Prison Theater Company Helps Mexican Inmates Reintegrate Back Into Society Martin Markovits - CCTV America
go to original September 5, 2016

In a country with one of the highest imprisonment rates in Latin America, a theater company has been working with inmates to organize plays for the general public in a Mexico City prison. The project was created to help bring art into a marginalized population and also to help reintegrate the prisoners into society.

About 20 inmates of one of Mexico’s toughest penitentiaries, Santa Martha Actatitla men’s prison, are taking part in a performance of William Shakespeare’s Richard lll, but with a modern twist. They have added lines about Mexico’s bloody narco wars.

Oscar Lara, one of the main actors is familiar with the subject. He is a former police officer, and is serving 15 years for kidnapping.

“The message I am trying to convey is against the government. The government and narco trafficking are the same thing. They are all complicit and that is why there is so much corruption and organized crime. That is what my role is about,” Lara said.

The Mexican independent theater company, Shakespeare Forum, has been organizing plays in the prison since 2010. Three times a month, the inmates perform in a 100 seat theater inside the jail. It has been an important outlet for these inmates in one of the most overcrowded prison systems in Latin America.

Read the rest at CCTV America

Related: A Workshop Seven Years Ago Led to the Formation of Prison Theater Company (Mexico News Daily)

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