In the Concentration Camps of Chile

Abstract

In the mid-60’s, Chilean actor-director Oscar Castro helped to found El Aleph, a theatre group which, after producing a number of traditional pieces, quickly moved into collective creation. Under the Allende regime, the company did well and, in fact, appeared at a number of major international theatre festivals. Clearly left-leaning, however, and increasingly political in its approaches, the company found itself in a difficult position when the Allende regime was toppled. Should it continue its social activism under a clearly right wing government or should it disband for a time? The group decided to continue its work and in 1974 mounted a major political allegory called In The Beginning There Was Life. The production was a huge success and played to packed houses before it was closed by the military. Shortly thereafter, Castro was arrested. Later on, so too were his mother, his wife and his brother-in-law. In time, Castro was placed in Tres Alamos, one of Chile’s well-known and well-documented concentration camps. Between 1974 and 1976, Castro served time not only in Tres Alamos but in three other camps as well—Chacabuco, Melinka and Puchuncavi. In the beginning, he wanted to give up everything but he soon realized that his theatre work could help both him and the other inmates to survive. Every week, performances were improvised and soon these so-called Cultural Fridays became a way of life. As Castro was moved from camp to camp, the idea of Cultural Fridays spread. In the following interview, Castro, who now makes his home in Paris, speaks for the first time of theatre in the Chilean concentration camps—what it was and what it meant. The interview was first published in Spanish in the distinguished Latin American theatre journal, Conjunto and it appears here in English for the first time with their permission. The interview was translated especially for CTR by Toronto writer Margarita Feliciano. It was conducted in Paris by Chilean exile Ariel Dorfman.