Showing in Brighton Preston Manor for the first time at 7pm tonight is
La Llorona a Mexican Ghost story, an ACGB
development project that began with a group of artists throwing ideas around in
a room.
The production has grown way beyond what
was expected with the limited budget as has the size of La Llorona herself and
this is due to the time, commitment and energy of all of the artists involved
in the process – some of whom were volunteers.
Salvador Dali said that he considered
Mexico to be the home of surrealism and in devising and directing this piece as
the design team led by Hannah Barker began to create epic mythical beasts, part
of Amy Solis's job was to facilitate these ideas and to integrate them into the
existing story.
What has emerged is the fusion of the
surreal landscape and mythical beasts of the ancient Aztec stories and the
modern story of Rosita set in the 1980’s on the boarder towns of Mexico and
Texas.
Mexican history
This myth is said to have been inspired by
the Spanish invasion of Mexico.
In 1519, Cortés' ships reached the Mexican
coast at Yucatan. Cortés had set sail with 11 ships and more than 500 men.
He
burned his ships to make retreat impossible.
Natives were quickly overpowered and
surrendered. Cortés set out to rule them. During the march through Mexico, he
encountered a group of natives called the Tlaxcalans, who were enemies of the
Aztecs.
They became an important ally for Cortés during his siege of
Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital city.
A myth in creation
Unbeknownst to Cortés, his arrival
coincided with an important Aztec prophecy.
The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, whom
they credited with the creation of humans, was set to return to Earth.
Thinking
that Cortés could be Quetzalcoatl, Montezuma greeted the party with great
honour.
They provided the Spanish with food,
supplies and 20 women, including an interpreter known as La Malinche or Doña
Marina. La Llorona (The weeping woman) is sometimes identified with La Malinche
the Nahua woman who served as Cortés' interpreter and who some say was betrayed
by the Spanish conquistadors.
In one folk story of La Malinche, she
became Hernán Cortés' mistress and bore him a child.
Only to be abandoned so
that he could marry a Spanish Woman.
Aztec pride drove La Malinche to acts of
vengeance.
A shrouded message
Did she drown her children and herself as
an act of rebellion against the Spanish invasion of her indigenous culture?
Part of Cortez's master plan has been said to have been to create a biological
alliance created of the Conquerers and the conquered.
The great power of the
meaning of these stories, to the culture in which they developed, is a major
reason why they survive as long as they do.
Such is the power of La Llorona the
myth of the weeping woman.
