aaron yost was 11 years into his latest sentence when we met him at kern valley state prison in california. he says his problems stem from a near life-long abuse of drugs. i grew up with drugs. my parents were quote/unquote hippies. both my parents dropped acid. my mom s dead now from a drug overdose. when i was 9 years old, i was rolling joints for mom and dad. yost s life is now largely confined to this cell, which he shares with another inmate. i m not comfortable with this. i don t like men, i like women, you know? and this, to me, it s disgusting. i m still irritated. if i wake up in the morning, i m agitated because i have to live with another man. now, the closest yost comes to female companionship is through his tattoos. some of which are too graphic to show on television. that s what i dream about, that s all i got. you know?
nerve. as the actors were performing, i looked over my shoulder and i noticed iris was silently reciting every word of the play. so i focused my camera on him and i thought it was pretty cool that he was getting to see his own words coming to life and enjoying it so much. all he s known in belief, he shall bury it. i tell you, hags, that this [ applause ] this is the first time i seen it when he was speaking, i knew everything, i knew the words as he was saying it, right? it s crazy to hear it. to see the words come to life. make you want to continue to do it. like art imitates life. oh, man, that looked good. i like it. they did good. i want to see some more of it, though. for iris white, the playwright, it was the first
huh? i m looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what s the. guest room situation? the name your price tool making the world a little more progressive. nestled at the base of the rocky mountains, colorado state penitentiary was built to house the state s most violent and disruptive inmates. it gives new meaning to the words hard time. we decided that csp could not be a place where inmates could get comfortable and make a life for themselves. we had to treat them differently.
the 1600s, the time shakespeare wrote the play. macbeth mirrors a life of tragedy but also brings about understanding because when you look into something and you see yourself, and you understand yourself, you understand the world. what is the relationship between macbeth and banquil? shakespeare doesn t fill in that gap. are they friends? does he feel some loyalty? does he feel some ambivalence? on the one hand, this is the prince and the father of the prince they have to get rid of. professor laura bates from indiana state university has been volunteering in prisons for more than 20 years. she founded a unique program called shakespeare in the shu.
times. in the stressful and often predatory environment of this maximum security prison, the rtu is helping mentally ill inmates live a relatively balanced life. and hang on to a thread of hope for the future. got me some shots, you know, some hygiene, some food. i m glad that the people here do their job to the extent that they they help you out. they help you out. next on lockup he s just going through that stage and developing into that state that he is. shakespeare in the shu. stacy s mom has got it goin on stacy s mom has got it goin on stacy s mom has got it goin on