From Shakespeare and "Macbeth" to the Mexican Revolution: The Fantastic in the Staging of "Mendoza" by Juan Carrillo

Abstract

Mendoza, premiered in November 2012 at the LABTrece venue in Mexico City by the Los Colochos Teatro company under the direction of Juan Carrillo, incorporates fantastic elements in its adaptation of Macbeth, relocating the action to the historical context of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. The play recounts the rise of General José Mendoza, whose ambition is ignited by the prophecies of a witch and encouraged by his wife, unleashing a spiral of irreversible violence. This analysis approaches, from a methodological perspective, the spectacular dimension of the fantastic in Mendoza, drawing on contemporary definitions of this category to examine the construction of such possible world on the Mexican stage.