San Diego’s longest-running professional theatre production is celebrating its 24th anniversary this year, but Lucifer is sneering. The Prince of Darkness and his minions are making plans to ruin the first Christmas.
“La Pastorela de Inspiracion,” the newest in Teatro Mascara Magica’s award-winning series of Mexican-inspired Christmas musicals, once again features the timeless battle between Lucifer’s forces of evil and Michael the Archangel’s champions of goodness set in today’s world of chaos and hope. Angels and devils do battle in 2014 disguises.
“La Pastorela is our gift to this unique community,” said playwright Dr. Max Branscomb. “It is a lot of fun and a reminder that people of good will can make a difference in our world.”
“La Pastorela de Inspiracion” is a contemporary borderlands twist on the traditional story of the shepherds’ journey to Bethlehem to witness the first Christmas. Called to action by Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the shepherds face temptation and danger from evil Lucifer and his nasty crew. The bilingual script is primarily in English with Christmas carols sung in Spanish.
Written by Dr. Max Branscomb and directed by William Virchis, “La Pastorela de Inspiracion” runs Dec. 11-14 and 18-20 at 7:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. Dec. 13, 14, 20 and 21 at the Lyceum Theater in Horton Plaza. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students, military and groups and $7 for children under 12 or groups of 10 or more. For reservations call (619) 544-1000.
Cast members include some of San Diego’s most popular actors. Paul Kruse is Lucifer, the rock star Prince of Darkness. Timothy Paul Evans and Sandra Ruiz are the devils Satan and Moloch. Willie Green plays Michael the Archangel, aided by Edwin Ortiz as Gabriel. Bryant Hernandez is back as Crespo the Sheep. Featured shepherds include Paul Araujo, Natalee Nordfeld and Bianca Quilantan.
La pastorela is a folk art form that dates back to the beginning of Christianity. During the second century early Christians in hiding acted out the Christmas story to hand it down in the oral tradition. It survived as an underground movement until the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the fourth century.
The Spaniards brought it to Mexico in the 1540s and it became that country’s most popular form of theatre. More than 2,500 variations are produced south of the border. Almost every city, town and village in Mexico has its own version of la pastorela.
A pastorela is the tale of the shepherd’s journey to Bethle-hem to witness the first Christmas. It is a journey fraught with temptation, distraction and mortal peril as the devils try to prevent the shepherds from reaching their special destination. It is a traditional morality play full of choices and introspection, but presented with levity, music, beautiful costumes and poetic dialogue.
TMM and the Old Globe Theater developed and produced the first English language pastorela in San Diego in 1991 at the Globe. The play appeals to English and Spanish speakers alike. The text is in English and the beautiful Christmas songs are in Spanish. Raul Moncada of the Globe wrote the first script and mentored Branscomb, who has written the show for 22 years. Virchis has directed or co-directed 23 of the 24 productions.
Branscomb’s devils and angels are masters of disguise who appear throughout the shepherd’s journey as historic and contemporary characters. His pastorelas have inspired theatre companies throughout the United States to produce their own.
Teatro Mascara Magica was founded in 1989 to increase the production of multicultural theatre and to provide professional theatrical opportunities to underrepresented segments of the population. Another mission of the Teatro is to subsidize ticket prices to make live theatre affordable to families and the less affluent. La Pastorela has been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as numerous human rights organizations. Teatro Mascara Magica was a recipient of the 2004 San Diego County Multicultural Heritage Award for its leadership in multicultural theatre.