The streets of Damon
Runyon's New York, with their bookies, babes and booze, couldn't be further from the cells of Wandsworth Prison. But for a while this year, the two were as one when the prison opened its doors to the public for an insiders' production of Guys and Dolls.
Syd Ralph of Pimlico Opera brought professional musicians and choreographers in to work with a cast of 15 volunteers from
Wandsworth's D-Wing and, in September 1992, they set about a punishing rehearsal schedule. Transfers and releases disrupted the original company, but the show opened on schedule in November to favourable reviews from both arts critics and Home Office officials.
One year on and the cast has been dispersed. Wandsworth is now a local prison with a shifting population of inmates on remand, awaitingtransferto other jails. But the success of Guys and Dolls caused a brief revolution in the lives of prisoners and officers. Director Richard Trayler-Smith Producer Hilary Boulding