News and Events
FTT Talks Presents:
Curt Tofteland -Thursday Oct. 5th
Cert L. Tofteland, Founder & Artistic Director, Shakespeare Behind Bars program and Producing Artistic Director, Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the film, Shakespeare Behind Bars.
Screening of the film
SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS Thursday, October 5, 2006
7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Browning Cinema, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Q&A with CURT L. TOFTELAND to follow the 7:00 p.m. screening
CURT L. TOFTELAND brings twenty-eight years of professional theatre experience to his roles of artistic director, theatrical director, Equity actor, award winning playwright, academic educator, conference panelist and presenter, workshop facilitator, professional development trainer, and drama artist-in-residence. Since 1989, Curt has been the Producing Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. As a director and an Equity actor, he has over 200 professional productions to his credit. Additionally, he has presented over 400 performances of his one-man show Shakespeare's Clownes: A Foole's Guide to Shakespeare. Curt conducts residencies, workshops, and master classes at theatres and universities around the country. Curt is the Founder and Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed Shakespeare Behind Bars program. Philomath Films chronicled SBB in a documentary that premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The Film has gone on to screen at more than 35 film festivals around the world, winning a total of 10 film awards.
Shakespeare Behind Bars is an unexpectedly delightful documentary that follows the casting, rehearsal, and presentation of Shakespeare's play The Tempest by convicted felons inside Kentucky's Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. Hank Rogerson's moving documentary focuses on Curt Tofteland's program for prison inmates, which allows incarcerated men to express themselves through role-playing. In interviews and behind-the-scenes glimpses, it becomes clear that the tragic flaws of the Shakespearian characters serve as a mirror for the prisoners' own crimes and behaviors, providing them with valuable and potentially healing insights. Shakespeare Behind Bars smashes many of our long held notions about prisoners and criminals as we watch these actors prepare. Ultimately, we get to see the human psyche unfold in all of its complexities, as these men, ostracized from society, reveal their kindness, generosity and faith. In the process, we accompany them as they discover the power of truth, forgiveness, and transformation.
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased at the DPAC ticket office, 574-631-2800 or online.
$6, $5 faculty/staff, $4 seniors, and $3 all students
Co-sponsored by the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and the Dee and Jim Smith Endowment for Excellence in Shakespeare and Performance