PALENQUE ROJO RETURS TO HOME

After a successful tour through the cities of Monterrey, Monclova, Piedras Negras, Cuatro Cienegas and Acapulco, Palenque Rojo returns home: The great Daniel Zebadua Theater in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

20 actors on stage, live pre-Hispanic music, dances, rituals and incense give life to priests, maidens, warriors and rulers, transporting the viewer into the heart of the Mayan world.

FUNCTIONS:

This coming Sunday July 18 will begin its third season of Summer.
The functions will be at 20:00 hrs. Daily until 15 August.

STELLAR NIGHT:

July 20, the renowned actress Sylvia Pasquel unveil the plaque of the 500 representations of Palenque Rojo, a historic event in the life of the theater in Chiapas.

As of July 18 goes on sale a CD of music from Palenque Rojo. Buy it

A brief synopsis

We are met with archeologists, who in the midst of their field experience, traverse the entrails of the jungle, the pyramids, and time, and bring us to recollect old passions and lost dreams. This connects us with the story of Kan Joy Chitam and his bas-relief, from which blooms the legend of Palenque. Two figures accompany us through time and space in the telling of this story: Junanjpu and Ixb`alanke. The figures emerge from the beautiful Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayan quichés and are known as the Divine Twins, the sons of Heart of Heaven and Heart of Earth, and also the ballplayer gods.

Four women dance to ask their gods permission to begin a purifying ritual and in this way to invoke their ancestors. Kan Joy Chitam, ruler of Palenque, governs in a time of plenty, and is one of the most brilliant leaders in Palenque's history. Rumors of war with Toniná circulate and cause unrest, ultimately becoming reality in the war room of Toniná, where the attack is officially planned. There, the Ruler Kawil or Smoked Mirror, newly widowed, dresses in the military robes of her husband to command the attention of her people. With the support of the General Baknal Chak, she resolves to attack Palenque.

In the summer of the year we know as 711 AD, the whispers become reality, and Toniná attacks Palenque. Although the city is not taken, the warriors of Toniná do manage to kidnap the God-Ruler Kan Joy Chitam. The Ruler Kawil then unmasks herself to further humiliate the people of Palenque: they are vanquished by a woman! In his cell, Kan Joy Chitam dreams of the realization of a ritual, facilitated by the Four Ages. He practices the sacred sacrifice of bloodletting his genitals, and through the smoke that rises from the burning of his blood, he hopes to call the attention of the gods to his plight. In his hallucination, he descends to Xibalbá, the underworld of the Maya, and there encounters the gods of darkness; and among them, the God of Death, or Ah Puch.

After ten years of great suffering, the Divine Twins take pity on the king, and send to his rescue the Lord of the Winds. This symbolizes the passage of the story, for it is unknown how the king actually managed to escape. When he returns to Palenque, Kan Joy Chitam is welcomed home with great honors, but in recognition of his old age, places his nephew, Ahkal Mo’ Nahb’, on the throne in his stead. He decides to confront his destiny and retires, setting an example of wisdom, compassion, and humility. He offers his life to the gods in a ritual of self-sacrifice. After his death, he is transformed into a star in the heavens, there to reign in the cosmos.