Courtesy of Kayla Asbell/Theater MITU
Juarez: A Documentary Mythology
The NYU Abu Dhabi Theater Program, in association with Theater Mitu, is presenting Juárez: A Documentary Mythology from March 7 to 9 in the Downtown ...
Mar 8, 2014
The NYU Abu Dhabi Theater Program, in association with Theater Mitu, is presenting Juárez: A Documentary Mythology from March 7 to 9 in the Downtown Campus. NYUAD Director of Arts and Theater Program Rubén Polendo directed the production, and students work as apprentices for the four shows. This is the third leg of the production, having previously opened in Juárez and El Paso in July 2013 and run in New York City from Jan. 9 to Jan 19 at the beginning of 2014. It is now showing in Abu Dhabi for the first time.
The production is based on the city of Ciudad Juárez, in Mexico. Historically called Paso del Norte, or Path to the North, the city is located to the south of El Paso, Texas, and lies on the Río Grande. What was once a peaceful neighborhood of cotton fields now has one of the highest murder rates in the world. The show highlighted the juxtaposition between Juárez and El Paso, the safest city in the United States.
Before the show started, Polendo announced to the audience that the production is close to his heart because he was born and raised in Ciudad Juárez, and Juárez is the place he calls home. However, the city of his childhood became what the world now knows as one of the most dangerous places in the world. To understand the destruction, violence and change that his city experienced, Polendo and his company, Theater Mitu, spent three years in the streets of Ciudad Juárez interviewing and documenting people and their stories. In the show's program, Polendo is quoted:
"I created this show along with the company members of Theater Mitu as a way to rediscover my hometown — Ciudad Juárez, Mexico — and El Paso, Texas, its sister city across the border. For years I had been hearing stories in the news about the violence, cartels, kidnappings, murder, drug smuggling and other woes that plagued this border community. Most of my family still lives in the area, and though I returned occasionally, I began to feel it was quickly becoming a foreign place to me."
The show is presented as a documentary, according to Polendo.
"Having first amassed a considerable body of factual information about Juárez and the U.S.-Mexican history in relation to border agreements, the 'war on drugs' and each country's respective policies to protect its citizens, we created a journalistically influenced documentary archive of place; the research oriented fact-based aspect of the project," Polendo wrote in the program.
Furthermore, the show also brings in the idea of mythology. Stories, secrets, conversations, bar-stool narratives, memories and gossip were captured by Polendo and his company.
"Additionally, as artists ourselves, the company was distinctly interested in exploring the dreamscape of a place; how it produces its subjects and vice-versa. How does music, folktale, bar-stool narrative or kitchen-table secret function in a place that feels as though it is imploding?"
The content of the show was based on the three years of interviews that Polendo and his team conducted. They interviewed people from all walks of life, including journalists, psychotherapists, students and waitresses, among others. The production highlights themes of femicide, rape, gang-violence, murder, kidnapping, drug export and corruption. Moreover, not only did the company explore anecdotes of violence or causes of violence and destruction, but it also narrated the subjects of change, hope and determination as explained by the residents of Juárez.
The theater company's mission was to landscape an emotional story of Juárez.
The tickets sold out within the first day, and most people have voiced their appreciation of the show. However, freshman Eduardo Betancourt Campillo from Mexico had a mixed response to the show.
"I think it was a fair representation of the facts, and it's okay to let these voices be heard. It's nice not to only show the violence but show how it's beginning to improve and things are getting better,” he said.
“I liked that the end was hopeful, but I did not like some of the representations of the politics. That was a very pessimistic view,” said Campillo, reflecting on the piece and his own experiences. “[Mexico] can improve and start getting on the road of progress."
related
trending