B’aktun 13-A Review

Daniel Malan is the co-founder of Miracle Theatre Group.

B’aktun 13 is about the end of the Mayan long count calendar and the significance of December 21, 2012. In the popular imagination on that date Ixchel, the goddess of water and the moon, and Ah Puch, the Mayan god of death (using very colorful masks), will bring calamity and death according to prophecies.

The play was performed in Takena Hall at Russell Tripp Theater, Thursday, April 26 at 7 p. m. in front of about 50 people with the majority Spanish-speaking.

In this bi-lingual production, Sal, played by Ajai Terrazas-Tripathi, Rio, played by Daniel Moreno, and Luz, played by Tricia Castaneda-Gonzales are deported to Mexico, because they do not have papers to stay in the United States. 

Drums pounding, the actors in black enter through a traditional colorful Mayan backdrop and have to decide what they need to do about their deportation and how to survive in Mexico.  Living in Woodburn, Oregon most of their lives, none of them have been to Mexico in years and Sal does not even speak Spanish.

This scenery is the backdrop for B'aktun 13, the play.

They must learn to work together to survive B’aktun, Ixchel and Ah Puch, played by Daniel Malan, co-founder of Miracle Theatre Group with her husband Jose Eduardo Gonzalez. 

Luz, an orphan, is a street smart, savvy woman, who has survived in America any way she can from pushing drugs to selling herself. 

Sal is a paper pusher in America, who hates being a Mexican and wants to believe he can trust the police and make everything alright through the American justice system.  Thinking that he should have all the rights of any other citizen of American, Sal has totally deluded himself into thinking he is truly an American and should be treated that way.

Rio, a flamboyant homosexual, wears large native earrings with turquoise eye makeup and fingernail/toenail.  Playing the shell and whistles from Mexico, Rio proves that you cannot judge a book by its cover with his insightful intelligence and insight into both characters, holding the group together.

Realizing they are the faceless and nameless, living underground, in America, now that they are in Mexico, they find the strength to survive death together.  Covering issues from prejudices, citizenship, friendship, and death, the trio come to an understanding on all the issues in under an hour.  

Teatro Milagro Artistic Director, Daniel Malan, took some time to pose for photos and explain the use of the masks in the play and how they love to travel around doing the play, especially at colleges. In the Gazette Times of, Malan said "the play overall, especially with its inclusion of immigration issues, is intended to push on hot button topics." “We want to generate a conversation — the big conversations people are having.”



Two other masks are used to portray characters in B'aktun 13.



The rendering from English to Spanish flowed professionally, with no hesitation or mishaps.  Understanding the Spanish rendition was easy, since the players spoke clearly with clarity and excellent diction but, if you did not understand Spanish, following the play was still done with great skill.

The audience was a mixture both English and Spanish cultures and, by the applause, enjoyed the performance.  Talking with friends after the performance, they had no problem understanding the play, even though they did not speak spanish.



This is one of the masks used in the play, B'aktun 13.



At a Glance:

B'aktun 13

Thursday, April 26 7 p. m.

Russell Tripp Theatre

Matthew B. Zrebski, director, has mounted over 40 world premieres and has had many of his own plays produced, including the planet ME, Neck, A Place Called Timothy, Parts, After the Zipper, Darkstep and Dawning, The Vespiary, Ablaze, Hunter in the Corner, The Aquavarian, Handprint Alley, and Rubber 'n' Glue.

Danel Malan as Ixchel & Ah Puch

Sal as Ajai Terrazas-Tripathi

Rio as  Daniel Moreno

Luz as Tricia Castaneda-Gonzales