PURE THEATRE IN THE 4TH LIFE AND DEATH TRADITIONS FESTIVAL

The 4th Festival of Life and Death Traditions, Xcaret 2009, to be held from next October 30th to November 2nd, has an interesting theatrical offering on its artistic billing in the formats of reader’s, black, community, regional, puppet and street theatre, with productions that bring together professionals of the calibre of Ignacio López Tarso with his reader’s theatre proposal Macario, death’s godson, a work that will whet the appetites of those who know about and like theatrical reading and the imaginative use of sound effects.
Ay, what a stupid death!, is the name of a production by Marta de Juana and her group who, through the sounds of the piano, violin, accordion, and bottle xylophone will tell of the funny adventures that people sometimes find in death.
And now that we are in the mood for laughter and fun, La Trouppe, one of the best children’s theatre companies in our country, with 29 years experience on the stage, will surprise all present with its Trupus Calacus, an extraordinary show of lights and colour that will allow the clowns Trupo and Canica to travel to the south-east in search of Don Tilico F. Huesa, a wise councillor who will tell them how to bring back Lady Lucas and Noni Pelusa from the infraworld, where they have been lost since having a paranormal experience. 
Vacations in purgatory is another play that will have the audience roaring with laughter when two personalities from the golden age of Mexican cinema, Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, tell their story using the projection of fragments of their movies and funny dialogues written by the Venezuelan Ángel Mendez.
Since we are talking about laughter, there is also regional Yucatecan theatre with the work Death isn’t what it’s made out to be, a show directed by Raúl Niño which contains legends and traditional rhyming verse “bombas”. Of course there are no better exponents of good “bombas” than Boxito and Boxita, characters whose mischief will spice up the production  Bombas for the living and dead, where everyday situations are treated with good humour and fun.
Diary of a clown who didn’t know how to die, by the Red Tricycle group is another humorous production which, using the Clown technique, makes us imagine what could happen to a clown when he forgets he is dead and doesn’t know how to find his way back to the beyond.
From the jungle and white paths, from ranches and villages, come a good part of the stories told by Don Domingo Dzul, one of the best storytellers in the southeast of Mexico, and the community theatre groups, both from the state of Yucatán and Quintana Roo, who will be acting on the different stages of Xcaret Park. Also The stories of the Yucatecan grandfather will showcase the spoken word tradition of the Mayan communities, while the community theatre group from Izamal will portray some others with its production of Sacbé, a play which tells the story of a little girl who pays the price for not believing that the souls return home during Hanal Pixán.
Life and death tales and melodies is a Yucatecan production that includes poetry, music, songs and legend. The space of the dead is another community theatre play which will tell in bilingual form (Mayan and Spanish) of the secret way in which human beings can see the world of the dead. The Kiimak Ool Saastal group, from the La Esperanza community in Jose María Morelos will present its Soul exchange, where we will become acquainted with the protection rituals which are still practiced in the Mayan region. The soul of the twins, by the community theatre group from Tihosuco in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, will stage an old story on what you should do when a twin brother dies.
Don’t be frightened by my name, winner in Europe of the Feten (2005), Lleida (2005) and Max (2007) awards, is a production not to be missed. The María Parrato Theatre Company successfully uses its puppets to create an ideal atmosphere for learning about the value of life and understanding that death is a vital part of its circle.
Family Portrait by the 20 Varos group, is a worthy representative of street theatre in Playa del Carmen, since its stilt walkers and skeletons amusingly recreate the iconography of José Guadalupe Posada and give life as much to the Catrina as to the Revolutionary Death, the Skeletons on their Bicycles, the baker or the Musical Band.  
Another important contribution is made by the Xipetotek Group, whose stage productions include a lot of dance which is an infallible ritual ingredient. Kinix Ahua, the jaguar from the infraworld, is the name of one of the shows, based on the sacred importance of the jaguar in funeral ceremonies and the belief in a myth which affirms that to be able to walk through the infraworld, the daytime sun must turn itself into a jaguar.
The game of life and death, is another show by the Xipetotek group that recreates a fragment of the Popol Vuh tale, in which the prodigious twins Ixbalanqué and Junaj’pú travel to Xibalbá, the world of the dead, to challenge the men of darkness, in the traditional ball game.
Querétaro will also be present with its musical-theatrical show Encounter of the Dead, a production where the costumes of the era, the legends and the songs will unite their mystical power to generate in the spectators moments of mystery and nervous expectation.
And last but not least, there is of course the theatrical tour Walking with the spirits of the jungle, produced by Alejandra Díaz de Cossío, which will allow the walkers to hear about the experiences of the gum farmers of Quintana Roo, from how they are seduced by the beauty of the X’tabay to the secrets kept by the jade doll.
When all is said and done, in this 4th Festival of Life and Death Traditions there are all kinds of theatre, and also music and dance, and workshops, and exhibitions, and videos, and offerings and regional food and … and let’s go right now to Xcaret where the colour of the orange marigolds, the heat of the candles and the smell of the copal attract the living as much as the dead.