Luis Valdez’s ‘Adios, Mama Carlota’ is part history, part family reunion

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This is the second article in BenitoLink’s coverage of Luis Valdez’s play “Adios, Mama Carlota.” The first part details the history and inspiration behind the play.

On June 1, “Adios, Mama Carlota,” a revival of Luis Valdez’s play about the downfall of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife, Empress Carlota, concludes its run at El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista. 

Despite having fewer than four weeks to assemble the production, the play came together successfully, partly due to a rare collaboration with Valdez’s immediate family members.

Valdez was joined by his wife, Lupe Valdez, who created the costume designs, and his three sons, who joined the production in various capacities. Kinan Valdez co-directed with his father; Lakin Valdez portrays the doomed Maximilian; and Anahuac Valdez takes on four roles as a last-minute substitute for an actor who dropped out before rehearsals. 

Kinan said that the last time the family worked together was more than 20 years ago in a touring production of “Zoot Suit.” Their tight bond helped anchor the latest play. 

“Obviously,” he said, “we spent the first years of our careers working together extensively. And then everybody went their separate ways. This has been a long time coming, and it’s been wonderful working together as a full family again.”

The three brothers have not worked together since the 2011 Teatro production of Lakin’s play “Victor in Shadow,” which featured Lakin as Victor Jara, Kinan co-directing, and Anahuac again in multiple roles. Kinan said that when it comes to stage work, he and his brothers have come to speak in almost a shorthand when working together. 

“Their professional experiences come to bear in the work,” he said, “so it is a healthy, robust relationship. I trust their impulses, and they trust mine. That doesn’t mean there aren’t disagreements, but we make the right choices for the work.”

With Anahuac playing Napoleon III, the Archbishop, Miguel Miramón and a ghost, “Adios, Mama Carlota” marks the first time he has performed anywhere since he served as narrator for the 2012 production of “Heart of Heaven” and “Seven Macau,” two plays based on the Popol Vuh mythology that was staged for free in the town’s soccer field.

“I was kind of reluctant,” he said. “This is a very different kind of play I’ve ever done before. My anxiety was kicking in, but once I got on that stage, it felt like home. It’s a lot of text, which is a struggle, but I’m feeling good about it.”

Anahuac said that the first time he had to face the audience, his anxiety was there, but it strengthened his performance.

“It was a huge challenge,” he said. “The last production I was in was already in my memory bank, so it wasn’t too hard. But working with my dad and brothers in this production has been great. The personalities never change, and it feels like home.”

Lakin, whose wife Maya Malan-Gonzalez plays the title role of Carlota, characterized his lead role of Maximilian as a “juicy one.” He said he particularly enjoys his onstage interactions with Anahuac. 

“It is incredible to work with my brother again after such a long hiatus,” he said. “His gift of performance is something that I’ve missed personally. And working with my father, of course, is an incredible experience. It’s just amazing to do that again for this production.”

Lakin described the play as “an incredibly complex look at the huge historical figures in Mexico of that time,” and said he was excited at the possibility of being able to perform again with the Teatro theater company.

“I think we love to delve deeply into our craft and the story here as actors,” he said. “We can do that together more comfortably at home with our extended family, and it makes it a much richer and intimate journey when we get to take it together.”

Lakin said that his job, first and foremost, is to see through the playwright’s eyes and understand the playwright’s vision as the story’s creator. He said his father had taken a mostly unknown part of Mexican history worth telling and filtered it through the Teatro lens.

“We have a long tradition of taking history and bringing it to life in ways that are comedic, dramatic and full of color,” he said. “This mostly unknown part of Mexican history is certainly worth telling on the stage, and it’s a blessing to do it here.”

Kinan also directed the play’s debut in 2019 at the San Jose Stage, performed in a standard theatrical proscenium. He said converting it to Teatro’s in-the-round stage offered challenges and opportunities.  

“This play,” he said, “inspired by portraits, wants to be done in a two-dimensional space so you can control it. Here, we’ve blown that open. But we were excited about the immersive quality of that choice, to put the spectators almost in the action.”

One complication is orientation: on a standard stage, the action is presented in a single panoramic view. In the round, the actors must be aware that the audience surrounds them. 

“Actors with extensive experience at the theater remember the space as being one way,” Kinan said. “On this stage, we can’t control the compositions similarly. It has to have a different quality to ensure the action keeps moving within that space.” 

One throwback to that first production can be seen in the costumes designed by Lupe, which are intended to suggest the ghost-like interactions between Carlota and the figures from her past that haunt her. 

“It is told from the perspective of her memories six years after she left Maximilian behind in Mexico,” she said. “The ghosts in Carlota’s mind are not terrifying her, but it’s more like she’s already in an afterlife pointing to her inner mind, her memory.”

Some of the clothes used in the play were from the first production, others from the theater’s extensive costume collection, or were crafted from locally sourced outfits that fit the period.

“Some of the blouses and jackets from the period almost look like the 1940s,” Lupe said, “so I picked things from ‘Zoot Suit’ productions like the coats and long skirts. I ended up buying Carlota’s dress at the quinceañera store and adding things like skirts on top of the dress.” 

While Kinan directed the original production himself, he was intent on having Luis as co-director since it was the only play in his body of work that he had yet to direct himself. 

“I felt it was necessary for my father to touch it,” Kinan said. “I told him, ‘You cannot not direct this play in some fashion. I know you’ll be busy working, so let’s co-direct.’ And the benefit of it is that it’s clear in terms of his intentions in writing it.”

Kinan said the tone of the play shifted between the first and second productions, with him adopting a lens that was a bit more humorous in certain sequences while Luis wanted to remain true to the drama of the characters and their situations.

“The challenge is,” Kinan said, “That when you have two different directors, sometimes they want to pull in two different directions in terms of guiding actors and making certain choices. But for me, I was always going to defer to my father in terms of his overall vision.”

Luis said that having his family so connected to “Adios, Mama Carlota” has made it particularly memorable for him.

“This is a very special event for us,” Luis said. “Kinan has brought all of his skills to bear on this production. Lakin and Maya came up from Los Angeles; they’re both professionals and doing a wonderful job. And I’ve got my eldest son, Anahuac, in there again after all these years.” 

Lakin said he “could not even begin to describe how wonderful it feels” to be a part of this production.

“I am having so much fun,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed as an artist, to be able to be a storyteller for as long as I have been. And that’s due to this place existing and to my wonderful family. I just want to continue to do the work that we all love here, in this community.

El Teatro Campesino stages Luis Valdez’s “Adios Mama Carlota”

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