Teatro Nacional Cervantes · 75 min | 2024 | Stage Piece | ARG

Playwright: Cristina Escofet

Huesera: Maia Mónaco

Malinche: Ana Yovino

On-Stage Musician: Maximiliano Más

Costume Design: Adriana Dicaprio

Scenic Design: Alejandro Mateo

Lighting Design: Soledad Ianni

Audiovisual Design & Production: Lucio Bazzalo

Original Music & Musical Direction: Gerardo Morel

Director: Andrés Bazzalo

TNC Assistant Director: Vanesa Campanini

TNC Producers: Lucía Quintana, Sofía García Jabif, and Anabella Iara Zarbo Colombo

The piece recreates the story of Malinalli, princess of Paynala, as narrated by La Huesera (The Bone Woman)—a woman over 400 years old—through the corn kernels read by La Cantora (The Songstress). Stripped of her noble heritage by family decisions, Malinalli transforms into La Malinche, Hernán Cortés's "tongue" (interpreter) and the ultimate archetype of the pivotal woman caught between the Mesoamerican world and the Spanish conquest. Set between 1500 and 1523, this confessional work culminates with the protagonist on the verge of giving birth. Trapped between roots buried by genocide and submission to the power of Charles V and the Inquisition, between forgotten gods and a punishing religion, Malinche emerges as a raw figure: traitor or survivor?

Lucio Bazzalo’s audiovisual design and production build a visual universe that dialogues with the ritualistic and confessional dimensions of the play. Through imagery that evokes the intersection of the ancestral and the historical, his work accompanies Malinalli’s tale, weaving atmospheres that amplify the protagonist's voice and underscore the tension between Mesoamerican cultures and the machinery of conquest. The audiovisual elements operate as an additional narrative layer, integrating seamlessly into the stage performance to amplify the question that drives the entire piece.