Prisoners trade jail for theater

A group of women prisoners will make history in London today, leaving jail to perform with professional actresses before a packed house at the Criterion Theatre in the heart of the West End.

For one memorable day, jangling keys and clanging locks are to be replaced by the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint as they enjoy a brief taste of freedom and stardom in Federico Garcia Lorca’s “House of Bernarda Alba.”

So how do the prisoners measure up against the professionals?

“It is impossible to distinguish who is which,” said Bruce Wall, executive director of the London Shakespeare Workout Project. “They hope that society will treat them the same when they are released. It will give them hope.”

The project seeks through theater workshops to liberate and rehabilitate inmates.