1 commentThe new season for Cara Mía Theatre Company has been announced, and kicks off with the return of its commedia dell'arte take on a Mexican Christmas tradition, Nuestra Pastorela. Then, 2012 brings two shows, one a one-man performance developed in the New Works Series at the famous Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, California; and another a collaboration with Mexico City's Laboratorio de la Máscara. Cara Mía's 2011 co-production with the latter group, Tina's Journey, was a joy.
Here's the full 2011-'12 lineup. All shows are at the Latino Cultural Center:
Nuestra Pastorela
Dec. 2-17, 2011
by Jeffry Farrell & David Lozano
directed by Jeffry Farrell
Nuestra Pastorela returns to the Latino Cultural Center with its family-friendly spin on a Mexican holiday tradition! Written by Dallas' own Jeffry Farrell and Cara Mía's David Lozano, this unique and zany adaptation of the Mexican shepherd's tale features all the usual suspects. You'll see the Angel Gabriel, the shepherds traveling to Bethlehem, and the bumbling devils, depicted in the playful style of the Mexican folk tradition, plotting the shepherds' doom by tempting them with the seven mortal sins. When the shepherds don the “smallest mask in the world” (the red clown nose), chaos ensues and hilarity abounds with broad physical comedy and slapstick.
La Esquinita USA
March 29-31, 2012
written and performed by Ruben Gonzalez
directed by Kinan Valdez
Developed at Teatro Campesino's New Works Series. Rubén C. González, performance artist (Diary of a Mad Mexican) and film actor (The Mission, Selena, Oscar), returns to Cara Mía Theatre Co. to present the critically-acclaimed La Esquinita USA. This time around he is not so mad and the world is better for it.
Now, the ZEN Mexican takes us on a passage through a once booming town La Esquinita USA but now forgotten like so many others. This story is told by the omniscient narrator LENCHO and experienced through the eyes of 18 year old DANIEL, a young man who is at the peak of his Crystal Meth high while standing at the threshold between Light and Darkness.
The main source of employment, The Thompson Tire Factory has gone to China leaving the town's infrastructure in disarray.
False idols of hope are the only source of relief and the citizens of this dilapidated town are left scavenging for what little remains. What happens to a town when promises from Big Business are broken?
What happens to its people? Meet LENCHO, DANIEL and seven other characters in this story of love, forgiveness and ultimate redemption.
The Desert Prairie of Texas
Summer 2012 (dates TBA)
based on texts in Memory of Fire by Eduardo Galeano
directed by Alicia Martínez Álvarez
A new work developed by Cara Mía (Dallas) and Laboratorio de la Máscara (Mexico City)
Cara Mía Theatre Co. and the Laboratorio de la Máscara (Mask Laboratory) from Mexico City continue with the third year of their international collaboration, led by Director Alicia Martínez Álvarez. Based on texts in Memory of Fire by Eduardo Galeano, the two companies will present the bilingual play, The Desert Prairie of Texas, in both countries utilizing Mexican folk masks for a theatrical production about Texas-Mexican history. In 2011, with funding from NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts & Letters) and the Ford Foundation, the two companies commissioned traditional Mexican mask maker Felipe Horta from Michoacan to develop a new hybrid of masks specifically designed for the use of dramatic performances. The result was a set a of 17 new half-masks (traditional Mexican masks typically cover the entire face) for the 2012 production, representing the characters of the The Desert Prairie of Texas—U.S. colonists, African-Americans and Mexicans living in Texas before secession from Mexico.
For more information and ticket prices, visit www.caramiatheatre.com or call 214-717-5297. 
