Professor of English Beth Charlebois was recently published in "Shakespeare and Cultural Appropriation" (Routledge, 2023), edited by Vanessa I. Corredera, L. Monique Pittman, Geoffrey Way. Her chapter, titled "Prospero in Prison: Adaptation and Appropriation in Margaret Atwood's Hag-Seed" analyzes Atwood's fictional adaptation of "The Tempest" entitled "Hag-Seed."
Charlebois was initially drawn to Atwood's novel since it rewrites "The Tempest" within the context of a Canadian Shakespeare-in-Prison program. Having spent three sabbaticals working as the scholar-in-residence on Shakespeare productions with Prison Performing Arts (PPA) in St. Louis, Missouri, Charlebois has deep experience in this field. Her productions with the PPA include developing a hip-hop adaptation of "Hamlet" at a men’s maximum security prison in Bowling Green, Missouri and leading a creative writing workshop at a women’s correctional center in Vandalia, Missouri. Her scholarly work on Atwood's 2016 novel dovetailed with her residency with PPA in 2022 when she worked on the first production of an original dramatic adaptation of Atwood's novel, commissioned by PPA and performed by incarcerated actors, at the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green.
