Theatre inside/outside prison: San vittore globe theatre company, Milan

Abstract

In 1764, Cesare Beccaria wrote: ‘Liberty is at an end, whenever the laws permit, that [a person] may cease to be a person, and become a thing’. Over 200 years later, in 1975, penitentiary reform in Italy introduced the concept of social rehabilitation into prisons. Individualised programmes of education, work, sport and recreational activities aim to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners into society on their release by offering them life skills and contact with the outside world. Many prisons in Italy run theatre programmes, recognizing the importance of theatre in allowing prisoners to express themselves. Susan Marshall’s chapter looks at the San Vittore Globe Theatre, the women’s theatre company run by Donatella Massimilla and CETEC (Centro Europeo Teatro e Carcere Dentro/Fuori San Vittore) in San Vittore Prison in Milan, placing it in the context of wider theoretical discussions of theatre within prisons and drawing on her experience of working with them as costume designer since 2015. Massimilla, who trained with Jerzy Grotowski, believes that when the women perform on stage they gain a sense of freedom: freedom of speech, freedom to be seen and heard, freedom to change.