Grand Acts of Theatre

The Party (La Fiesta)

Puente Theatre (Victoria, BC)

La Fiesta is an ode to the glorious parties we used to have, and a celebration of the sense of belonging and joy that we will hopefully feel again, someday soon.  

In the depths of lockdown, a man throws a party for himself. To his surprise, mythical spirits from his homeland begin to arrive, and soon his lonely fantasy becomes a wild fiesta. Inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, in which the spirits of our ancestors come to visit, La Fiesta is both a surrealist Pandemic parable and an immigrant’s dream of overcoming the isolation of being so far from home.


The Party  (La Fiesta) Puente Theatre

Written, Designed & Directed by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét

Performed by Waldo Facco

Composer / Sound Designer: Mariano Franco

Choreography by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Waldo Facco, Pedro M. Siqueira

Costume Design & Build:  Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Waldo Facco, Amaranta Almaraz, JIMBO, Gamaliel Islas, Diana Kitsch, Judd Palmer 

Costume Build Assistants:  Rufo Lugo, Alma Ivonne Páez Sánchez

Puppet Design & Build:  Jessica Hickman

Puppet Build Assistant:  Jayne Walling

Set Design and Build:  Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, JIMBO

Set Dressers:  Jeff Insell, Elliot Loran

Stage Manager:  Pedro M. Siqueira

Assistant Stage Manager:  Andrea Lemus

Produced by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét, Waldo Facco, Judd Palmer, Pedro M. Siqueira

Technical Producer: Cody Graham

Director of Photography: Luke Connor

Producer / Camera Operator:  Mike Wavrecan

Production Manager / Camera Assistant:  Sam Graham

Production Assistant:  Sebastian Carmona

On Set Post Consultant & Editor:  John Roney

Visual Effects: Tribal Imaging

VFX Artist: Vienna Bierman

Supervising Compositors: Aydan Rogan, Clint Heusser, Darren Bierman

Stills Photographer:  Víctor Zuñiga

Special Thanks: Max Palmer, Marilyn Palmer, Philippe Boname, La Ferme des Rêves, Alison Browne, Francisco Constantino, Pichi, Brady Taylor, Maureen Mackintosh, Pacific Opera Victoria,Tanya Hickman, Brooke Maxwell, Molly Pilchar, Heather Burns, Andrew Phoenix, Janet Munsil, Julie McIsaac, Rebekah Johnson, Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre, Kathleen Greenfield, Lou Belton.