Teatro Visión’s 11th annual Día de los Muertos play, La Muerte Baila by Rebecca Martinez and the Milagro Ensemble, is a heartwarming story about forgiveness, about remembrance, and about choosing how we live our lives, playing October 12-22 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.
The play follows a recently departed soul named Alejandro who has just arrived in Mictlán, the land of the dead, on the eve of el Día de los Muertos. But la Muerte notices that something is different about this soul’s arrival—he can’t remember anything about his past.
Meanwhile, los muertitos—the dead—can’t wait to get back to the land of the living to visit their loved ones. But the portal to the other land is blocked, and they discover that one of them is holding them back! To cross in time for the holiday, los muertitos have to help Alejandro resolve his unfinished business. Otherwise, they might be stuck until next year…
La Muerte Baila invites audiences to connect with the play in meaningful and unique ways. During the show, the audience become active participants in Alejandro’s healing process by sharing things they’d miss from Earth in the afterlife. The play’s comedic twists and turns have actors running through the audience and engaging with them throughout the show. The participatory aspect of the play begins with activities in the lobby beforehand, continues spontaneously throughout the performance, and ends with an invocation honoring those who have left us.
Director Rodrigo García says, “La Muerte Baila is a poignant story of love and forgiveness that shows us how we can overcome challenges in life—or death—with a helping hand from those around us. This ravishing play devised by Rebecca Martinez and the Milagro Theatre ensemble uses levity and humor to remind us that laughter is a powerful medicine para el corazón.”
During the rehearsal process for the play, Teatro Visión has also collaborated with a group of San José State University students and community members called the Cultural Work of Poetry, a project of the Culture Counts Reading Series. Together, they’ve worked to create a series of poems that deepen the community’s connection to the themes of the play.
To explore joy, remembrance, healing, and forgiveness, the Cultural Work of Poetry members have led workshops with college and high school students, community members, and artists and created several poems that resonate with the play. One of these poems will be read aloud at the beginning of each performance, connecting the community’s own experiences to the stories of the play’s characters.
You can see La Muerte Baila live and in-person October 12-22 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater. Tickets are $10 to $40, on sale now at www.teatrovision.org/lamuertebaila or (408) 294-6621. La Muerte Baila is directed by Rodrigo García and features music direction by Lolis García. In Spanish with supertitles in English and Spanish.
