This is a skillfully constructed little story. If it hasn't already run in the Boston area, it should. It involves seven incarcerated teenage girls who are involved with a special Shakespeare class in their Dorchester, Massachusetts detention facility.
A brief intro -- which lacks (but cries out for) a great quote from Shakespeare -- sets the scene. The rest of the piece is a mixture of excerpts from the class, comments from one of the teachers, and the voices of the girls as they talk about their lives and what they feel they are getting from participating in the production of a piece called The Tempest Behind My Eyes.
At times, the voices, words and editing convey real lyrical and rhythmic power -- especially when there is some direct interplay between a girl's comments and an excerpt from the class. In fact, this piece would have been even better had there been more of this. But there is a very good sense of pacing throughout what is presented here.
One distraction is that, while the girls are all nicely recorded, the class was captured from a bit of a distance. That lowers the emotional power of a few sections of this story. Producers everywhere -- come on! Get in there closer to the action with your microphones!
Review of Will in the Courts
Gary Covino
Posted on March 23, 2006 at 09:42 PM
This is a skillfully constructed little story. If it hasn't already run in the Boston area, it should. It involves seven incarcerated teenage girls who are involved with a special Shakespeare class in their Dorchester, Massachusetts detention facility.
A brief intro -- which lacks (but cries out for) a great quote from Shakespeare -- sets the scene. The rest of the piece is a mixture of excerpts from the class, comments from one of the teachers, and the voices of the girls as they talk about their lives and what they feel they are getting from participating in the production of a piece called The Tempest Behind My Eyes.
At times, the voices, words and editing convey real lyrical and rhythmic power -- especially when there is some direct interplay between a girl's comments and an excerpt from the class. In fact, this piece would have been even better had there been more of this. But there is a very good sense of pacing throughout what is presented here.
One distraction is that, while the girls are all nicely recorded, the class was captured from a bit of a distance. That lowers the emotional power of a few sections of this story. Producers everywhere -- come on! Get in there closer to the action with your microphones!