Chamizal 2003 (2003)

CHAMIZAL 2003 ROBERT LAUER University of Oklahoma La hija del aire: The saga continues. The XXVIII Siglo de Oro Drama Festival began its season with Pedro Calderón de la Barca's La hija del aire, parts I and II. Mexican director Monica Raya and the Compañía de Repertorio de la Facultad de filosofía y letras de la UNAM fulfilled their promise, made a year earlier, that they would present the ambitious twopart play in toto at the Chamizal National Memorial Auditorium (800 South San Marcial, El Paso, Texas, 79905, USA) in 2003. This theatrical miracle lasted three hours and played to a full house on Thursday, 27 February 2003. The work received a standing ovation from the grateful El Paso audience, which, it should be remembered, is an ideal and highly sophisticated public precisely because it has had the experience of annual events ofthis nature for the past 28 years. No city in the world is this lucky. The adaptation ofLa hija del aire by Monica Raya was simply sterling. Betasabé Irais, as Semíramis, played a convincing initial victim of fate and, later, a ruthless and ambitious ruler. Berenice Caballero, in the roles ofNino and Friso, was highly effective as a strong king and, later, a loyal vassal. Ana Cordelia Aldama was superb in her two male blocking roles as Tiresias and Lidoro. Alfonso Cárcamo played the perfect military man, first as Menón and then as Licas. Magali Mata was absolutely smashing as the gracioso Chato. Chabeli Mendoza and Luis Rüssel Alvarez were simply ajoy to behold, the first as the charming Irene, later Astrea; the second as the highly enigmatic Lisias. Rebeca Vareli, Angelo Moroni, and Ricardo Suárez should also be noted for their perfect musical timing. All the actors had clear and precise diction. It was also appar189 190BCom, Vol. 55, No. 1 (2003) ent that their gestures and movements had been choreographed to perfection . The costumes, in vivid Asian styles (Hindu and Chinese in particular ) were ideal for a dramatic piece that takes place in Asia. The dance sequences were performed in Kathakali style and added to the sacred and ceremonial aspect of this drama. In short, Monica Raya and the Repertory Company of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM offered the spectators a gift that El Paso audiences will long remember. Fuenteovejuna: Sheer magic on the stage. Maritza Wilde (Amalilef Teatro) and Niñón Dávalos Kushner (Teatro de Arte), both from La Paz, Bolivia, delighted a full house on Friday, 28 February 2003, at the Chamizal National Memorial Auditorium with their adaptation of Lope de Vega's Fuenteovejuna. Although this play has been staged before at the annual Siglo de Oro Drama Festival (in 1977, 1979, 1982, and 1998), this was unlike any other version previously staged. Performed by a "Naque" (the name for a two-person theatrical company in Golden Age parlance), Maritza and Ninon, two sterling professionals of the theater, used multiple dolls and props—superbly designed by Morayma Ibáñez— to retell the momentous events of 1476 that would secure the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic Sovereigns, and reduce the free-rein power of ambitious, feudal aristocrats in the Spanish Peninsula. The performance lasted 70 minutes and had no intermission. It was also partly narrated (by the two actresses) and partly performed (by the dolls and the players). The beginning had a pedagogic preamble that, in this reviewer's opinion, would serve as an excellent teaching tool not only for children but also for adults. Likewise, the miniature sets served to give the audience a global view ofthe village ofFuenteovejuna, where sundry actions took place; while the dolls served to distance the audience from the scabrous events that occurred there in 1476, among them, acts ofwar, the abuse and kidnapping ofvillage women, the torture of300 villagers , a peasant revolt, and the murder and mutilation of a notable personage . The fact that Maritza Wilde and Niñón Dávalos Kushner took turns in reciting the long monologues of Fernán Gómez and the village woman Laurencia also served to prevent us, the audience members, from identifying fully with one or...