Chochito Rey: Sangre, Poder y Traición (A ‘King Lear’ Workshop Adaptation)

About the Telenovela Project

What happens when we use devised theatre to transform ‘King Lear’, a famous and cherished Shakespeare play, into a Latin American telenovela?  

Join us on this night of exploration, as we give you a glimpse into collective creation (with scripts in hand) in this workshop performance where Shakespeare meets Telenovela. ¡Ahí nos vemos!

About the Show

In the heart of a sprawling hacienda, Chochito Rey, a proud and aging patriarch, decides to divide his vast estate among his three daughters: the manipulative Roberta, the cunning Griselda, and the naive Cordelia (whose honesty leads to her exile). But his dream of harmony turns into a tempest of treachery and heartbreak. Betrayed by his own blood, Chochito spirals into madness mirroring the destruction of his legacy.

Meanwhile, in the shadows of the hacienda, a parallel storm brews. Edmundo, the illegitimate son of Don Galo, weaves a web of lies to usurp his noble brother Edgar and claim what he believes is rightfully his. Lies, deception, and forbidden love intertwine, setting the Rey’s hacienda ablaze.

Love, ambition, and betrayal collide in Chochito Rey—a telenovela of passion, power, and the high cost of family loyalty. Will anyone survive the storm?

Feedback & Afterparty

After the workshop performance, the audience is invited to stay and join our Community Dramaturges in a facilitated feedback session and Q&A followed by an afterparty with complimentary food and music.

Come for the workshop, stay for the dancing!

Performance Details

Co-Created and Written by Daniela Atiencia, Angie Descalzi, & Christine Quintana
Devised by Daniela Atiencia, Angie Descalzi, Christine Quintana, Alen Dominguez, Manuela Sosa, Anthony Santiago, and Emma Abbott
Performed by Anthony Santiago, Angie Descalzi, Alen Dominguez, Emma Abbot & Manuela Sosa.
Directed by Daniela Atiencia

Outreach Coordinator – Mónica Perea
Community Dramaturges –  Julia Abreu, Daniela Guerrero-Rodriguez, Ana Lorena Perez, Mariana Munoz, Danais Yera & Gabriel Ballestero

Stage Manager – Anna Brew
TD/Sound Design & Projection Assistant – Jack Goodison
Projection Design – Cande Andrade
Lighting Design – Brianna Bernard
Archival Footage – Pedro Augusto Meza

Graphic Design – Addison Hill

About the Artists

Creative Team

Angie Descalzi
(Co-Creator/Performer/Deviser) (She/Her) is an artist and award-winning producer and arts administrator, grateful to live and work on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. Born and raised in beautiful Ecuador from a mix of Ecuadorian and Italian families, she holds a BA in Applied Theatre from VIU, an Advanced Certificate in Arts & Entertainment Management from Capilano University, and trained with Master Clown and Theatre Professor: Philippe Gaulier. Since then, Angie has worked with a variety of theatre companies (currently loving her Artistic Producer job at Rumble Theatre) and performing arts festivals in Metro Vancouver and has been involved in the inception of initiatives such as CultureBrew.art and CALTAC, which aim to advocate, celebrate and support IBPOC artists.

Christine Quintana (Co-Creator/Playwright/Deviser).
Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Christine is an actor, playwright, co-Artistic Producer of Delinquent Theatre, and artistic associate of Neworld Theatre. Winner of a LA Drama Critic’s Circle Award, Dora Mavor Moore Award, Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, Tom Hendry Award, a Governor General’s Award nomination, and the Siminovitch Protégée Prize for Playwriting, Christine’s works have been translated and performed in Spanish, French, German, and ASL. As a performer, she’s acted on stages big and small, in a camper van, in neighbourhoods across East Vancouver, and on a farm. She is currently working on a commission for the Manhattan Theatre Club. She is a graduate of UBC’s BFA Acting Program.

Daniela Atiencia
(Co-Creator/Director/Deviser) is a Latinx-Canadian theatre artist born and raised in Colombia. She works as a freelance bilingual director, dramaturg, and deviser. Daniela holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts and an MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Essex. Some of her recent directing credits include the world premiere of Zahida Rahemtulla’s The Wrong Bashir and Christine Quintana’s Clean/Espejos described by theatre critic Colin Thomas as “one of the best shows in years.” As dramaturg she is at Touchstone Theatre as their Associate Artist running the Flying Start program which helps support early career playwrights. As a deviser, Daniela is working on creating her own piece about her lived experience with dyslexia with fellow neurodiverse collaborator June Fukumura. She has also recently directed for Studio 58 and is currently a guest instructor at The National Theatre School of Canada. Daniela is based in Vancouver BC.

Cast

Alen Dominguez (Performer) (He/Him) is a Mexican-Canadian theatre artist who trained at the University of British Columbia. He’s the Managing Director at Neworld Theatre and chair of C-Space, where he does cultural space advocacy. His current passion is to use Arts and Culture as tools to fight pollution and climate change. Onstage and off, he’s worked with some cool folks at Royal City Musical Theatre, Electric Company, City Opera Vancouver, Bard on the Beach, Ruby Slippers, Arts Club, Citadel, Chemainus, Western Gold, TODOS Productions, Rumble, Tara Cheyenne Performance, the Chop, and the PuSh Festival. Alen is a co-founding member of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (CALTAC). Catch him onstage in April at The Arts Club in Casey and Diana.

