This paper analyses a community theatre project initiated in 1991 in Ratones, a community in Southern Brazil. It began as an extension project of the State University of Santa Catarina and became an independent project coordinated by former participants, still in collaboration with the university. Aiming to evaluate the benefits of this theatre practice to the community, and to explore the possible impacts of a long-term theatre project on the inhabitants of Ratones, the paper revisits some of the articles already written about the project and draws on interviews with participants and their families, as well as with other members of the community. The author starts with an analysis of the present community context, and follows this with an outline of the theatre work developed over the course of the project, divided into two phases: an implementation phase and an independent phase. (Contains 8 notes.)