Frankie is 12 years old, brave, quick on her feet and good at unravelling mysteries. She’s also dead. Or rather, she was. When she wakes up in the House of Shadows – the laboratory of the eccentric Doktor Stein – she discovers she’s been given a second chance at life. Except now she has scars, skin the colour of turnip greens soup and an extra finger. Has she become a monster?

MONSTERS is a radio play written by Alex Cassal for Mala Voadora and published on Bandcamp. In each episode, Frankie crosses paths with one of the great figures of horror fiction (Frankenstein, vampires, the werewolf) in adventures set in the municipality of Santiago do Cacém. With humour, scares and a spine-chilling soundscape, the stories make us wonder who, after all, the real monsters are.

Programme schedule
Episode 1 – Frank & Stein
difference and identity; fear and exclusion.

Episode 2 – Creatures of the Night
sustainability and ecological balance; solidarity and social cohesion.

Episode 3 – In the Wolf’s Claws
racialisation and prejudice; multiculturalism.

Monsters in Schools
MONSTROS forms part of the Radioatividade programme and is developed in partnership with Santiago do Cacém Municipal Council. Based on the episodes, Rita Monteiro runs a weekly series of artistic and educational activities with around 180 pupils from 10 rural state primary schools in the municipality. This is the latest stage in a project we have been running with these schools for the past five years.

In these sessions, we explore how monsters are created and why we so often associate the idea of a monster solely with the ‘other’ – those who are different from us. Beyond the artistic possibilities it opens up, the theme is particularly relevant in a region increasingly characterised by the presence of migrant workers. We aim to contribute to an education for children that is open to multiculturalism and solidarity.