Haunted by folkloric spirits and hunted by ICE, a girl journeys beyond life to discover inherited wisdom in a visually arresting production blending puppetry, music and live performance. Latino Theater Company brings back Austin, Texas-based Glass Half Full Theatre and its unique production of Yamel Cucuy, last seen at the company’s 2024 Encuentro theater festival. Performances run October 10 through November 1 at The Los Angeles Theatre Center, with low-priced previews October 8 and 9. The bilingual production is performed in English and Spanish and features supertitles in both languages.
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Written by Glass Half Full co-artistic directors Indigo Rael, Caroline Reck and Gricelda Silva, with additional text contributions from Jesús Valles and Connor Hopkins, and directed by Reck, Yamel Cucuy follows Yamel, a girl on the threshold of adulthood who is pursued by immigration agents and tormented by specters drawn from Mexican folklore. As she crosses the shadowy frontier between life and death, Yamel must summon the courage and wisdom to confront both inherited fears and present-day violence.
The production blends sophisticated puppetry with live actors, drawing on frightening folk tales and modern horror movies to create a surreal, terrifying psychological landscape populated by legendary figures: La Llorona, a weeping woman who scours riverbanks for children to replace her own, whom she drowned in anger; La Mano Peluda, a disembodied, snatching hand; El Viejo del Costal, an old man who steals children away in a sack; La Lechuza, a witch whose presence summons death and who is seen variously as human or owl; and, scariest of all, El Cucuy, a demon without a clear description because no one who has seen it has lived to tell the tale. An original score by Paul Piñon, featuring Indigenous percussion and folkloric guitar, underscores the production’s journey through memory, terror and transformation.
“Bringing Yamel Cucuy back to The LATC at this moment feels both urgent and deeply meaningful,” says Latino Theater Company artistic director Jose Luis Valenzuela. “This production speaks to the fears carried by immigrant families, the stories passed down by our elders and the resilience required to move through a world that can be frightening and unjust. The Latino Theater Company has always been a home for courageous, culturally specific work, and we are proud to welcome Glass Half Full Theatre back to Los Angeles.”
The production stars Zac Carr, Marina DeYoe-Pedraza, Michael Galván, Diana Guizado, Gustavo Martinez, Antonio Medrano and Minerva Villa.
Dramaturgy is by James Montaño. Mágica and Mictlan consulting is by Alexis Arredondo. Scenic design and fabrications are by Hopkins, Reck and Rael. Lighting design is by Rachel Atkinson, with sound design and video integration by K. Eliot Haynes and projection design by Rael. Costume design is by Annie Ulrich, with additional costuming by Reck and Rael. The Yamel puppet was created by Reck. Shadow puppetry is by Hopkins, Rael and Reck. Stage managers are Zac Crofford and Joshua Martin.
A recipient of multiple awards, Glass Half Full Theatre creates original performances using the precise physical language of humans and puppets to confront global issues of environmental and social justice.
Yamel Cucuy opens Saturday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. Performances continue Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through November 1. Two preview performances take place Thursday, Oct. 8 and Friday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for previews and all Thursday performances; $48 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances, except opening night; $24 for students, seniors, veterans and LAUSD teachers with valid ID; and $75 for opening night, which includes a post-performance reception.
The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located at 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Parking is available for $8 with box office validation at the Los Angeles Garage Associates parking structure, 545 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (between 5th and 6th Streets, just behind the theater).
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