2013 Siglo de Oro Drama Festival, Chamizal

2013 Siglo de Oro Drama Festival, ChamizalCoordinated by Anna-Lisa HallingEach year the Chamizal National Memorial, located in El Paso, Texas, hosts the well-attended Siglo de Oro Spanish Drama Festival. 2013's installment, which ran from March 6 to March 10, featured professional theater groups from Mexico (Puebla) and Spain (Murcia, Segovia, and San Clemente). The works produced included the more traditional comedia fare (El caballero de Olmedo and La vengadora de las mujeres), a theatrical re-creation of a liturgical ceremony (Misterio del Cristo de los Gascones), an adaptation of a narrative work (El coloquio de los perros), and a compilation of crowd-pleasing entremeses (De burladores y burlados). The following reviews, each written by a different reviewer, offer a critical look at these theatrical productions. The reviews and the reviewers are as diverse as the plays themselves and are meant to offer varying viewpoints and insights into a unique compendium of dramatic endeavors.El caballero de Olmedo by Lope de VegaOn March 6, The Shake and Falstaff Company (Puebla, Mexico) opened the 2013 International Siglo de Oro Drama Festival at the Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso, TX, with a performance of Lope's tragicomedy El caballero de Olmedo. Director Abril Mayett's production takes several liberties with the setting and casting of the play with mixed results. Mayett frames the work within the context of Mexico's Cristero War (1926-1929), during which Catholics and the Catholic Church rebelled against the harsh lines drawn between church and state by Mexico's post-Revolution constitution. The setting is emphasized with varying effect through added and modified dialogue, costume, music, and two extra characters: a bishop and a town mayor. These incidental characters provide the bulk of the additional dialogue through a series of clandestine negotiations that, together, highlight the corruption, hypocrisy, and complicity of the milieu. Appearances of the obispo and the alcalde frame the work throughout, as does the accompaniment of a group of itinerant mariachis, in huaraches and sombreros, of comically dubious skill. The minimalist set and strings of lights crisscrossed overhead are reminiscent of a summer evening feria.The unusual multiple castings crafted by Mayett, while extremely enterprising and cost effective, leave several issues unresolved without truly enhancing the production. The dizzying casting begins with Mayett herself, who plays both Ines and the gracioso Tello. Fernando Villa Proal plays not only the antagonist, Rodrigo, but also Ines's father, Don Pedro, and the alcalde. Mario Eduardo D'Leon plays both Alonso and Leonor. Monica Bejarano, amazingly, plays Fabia, Ana (the maid), the obispo, Rodrigo's friend Fernando, and also the Sombra. The cast is certainly to be commended for tackling such a difficult acting (and costuming) challenge. …