Detroit Public Theatre opens its King Lear season inside a prison, in the ensemble's own words

Before a single scene of King Lear gets rehearsed, Detroit Public Theatre asks its newest ensemble three questions. What brings you to Shakespeare? What do you hope to get out of this year? What is your gift to the group?

On September 17, the answers came from inside a prison.

Detroit Public Theatre has begun another year of its Shakespeare In Prison program, known as SIP, and published the full first session on its website on September 18. This year the ensemble is working toward a production of King Lear. The post shared direct quotes from the session.

Asked what brought them to Shakespeare, participants spoke plainly. One wanted "to be a part of something, have something to work toward, to get a sense of accomplishment, stay disciplined, and meet new people." Another said the goal was "to shoot for the stars." One member offered a line that could anchor the whole season: "When we're in Shakespeare, we're not in prison, we're in Shakespeare."

The circle made room for nerves and for encouragement. "It would be easy for me to stay in my shell but I want to push myself," one person said. When another admitted, "I am proud of myself because I actually got up and did it," a castmate answered, "You did so great. I hope I can get like you." One participant said the program "helped these 40 weeks go a lot faster than the first 40 weeks."

Humor carried its share of the trust-building. Told they had "extra weird energy," one participant reframed it: "Weird doesn't mean what you think it means, it means supernatural energy." Another landed a line worthy of the stage: "In the south, we don't hide our crazy. We put it on the front porch and give it a cocktail."

Why it matters for Detroit: this is a program about belonging as much as performance.

Readers who want to follow the season or support the work can find Detroit Public Theatre at detroitpublictheatre.org.