NOVELLA BY JULIO ORTEGA ADAPTED FOR THE THEATER BY MIGUEL RUBIO ZAPATA FOR GRUPO CULTURAL YUYACHKANI (PERU, 1990) ADAPTED FROM EDITH GROSSMAN’S TRANSLATION OF THE NOVELLA
The internationally acclaimed theater collective known as Yuyachkani first staged this piece at the height of Peru’s guerra interna, a Dirty War that left over 75,000 people dead. Adiós Ayacuchotells the story of a peasant—a suspected ‘terrorist’—who has been tortured, murdered, and dismembered by the military. By speaking through the body of the Q’olla, a masked dancer from Andean festivals, the disappeared peasant presents his demand for a decent burial and turns the audience into a community of witnesses. Yuyachkani deftly blends ritual, theater, and performance to make visible a history of cumulative trauma.