedagogical treatment for this category of detainees.

[Carmelo Cantone, Diretor, Rebibbia Prison]:
"They had the opportunity to interact very seriously and deeply with their emotions and their own experience."...