Artistic Freedom Behind Bars

By+Yuan+Yuan

‘There are two kinds of prisons： Those that are visible and the invisible.” This line， from the opening monologue of The Inner Prison， begins what is considered the worlds first original musical produced from behind bars， here at Shanghai Qingpu Prison.

Most of the actors and musicians are prisoners with no formal musical training. They spent about a year rehearsing the musical， learning every part from scratch. The musicals composer， Liu Xin （pseudonym）， just over 50 years old， is the productions sole professional， having graduated from a music college. He was put behind bars in 2009.

“Actually， before I was here， I made my own prison out of endless greed，” said Liu， who revealed that he spent most of his time on business and his family always took second place to money. After Liu was imprisoned， his mother visited him and said， “Finally you dont need to go out all the time for business and we can sit and talk. I feel like your mom again.”

These words resonated with Liu one sleepless night. “We have a term for real prison. But what about the inner prison that most people might have， but dont realize？ How can you enable the inmates to realize that the bondage deep in the innermost depths of their minds is the real criminal in their lives？”

First-ever musical

Since then， the idea to create a musical gained traction throughout the prison. Though few people saw a possibility to make it work， it got the support of Song Lie， the Party chief of the prison. Song had seen the movie Caesar Must Die， which won the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival. The movie， which stars actual prisoners， follows convicts in their rehearsals ahead of a prison performance of Julius Caesar.

“Since those prisoners can reenact a Shakespearean drama， why cant we do a musical？” said Song. Rehearsals for the Qingpu Prison musical started in early 2012. It describes the efforts of a young policeman to educate convicts while intertwining in plot elements involving the convicts backstories， their family members and the volunteers that help them.

Yang Xinwei， Director of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center， directed the prisons musical. “The title of the musical， The Inner Prison， popped up while I was training convicts，” said Yang. “If a person locks himself away inside， even if he is physically free， it is still like being imprisoned by oneself.” In this sense， an “inner prison” is not just limited to the convicts.endprint

“What is regret？ It is to face your wrongdoings， tear up the bleeding wounds and not stray back down the wrong path，” said Xie Ziqiang （pseudonym） who wrote all 35 songs in the musical， adding that the lyrics are the words written from his heart.

When the musical made its stage debut at the prisons hall on January 10， 2013， some relatives and friends of the prisoners were invited to attend. During the middle of the performance， actors on the stage were so overcome that the show had to be temporarily halted so they could wipe away the tears.

Cao Peng， a famous conductor invited to be a consultant to the musical， was moved to tears， too. “The performance was stunning，” said Cao.“Here we heard the true voices of the prisoners. The police in the prison did great work， giving the prisoners such a unique channel to express these thoughts.”

A senior police officer in the prison who initially didnt think much of the musical was totally won over after seeing the performance.

“I used to think the only way to educate them was to organize them together and teach，” said the officer. “But art is definitely a better way， and we can obviously see the change.”

Cong Xiaogang （pseudonym）， an actor in the musical， was imprisoned in 2009 for robbery at the age of 19. At first， after being cast in a role， he couldnt sing in tune. He then borrowed an electronic keyboard from the police and practiced over and over again， putting himself in the mindset of the role he was portraying.

The police noticed a change. “He used to be an irritable person，” according to one officer.“It seemed he was always ready to fight with other people. But after he joined the musical and started rehearsing， his eyes became a lot more tender.”

In the last scene of the musical， the prisoners and police sing together： “Friends， what is freedom？ It is not walls without an iron net. It is not windows without bars. It is surpassing temptations and discovering the light of kindness.”

The power of art

This is just one of Qingpu Prisons efforts to use the fine arts for reeducation.

In April 1995， a jade-carving class was established in the prison to train the prisoners in carving these precious stones. Among the more than 200 released convicts that received this training， none have gone on to commit repeat criminal offenses.

Some found jobs in jade-carving factories where the salary is more than 4，000 yuan （$650） per month， and some have started their own jade-carving workshops where monthly income surpasses 20，000 yuan （$3，255）.

Wang Xiao （pseudonym）， who had studied jade carving for five years at the prison and made almost 100 jade statues before his release， stunned the employer of a jewelry company with his elegant skills and was immediately hired.

Now Wang has opened his own jade store.“Only by learning can you change your fate，”Wang told the convicts back at the prison， when he went to share his own experience.

Following the jade-carving training， more artistic skills such as embroidery and bamboocarving were introduced. In 2011， the New Voice Art Group choir was formed by prisoners.

“We invite music teachers to guide them in singing and playing musical instruments， and hope they can learn to let their new voices be heard in this group，” said Song of the prison.endprint