Posada es el nombre del juego

On Saturday Dr. Compton and I attended a unique piece of theater in the Cultural Center at the UNAM. And let me tell you, the UNAM is huge. It took us a good half-hour to walk from the Metro to the Centro Cultural. One of the neat aspects of the university is that there are volcanic rocks used throughout the walkways, a testament to the volcanic soil here. For me, it made the whole experience of walking around the campus even more exotic (There are no volcanoes in Kansas!) There’s also an ecological reserve within the campus, or “University City”: Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal de San Ángel. I was blown away at such a beautiful and enormous campus.

(An aerial view of the UNAM campus with the iconic library at the bottom left.)

(Centro Cultural at the UNAM. The show was presented here.)

(Sculptures within the Ecological Reserve.)

When we arrived at the Centro Cultural we found a hefty audience waiting for Posada es el nombre del juego (Posada is the Name of the Game), written by Hugo Hiriart and directed by Carlos Corona. What’s special about this show, and I’d imagine why it attracted so many, is that it’s a touring show based out of a trailer which converts into a stage (it was also free). This type of theater was especially popular in Europe during the Renaissance. For example, Don Quixote happens on a touring theater company. Today it’s very unlikely to come across this type of theater. When we arrived, the trailer had already been set up in the form of a train which read: El Tren del Progreso Nacional (The Train of National Progress).

(The Train of National Progress)

The name of the show mentions Posada, or, José Guadalupe Posada, an artist who lived during the Porfiriato, or time in which Porfirio Díaz was the dictator of Mexico. This time period (1876-1910) is known by many as one of immense change that brought Mexico into an age of growth and progress, in areas such as science and the construction of the railway system (there already existed one railway line from Mexico City to Veracruz). Posada, on the other hand, created masterpieces that are iconic today, using skeletons to represent people in his artwork. Much like the Vanitas of the Baroque style, he criticized the external appearances that Porfirio Díaz constructed of national progress.

(Iconic "La Catrina" engraving by Posada)

("The Bicycles of the Dead", Posada)

So, by the name on the train we knew the company was using this irony found in Posada’s artwork as a framework for their story. And what a story it was. La Catrina narrated the story between scenes about a doctor who wants to convert humans into chickens, an egotistic son who wants to arrive at having 100 girlfriends, and a magician that hypnotized a girl from her lover. A crucial aspect of this performance was the use of masks, in the Posada style. Each character wore a specific mask that covered most of their face. Because each mask held a specific pose, the actors used their bodies much more to convey their feelings. And it was absolutely masterful.

(The actors with their masks.)

In the end the mad doctor, through a potion, converts his daughter’s lover into a chicken, and she in turn voluntarily turns herself into a chicken by drinking the potion. The egotistic son seduces his 100^th girlfriend only to find out that she was the devil and then is thrown to hell. The lover sends the magician in a cannon ball to the moon and is reunited with the love of his life. The use of situational comedy and outrageous stories all happened on this Great Train of National Progress. But I think we all can agree that if this is progress, then it’s a very outrageous idea of progress, much like Posada argued in his artwork.