Yes! of course. TOOJ sees Shakespeare as a revolutionary thinker whose keen observations about humanity give us all deep insight into ourselves. And, in fact, seeing the characters’ ideas and motivations interpreted through the lenses of people from different cultures enhances our own understanding.

Of course! In fact, prisoners often understand issues of combat, subterfuge, betrayal, loyalty, honor, war, forgiveness, family, and love in ways that many of us cannot.

All of our workshops are free. In the future, some private schools may be asked to pay, but for now all schools receive the workshops for free.

Great question - so glad you asked! we call our workshop co-leaders “FITs” — “Formerly Incarcerated Teachers”. Each one spent many years studying in prison. Many earned either BA or MA degrees, and many got experience teaching. Each person on our team is vetted and experienced. These men are kind, smart, funny, well-read and deeply compassionate. We can’t wait for you to meet them.

TOOJ is committed to paying a fair wage to all formerly incarcerated teachers. Most of them would volunteer, but we insist on paying them.

“What’s fascinating about Shakespeare’s poetry, is when you let it go with someone of a different culture, of a different race, of a different gender and allow them to be themselves in that language, it’s beautiful.”

African American Shakespeare Actor John Douglas Thompson on playing the role of Shylock, who is Jewish, in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, February, 2022.

We believe that our country is missing an important opportunity to make use of powerful lived experience of educated former prisoners. These people have lived through powerful experiences and have transformed themselves through education. A person who was in a gang as a teenager, but is now educated, can be a fabulous teacher. Our FITs are deeply well-read - books on their top ten lists include: Shakespeare (of course), Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Fankl, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Chasing Me to My Grave by Winifred Rembert, Play of Consciousness: The Autobiography of Baba Muktananda, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and many others.

No, we have an extraordinary team of other teachers including an award-winning Nigerian playwright, a two-time Peabody Award-winning documentary producer, a nationally known hip-hop artist and writer, professors of English, a professor of Waldorf education, two professors of African American studies, high-school English teachers, an international human rights lawyer & professor, and many others. And the project has been endorsed by Professor James Shapiro, a world renowned Shakespeare scholar and author.

We are spread out across the country and beyond. We meet on Zoom, calling in from New York City, Atlanta, South Carolina, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Haiti, Guyana, Germany, and South Africa.

We use Zoom for several reasons. Mainly because we are spread out all over the country, and beyond. Zoom allows us to serve students in ways that would be impossible in person. We understand Zoom Fatigue, and it is not always the best, but in this case it actually is. Our costs are deeply reduced. Not only that, we rely on break-out rooms which really enhance each of our workshops.

Yes, you may share the link with anyone. It is free. We want it to be shared, seen, and discussed. We believe that our film presents prisoners in a different light than most of the stereo types seen in the media. Our formerly incarcerated teachers are kind, respectful, great listeners and love talking with young people. We want many people to see them as the profound people they are.

No, we tailor the workshops to each classroom that requests one. First of all, we can serve classes in high school or college. We work in English, Shakespeare, US History, African American studies, Psychology, Pedagogy/Education Studies, and Criminal Justice Studies. We offer the classes either to a pair of classrooms (in different schools) or just in one. And we also offer 1, 2, or 3 workshops to each classroom, each free of charge.

“Time Out of Joint: Prison Reflections on Shakespeare” is in a rough cut state right now. It is 55 minutes long. Over the summer (of 2022), the film will be completed. The final version is expected to be about 90 minutes long. It will have new, original music and a special guest narrator!