The play by William Head on Stage showcased the dramatic work of incarcerated artists
Photo courtesy of William Head on Stage.
How does an idea become a play? How do multiple ideas from multiple people become a singular play with a followable story? Just ask Hatched, a play about the creation of a play, imagined by the men incarcerated at William Head Institution in Metchosin.
William Head on Stage (WHoS), Canada’s longest-running prison theatre company, is a nonprofit, but was established as a theatre company in 1981. WHoS is the only theatre company in Canada run by incarcerated artists that enables members of the public to buy a ticket to see the show.
Hatched, their most recent production, is about a group of incarcerated men brainstorming ideas for their upcoming play. These include skits, scenes, shadow puppets, music, and poetry. All of their ideas are about what it’s like to be incarcerated.
The purpose of the show, said director Kate Rubin, is “for the men to have the autonomy, because there’s, as one can imagine, not a lot of autonomy inside of a prison.”
“Theatre, like many art forms … teaches about teamwork, problem solving, creative thinking [about] the logistics of having a budget, tracking the budget, working within the means,” said Rubin.
The different scenes in Hatched never feel like random ideas thrown at the wall to see what stuck — even if that is the framing device of the show. The central theme of being incarcerated connects each scene in vignette style.
These explorations range from funny to heartfelt to somber, or some combination of the three. Some scenes are very straightforward, like the opening scene where the characters act out one man’s first time in a prison holding cell. Other scenes are more abstract, like when the cast deals with the “Red Tape Worm”, a metaphor for the red tape of bureaucracy who runs around the stage — a general nuisance.
The show isn’t a one-to-one representation of the creative process. These ideas are fully formed, the set’s figured out, the lines memorized, the makeshift pyrotechnics ready and waiting for the electric guitar riff.
“Because we have all these pieces … we write some ideas, we bring it back to [the men], they read it, we go, ‘What do you think?’ They go, ‘We’re missing a line here,’ or, ‘I wouldn’t say it like that.’” said Rubin about the process.
“We’re really working as closely as we can so it comes across as realistic as possible in this context. It is writing authentically from their own experience, in this play.”
At the heart of this show are the men who created it, and their stories. The stories of prison phones that insist you’re making a connect call even if you’re not. The stories of families who grow adjacently, not with you, during your time in prison. The stories of cafeteria lines that feel like zombie apocalypses waiting to happen.
Hatched is playing at the William Head Institution on Fridays and Saturdays until Nov. 2. Tickets can be purchased at the WHoS website.
