Shakespeare Behind Bars
Open-knowledge reference entry
Shakespeare Behind Bars is an organization offering theatrical encounters with personal and social issues to incarcerated and post-incarcerated adults and juveniles. It intends to encourage the development of life skills that will ensure their successful reintegration into society.
The organization's vision statement is that "Shakespeare Behind Bars was founded on the belief that all human beings are born inherently good. Although some convicted criminals have committed heinous crimes against other human beings, the inherent goodness still lives deep within them and can be called forth by immersing participants in the safety of a circle-of-trust and the creative process."
Facilities
Luther Luckett Correctional Complex
Located in La Grange, Kentucky, the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex was first opened in 1981 and the population is around 1,000. This was the first program of the SBB organization.
Shakespeare Behind Bars has performed Pericles, Prince of Tyre here.
Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility
Located in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility was first opened in 1989. Their SBB program was started in 2011 and is co-facilitated by Kate Thomeson, Joseph Byrd, Edward Hartline, and Bridget McCarthy.
JourneyMen Program
In addition to the two main facilities of Shakespeare Behind Bars, the program has expanded in an attempt to reach a more specific audience. The JourneyMen Program, which operates in both Kentucky and Michigan, targets inmates between the ages of 18 and 21, and uses the idea of mentorship to continue to cultivate the SBB tradition.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25349400. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1981, 1989 and 2011.
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This entry incorporates text from “Shakespeare Behind Bars” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.