Prompted by a mysterious message from beyond the grave, Juan and Joseph set out on a harrowing trip that eventually leads them to the White Shaman mural near Comstock, Texas. In those dark, cliff-recesses overhanging the converging Pecos and Rio Grande rivers, the cousins cross over into the mystical world of their ancestors. The ancient spirits convey the urgent message – “return our bodies to Mother Earth.” Follow this inspirational journey across Texas that leads two teenagers into a colliding confrontation against a powerful institution that is determined to maintain their collection and never allow reburial. The playwrights of “Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet” bring you another heart-warming Indigenous story you’ll remember forever.
NOV 7, 8, 9 @ 7:PM | NOV 10 @ 3:PM
Price Center | 222 W. San Antonio Street, San Marcos, TX
Thank you to Jose Lozano and Magic Spoon Productions for this amazing video.
TCA: Texas Commission on the Arts funding may be available for partial payment of our booking fees. Deadlines for applications are: FEB 1st (for presentations between March 15 & June 14) MAY 1 (for presentations between June 15 & August 31) AUG 1 (for presentations between SEPT 1 & DEC 14), NOV 1 (for presentations Dec 14 – March 15, 2024). Contact TCA at 512/463-5535 ext. 0 or toll-free 800/252-9415.
Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet is a pre-recorded video of a live play performance. This award winning play was originally commissioned by, and premiered at the Dallas Children’s Theater in 2018. In 2019 it was produced and recorded by Indigenous Cultures Institute and Teatro Vivo, assuring cultural authenticity with an all-Indigenous cast, designers, and crew, and with Miakan-Garza tribe consultation. Written by Miakan-Garza tribal member Maria Rocha and published-playwright Roxanne Schroeder-Arce and with five original songs in the Coahuiltecan language composed by Hector Martinez Morales, the play features Indigenous dances, shares ancient traditions, and presents an alternative, Native-origin story about the first bluebonnets in Texas.
PACKAGE: The performance package includes the 50-minute videotaped play, a 30-minute, live or recorded talk back with selected actors, playwrights, and director, and a professionally prepared teacher’s guide for pre- and post-performance classroom activities.
BOOKINGS: Online performances may be booked for schools and theaters beginning FEB 1st. CONTACT US for bookings and more information.
SPONSORS: Texas Performing Arts | Magik Theatre | TRIO Programs, Texas State University | Institutional Inclusive Excellence – Student Initiatives, Texas State University | Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, University of Texas at Austin | Latino Studies, University of Texas at Austin | Texas A&M University – Central Texas | Texas A&M University – San Antonio, Office of the President
STORY: Thirteen-year-old María is having trouble in school, so her mom sends her to stay with her Coahuiltecan grandmother in distant Laredo for discipline and perspective. There, María is told an ancient story of young Yana Wana who followed a revered deer to find water to save her people. Yana Wana’s story exposes an amazing and unknown ancestral connection to the bluebonnet that gives María a renewed sense of self and family pride. You may have read one version in school; now we invite you to come see the legend through the eyes of Yana Wana in this online tour premiere. A beautiful, original play that illustrates the power of heritage and the value of one’s own story – especially one as ancient as the petroglyphs of Texas.
Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet
Now Available to stream through Broadway on Demand!
