Home  Entertainment Reviews Review of “River of Tears”
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Review of “River of Tears” |
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Written by Barry Gaines
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last updated Wednesday, February 28, 2007, at 13:36:41
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Two performances of “River of Tears” (“Rio de Lagrimas”) at UNM’s Theatre X were sold out, and an extra performance added because of community interest. Yet this tri-lingual, multi-media event, written and performed by five Hispanic women who call themselves Las Meganenas (the big girls), is as much sermon and civics lesson as show.
These storytellers combine the ugly realities of the murder of hundreds of young Mexican maquiladoras (factory workers, generally women) across the Rio Grande in Cuidad Juarez with ancient Indian, Spanish, and mestizo (mixed Indian and European) myths. The four performers meld song, dance, and instrumental improvisation with evocative lighting and computer-generated images projected on a screen. The old finger harp, concertina, cajon hand drum, cello, and guitar mingle with the new PowerPoint presentation. Apryl Sandoval plays a political activist who voices concern about the Juarez violence. As she sleeps center stage, she is visited by spirits played by Valerie Borrego and Vivian Fernandez who transform her into La Malinche, a strong and beautiful indigenous Indian woman. Soledad Hindi narrates in English and Spanish. When Spanish conquistador (conqueror) Cortéz arrives, she acts as his interpreter and, eventually, his lover. She has two children, the first mestizos. Cortéz betrays and abandons her, and fearing that her sons will become slaves, she kills them and cries herself to death. Her soul wanders the riverbanks. The mythic story of La Malinche morphs north of the border into the powerful tale of La Llorona (The Wailing Woman). She is now a Mexican who has two sons by a gringo and, in a jealous rage, drowns them in the Rio Grande. Clad in white, her hair tangled and fingers grotesquely distended, the weeping figure of La Llorona also searches the rivers. The mourning figures of La Malinche and La Llorona are combined and extended to weep for contemporary victims of violence in Juarez, some of whose names--written on stones--are distributed to entering audience members. A moving portion of the play comes toward the end when spectators come forward, read the names, and place the rocks on an altar. For Las Meganenes, audience participation is vital. The troupe wants to educate and shape attitudes rather than simply to entertain. They manage to do both.
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About Reviewers D.S. Crafts (Website) Composer Daniel Steven Crafts came to New Mexico from San Francisco where he had hosted a classical music radio program on KPFA. His first commission from opera star Jerry Hadley, "The Song & the Slogan" based on texts by Carl Sandburg, was made into a TV program for the PBS network and aired nationally in 2004 and won an Emmy for Best Music. His latest opera La Llorona is a collaboration with novelist Rudolfo Anaya based on his play "The Season of La Llorona." Mr. Crafts is currently working on another commission from Jerry Hadley for a piece about the American Southwest which includes texts by Rudolfo Anaya and V.B. Price. Two CDs of his music, Contemporaries (short, satirical keyboard works) and ARIAS (excerpts from his various operas) have been released on the BACAT label in San Francisco.
David Steinberg David Steinberg has covered state government, the courts, city and county government in Santa Fe for the Albuquerque Journal. He's been an arts writer for the past 20 years, and serves as the book editor, for the Journal. Over the years, he's also acted in plays, sung in choruses and played trumpet.
Jennifer Noyer Jennifer Noyer has been writing dance reviews for the Albuquerque Journal for 17 years, as well as contributing articles for Dance Magazine and other art journals. She trained in dance with Hanya Holm in New York City and Colorado Springs, and studied several dance techniques at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. After teaching dance at Wayne State University she entered and completed a Masters Degree in Humanities there. In New Mexico Ms. Noyer has taught, directed, and choreographed contemporary dance for several years. Her writing on dance includes a monograph accompanying the video of choreographer Bill Evens’ ballet “The Legacy.” An overview of Evans’s world wide career, it was written and published during his tenure at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Noyer’s studies in the humanities, and her studio dance work influence her approach to dance as an integrative art form in the United States.
Barry Gaines Barry Gaines has taught Shakespeare in the University of New Mexico English Department for over twenty-five years and has received two outstanding teaching awards. He has written theater reviews for the Journal since 2000. He has attended theater all over the world including Shakespeare productions in Russia, South Africa, Denmark, and Poland. He has also served as literary advisor for two professional theater companies and written performance reviews for Shakespeare Quarterly. Gaines has taken two years of acting with Paul Ford and appeared in small parts in three plays at the Albuquerque Little Theater. He believes that he is probably a better reviewer than actor.
Joanne Sheehy Hoover Joanne Sheehy Hoover, music critic emeritus of the Albuquerque Journal, has written for NPR, PBS, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony, among others. She has also been a music lecturer for the Smithsonian Associates and a music critic and arts writer for The Washington Post. She was director of the Levine School of Music, one of the country’s largest community music schools, in Washington, D. C. 1980-1993. She and her husband moved to Corrales, New Mexico in July 1993. Also a poet, her fifth collection, “Einstein in New Mexico,” was published in 2002.
Marissa Greenberg Marissa Greenberg is a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico English Department, where she teaches Shakespeare and early English literature. A prior guest reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal, Greenberg will be reviewing theater while Barry Gaines is out of town. She also composed and edited the program notes for last year’s Albuquerque Shakespeare Festival and has written performance reviews for Shakespeare Bulletin. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, Greenberg has been performing and studying drama for most of her life. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to review for the Journal.
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