“The Days Out There”: A Musical Journey of Female and Transgender Inmates

“The past haunts you and the future never arrives,” sing six actors on stage in “The Days Out There,” an Argentine musical that delves into the lives of female and transgender inmates during and after their time in jail. Created by 47-year-old writer and director Lola Arias, a recipient of the prestigious International Ibsen Award, the play is set to tour Europe at the end of June. It is part of a broader project that includes the companion film “Reas,” both stemming from a workshop Arias conducted in a women’s prison.

“The Days Out There” features performances by former inmates, both female and transgender, who recount their experiences of incarceration and the challenges they face upon reentering society. These individuals were imprisoned for various crimes, including fraud, robbery, drug trafficking, and prostitution.

Arias aims to question the efficacy and necessity of prisons, suggesting that they often serve merely as storage spaces for marginalized individuals. “Many times prison is simply a storage space for people who are excluded from society,” she said in an interview. The play and the film seek to challenge the need for prisons and envision a different justice system. Arias chose to focus on women and transgender inmates to highlight the unique “gender problems” they encounter. She notes that trans women who engage in sex work are often detained without cause and held in police stations for extended periods, while trans men frequently face suspicion and mistreatment.

The musical employs song and dance, incorporating genres such as rock, cumbia, and bachata, to tell the protagonists’ stories. Ignacio Rodríguez, a trans man who served nine years in prison, found the project transformative. “That is what we want to share and transmit: empathy, fellowship, companionship, love, despite all that one may go through,” said Rodríguez, who formed a rock band and began studying law while incarcerated.

Yoseli Arias, 28, who spent over four years in prison, hopes the play will provoke reflection on the realities of prison life. Speaking from a theater dressing room with her baby nearby, she said, “It is a story told by ourselves, of our own life and experience and of what we would like the future to look like: just to be treated like ordinary people.”

“The Days Out There” will be performed at over two dozen theaters across Europe, starting in Avignon, France. Through this tour, Arias and the cast aim to foster a deeper understanding of the human experiences behind incarceration and to advocate for a more compassionate justice system.

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