Act of Murder

It changed the way I act, direct and teach…the exposure to people who are in real pain because of what they have been through increased my humanity. It made me a broader person and even a better parent. I have seen very clearly the restorative power of drama in a prison context. We have to find ways to heal people to reduce recidivism, and drama therapy is one of the ways we can do that.

– Miranda Harcourt on the legacy of her and William Brandt's 1993 play Verbatim, Creative New Zealand, 25 August 2011

I think drama is most effective when it goes directly into a community. When drama comes face to face with real lives and real problems it can work as a therapy. And that's why I'm taking this play around all the prisons.

– Actor Miranda Harcourt on the power of drama and storytelling

I've done things I just couldn't believe I was even capable of doing...and that was the alcohol and drugs. And I can relate to that guy there shooting somebody and not even knowing much about it. It's too late once it's done…

– A prison inmate in a discussion after one of Miranda Harcourt's performances

We went into the prisons to find out what the story was that we were going to tell, and that was the story that emerged from the material we collected, not only the content, but also the form emerged from that content. We didn’t go in having decided we were going to make a solo show. Form emerged from the experience of the prison system.

– Miranda Harcourt on devising the play Verbatim with William Brandt, Pantograph Punch, 8 November 2013

It changed the way I act, direct and teach…the exposure to people who are in real pain because of what they have been through increased my humanity. It made me a broader person and even a better parent. I have seen very clearly the restorative power of drama in a prison context. We have to find ways to heal people to reduce recidivism, and drama therapy is one of the ways we can do that.

– Miranda Harcourt on the legacy of her and William Brandt's 1993 play Verbatim

...I still don't know. We've done god knows how many prison performances now and over 50 performances in the whole tour, and I still haven't got a pat answer you know, when people say to us 'what is your message?. What are you trying to push. What is the point?' I still haven't got a good answer, although what Shane said the other day when he said "this show is just a walk in somebody else's shoes" . . .  that was great.

– Miranda Harcourt on touring play Verbatim around prisons

We're the forgotten people. But we do every day: every day of their time, we do it with them.

– A mother describes the experience of having a child in prison