Josephine Hart, Theatrical Producer:

I have to thank you once again for allowing me to enjoy the tremendous skills, and passion of another performance.  This is amazing; I always leave an LSW performance moved to tears, because I know where some of these men have usually come from.

Sue MacGregor, BBC: 

On a bleak and wintry night last week the skills, passion and commitment we witnessed from everyone connected with your venture were enormously moving, as we watched you and the actors transform a bare room into a rich tapestry of British history.  All of you are to be congratulated on a wonderful achievement.  The short rehearsal time you had at your disposal makes that achievement all the more miraculous.  I look forward to The Culture Show and to your next brave venture.  

Lord David Ramsbotham:

No one who has seen an LSW play - professional actors alongside offenders/ex-offenders and community members who have often done nothing like this before in their lives - can have failed to be moved by hearing, from the men and women themselves, what the experience means to them.  Quite apart from being bowled over by what I see and hear, I find myself thinking endlessly about the implications.  These men and women are, simply, - much as the Shakespeare is himself – life-altering exemplars for each and every one of us. 

Benson, HMP The Mount

I was surprised to see the actors mingling with us, the inmates, as if we’d known each other for years. I felt the mask on my face falling off because I was able to be myself without any of the actors making me feel like a criminal. They made me feel special. The one thing that touched my heart was when the leader of the group said that this language belongs to all of us and we must not let anyone take that away from us.

Janet Suzman,

Internationally Renowned Actress/Director:
There’s no doubt the baggage these actors bring onto the stage with them fills out the imagination much more than inexperienced actors can muster.  No wonder the audience was on fire.

Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell, Minister, Culture, Media and Sport:

LSW’s projects have successfully raised individual horizons and improved everyone's sense of self-esteem. Who ever said poetry makes nothing happen?  These people show everyone that it does!

Roger Graef, CBE:

Reactions to this production will be surprising only to anyone with preconceptions about prisoners or ex-offenders. Often the participants are depressed, violent men yet Wall (Black Atlas’s director) persuades them in a couple of hours that they can grasp 17th Century verse.  In all my years as a film-maker and criminologist I have never seen such immediate results.

Philip Voss, RSC Associate Artist:

These actors instruct us all in the art of acting; Above all: you understand every word. They give the language its full weight of heart and mind.  I will never forget this experience.