10 December 2025
Bilbao Campus San Sebastian Campus
The University of Deusto, in collaboration with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation, will hold a dramatized reading of the play “Voices from the Darkness” on 10 December, coinciding with International Human Rights Day. The event will take place simultaneously on the Bilbao and San Sebastian campuses, starting at 3:30 p.m.
The play, written by playwright Ariel Dorfman, is based on Kerry Kennedy’s book Speak Truth To Power, which compiles interviews with more than fifty human rights defenders worldwide. The version to be staged at Deusto adapts 37 of these real testimonies, recounting episodes of torture, political violence, slavery, discrimination, and ideological persecution.
Among the testimonies that students will portray on 10 December are figures such as: Wei Jingsheng, Chinese pro-democracy activist; Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Digna Ochoa, a Mexican lawyer persecuted and tortured; Abubacar Sultan, child rights advocate in Mozambique; Koigi Wa Wamwere, Kenyan journalist; and Rana Husseini, Jordanian journalist.
“Voices from the Darkness” has been performed in various countries and institutional contexts —such as the United States, Qatar and Brussels— with the aim of raising awareness through theatre and spoken testimony. The initiative highlights the power of personal testimony and each individual's ability to create change in their environment, placing the courage of human rights defenders at the centre of the narrative.
Cynicism and despair may lead us to believe that moral courage has disappeared, but that is not always the case. Throughout the performance, a question will resonate with the audience: “If we don’t do it, who will?”
Ariel Dorfman describes these stories as “voices that feel like a blessing from the darkness, words that allow us to explore the heartbeat of human suffering and the complex enigmas of evil.”
Students as protagonists of real stories
Students actively participate in the dramatization of the testimonies after a training programme that includes awareness sessions, analysis of real cases, dramatized reading workshops, stage dynamics and ethical debates. This approach seeks to help them understand and communicate the value of ethical commitment, becoming agents of awareness within the university community.
The initiative has been developed within the Faculty of Law, under the guidance of Raquel Olmos, director of the Theatre Workshop on the Bilbao campus, and Peio Arnáez, director of the Theatre Workshop on the San Sebastián campus, and coordinated by Inhar González, head of Deusto Campus Culture and promoter of this theatrical proposal.
An alliance that strengthens education in Human Rights
“Voices from the Darkness” reflects the shared commitment of Deusto University and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Foundation to education in values, the protection of fundamental rights and social justice.
During her visit to Bilbao in October 2024 to reinforce cooperation with Basque institutions and Deusto University, Kerry Kennedy —president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights— delivered a lecture focused on the victims of wars and genocides, whose rights have been and continue to be violated. She stressed the importance of educating new generations capable of acting in the face of global injustices, reminding us that knowledge and ethical action are essential tools for the defence of human rights.
