Into The Beautiful North

Performances Friday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Live on ZOOM

ADMISSION: Free, donations gratefully accepted

If you wish to register to see a performance, please click on your desired date above. Thank you!

In conjunction with the Santa Fe Public Library’s Big Read Project happening in April 2021 celebrating Luis Alberto Urrea’s novel Into The Beautiful North, Teatro Paraguas will present live on Zoom the play adaptation by Karen Zacarias.

Mr. Urrea’s over-the-top epic comedy addresses a panoply of issues surrounding the Border: immigration, narcotics, racism, poverty, and xenophobia. Written in 2009, Into the Beautiful North is an adventure story that parallels the plot of the Hollywood movie, The Magnificent Seven. Set in the village of Tres Camarones in Sinaloa, Mexico, nineteen-year-old Nayeli, the novel’s protagonist, notices that there are no men left in the village – they have all gone north for work and a better life. Fearing that the village will be taken over by narcotraficantes, Nayeli is inspired by The Magnificent Seven to head north and recruit seven men that will become Tres Camarones’ warriors and protectors. She is supported by her Aunt Irma, Tres Camarones’ brash and unapologetic Mayor, and travels north with her Mexican Goth friend Vampi, and the town’s gay internet cafe owner Tacho.

JoJo Sena de Tarnoff directs the stage adaptation by Karen Zacarias, a prominent Latinx playwright whose skillful adaptation captures all the thrills and anguish and triumphs of the novel. Isabel Gallegos, a senior at New Mexico School for the Arts, portrays Nayeli, and classmate Elsa Sanchez takes on the role of Vampi. Veteran Teatro Paraguas actor and director Roxanne Tapia takes on the role of Tia Irma, and Pablo Angeles plays Tacho.

Rounding out the cast and playing a constellation of characters including border agents and a wannabe superhero are Israel Alvarez (joining the Zoom performances from Mexico), Carlos Alberto de la Torre, Oscar Rodriguez, and Niko’a Salas (joining from Georgia).

The play production is part of a community-wide event initiated by the Santa Fe Public Library and sponsored by a Big Read Project grant from the Nation Endowment of The Arts. Please visit https://santafelibrary.org/calendar-3/ for a full list of activities, or visit the Big Read website at https://santafereads.weebly.com/

The production is also made possible in part by New Mexico Arts and the Santa fe Community Foundation.