“They can take away our freedom, but thinking and dreaming, that belongs to us,” said Artur Monteiro, 37, who has spent three years at Vila Real Prison.
In “Sem destino,” the inmate actors carry suitcases as they wait for a train, embarking on a journey in search of freedom.
Artur shared that he carries “longing, regret, guilt,” and during rehearsals, he can momentarily forget he’s in prison, where he ended up due to drug addiction issues.
“This is a challenge for us. All the activities here help alleviate some of the pressure of being deprived of freedom,” he emphasized.
His sentence ends in a month and a half. “It has been a learning experience. Prison has a purpose, and over time, we end up thinking differently, we also think more about family. It changes us as people,” he noted.
Between humor and melancholy, “Sem destino” depicts a group of men waiting for “a train that seems never to come,” crafting, through fragmented dialogues and intimate reflections, a journey not of miles, but of inner discoveries.
In his suitcase, Bruno Santos hides “dreams and silences.”
“This truly portrays what we live inside the prison environment, our daily life. It represents us dreaming together. We look for the dream in a journey whose destination we don’t know. Our life is like this, we don’t know the destination or when the day of freedom will arrive,” he stated.
Bruno Santos, who had never been on stage before, has been in prison for two years, serving an eight-year sentence for crimes like theft, and what he most desires “in this world” is to be with his wife and children.
“Without this, we would spend every day in a cell, in the yard, or playing cards, and it becomes tedious, always doing the same thing. This is an opportunity to think about other things, to live different experiences,” he highlighted.
Promoted by the Music Hope Portugal Association, the project involves nine inmates and is directed by Fábio Timor from the Urze Teatro company, Vila Real.
“I will take many things away personally from this; deprivation of freedom is not easy, and it was interesting because the challenge was to talk about April 25, about freedom,” said Fábio Timor, adding that he chose to “talk about their freedom.”
The show is part of the project ‘My April 25: Love for Freedom’ and is set to premiere on Friday in the courtyard of the prison.
For over two months, the director and inmates constructed the text and the play together.
“Sometimes, when I arrived, I would watch them through the window, walking inside four walls six meters high, trying to imagine being in their place, which is impossible. And that’s what the text brings, a theatrical game; they are not actors, I never intended to challenge them to become actors, I wanted them to experience the pleasure of being on stage,” said the director.
Fábio Timor hoped that, on stage, the inmates would have, “for a moment, freedom,” especially “inner freedom.”
Fernando Teixeira is imprisoned for drug trafficking, having served six years of a seven-year and eleven-month sentence, and works in the vineyards outside.
“We are at the end of the line and the beginning of a new life. These activities are good for us, we forget the prison system, we forget we are imprisoned and we participate,” he said, stressing that what he wants most “is freedom.”
This is already the fifth work that the Music Hope Portugal Association has developed at this prison.
“The reintegration rate here in Portugal is extremely low, and this kind of work is crucial to improve these indicators,” stated Caroline Dominguez, responsible for the association.
In her opinion, “art and culture are tools of inclusion, freedom, and creation.”
“And especially a manifestation of the most human aspects within us, evident in the way they express themselves, in the commitment they assume when they come to these sessions, and in the group dynamics created,” she added.
With this experience, according to Caroline Dominguez, the inmates gain “skills and a great inner strength.”
The project includes the participation of the Amasing Symphony Orchestra, with musical direction and composition by Eliseu Silva, and is supported by the Prison Establishment, the Municipal Theater, and the Municipality of Vila Real.
