@article{intel:/content/journals/10.1386/dtr_00092_1, author = "Shailor, Jonathan", title = "Theatre of Empowerment", journal= "Drama Therapy Review", year = "2022", volume = "8", number = "Drama Therapy with Incarcerated, Criminalized and Justice-Impacted Populations", pages = "45-58", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1386/dtr_00092_1", url = "https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/dtr_00092_1", publisher = "Intellect", issn = "2054-7676", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "thérapie par le théâtre", keywords = "prisión", keywords = "evidence-based", keywords = "community of practice", keywords = "habilidades de comunicación", keywords = "terapia de drama", keywords = "fondé sur des preuves", keywords = "Shakespeare", keywords = "communication skills", keywords = "basado en evidencia", keywords = "prison", keywords = "compétences en communication", keywords = "drama therapy", keywords = "communauté de pratique", keywords = "comunidad de práctica", abstract = "This article is an updated assessment of ‘The Shakespeare Prison Project’ (SPP, Wisconsin), informed in part by post-COVID-19 reflections. Founder and artistic director Jonathan Shailor provides an exploration of the theory and practice that informs his work, which he calls the Theatre of Empowerment: storytelling, dialogue and performance, in the service of personal and social evolution. The key to understanding this work is seeing the prison theatre ensemble as a ‘community of practice’ that cultivates the virtues of individual empowerment, relational responsibility and moral imagination. The author tests these claims with a preliminary analysis of participants’ stories and draws conclusions from this analysis that will inform the next chapter of ‘The Shakespeare Prison Project’: Shakespeare’s Mirror, an approach that connects themes from Shakespeare’s plays with the personal narratives of incarcerated actors.", }