Lucía Fuentes

Spiritual guru, Hernán Espinoza, walks Japan’s Shikoku pilgrimage path to honor the lives of 43 boys disappeared in his home country of Mexico. Coincidentally, the Abbess that guides all Shikoku pilgrims has a vital interest in Hernán’s journey, yet senses she must test his true intentions. While taking a shortcut to save time, Hernán has a breakdown. Not knowing whether he is alive or dead, a man or a woman, a saint or a sinner, in Japan or not, he continues to the end, which, on the circular Shikoku path, is also the beginning.

Lucía Fuentes is both triggered and inspired by the global #MeToo reckoning and by the disappearance of 43 boys in Mexico.

Dramatic readings are with the Playwrights Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Berkeley Play Cafe and Lightcap Farm and in 2022, Playland Productions produces a staged dramatic reading at San Francisco's Potrero Stage directed by Katja Rivera as one of three plays PlayGround selects for the inaugural Free-Plays Festival.  Lucía Fuentes is a semi-finalist for the 2021 Woodward International Playwriting Prize and is one of four plays selected by Town Hall Theatre (Lafayette, CA) for production in their 2023-2024 New Voices Festival.  

Cast: 
Hernán: A prickly pilgrim from Mexico (m/50). Red Henro: An enigmatic pilgrim from Japan (f/25). Gold Monk: The guardian of Temple 1 (m/100). Abbess: The spiritual leader of Temple 1 (f/75). María: An extreme athlete from Spain (f/25). Jesús: An extreme athlete from Spain (m/25). Silver Henro: A fast-paced silent pilgrim (m/50). Ensemble: Walking, meditating or chanting nuns and hyper-masculine flamenco dancers.
Authors: 
J. Lynn Jackson