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PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Metro Studio - Victoria, BC

April 26, 27 & 28th, 2013

Frederick Wood Theatre - Vancouver, BC

May 10, 11, & 12th, 2013

SummerWorks Performance Festival 2014
Mainstage Series

Venue: Theatre Passe Muraille (Mainspace)

Friday, August 8th: 7 pm 
Saturday, August 9th: 10 pm
Sunday, August 10th: 12 pm
Tuesday, August 12th: 7 pm
Wednesday, August 13th: 4:30 pm
Thursday, August 14th: 9:30 pm
Saturday, August 16th: 5 pm

Canadian Stage Award for Direction 2014:

Mercedes Bátiz-Benét - "El Jinete"

"El Jinete, a Mariachi Opera"

Written & Directed by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét

Featuring Mariachi Los Dorados, El Jinete is a tale of love, vengeance and the supernatural, told through classics of the Mariachi repertoire. Inspired by the Golden Era of Mexican cinema, the show uses multi-layered projections to make it a black and white film come to life. The Rider is a cursed mariachi with a bullet wound in his heart; like a Mexican Orpheus, he crosses the border into El Norte to avenge the kidnapping of his bride. On the other side of the Rio Grande, he finds a strange and modern world, from which he may never return…

"Love triangles are the basis of so many stories that you might think you've heard them all. Not so: El Jinete (The Rider) presents the archetypal tale as an all-Spanish, subtitled mariachi opera. Writer/director Mercedes Bátiz-Benét's vision is influenced by classic Mexican melodies and cinema as well as the Orpheus myth. The music and singing are first-rate, with an instrumental trio backing up the title figure (Alex Alegría), his beloved (Alexandra Lainfiesta), and the man who stands in their way, El Malo (Mario Sota). Jamie Nesbitt's projections are surprising and as gorgeous as the music. An exhilarating hour of theatre."

                                                                             NNNN  ~NOW Magazine Toronto

"What really struck me about El Jinete is how exotic it feels — and how weird that is. To see a heartfelt and surprisingly sophisticated tribute to something we think we already know is an interesting sort of wake-up call, and a reminder that there’s more to this country than what fits in a burrito."

                                                                                           ~Mooney On Theatre

"The post-modern world isn’t usually friendly to theatre pieces as earnest as this one but there’s something so jarringly bold about presenting a Mariachi Opera to English-speaking Torontonians that El Jinete is nonetheless extremely winning."

                                                                                            ~My Entertainment World

Writer/Director: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét

Producers: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Judd Palmer, Jamie Nesbitt

Music Director: Alex Alegría

Projection Design: Jamie Nesbitt

Lighting Design: Itai Erdal

Sound Design: Chris Hind

Costume Design: Flo Barrett

Set Design: Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Jamie Nesbitt, Judd Palmer
Starring: Alex Alegría, Alexandra Lainfiesta, Mario Sota, Stefan Thordarson, Jeffrey Chow, Luis Melgar
Stage Management: Robin Richardson

Technical Direction: Phoebe Vlassis

Surtitle Operation: Judd Palmer

Cast & Crew:

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