What comes to mind when you think of walking through a metal detector, emptying out your pockets, and removing all loose items—including shoes—to be searched and scoured? No, you’re not in the airport preparing for a flight; you’re spending the evening at the theatre. In this case, the play is The Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret, and the cabaret is at William Head Institution, where William Head on Stage (WHOS) are back to put on another play.
“It has been quite an adventure,” says Crossroads director Kate Rubin. “A production like this gives a lot to the men who experience it, in the sense of skills and confidence, and an overall ability to work collaboratively in a team.”
The Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret is a musical parody that dives deep into some of the emotions that are a huge part of life in prison. Loneliness, isolation, intolerance, and a deep need for inclusion are some of those emotions; it’s easy for an audience member to relate, as these are feelings we all have. The entire show was written in-house, a collaborative effort between Rubin, the actor and support-crew inmates, three actors from Victoria, and writer Kathleen Greenfield from SNAFU Dance Theatre.
“We have this show that we are all in, and that we have to be ready for,” says Rubin.
Along with the actors, the show also has a large production crew. A show like this one requires many different skill sets, many of which can be found in the inmates themselves.
“There are 23 men performing on stage,” says Rubin. “There are maybe twice that in the production crew. They will be doing lighting, some set building—some have engineering experience—and the hanging of lights, all different aspects of a production. We have one man who had designed with other shows in the past who designed the costumes.”
Rubin says that an outside choreographer helped with management, and they had inmates involved with sewing costumes on industrial sewing machines and working in the office.
“It is pretty cool, the level of commitment that goes on,” says Rubin. “I made a guess that we have at least 50 men involved in the production, which is a quarter of the population at William Head.”
This is WHOS’ 58th theatre production in 37 years. Rubin says it started in the ’80s as a university class, then moved to the men creating their own non-profit company within the prison.
“It’s a place where they have the opportunity once a year to develop a play by hiring a director from the outside,” she says.
Rubin says it’s the inmates who are the inspiration for Crossroads. The idea for the production began from a conversation around tolerance and banishment of people who are looked at as being different. This cabaret exists in a fantasy world, so no one’s actual life story is in there, but their realities and their expressions might be.
“It’s very metaphorical,” says Rubin. “A play within a play inside this show.”
Rubin says they used historical research of people who have been buried in crossroads over the centuries, people of different cultures who were not accepted to be buried in regular cemeteries. The characters are then stuck in this cabaret and not able to find the key to be released.
Rubin says that this is another example where the use of art—any kind of art—is so valuable. She says that a lot of barriers are broken down whenever a production takes place, and the response from the public is always positive.
“We’ve had two showings of Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret so far. Both of them sold out, with standing ovations,” she says. “There is a huge bridge that occurs for the public, especially if they have never been inside a prison before. I think certain walls come down, and there is possibility for dialogue, and possibility for new understandings.”
Crossroads: A Prison Cabaret
Various times, until Saturday, November 3
$25, William Head Institution (must be 19 or older to attend)
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