Tijuana Gringo |
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What's happening? The annual Feria del Libro -- the book fair. Inside the tent many of the Tijuana bookstores have set up displays and racks of books to browse. They are merrily selling, selling, selling.
Every evening outside in a new plaza on the corner there are free concerts. Jazz, pop, rock, and the other night a stunning guitarist from Argentina... eesh I already forgot his name... Delphin or Delfin something. He'll be playing again (but with a price at the door) at Nopal on Saturday, I think....
AND every afternoon and evening inside, at one end of the block-long tent, in a lecture area set up with seats and stage, they put on "presentaciones del libro" -- book presentations. An author and literary critics discuss and analyze works. Most of them prize-winning and fairly recently published.
Tonight Pedro Lopez Solis is presenting his playscript, El Grito de las Campanas. Over the past few months I have become aquainted with him. He works with the cultural center (CECUT). As the crowd is gathering for his book presentation, I watch him move around, greeting friends and associates. He comes over to me, shakes my hand. "This is your night," I say, "disfrute -- enjoy!"
At last it begins -- not too late. Ursula Tamaya and Gilberto Zuniga speak about Pedro's book/play. First Ursula mentions that Pedro was born in Nayarit but has lived in Tijuana for 25 years now, that he is a cultural promoter, organizer of the Esquina Theater Workshop, and in addition to dramatic work he writes poetry and literary criticism which has been published in various newspapers and magazines.
Both Ursula and Gilberto will discuss the themes, the decadence of religion, states of dream, delirium and hysteria, of a culture which does not exist, of moral forces colliding, of a sickness of faith and the poetic and philosophic language that reflects these concerns....
Then Pedro and Ursula read a couple scenes from the play, which has only two characters, an older priest who rants over his people who have abandoned him, and a young man who challenges him and whom he abuses.
Now Pedro takes questions from the audience. Towards the end, one asks: What inspired you to write this work?
"Well, someone I know told me over coffee one day how he had been abused by a priest when he was fifteen. I don't know if...."
AT THAT MOMENT up jumps a young man in his late 20s or maybe early 30s. He takes the audience microphone and says, "I am that person who told Pedro my story. I am the protagonist of his play..." and he tells his own story, "...well yes it was a priest here in Tijuana I won't say where, and...."