On the Eve of Abolition @ Cara Mia Theatre “Latinidades” Festival
—Review by Teresa Marrero
On the Eve of Abolition, by Puerto Rico’s Papel Machete Company (translation: paper machete) under the direction of Jorge Díaz Ortiz joined with local activists and members of the Cara Mia Theatre ensemble (including artistic director David Lozano) to create a cast of 18, a whole village which admirably trained for this work-in-progress in a mere two weeks. The work is described as being created by the Papel Machete company, thus making this a collective creation.
The sophisticated production design included puppet, mask and pop-up constructions (Deborah Hunt), huge masked monarch butterfly-like winged creatures called Vejigantes (Juan Pablo Viscaíno Cortijo), shadows and miniatures (Deborah Hunt, Dey Hernández, Joe Therrien, Sugeily Rodríguez Lebrón), illustrations (José Hernández and Sugeily Rodríguez Lebrón) and stop motion animation (Deborah Hunt, Joe Therrien, Jorge Díaz).
I know. That was a lot of technical support.
However, it all worked seamlessly to create an urgent, energetic and expansive theatrical event.
The plot: Imagine it´s October 2047, and an incarcerated man of color (actually a video taped rendition of someone with a papier mâché mask) is fretfully moving on his cot. It´s a bird´s eye view from a surveillance camera. Outside the prison Tower, crowds of similar looking folks (all with brown and black facial masks that resemble each other) gather in preparation for the revolution.
Inside the Tower a big blonde-haired woman, the Manager-Warden, spews orders into the phone to quell the upheaval. Her oversized blonde wig and grotesque features signal that she, and no other, is the mastermind of this working prison. Here inmates work under abusive conditions to provide water (that increasingly rare commodity in our apocalyptic imaginings of the future) to an ideal white-folks-only community, Wind Green Springs. This community is projected on screen using stop-motion animation technology.
On the Eve of Abolition proposes the liberation of the last enclave of prison workers enslaved in the southern United States, this after having already liberated the entire Caribbean region. The leader of the revolution is a woman of color.
In a predictable move, of course, the revolution must and does win. As a fable it works: the freed folks are mobilized and protected by the supernatural Vejigantes and by the sheer force of their righteous cause. The evil Warden blonde burns along with her prison, after the prisoners are liberated. Plot wise there are no surprises here; what does work beautifully is the story-telling technique. The masked actors, the costumes (Marian Annette Rodríguez), the lighting design (Aaron Johansen), and the fabulous set construction (by company members) all worked to create a fable-like story of redemption.
One of my favorite scenes was the divination-card throwing with the Leader Neva and the Vejigantes seated in a circle onstage. Tarot-like oversized cards were thrown by the Leader while simultaneously being shown on a large overhead screen. I looked carefully at both the real-time body movements of the actors on stage and those of the projections, trying to detect discrepancies. I was hard-pressed to know if this was a live action or a recorded sequence. After the show, I found out it was both: live action was spliced with a prerecorded session. Quite the feat! Literally seamless.
The creation of a tent city by miniature ´tents´ was quite captivating, not only by their miniscule dimension but by the ritualistic manner in which they were set down and grew in number.
On the Eve of Abolition follows a long-standing Latin American tradition of politically engaged theater which began in the 1960s. This is not your Aristotelian dramatic arc development. It is more the staging of a futuristic fable. Moreover, it is in line with both Brechtian techniques and the dramaturgy of the Brazilian trailblazer of engaged community-based theater, Augusto Boal. The fact that the piece was devised collectively by the Papel Machete Company attests to this important tradition.
At the end of the show (which lasted about one hour and 10 minutes) the entire cast came onstage along with director Jorge Díaz Ortiz—not exactly as a talkback, but in a call to arms for all present to become abolitionists. Of first priority is the issue of privatization of prisons and its abusive practice of making inmates work for free, obviously a colonialist practice in a very thin disguise. However, the notion of abolition extends as a call to action for each and every one of us to work towards a freer, more equitable society for people of all colors.
Papel Machete Cast Members, Puppeteers and Mask Performers: Carlos José Torres, Deborah Hunt, Dey Hernández, José Díaz, José Hernández, Sugeily Rodríguez Lebrón.
Cara Mïa Theatre Performers: Judah Agbonkhina, N’Kole Bryant, Nelson Cruhigger, Alondra Estremera, Angel Faz, Virginia Grise, Sorany Gutiérrez, Lyrique Jae, David Lozano, Frida Espinosa Müller, Nora Soto, Eduardo Vélez III.
WHEN: This show is closed, but the “Latinidades” Festival continues with Estar Guars! October 7-9
WHERE: Latino Cultural Center, Dallas
WEB: caramiatheatre.org
Dr. Teresa Marrero is Professor of Latin American and Latinx Theater at the University of North Texas, Department of Spanish
