"Balada de Muerte," show #938

The Spectral Raven Theatre Company is closing out Maria Coon’s four-act play, Balada de Muerte, a dramatization of La Llorona, an iconic figure in Mexican folklore. Written and directed by company owner and founder Maria Coon, Balada de Muerte is a script which reads and speaks with heart, horror, and haunting humanization while still finding its legs as a balanced production.

Currently staged in the cozy, welcoming Dulce UpFront venue, Coon’s writing fully honors how Mexican families rely on history, folklore, faith, and stories to inform their present; in fact, Coon ensures it’s referenced often in the show, and does so with great affect. This deep, specific attention to not simply exposing audiences to this way of life but immediately normalizing it in the staging and exposition is beautiful and authentic. The attention to detail in the props design especially allows this script to soar above the confines of the playing space and length of the many scene changes. 

The acting company is universally superb, with highlights from Jizzel Nunez’s Ramona Baptista and Victor Vargas’s Jorge Baptista; the two truly are the heartbeat of the show. Coon’s sandwiching of the first and near end-of-act scenes are simply staged, beautifully written, and show a sensitivity for the spouses that is palpable. Steph Nelson delivers a standout performance as Socorro Gonzalez, the Baptistas' neighbor who doesn’t need a man, or shoes, but is very happy when she meets the love of her life. (The man she meets is Raul Espinoza, played with grounded machismo and care by Steven Kairuz.)

Cady Mejias leads the production as Maria/Dahlia in what is written as a tour-de-force role, requiring full embodiment of ghost-driven horror, which Mejias delivers on all accounts. Where Coon’s script truly soars is in its musicality: the singing done by Mejias (accompanied by acoustically sound guitarist and featured acting highlight in Avalon Lone as Enrique, the Groundskeeper) and company-wide dancing in the first act’s wedding scene. The duality of Maria/Dahlia is a demanding job, but she is the La Llorona character being depicted, and it pairs well while serving as an intriguing and captivating B-plot to the aforementioned heart the family aspect gives. Alex Sanchez, Jr. delivers a stirringly empathetic performance as Juan Carlos, the gentleman opposite Maria/Dahlia, who's a painter who finds her to be his muse. Coon’s use of rejected reflection vs. accepting portrait is incredibly compelling, becoming a token that drives Mejias’s performance quite well. 

Technically, this production hits on all fronts, with KC “MXXN” Luna’s sound design being tops; the context is always established and appealing, the emotions evoked, and the auditory experience never trumps the actors’ projection nor pierces (as so many horror plays tend to do). Dominick Callahan’s set design is ambitious and is ready for more as it sets each locale superbly under Annabelle McGrew’s terrific, moody lighting design.

While the acts of this original work continue discovering their rhythm and true ending points, the writing is not just honoring La Llorona, but makes her worthy of the stage; Maria Coon has a script ready for continual productions and development. The heart and the horror all fit (though, as an audience member seated in the front row House Right, I’d wish it were stated in the digital program, ticket, or verbally informed by the House Manager that projectile blood may be part of the experience, as I unexpectedly left with part of the show on my person), and Balada de Muerte finds its music through a wholly committed company of artists who have crafted and are delivering a truly original piece; it’s a show worth seeing and supporting as stories like this don’t get told very often.

Note: The rest of the run is sold out, but a wait list is live, so follow and contact Spectral Raven Theatre Company to be put on the list if you haven’t booked your ticket.