We will look mainly at theatre plays (scripts and filmed performances), from around the world that are all set in prisons and or are about the prison system and the relationship between crime and the state. With reference to Michel Foucault and Angela Davis, we will study the discourse surrounding prison in popular culture and power and society more broadly, through the lens of prison. We will look at modern and contemporary Anglophone plays from around the world. Examples of plays we will study include The Island by Kani, Tshona and Fugard (South Africa), 603 by Imad Farajin (Palestine) and Notes from the Field by Anna Deveare Smith (USA) as well as international stagings of Antigone by Mohammad Al Attar (Syria). The course will also take a look at community theatre projects in prisons, referencing the tutors own work in prisons, forensic hospitals, and secure children’s homes and probation with companies such as Clean Break and Geese theatre (Britain) and Calypso (Ireland). Students will research theatre and performance in and about prison in their home countries through presentations and a short essay.