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Fairy Tales and Myth

Fairy tales from various cultures have been adapted by and for Latinx cultures. Some of the adaptations listed below were designed for young audiences and others not at all. The shows designed for children always include both Spanish and English.

The Brothers Grimm

Ghostwritten
by Naomi Iizuka

Iizuka’s play about the legacy of trauma caused by the Vietnam Conflict is also a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It was first performed in 2009 at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, directed by Lisa Portes.

Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans: A Salsa Fairy Tale
by Karen Zacarías
Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma

This adaptation of Cinderella was developed for children and includes Cinderella, new characters Rose and Joey, her padrino (godfather), and four classmates. It was commissioned by and first produced at Imagination Stage in Bethesda in 2003.

Cenicienta: A Bilingual Cinderella Story
by Caroline Reck and Rupert Reyes
Music by Ammon Taylor

Cenicienta was developed in Austin at Zach Theater in collaboration with Teatro Vivo and Glass Half Full Theatre for children and first performed in 2015. It involves a character named Belinda who tells her story with the use of puppetry and props. It has been seen by thousands of children.

All images courtesy of Glass Half Full Theatre

Alice in Wonderland & The Wizard of Oz

Alicia en Wonder Tierra
(or I Can't Eat Goat Head)
by Silvia S. González

Alicia was a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. It was first staged in 1995 at The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, MO, and directed by José Cruz González. The play began as a one-act but changed to a full-length play, and it has had many stagings.

The Wizard of Aztlan
by Teatro ChUSMA

Link to full article

ChUMSA was a long-running performance troupe in Los Angeles, and their version of this story was first performed in 2001 and multiple times afterwards in venues throughout the area.

Alicia in Arroyoland
by Ralph Waxman

Waxman's adaptation for Arroyo Arts Collective and Teatro Arroyo was bilingual and directed by Guillermo Aviles-Rodriguez.

Courtesy of Carla Della Gatta

Somewhere Over the Border
by Brian Quijada

Quijada’s take on The Wizard of Oz is a semi-biographical and fantastical narrative of his mother’s journey from El Salvador to the U.S. It premiered in 2022 at Teatro Vista in Chicago.

El Otro Oz
by Mando Alvarado and Tommy Newman

El Otro Oz included music and lyrics by Jaime Lozano and Newman. The play was directed by Elena Araoz and first performed in 2022 and staged in venues in New York such as Pregones/PRRT, El Museo del Barrio, and the Jamaica Performing Arts Center.

And Your Little Dog Too
by Brooks Reeves

In the tradition of Apollinaire’s many bilingual shows, Reeves’ 2022 adaptation was an immersive “on-your-feet” adaptation that included a number of high school, college, and recent graduates in the cast.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol en la Frontera
by Jay Stratton and Adriana Domínguez

Link to full article

This version of A Christmas Carol developed by Stratton and Domínguez in 2018 has been performed for over 10,000 children to date.

Photography by Adriana Dominguez
Courtesy of Jay Stratton and Adriana Dominguez
All photos are from the 2018 production

A People's Cuban Christmas Tale
by Herbert Siguenza

One of Herbert Sigüenza’s many adaptations, Scrooge and Marley are sugar exporters and the action is set in Havana. The ghosts take Scrooge to his past - before the Cuban Revolution – and of course to the present and future. The play incorporates some poetry by José Martí, as well as Afro-Cuban music. It was first produced in 2021 by OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista, CA.

Photography by Daren Scott
Courtesy of Daren Scott
All photos are from the 2021 production

Other

Fur
by Migdalia Cruz

Cruz’s Fur was first performed in 1995 in Chicago and has had numerous stagings since. The three-person play is inspired by the French fairy tale “La Belle et la Bête” by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.

Waking Up in Lost Hills
by José Cruz González

González wrote the script for this 2004 devised theater piece with Cornerstone Theater Company. It included original music written and performed by Michael Archuleta, and it was directed by Bill Rauch. A riff on “Rip Van Winkle,” the short story by Washington Irving, and it included a cast of over forty, including more than twenty-five members of the community. Lost Hills is in central California and it was performed at Lost Hills School.

It's a Wonderful Vida
by Herbert Siguenza

Herbert Sigüenza’s adaptation situates the story in Corpus Christi in 1957, with the Pacheco Morales family who have experienced crossing the border to flee the Mexican Revolution. The play incorporates satire and telenovela, and a heightened comic tone alongside its social critique.

​

All ephemera from the 2022 staging
at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista, CA.

Sleep with the Angels
by Evelina Fernández

Link to full article

Fernández rescripts Mary Poppins (originally a book series by P.L. Travers) to a wealthy Latinx couple who hire a nanny for their two children. It was first produced in 2022 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and directed by José Luis Valenzuela.

Saul Nieto and Esperanza America in Sleep with the Angels at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (2022)
Photography by Grettel Cortes Photography
Courtesy of Evelina Fernández

Teatro SEA

Teatro SEA
New York, NY

Teatro SEA (Society of the Educational Arts, Inc.) was founded by Dr. Manuel A. Morán in 1985 and creates plays and programming for Spanish-speaking and bilingual audiences, especially children. They have adapted numerous fairy tales,  and their shows include intricate puppetry. Their site includes teacher resource guides and bilingual books for children. They are located in both New York and Puerto Rico.

 

Their 2015 production of Sueño, an Afro-Caribbean adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, was their first Shakespearean adaptation, and it is featured in Chapter Five of Latinx Shakespeares.

Sueño by Norge Espinosa, directed by Manuel A. Morán at Teatro SEA (2015)
Photography by: George Riverón
Courtesy of: Teatro SEA
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