Healing Through Theatre: Shakespeare in Utah’s Juvenile Justice System

By Katie Neves, guest writer

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” Shakespeare observed. For 31 years, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has embraced this philosophy, turning the Southwest Utah Youth Center into a stage where disadvantaged youth can step into exciting roles, develop new skills, and gain confidence through the transformative power of theater.

The Festival’s Juvenile Justice program began in 1993, when Cedar City’s Judge Thomas Higbee reached out to the Festival. He worked with the Southwest Utah Youth Center as part of a Scout Troop program—and, understanding the impact that theatre can have––asked the Education Department to bring a little of the Festival into the correctional facility.

For more than three decades, a team of teaching artists and actors visit the Center and introduce the works of Shakespeare to the youth there. They share performances, teach basic theatre concepts, and help the youth direct and perform scenes and monologues. During the summer, the program corresponds with the Festival’s season. This year they’ve covered Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VIII, The Winter’s Tale, and The Taming of the Shrew, as well as USF’s non-Shakespearean shows of the season: The 39 Steps, Silent Sky, and The Mountaintop.

The Southwest Utah Youth Center is also the first stop of the Festival’s Shakespeare in the Schools Tour each winter. Leading up to that performance, the Juvenile Justice program spends time contextualizing, studying, and dissecting the play––making it more accessible than ever to youth who’ve never experienced Shakespeare.

“The ultimate goal of this program is to allow these boys to have a meaningful experience with theater arts, specifically Shakespeare,” said Stewart Shelley, Education Director. “Most of these boys have not had a lot of exposure to the arts, and look forward to the weekly class. We make honest theatre and have a lot of fun doing it.”

While students may initially be reluctant to step into the role of actor or director, Festival actors and teachers work to pull them out of their shells and recognize their own abilities. Whether by breaking down a monologue word by word, coming up with fun nicknames for tricky Shakespeare characters, or simply providing a space for students to tell their own stories, the Juvenile Justice program builds meaningful connections with the kids who need it most.

Program Manager Darin F. Earl II (who audiences will recognize onstage in Much Ado and Henry VIII this season) was introduced to the program while starring in the Othello Shakespeare in the Schools Tour in 2023. “It’s one of the best educational experiences I’ve ever had in my decade of being a teaching artist,” they said. “While the prospect may seem intimidating to people who may not be familiar with ‘The System,’ it truly is as simple as remembering that these students are looking for company and support.”

Along with Earl, other company members, such as actors Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha and Alia Shakira, and intimacy director Sacha Comrie have also spent time with the youth at the Center this summer.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is deeply committed to the educational power of the theatre. Through its longstanding relationship with the Southwest Utah Youth Center, the Festival offers more than just performances; it fosters an environment of growth and healing for some of Utah’s most vulnerable youth.

“In my eyes, the opportunity to teach is to create and share space together,” said Earl. “In that space we create, there are an infinite amount of possibilities. We can help, we can hear, we can hide, and we can heal.”

To get involved with the Education Department or to learn more about the program, visit bard.org/education.