Invierno

José Cruz González’s play Invierno, which appears in Volume 2 of The Bard in the Borderlands: An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations en La Frontera, is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale that emphasizes themes of trauma and reconciliation in the aftermaths of colonization. Set in California’s Central Coast on Chumash land, Invierno toggles between the twenty-first century and a period of time leading up to the U.S. invasion of Mexico that would end in 1848 with the Mexican cession of more than half of its territory to the United States. In the final scene, the play’s characters come together in the wake of this rupture to begin the work of healing after years of separation and mourning, brought about by Don León’s jealousy and colonial paranoia. Paulina, a Chumash healer, begins by speaking in Samala, the language of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

Act 2, Scene 7

PAULINA enters and blesses the tree.

PAULINA
Nox aleqwel seqeniyu’w a kiyaxsumu’ na qilik’ e’n a č’ič’i’. (Creator, take from us our suffering and watch over this child.)

DON LEÓN and the YOUNG WOMAN enter.

DON LEÓN
Oh, hermana …

PAULINA
Your work is finished.

DON LEÓN
Gracias a Dios

YOUNG WOMAN (to DON LEÓN)
May I see her?

DON LEÓN
Let my daughter look upon her mother.

PAULINA
Very well.

(to the YOUNG WOMAN) Your father spent many years carving the very likeness of your mother into this grand tree. She lived. Without peer. He captured her true essence.

She reveals HERMONIA.

PAULINA
Not a word? Can no one speak?

CASPIAN
It is she.

DON PATRICIO
It’s as if she never aged.

YOUNG WOMAN
May I touch her?

PAULINA
No, the paint is still fresh.

DON LEÓN
Your mother was an angel.

He weeps.

CASPIAN
Don León, ya no llores.

DON PATRICIO
Sixteen winters is too long, hermano.

PAULINA
Enough.

She begins to cover the image.

DON LEÓN
Don’t. ʼEneq a saxtakʰɨt (Wind Woman), please.

(to the carving) Respira, mi bendita.

YOUNG WOMAN
What is lost can be found. She never wavered in her courage. She kept her faith.

PAULINA
It was her way.

The wind is heard. The bottles begin to chime.

YOUNG WOMAN
What is it?

PAULINA
Do you hear it?

YOUNG WOMAN
Yes.

PAULINA (singing)

We’ we kice’
Ksuyuwanin
Ma k’ayapis i pi’
Weʼn a čʰoho

PAULINA invites the YOUNG WOMAN to come forward. The YOUNG WOMAN kneels.

YOUNG WOMAN (singing)

Sleep, my lovely lass,
Your life is adored,
You’re my heart,
Sleep safe, my jewel.

The tree begins to glow from inside, illuminating HERMONIA.

HERMONIA (singing)

Duerme, mi linda niña,
Tu vida adoro,
Eres mi corazón,
Te cuido, mi tesoro.

HERMONIA stirs to life.

DON PATRICIO
My God, she moves!

YOUNG MAN
Is it possible?

CASPIAN
If this is magic, then it is the truest of all the arts!

DON LEÓN (reaching out, touching her)
She’s warm!

She embraces him.

PAULINA (to HERMONIA)
Hermanita, esta es su hija.

HERMONIA steps out of the tree. She places her hand on the YOUNG WOMAN’s head.

HERMONIA
Alegría. You are my faith. You have found us and you complete us. Que Dios te bendiga y te acompañe mi hija.

HERMONIA embraces the YOUNG WOMAN.

HERMONIA (to PAULINA)
Thank you, sister.

PAULINA
Kʰumili. My promise is fulfilled.

HERMONIA
He. (Yes.)

PAULINA
He. (Yes.)

HERMONIA looks towards the YOUNG MAN.

HERMONIA
Who is this young man?

YOUNG WOMAN
That’s my boyfriend, A —

YOUNG MAN
— ’Tino. They call me ’Tino.

DON PATRICIO (to HERMONIA, proudly)
That’s my son!

DON LEÓN
A miracle. Paulina and Caspian, I know of your letters to one another. Take hands and join our familia.

CASPIAN (to PAULINA)
Ma k’aqsha, ma k’ayapis. (My love, dear one, my heart.)

PAULINA (to CASPIAN)
Ma k’aqsha, ma k’ayapis. (My love, dear one, my heart.)

DON LEÓN (to VAQUERO)
Vaquero, hermano.

VAQUERO
Pesado, bien pesado.

The wind rises and the bottles on the tree chime. VAQUERO, CASPIAN, and PAULINA cross to the other side, waiting. DON LEÓN takes HERMONIA’s hand and reaches out for DON PATRICIO. He joins their hands together. He wheels the empty wheelchair, and they join VAQUERO, CASPIAN, and PAULINA. They stand looking at the young couple for a few moments. They exit.

Posted: September 22, 2024 at 11:49 pm