Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2020
During my ten years teaching college classes and directing eight plays at framingham women's prison in massachusetts, I was always at odds with institutionally funded education programs behind bars. While I chose plays and ran discussions to expand thinking (The Merchant of Venice, Lysistrata, The Taming of the Shrew, Simply Maria, and Waiting for Lefty, to name a few) the unspoken aim of the education department was to reform the women—that is, to enlighten them on what society says is the “best” way to be, to teach socially accepted behavior as an antidote to crime.