On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour, I attended a press conference for the official unveiling of the website for a new play. The play, La [medio] diezmada (the half-decimated), will have its world premiere on December 22 at the Teatro Juárez in Oaxaca.
Cast members: Hugo Alberto Díaz Reyes, Mariela Blanco López, Esmeralda Aragón Zárate, and Fortunato Chávez, with Kurt Hackbarth (middle)
One of the inspirations for writer/director/producer, Kurt Hackbarth, was a photo he had seen of a half-alive/half-dead face in a sand painting. In one of those amazing coincidences, I’d actually photographed the very same tapete de arena laid out on the Alameda in Oaxaca during Los días de muertos in 2009.
Here is my close-up of the half living/half-dead face from the tapete above; the same face that triggered Kurt’s imagination…
… and I cropped and used for the website banner.
If you find yourself in Oaxaca on December 22, I encourage you to attend this world premiere! By the way, it’s a comedy!
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
I, too, am fascinated by the duality mask. My favorite precolumbian zapotec mask: http://www.mesoweb.com/es/recursos/MNA/63.html
This looks like fun by the way. Thanks for posting it.
Jody, if you look at one of the foto albums on the La [medio] diezmada website, you will see the same mask… it was Kurt’s other inspiration.
Great! – will be there – Marga
I’d love to see the website and can’t find it yet. Would you please list it? I will be in Oaxaca then and would love to see the play. Will it continue a run there in Oaxaca?
Your photos are SO good, thanks. Reading your blog makes my anticipation grow ever higher for seeing Oaxaca again. I haven’t found Tajin here in my small town (that’s one good reason to return!) I loved your spider tale.
Amber, so glad you are enjoying the blog! There should be a link to La [medio] diezmada embedded in the second sentence of my blog. However, if it’s not working in your browser, the website is: http://www.lamediodiezmada.com
[…] the way, you may remember Kurt Hackbarth from my post on his comedy, La [medio] diezmada. This time around he penned a well received drama, El Ostrakón that premiered on August 29, 2012 […]