Illuminating the season

Paloma Rael plays the heroine, Luz, in “The Farolitos of Christmas” at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. (Courtesy of Angelo Mitchell)

In 1944, life was difficult. The United States was in the midst of World War II. Young men were off fighting and serving the country. Children, women and the elderly were left behind to keep communities together. Despite the situation, there remained hope.

In Rudolfo Anaya’s play “The Farolitos of Christmas,” 10-year-old Luz represents the hope – and light – to come.

The play will be staged for the first time in 20 years by the National Hispanic Cultural Center and the Vortex Theatre.

	If you go WHAT: “The Farolitos of Christmas” WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15 and 2 p.m. Dec. 16 WHERE: Albuquerque Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 Fourth SW HOW MUCH: $12-$22 at www.nhccnm.org or 505-724-4771

“The Farolitos for Christmas” is set in the small northern New Mexico village of San Juan in 1944.

Director Valli Rivera says the play has a rich expression of the roots of New Mexican culture, radiant with lights, music and the spirit of community as the village prepares for its Christmas celebrations amid the deprivations of World War II.

Luz is worried that with her father away in a hospital recovering from his war wounds and her grandfather too sick to chop wood, the family cannot celebrate with the lighting of the traditional luminarias, or bonfires, outside their home. Then she has a new idea for making farolitos – lighted candles in paper bags weighted with sand. These beautiful little lanterns light the way for the holiday celebrants as they perform the annual procession of “Las Posadas,” commemorating the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, and for Luz’s father as he returns home in time for Christmas.

Rivera says the project fell into her lap.

“The Vortex was meeting with the NHCC for another project and they approached us to do it,” she says. “This was something that we always wanted to do. It’s a perfect time because of the holiday season. Luz saves the community with her inventiveness. This is story that truly has heart.”

Rivera says the original production of “Farolitos of Christmas” was put on by La Compañia de Teatro de Alburquerque more than 20 years ago. Some of the actors in the current play were in the original production.

“It’s great to have these actors and crew because they know what it was like to put on the first play,” she explains. “So I’ve picked their brains to see what ideas and how it was staged back then.”

While auditions for the play began in September, Rivera was already a couple months deep in researching it. She would spend her time on the University of New Mexico campus researching “Las Posadas” and “La Pastorela.”

Paloma Rael, left, who plays Luz, and Rick Edwards, who plays her grandfather Don Vicente in the adaptation of Rudolfo Anaya’s “The Farolitos of Christmas.” (Courtesy of Angelo Mitchell)

“I wasn’t familiar with all of the stories and I wanted to make it as well-rounded as I could,” she explains. “For me working with traditional aspects is great and I find it very enlightening and inspiring.”

Rivera says the production recreates the reverent carols of “Las Posadas” and the drama and comedy of “La Pastorela,” a play narrating the adventures of shepherds traveling to Bethlehem. Both “Las Posadas,” begun with the Spanish conquest of Mexico, and “La Pastorela,” dating back to the Middle Ages and beyond, have been part of New Mexican holiday tradition for centuries.

“The audience will have a festive time remembering the stories of their ‘Las Posadas’ and ‘La Pastorela’ plays in their own pueblos,” she says. “The display of farolitos magic will make the theater sparkle. This will be a New Mexican Christmas fiesta, wrapped in a story that will warm the heart and spirit, giving us hope and joy.”

Rivera says the cast and crew are in its last week of rehearsals, which is exciting because she gets to see how the play is coming together.

“There’s always nervousness, but theater is a collective art and I depend on many people,” she explains. “I have the greatest cast and designers on this production. But to create theater, you need the audience. And we won’t know how it goes until the first show is presented.”

Rivera says staging the play is important because it’s a tribute to Anaya and all of his work.

“He’s the father of New Mexico Hispanic literature,” she says. “I think he needs this tribute and its been way too long of a wait to stage it again.”

Monica Rodriguez, left, plays Luz’s mother Maria, and Joseph Wasson plays her soldier father Juan in “The Farolitos of Christmas.” (Courtesy of Angelo Mitchell)

Dona Josefina, played by Maria Herrera, is the shopkeeper in “The Farolitos of Christmas.” Dona Josefina pours sugar into a sack, which gives Luz, played by Paloma Rael, the idea to weigh down paper bags with sand to create farolitos. (Courtesy of Alan Mitchell Photography)

Adults of San Juan village watch trucks in the distance heading up to Los Alamos where mysterious wartime activity is taking place in “The Farolitos of Christmas.” From left are Vic Silva, Maria Herrera as Dona Josefina, Margie Maes as Dona Gregorita, and Ruben Muller as the village priest Father Rael.

Village children with farolitos prepare for their Christmas celebrations in “The Farolitos of Christmas.” From left are Huitzil Bennett-Perez, Ben Silva, Paloma Rael and Jadan Roldan.