Hank Rogerson has made a film that is about forgiveness, freedom, and redemption. We see the themes represented through the inmates of Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in Kentucky. Rogerson uses the process of the inmates preparing The Tempest to reveal the people who are playing the roles. We see through Rogerson's lens that these men's lives are opened up through the experiences of playing Shakespeare. Their lives are paralleled in the characters they play, and they find deeper truths and bigger questions about their lives through working on this play.
Rogerson reveals to us the narrow population within the prison that chooses to be in the Shakespeare Behind Bars program, and it seems to relate to the narrow population that seeks Shakespeare in free society. The question that isn't asked, but is raised is, "Can Shakespeare aid in healing?" And we clearly see the answer is certainly, but he cannot do it alone. He must have help in the form of willing participants who choose to work through the difficulties and issues of his play in order to find truth buried deep within. This is what we find in Rogerson's film, and we see each man who chooses to seek and others who don't. This film is a parable for all who watch, as any of us are fallible, it is our choice to decide the course of our lives and what to do with such rage from our past. Do we use it to be restored and find forgiveness, or do we continue down the path of destruction? Rogerson's film raises this very question through the men of Luther Luckett.
