How can digital technology help ex-inmates from a political female prison transmit their story?
February 2026
The AMPLIFY Pilot, Gran Teatre del Liceu, is bringing its art within reach of local people, following the success of La Gata Perduda with a new focus on the historic transformation of the Sant Andreu district in Barcelona.
The upcoming opera, La Rosa de Set Pètals, contrasts the independence won by women in the Fabra i Coats textile mill with the freedom lost by those held in the Trinitat Vella political prison. Performed by professional and non-professional artists in June 2027, this project asks a vital question: How do we keep memory meaningful once the physical prison is is at risk of disappearing?
Through AMPLIFY, digital technology helps ex-inmates transmit their stories via a Unity-based Social eXtended Reality (Social XR) application and StoryBox. This demonstration allows participants to explore the prison’s common cell together, hearing sounds captured at the actual site that shift in intensity as visitors move. Furthermore, the StoryBox 3D capture system reconstructs everyday objects based on the ex-inmates’ descriptions, integrating personal memories directly into the digital landscape.
A multi-layered journey
LabOriosa is the creative force responsible for the narrative and conceptual design of this immersive experience centred on the prison. While the technical partners (Vicomtech, CWI and Salsa Sound) handle the “how”, LabOriosa focuses on the “what” and the “why”, specifically how to translate raw human testimony into a digital journey.
LabOriosa is ambitious, aiming to achieve several key objectives:
- It seeks to make visible the experiences of political prisoners during the Francoist era.
- It’s a powerful tool to reclaim and recover this vital past as historical memory.
- It acts as a unique platform to speak from emotion, allowing users to connect on a deeply personal level.
- It explores the fascinating mechanics of the human mind: how we stage and remember our memories.
The centre of the experience lies in a journey into the memories of Àngels and Maribel, two women whose lives were shaped by the Trinitat Vella Prison. As a “guest” in their recollections, you’ll inhabit their past, feeling the sense of oppression that defined the prison and a specific historical era. This oppression will be felt physically and emotionally, highlighting the dehumanizing power of the prison system and the constant surveillance.
Senses and fragmented realities
To evoke this sense of immersion, LabOriosa will leverage every sensory tool at its disposal. There will be ounds like breathing, voices whispering in your ear, footsteps, and the stark clang of bars and doors immersing you in the environment. The voices of women sharing their experiences will be a constant, powerful presence. The fragmented memory, using collage and disruption to create a mixed experience.
While some moments, like the depiction of cells and the prisoners themselves, will be strikingly realistic, others will be blurred, dreamlike collages, reflecting the often non-linear and subjective nature of memory.
At its core, “LabOriosa” speaks of sisterhood as resistance, weaving in poetic, sensory, and symbolic elements. Key words like resilience, identity, and freedom resonate throughout, reminding some themes often found in opera. Users will navigate a spectrum of emotions: fear, resistance, anger, hope, and…resilience.
Even the presence of a nun, a figure of authority in the prison, is rendered with artistic intent. She is a “drawing,” less realistic than the prisoners, but her presence is constant reminder of the authority.
The challenge of presentation
An important part of our discussion focused on how AMPLIFY will introduce this immersive experience to the audience.
We envision a multi-stage approach: A pre-premiere showcase will allow us to share the creative process and initial insights with an eager public. But the real challenge lies in the premiere and subsequent performances.
Our goal is for LICEU to occupy a central, public area within the theatre, a prominent space where it can truly engage the audience. We are exploring various locations within LICEU prioritizing visibility and accessibility.
Scenes and immersion
The planned 10-12 minutes duration presents a fascinating challenge: how to fit this rich narrative into a concise yet impactful experience.
The script unfolds in these scenes:
- Demonstration (30 seconds): Users are plunged into the May 1, 1977 demonstration, the genesis of the prisoners’ incarceration. Archived video footage and the roar of protesting crowds will create a more credible, historical context.
- Via Laietana (30 seconds): A stark transition to complete darkness and immersive sound – the recreated, harrowing soundscape of the Via Laietana police station. This experience will convey the fear, cold, and violence of police mistreatment through male voices, blows, screams, and slamming doors.
- Admission cell (1 minute): The gradual revelation of Maribel and Àngels’ voices, and the first appearance of the non-realistic nun. Here, the potential for object interaction is being explored. and also authoritarian tone.
- Corridors (30 seconds each): These recurring spaces will feature immersive atmospheres, combining archival photographs, artistic video, and the opera’s music. They will serve as poetic interlude, reflecting socio-political repression and individual emotion. The omnipresent nun’s voice will guide the user through these transitions: nuns in one ear, prisoners in the other.
- Common cell (2 minutes): A moment of shared experience, where users are welcomed by non-realistic, smiling prisoners. This is where Maribel pauses the action to share her memory, fostering feelings of sisterhood and connection. The sounds of conversations, singing, games, and the constant surveillance will fill the space. We’re exploring interactions with objects like a sweater and a table, alongside the “Cola-Cao song.”
- Visiting room (2 minutes): A powerful scene contrasting the past and present Àngels. We witness a conversation between young Àngels and her aunt, interrupted by the nun’s demand for Spanish. The present-day Àngels then provides emotional commentary, revealing the hidden struggles and the control exerted during these visits.
- Yard (2 minutes): Maribel and Àngels together, leading a defiant rendition of “Viva la Revolución!” Other non-realistic prisoners encourage the user to sing along, only to be silenced by the nun’s direct threat. The final shot is the nun approaching the participant, culminating in a blackout.
- Finale (30 seconds): A powerful white space, a “memory space” where all witness-prisoners appear grouped behind Àngels and Maribel. Their collective voices underscore the importance of historical memory and the triumph of breaking the silence. We are also exploring the possibility of including real, contemporary political women in motion at the end.
First interaction
To ensure the highest quality, a first, incomplete immersive experience will be created. This initial version, featuring select rooms and corridors, will serve as a crucial testing for technical limitations. This approach allows for continuous improvement in form and content, with the full experience carefully refined over time, enriched by the opera’s powerful music.
Innovation for social memory
Collaborating with teams as Vicomtech, and gathering invaluable feedback from former political prisoners like Àngels, Antònia, Assumpta, Carmen, Genoveva, Maribel, Paqui, Pilar and Teresa, we are bridging the past of the Trinitat Vella prison with the future of digital heritage. The “LabOriosa” immersive experience, with its exploration of memory, sisterhood, and technology like volumetric video and spatial sound, embodies the kind of content that will contribute significantly to social memory. Stay tuned for a “making-of” video as we continue this incredible journey together.
