Stories of Paper Cutouts

*On Xcaret Park`s Esplanade

Doña Cata offers her Historias de papel picado [Stories of Paper Cutouts]

**Actress and stage producer Alejandra Diaz de Cossío interprets a very chatty mummy

By Alejandra Flores

Actress and stage producer Alejandra Diaz de Cossío is once again Xcaret Park`s special guest for the 3rd Life and Death Traditions Festival, Xcaret 2008.  For this occasion, besides directing the stage production Viajando a Xibalbá, la morada de los muertos [A Journey to Xibalbá, the Dwelling of the Dead], a trip through the Underworld, she will also take time to depict a very chatty mummy:  Doña Catalina, a woman whose storytelling abilities will shine every night during Day of the Dead celebrations.

In an interview, Alejandra Diaz de Cossío explained that Doña Cata is a very crazy character capable of remembering some very, very ancient tales and some not so ancient stories.

On All Souls` Night, says the actress, right in the middle of the cemetery, Doña Cata`s casket will open in the oldest tale of all.  Doña Cata-Mummy has turned her coffin into a true Pandora`s Box that will surprise both young and old alike when it opens because hers is not an ordinary casket: it`s decorated for a party!

An offering of paper cutouts and some puppets will help Alejandra to shake the dust off Doña Cata`s memories, jokes and stories, and will even help her tell a tale or two of Doña Cata`s own life and death.

Stories of Paper Cutouts includes an adaptation of the play by Constancio S. Suarez, El fandango de los muertos [The Flamenco of the Dead], and stories like La cruz de Nogueras, a popular tale from the State of Colima, and El tesoro de Ahuacatitlán [The Treasure of Ahuacatitlán], a saga from the State of Morelos.

Doña Catalina will pop out of her coffin on Xcaret Park`s Esplanade on October 31st and November 2nd  to delight the public with her Stories of Paper Cutouts.