Anthony Santiago (Performer/Deviser) is a first generation Canadian of Trinidadian immigrants who has appeared on stages across Canada with theatre companies such as the Arts Club, Rain City Theatre, The Citadel Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects and The Stratford Festival. Much love to his kids James and Nya-Manet and to his Belovèd wife Alexis.

Emma del Carmen Abbott (Performer/Deviser)  is a Latinx artist from Edmonton Alberta, Treaty 6 Territory. It was there where she first performed on stage at eleven years old, as the Evil Stepmother in her elementary’s production of Cinderella. Since then, her heart has taken her to many stages, including two post-secondary theatre programs (MacEwan Theatre Arts and Studio 58). Credits include Heather Chandler (Heathers: The Musical, Sherwood Theatre), Cinderella (Into the Woods, Studio 58), and Ensemble (East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast, Theatre Replacement) to name a few. Emma has now found a home here in “Vancouver”, on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She’s excited to continue pursuing theatre and music (bonus if she can do both at once!) and aspires to create her own work, in hopes of sharing the love she holds for this little life.

Manuela Sosa (Performer/Deviser)  is a Venezuelan-American raised on Coast Salish lands. She’s a trilingual performer dedicated to new, nuanced storytelling on stage and screen. Past collaborators include rice&beans theatre, Pi Theatre, Neworld Theatre, Electric Company, Aluna Theatre, The Troika Collective, The Vancouver Biennale, Music on Main, Up In The Air Theatre, Leaky Heaven Circus, Classic Theatre of Harlem, and The Hong Kong Dance Alliance. Next up, watch Manuela play ‘Olive the Coroner’ on CBC Gem’s Wild Cards. She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University in French and Theatre, and a MFA in Acting from Columbia University.

Design Team

Cande Andrade
(Projection Designer) is a video editor and media designer based in Vancouver. Recent theatre design credits include: Empty Handed (Biting School); Eyes of The Beast (Neworld); You used to call me Marie (NAC/Savage Society); La Befana ( Théâtre la Seizième); Women Of The Fur Trade (NAC, Native Earth, GCTC); Julius Caesar (Bard on the Beach); Little Red and His Lawyer (Savage Society/Belfry/NAC); Tree Drum (Theatre Terrific); Mom’s the Word Talking Turkey (Arts Club); White Girls in Moccasins (The Frank); Clean/Espejos (Neworld) and DYMISH (Theatre Replacement). Recent editing credits include: Looping (Company 605); Bard on The Beach’s feature film Done/Undone and the 2020-2021, Belfry Theatre’s digital productions, as well as the short films: Common Law; a film about a uterus and The Day My Cat Saved My Life. In recent years, Cande has edited several projects for Mochizuki Studios and as a content creator for the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Jack Goodison (TD, Sound Designer & Projection Assistant ) (He/Him) is a Sound and Lighting Designer who originates from the UK and now designs on the ancestral and stolen lands of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations.

Design Credits: City Opera Vancouver (Hafu) Luna Creatives (Portraits of Solitude), Pulsive Party (Lip Service 3), Rumble Theatre (Brahman – Bramha – Bandar; Las Pasiones de Don Pasquale), Axis Theatre (Where Have All the Buffalo Gone), As and When It Happens (Willilish’d), Douglas College (Jane Austen Action Figure; Orlando; Mad Forest), Vancouver Opera (The Pearl Fishers), Massey Theatre/UBC (We Deserve to Work), Jeb Beach Productions (Terminus).
TD Credits: Theatre Conspiracy (Himmat), Electric Company Theatre (Fire Never Dies), Rice and Beans Theatre (Peace Country), Rumble Theatre, Touchstone Theatre (Ominous Sounds at the River Crossing) and Assistant TD for Theatre Conspiracy (Same Difference), Neworld Theatre (Clean/Espejos).

Brianna Bernard
(Lighting Designer) (she/her) is a theatre artist who takes interest in both the creative and practical departments of art. With a background in technical theatre, Brianna has taken on roles such as technical director, production manager and lighting designer. She holds a BFA in Theatre Production & Design from Simon Fraser University. Originally born and raised in Jamaica, Brianna is thankful to now work, create and reside on the stolen lands of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.

Crew

Anna Brew (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a stage manager and administrator currently working and living on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations. Anna’s recent credits include Eurydice Fragments (Re:Naissance Opera), BBB (Rumble Theatre), Lumbar 5, Thoracic 12 (rEvolver Festival), Sunrise Betties (ITSAZOO Productions), The Narrow Bridge (Pomerantz Collective), Peace Country (Rice&Beans Theatre), Symbiotic, Harvest Moon & Cardinal Point Cabarets (Rumble Theatre), Tremors Festival (Rumble Theatre), Angels Bone (Sound The Alarm), Vancouver Fringe and Bard on The Beach. Anna began her career in the UK as an audio technician on the multiple award winning musical TImpson: The Musical! (Gigglemug Theatre) at Edinburgh Fringe.

Pedro August Meza (Archivist) – (they/them) is a gender queer interdisciplinary artist from México who in deep respect and gratitude, now resides and creates in the stolen, unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Pedro Augusto holds a BA in Theatre from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, and has worked as a theatre creator, photographer and interdisciplinary visual artist for over ten years – guided by values of interconnection between all beings; their work seeks to create and nurture safe, warm creative spaces that contribute to decolonization efforts, healing as a community, and fostering the expansion of empathy between humans, animals and the land.