Playing for Time Theatre Company

Book excerpt: Based on more than a decade of practice-based research in prisons across the UK, 'Playing for Time Theatre Company' presents the reader with a rich and invaluable resource for using theatre as an intervention in, transformation, and rehabilitation of the lives of incarcerated people. The book analyses and reflects upon theatre productions staged in HMP Winchester, a medium-security prison, among other sites. As a result of these experiences, McKean has developed a unique model of practice in which undergraduate students work alongside prisoners, developing productions and leading workshops. The work draws on diverse methodologies and approaches, from community theatre practices to forensic psychology and criminology, performance studies to critical theory.