prisoners' reaction

Nike Imoru gave an introductory talk and took questions at all of Interplayers' outreach performances of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at local prisons.

She says reactions were "more visceral, more immediate, more dramatic" with that particular crowd. There they were, three men performing a stripped-down version of Frank McGuinness' hostage drama in a brightly lit cafeteria, "with the fans and the air conditioning going, and the vending machines making noise, and the men seated two inches from the actors' feet," says Imoru. And when Adam (Charles Gift) starting singing "Amazing Grace" at the end of Act One, "80 men started humming -- spontaneously humming." When the two other actors said "Thank you," suddenly there were men all over the room saying "thank you," "like light bulbs going off -- pop, pop, pop," Imoru reports.

With people who are incarcerated, says Imoru, with both the men and the women, "they'll laugh uproariously, then it would immediately become quiet. There'd be a sudden burst of laughter, then crying."

Audience emotions close to the surface -- far from an unacceptable atmosphere for a show. In fact, close to an ideal one.

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me closes this Saturday, Oct. 1.