A local artist is bringing a tradition of the Day of the Dead to the stage.
Santiago Guzmán is the writer and star of the one man show “Altar”, which tells the story of a queer, young, immigrant from Mexico named Eugenio, that has moved to St. John’s, and is dealing with a breakup where his boyfriend stopped responding and “ghosted” him.
To deal with the break-up, Eugenio uses a Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, traditional altar.
Altars are used for people to honour those who have passed away by displaying items that they liked, photographs, and tokens of appreciation.
ALTAR is opening tonight in St. John’s, NL.
DO NOT miss this gorg show that my pals and I put together. There are TWO live-streamed performances on Oct 30th and Nov 6th (for those outside of YYT). https://t.co/rOfjca3pjY@RCAatLSPUHall pic.twitter.com/UFLytKuYC0
— Santiago Guzmán (@santiguzjan) October 29, 2021
Guzmán explains why he went in this direction.
He says that being so far away from home, the character is using something that is familiar to him to help him move on.
To honour the holiday, which takes place on November 1-2, the Resource Centre for the Arts will host a community altar in the Cox & Palmer Second Space at the LSPU Hall for the duration of the show’s run.
In addition, before every performance, a curtain-raiser performance from racialized artists is featured.
Guzmán says it’s exciting to promote diversity in the province’s arts community.
He says while he is visible and outspoken about diversity, not everyone is like that.
He says he didn’t want it to be “Santiago equals diversity”, as that is not the case.
He wants the curtain-raisers to help create a truly diverse event.
The show runs tonight for a special Day of the Dead performance, and from Monday to Thursday in St. John’s at the LSPU Hall, and in Corner Brook November 12-14 at the Rotary Arts Club.
