Aurora Maria Barros (photo), a lawyer, is part of an active Spiritist theatre company in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. Income from ticket sales is donated to the Spiritist Groups where the group plays. She has been a Spiritist since 1972 and is a volunteer work at the Seara Bendita Spiritist Centre. In this interview she speaks about the theatre company and its main goals:

What is the theatre company called and when was it founded?

It is called Grupo Teatral Terceiro Milênio Nair de Moraes (Nair de Moraes Third Millennium Theatre Company). It started in 1995, unexpectedly, with a play dictated by a Spirit and written by a medium friend. The play was entitled Third Millennium. Nair de Moraes is a tribute to a very special person, a great Spiritist worker who was a member of Seara Bendita and returned to Spirit in 2017. The company is formed of volunteer actors only. That is a key requirement of the group.

Tell us a bit about the plays you have performed along the years.

We have been performing plays since 1996. In the past 18 years, the number of performances has increased year by year. We had children plays and we have deal with issues such as alcohol abuse, drug addiction, spiritual obsession, forgiveness, abortion, depression, homosexuality, pride, vanity and suicide. We also had a play focusing on the life of Francis of Assisi.

How do you get the money to cover travelling costs and other expenses?

The Seara Bendita Spiritist Centre helps us as much as they can but in most cases the costs are covered by the sale of shits and CDs by the company. Also, members of the company make donations to keep it going.

What would say is the main feature of the theatre company?

It is the love it has for the work it does and its fraternal spirit, as we consider ourselves to be a big family. It is quite a big group, with more than 40 members, and this number has continued to grow. s

What is your best memory of all these years with the group and why?

What touches me the most is following the development of people who join the company with so a range of problems and little by little calm down, get to know themselves and eventually defeat their own problems. As they get involved with the art work on stage, with the music and Spiritism, they develop as Spirits and become amazing human beings. There is constant progress.

Is there anything else you would like to highlight?

Yes, many interesting things have happened along the years. But what strikes me more than anything else is the many testimonials of people who after watching the plays have come to us to say how much they had learned. And many said that particular night marked the beginning of a new life for them. For us, that is what really matters… After our latest play, “O Amor Salva” (Love Saves), when we were dealing with the issue of suicide, people went to some of the actors afterwards and said: “Today, you saved my life!”

How do you select the issues to be addressed? And how do you prepare the scripts and organise the rehearsals?

The themes and issues to be addressed are chosen by the Spiritual Benefactors. They are usually delicate, difficult subjects, but the Benefactors give us total support. They also write the text and the script. It is up to the company, however, to deal with the rehearsal and putting the play together. We rehearse every Saturday and a few Sundays and holidays if necessary. Sometimes we also rehearse in the evenings. We have a commitment with Jesus and we need to deliver!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to express my gratitude to the Spiritual Team that gives us support and brings to us these amazing, edifying plays, which benefit all of us.