About the show
The wings are being developed for the Glass Half Full Theater Company’s new work: Cucuy. The play was devised by the performers along with Caroline Reck, the company’s artistic director. The play features performances by actors and puppeteers.
From GlassHalfFullTheater.com
“Jesus Valles and Gricelda Silva play undocumented Latin American siblings living in Texas in the apartment of their older cousin (Lori Navarrete). In the midst of sweeping ICE raids, the older brother turns to the Latino tradition of telling terrifying stories to children (to make them behave) to train his little sister on tactics to avoid immigration agents. (Stay hidden. Don’t speak. Don’t resist.) Left alone, the siblings apply everything they know about escaping the boogeymen of their imaginations to avoid the very real threat of ICE agents who intend to tear their family apart.
The cast is supported by a team of puppeteer/ actors (Indigo Rael, Marina DeYoe-Pedraza, and Connor Hopkins) who bring terrifying creatures from Latino storytelling tradition to life in this horror/ suspense live performance.
The Cucuy Project is a bilingual work devised by the director (Caroline Reck) and the cast.”
Lechuza Research, Development, and Design
Initial conversations about the design for Lechuza centered around her role as a mysterious, ancient, and elemental spirit figure in the play. Unlike the other spirits, she is more detached from human culture and folktale, and more “of the Earth.” Thus in my research and design tests I wanted her to have a more feral and earthy appearance, and emphasize her age through her bony limbs.
The design for the small owl-scale version of Lechuza.
Initial research and mood board for Lechuza.
Sketches of different potential designs for Lechuza.
First attempt at Lechuza’s human-scale design.
The design for the small Lechuza was settled on fairly quickly, since she is similar in appearance to a real owl. Most of the choices made in her design had to do with scale and proportion and where exactly on the head the owl body would sit.
The large (or human-scale) design went through more iterations, as we sought the proper balance between human traits and owl traits. There was also a great deal of exploration into different silhouettes and how to evoke the owl-as-woman form without being too specific to time and place in dress.
The final design also was tweaked when we switched from wings that were operated separately from the performer to wings that mounted on the arm and were controlled by the performer.
The final design for the large-scale Lechuza.
Other characters
A selection of research and designs for a selection of other characters in the play.
Designs for the other characters in Cucuy are currently in development. Research is focusing on both traditional Latin American dress, images from nature, and pop cultural references in the design on the spirits for the show.
Research and mood board for Chupacabra.
Initial rendering for Chupacabra.
Final rendering for Chupacabra.
Research and mood board for La Llorana (later developed into Las Lloronas).
Initial rendering for La Llorona.
Sketches and ideas for Las Lloronas.
Current version of Las Lloronas.