Based on two minor characters from Katherine Anne Porter’s short story Hacienda, this play combines classical themes, modern metaphor, and historic timeliness. On the eve of the first rebellion in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, an American filmmaker arrives on Marco Marcado’s hacienda in the outskirts Oaxaca, Mexico. Marco’s hacienda is the region’s biggest producer of a sweet Mexican liquor called pulque. Christian plans on making a Mexican-American version of Othello. Marco found Lolita, the main actress, at a familiar brothel in the city; a fact that enrages his wife Julia. Marco, an elitist misogynist, is an example of Diaz’s administration’s, giving all the power to a few while the rest suffer in poverty. As the film progresses, the story of Othello and the story of the hacienda intertwine and parallel.
Meanwhile, Julia rages against Lolita, who tries to make Julia understand their power if united. Eventually they make a pact: they will befriend each other in order to get back at Marco. As their game gains momentum the two women begin to sincerely connect, eventually finding the beginning of real love.
As Diaz’s arrival nears, Christian’s film runs low on money and time as his investors are skeptical of its legitimacy. On the eve of Diaz’s arrival Ramiro tells Marco of his and Doña Adelita’s revolutionist leadership, and his plan to kill Diaz. Marco also finds out that the women have been in the cellar, and have thusly tainted the drink. Trapped Marco rages against the only thing he has control over: his women. He tries to force them against each other until Adelita knocks him out. The women escape to New York and start a new life; Ramiro and Adelita begin what will change Mexico forever.
This is a story based in classism, sexism, sexuality, and power. The metaphors of intoxication, fantasy, and power play out through the piece in order to highlight injustice in that world, and ours. The play resonates in a world of globalization, sexism, homophobia, and the constant drive for finding reality in a world of fantasy on film, disillusion, and war. It is also a story of true love: the kind that flourishes in pain, fights through change, and lasts forever.
CHARACTERS:
Doña Julia: queenly, Marco’s wife
Lolita: roughly handsome, younger than Julia
Don Marco: powerful
Ramiro: Marco’s younger brother
Christian: American film maker, ambitious, naive
Doña Adelita: Marco and Ramiro’s aunt
SETTING:
1910. Various rooms in a turn of the century Mexican hacienda/ pulqueria. A period silent film as it plays.
NOTE: The film is up to director’s interpretation. Possible options are projection, mime, or shadow play.
