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About the Show

The Story begins...

On September 4, 1929, a night of celebration turned into tragedy for Mexico City’s most decorated luchador. Emilo Rafael Buenaventura Guzman Jimenez Rodriguez Rodriguez de la Cruz, sometimes known affectionately as "El Guapo," was scheduled to wrap up his celebrated career with a fight for charity: A church-sponsored benefit to raise funds for orphan children in the capital.

The plan included signing autographs for adoring fans, after which he and his daughter Lupita would run off to celebrate her fifth birthday on a ferris wheel ride. Instead, the night ended tragically, setting off Lupita on a 20-year path of vengeance and rage.

Our story begins with Lupita on her way to Valdosta, Georgia to investigate the latest lead in an effort to track down her father’s assailant...

Production Info

Performance at Asheville

Lupita’s Revenge is a crankie* puppet play that has slowly made it's way into museums, television, galleries, and private events around the country.

Lupita’s Revenge is performed by an alliance of eight musicians and visual artists based out of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama: A five-piece band playing a mesmerizing soundtrack of Latin American classics; while three shadow puppeteers animate Lupita’s story of fury, rage, and redemption.

Lupita’s Revenge is our modern interpretation of the small-theater experience, with romance, wrestlers, intense chases, enchanting music, all in an intimate setting.

* (A screen with two large scrolls of paper used to create a ‘moving panorama.’)

The Cast

Written and Directed by
Abel Klainbaum

Lead Visual Artist
Phil Jasen

Illustrators
Anthony Gaskins
Antonio Kino

Music by
Megan Cole, vocals
Brian Smith, guitar
Scotty Allen, violin
Andrea DeMarcus, bass
Abel Klainbaum, accordion

Puppeteers
Phil Jasen
Laura Maria Ramirez
Abel Klainbaum

Screen design by: mattz
Legal: Innes Smolansky
Produced by: Abel Klainbaum

Special thanks to our friends:
Arkady Medovoy, Didi Dunphy, Rinne Allen, Stephanie Reins, Elizabeth
Doud, Emily Spadoni, and Lily