Masiosare: un extraño enemigo

Written and directed by Fernando Bonilla, this play criticizes social constructs and abuses of power in Mexico. Underneath this criticism is a masterful play full of audience interaction, violence, live music, and much, much more. The story behind this play gives it a profound purpose. Fernando Bonilla states to a reporter from the magazine Excelsior:

“I began to write the work from the hospital bed, [and] it came about from the idea of showing the absurd, the misery of my experience, and as it progressed it transformed a little into the biography of the person who pulled the trigger, the person that shot [me]; now it shows us the story of “Mexicano X”, of an invisible person that is born into a violent society, which from his first moment makes him vulnerable, crushes him and finishes him on the outskirts, converted into an assassin, a criminal” (My own translation).

In fact, Fernando Bonilla plays the part of the aggressor throughout the play: el comandante. It’s a testimony that even in the worst circumstances, if one really tries, they can begin to understand people’s decisions and their unique backgrounds. It’s an exercise in sympathy that I think is universally useful.

(Fernando Bonilla)

Interwoven within this structure of sympathy are powerful characters. To the side, always watching, are the two musicians Omar Medina Fernández and Yurief Nieves, who play music occasionally and interact with the other actors. The actress who played the mother of Masiosare, Valentina Sierra, was phenomenal in her interaction with the public. Tim commented that in another work he saw last year she was also impressive in her interaction with the public. Juan Carlos Medellín played a hilarious transvestite and a stuttering officer. In one scene he takes so long to read a simple police report, pronounces the words strangely until he realizes the word, and sweated like crazy before the powerful character of the comandante, played by Fernando Bonilla. Finally, Marissa Saavedra was absolutely enchanting. She sang beautifully to move the story along, was the girlfriend for Masiosare, and played a hilarious dope on the TV show. Really, she was quite excellent. This was a stellar cast.

(El comandante and the transvestite)

(Masiosare and his girlfriend)

The story of the play, as mentioned, follows the life of Masiosare. When born, he follows the comandante into the ranks of the military, always hesitant to speak out or act in any way unorthodox. However, one evening he is asalted by two people, almost dies, and Marissa Saavedra’s character finds him and sends him to a hospital. There, the surgeons barely touch him, but miraculously he survives. Later, he is invited on a TV show where he spits out blood. There is quite a gap between this obvious abuse of a victim for media purposes and then later, Masiosare attacks the TV host, who turns on him only to incite him to the point that he finally shoots and kills her. Once captured he is brought back on the TV show and read a list of crimes he commits, and the comandante lists off just about every major crime a person can commit. The public is asked to vote on Masiosare’s sentence: death or forgiveness. The comandante wanted to demonstrate that in Mexico there is a very democratic system in place. Finally, the Virgin of Guadalupe comes down and demands Masiosare’s blood, only to find that no one wants to kill him. So she demands the blood of his girlfriend. That’s when Masiosare abandons her and the audience is given tomatoes to throw at her, a metaphor for her death sentence. At this point the comandante comes out with the banner, much like Miguel Hidalgo (in fact, throughout the play he has a Miguel Hidalgo wig), and declare that the Virgin of Guadalupe has commanded this death sentence, so they must follow through. That’s when the show ends.

(El comandante resembles Miguel Hidalgo)

(La Virgen de Guadalupe makes an appearance)

You might conclude, as I did, that not only does Bonilla criticize society and politics, but also how religion is used within society. The rape by an angel, and the vulgarity of the Virgin of Guadalupe while she demands the blood of Masiosare and then his girlfriend, offer the public a harsh approximation towards the country’s main religion. But I feel in this that Bonilla didn’t single out religion so much as criticize as many aspects of Mexico as possible. You might say he is an equal opportunity employer of criticism. And the political use of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico’s history is quite strong. Think of Miguel Hidalgo’s banner, as well as Vicente Fox’s political controversy with his openly religious stance towards the Virgin of Guadalupe.

(Miguel Hidalgo and his banner)

(Vicente Fox before a Virgin of Guadalupe shrine)

But this criticism, along with all the rest, is part of the beauty behind the play. Bonilla is capable of looking at each aspect of Mexico to find how people justify and arrive at their actions, wherever that might be. And all this comes after a traumatic experience. After having been attacked himself he decided to try and understand. In quite an absurd way, he put himself in the place of what he would consider someone responsible for creating such a violent society: el comandante. If there’s anything I take away from this show, the most important lesson is that this playwright is incredibly brave. And, while the show is a bit absurd, the lessons obtained are far from it.