



When El Teatro Campesino came to San Juan Bautista in 1972, one of the Mexican traditions that founder Luis Valdez introduced to the town was the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Residents who had been standoffish to the theater group when they first arrived found themselves enthusiastically participating in the costumed parade that took place every year.
The pandemic forced the celebration into a two-year hiatus, but on Nov. 2, the parade will return, beginning with an outdoor presentation followed by a procession that winds through the small town. The event is free and the public is invited to follow the performers as they stage a series of dramatic vignettes at various stations along the route.
“COVID hit, and the world stopped,” said co-producer Cristal Avila. “This year, we kept asking ourselves, ‘How did we use to do this?’ We have actors who have been with us before and then some new talent that’s coming in. It’s just great to see their willingness to jump on stage and make it happen. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel—just trying to present something that the community could see themselves participating in.”
The origins of Dia de Los Muertos are unknown, and its traditions are sometimes confused with those of Halloween. But the idea behind the day is one of communing with the spirits of the departed. Coming as the pandemic eases and people assess their losses, it provides a particularly apt moment of reflection.
“It allows the community and families to get together and celebrate the loved ones and lost souls who have passed,” said Teatro veteran Manuel Rocha. “It’s great to be coming together like this, especially after the quarantine when everyone’s been so confined. It’s a way for us to mourn our losses, and celebrate those who have passed, in our own way.”
This production uses new storytelling techniques, including projections onto the Teatro building itself, and has a new script called “Leyendas Nunca Mueren” or Legends Never Die.
“We follow the story of Lucia Victoria,” Avila said. “Her quest is to find as many legends in the afterlife as she can as she journeys. There are a couple of surprises along the way—she does not end up meeting the legends she set out to meet. We want our community to see themselves in this story, and I think there is something for everyone in the show.”
The event begins at 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Teatro Playhouse at 705 Fourth Street. Indigenous Mexican dancers Grupo Nauhcampa Comunidad de Danza Conchera will lead a blessing of four altars, dedicated to dead friends and relatives. These are decorated with ofrendas or offerings, photographs and personal items that evoke the memory of the departed and will be on display outside the Teatro building. Guests are encouraged to bring photocopies (not originals) of pictures of their loved ones to add to the display.
Rocha’s daughter, Vero, who has been participating in Teatro productions for six of her 12 years, will be adding a photograph of Noé Montoya, a Teatro veteran who died of COVID on Thanksgiving Day in 2020.
“I miss him, and this is my way to remember him,” she said, “Noé was always really nice. Whenever we did stuff at Teatro, he would come and join us, and I always enjoyed spending time with him.”
Avila says that Montoya’s energy is missed by all in the theater group.
“There’s that real absence that the company is facing in terms of our grieving process,” she said. “He was a big anchor, and in our last few productions, we feel his absence, and his spirit is something that brings us together.”
At 7 p.m. the procession will leave the playhouse, led by a flatbed truck filled with musicians and actors, and make its way down Fourth Street, turn left on Washington street, and travel down Third Street. It will turn again at Polk Street and return to the Teatro Playhouse around 8 p.m., performing scenes at six spots along the way. The event will continue at the Playhouse until 8:30 p.m. with live music and a beer garden. Some of the local businesses have agreed to stay open later to accommodate dining and shopping.
With the threat of COVID hanging over the community for so long, Avila says that the performance has been shaped by the pandemic but does not focus on it.
“I think we have all changed,” she said. “I think as artists we’ve changed, the way we create art has changed, and the way we think of making art or even coming together to rehearse has changed. When I wrote the script, I made a point of no character saying ‘COVID,’ because that’s already a reality that we live in now. I wanted to celebrate the lessons COVID has left us, the people we may take for granted, the heroes we see in our everyday lives, and elevate them in our production.”
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