Most were at ease by the time we presented a bawdy rendition of 'Chastity Belt'. The Insult game was definitely their favourite. They relished the Shakespearean language, taking their time in delivery, allowing their faces and bodies to naturally react to the words. There was an incredible sense of teamwork amongst them, so much so that the quieter, more shy inmates became animated the more comfortable they felt, and the louder, more self confident ones became more refrained and took part on an equal level with the others. Never was there a sense of competition - only support. Throughout the session they were all ears absorbing everything they could hear, especially when Bruce read out examples of witslings written by from previous LSW Prison Project Workouts. The guys listened intently nodding in appreciation - you could have heard a pin drop. And when Bruce and I delivered an example of interspersing – I felt I had the best audience I could ever have asked for. You could feel the energy in the silence. Then later, when they read out lines from Shakespeare all taken from different speeches, different plays, it sounded "as though it could have been a whole new play" as Hedge, the Warden, put it. Incidentally the fact that Jason and Hedge took part made a huge, positive difference to the proceedings and the team of LSW Prison Project actors I was with; Shelley, Alasdair, Rob, Sarah and Celina were fantastic to work with and all melded brilliantly with the inmates.

Everybody seemed so in tune with each other by the end it was shame to bring it to a close. On saying our farewells many of the inmates let us know what a great time they had had and some were asking where they could get hold of some Shakespearian literature. If we helped one person in some small way that day then it was worth it. It was an extremely rewarding day and I would recommend it to anyone.