近距离内射合集

Rudolfo Anaya鈥檚 coming-of-age novel, 鈥淏less Me, Ultima,鈥� has been a staple of the New Mexican literary canon since its publication in 1972, as well as the bestselling Chicano novel of all time. Anaya later adapted his novel for the stage, and The Vortex Theatre performed it in 2010, with Valli Marie Rivera directing.

This month, in honor of The Vortex鈥檚 50th anniversary, the theater is revisiting the New Mexican classic. Leonard Madrid, who designed the sets for the 2010 production, is directing it this time.

鈥淩udolfo Anaya took care to bring his beautiful story to the stage and not leave anything out,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥淎nd I will say this from the mountaintops: it鈥檚 really important for us to celebrate our voices 鈥� the voices of the region, and our storytellers. 鈥� And this is one of the few chances where the actual author wrote his own adaptation.鈥�

For this production, Madrid wanted to keep the set design simple and focus on the story.

鈥淢ore than anything, I鈥檝e been trying to simplify it in a way that the story gets to be the showcase. I鈥檝e seen productions of shows where the story is secondary to the staging,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥淎nd because this is a story that a lot of New Mexicans know, I didn鈥檛 want this to be, you know, the director putting his thumbprint on everything. I wanted to keep it simple.鈥�

Madrid will present the play in the round, where the audience is seated on all sides with the actors in the center. He said he wanted to give the impression of people gathering around a campfire.

鈥淭his is where it all starts, with the New Mexican tradition of sitting around the fire and telling each other stories. So, that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going with,鈥� Madrid said.

The director believes this may be the first time anyone has staged 鈥淏less Me, Ultima鈥� in the round.

鈥淓very audience member gets a different perspective of the show,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥溾�� It鈥檚 also definitely more intimate, because the spacing is more like real life. There鈥檚 a couple crowd scenes, and there鈥檚 a dance in the middle 鈥� a harvest festival 鈥� and every actor in the play is on stage at that point. And it almost feels like the audience becomes part of the festivities, because the entire room is just so full.鈥�

The play has a large cast. Madrid鈥檚 version will feature 19 actors and even more characters, since many of them are playing double roles.

The title role of Ultima, the wise and benevolent curandera, will be performed by Mar铆a Teresa Herrera-Bustamante.

鈥淪he is a local actress who鈥檚 been in plays all over the city, and a strong actress, who鈥檚 bringing her knowledge and strength to the role,鈥� Madrid said.

The other two leads are both versions of Anaya.

鈥淩udolfo Anaya wrote a semi-autobiographical story with magic added in, so he wrote the child version of himself, who鈥檚 a kid named Tony,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥淎nd then, he wrote himself as the author into the play 鈥� which is not part of the book. So, two actors are playing the same character at different ages.鈥�

The young Tony character is being played by Cybrus Gomez, and the grown author and narrator is being played by Jonathan Tyrell. 

鈥淐ybrus is actually in college, but one of our major themes in playing with the idea of storytelling is that we have different people of different ages playing kids, and we have men playing women and women playing men,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥淚t all leads to this idea of storytelling, where everybody plays a lot of different roles.鈥�

Madrid recently directed Gomez in a production of 鈥淟uchadora鈥� at Eastern New Mexico State University, where he played a Mexican wrestler.

鈥淎nd Jonathan Tyrell 鈥� is doing a really stellar job as the author,鈥� Madrid said.

In addition to the human characters, two magical animal characters 鈥� the golden carp and the owl 鈥� will be performed as marionettes. Madrid made the marionettes himself.

鈥淲e wanted the owl to be able to fly, so I made it out of the lightest materials I could find. 鈥� It鈥檚 suspended on a fishing rod, and I think it鈥檚 very pretty,鈥� he said.

Because 鈥淏less Me, Ultima鈥� is such a classic literary work, many writers were eager to be involved in the production, Madrid said.

鈥淥ne of the things I found really exciting was, on the first day of rehearsal, I said, 鈥楬ey, if you鈥檙e a playwright, raise your hand.鈥� And a good three-quarters of the actors are also theater makers or writers,鈥� Madrid said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a playwright, and I鈥檓 directing it. Don Garc铆a is an award-winning playwright, and he鈥檚 one of the actors in it. There鈥檚 a lot of storytellers in their own right who have come together, because they know this story is important for storytellers.鈥�

After its run at The Vortex this month, Madrid鈥檚 鈥淏less Me, Ultima鈥� will be performed at the National Hispanic Cultural Center from Aug. 20-23.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the 近距离内射合集. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .