Q&A: James García Talks About Mallecho, his Latin Adaptation of ‘Hamlet’

By: Nuvia Enriquez

Man kills brother who is king. Man takes brother’s throne. Man marries brother’s widow. Man’s son seeks revenge. There is a ghost somewhere in there.

That is the basic plot of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Price of Denmark, better known as Hamlet. Now, La Phoenikera has its own adaptation of the quintessential tragedy and it’s a Latino adaptation at that.

The play, titled Mallecho, is playing at the Herberger Theater Center’s Lunch Time Theater through next week. We sat with James García who wrote the play to get some insight on his Latino version of the story.

AZLatinos: Why did you choose to do an adaptation of Hamlet as opposed to any other Shakespeare play?

James Garcia: I’m a political junkie. At its heart, Hamlet is a tragedy, a family drama and a story about politics at its very worse. I was also inspired, somewhat, by the story of a Latino candidate named Tony Sanchez, who spent 40 million dollars running for governor of Texas in the early 2000s and lost. Several years ago, I was reminded of him and wondered out loud, “What if his brother had assassinated him during the campaign.” It was a lovely thought, and intriguing, given the press’ penchant for political drama.

AZL: Why is it called Mallecho?

JG: The name comes from Shakespeare’s original script. There’s a scene in which Hamlet’s uncle is exposed after witnessing a theater troupe’s performance of a short play in which a man kills his brother and becomes king. The phrase in the original is “mallecho mischief” and refers to evil deeds. I like that it makes people think of the phrase “mal hecho” in Spanish. It’s an appropriate tie-in, I think.

AZL: How do the themes in Hamlet translate into Latino themes in your adaptation?

JG: The family at the center of my drama is Latino. That’s partly because I write stories about the Latino community and partly because this adaptation is very loosely based on the story of a former Latino candidate for governor. I also like that I get to explore what it means to run for governor in America given the growing influence of Latino voters.

AZL: In your version, Hamlet is a female character, Dulce. Why did you make that choice?

JG: I had originally considered keeping him a man, but during the audition we had the actress switch from reading Ofelia to reading Armando (Hamlet) and we loved what she brought to the role. She’s doing amazing things with the role and however serendipitous it’s been; it’s brought the piece to life. I give our director Kathryn James full credit for having the foresight to cast against type.

AZL: How did you manage to pack the story into 45 minutes for Lunch Time Theatre?

JG: I had to. It’s a little like writing for radio or TV news that way. The Arizona Republic might have 800 – 1,000 words to tell you a story about the assassination of a governor, but radio and TV news has to do it in 2 minutes or less. That said, there’s great stuff that’s been left out of this version that I want to incorporate in a full-length version of the play one day. I’m also working on a film script version.

AZL: Was there anything you had a hard time with leaving out? What was it?

JG: There’s a lot that was left out that I want to get into the longer version. Here’s my short list: Denmark, Hamlet’s home, is about to be invaded. I want to turn the invaders in my adaptation into national political forces intent on destroying Claudio, my Latino candidate, before he gets killed by his niece, Dulce, my Hamlet.

There’s also a wonderful scene, at least I think it’s wonderful, where Dulce has a chance to kill her uncle, but reconsiders because he’s praying at the time and she’s afraid he’ll go to heaven. Claudio, who early on realizes Dulce knows he killed her father, orders a hit on her. That’s a wonderful bit of added tension that I couldn’t squeeze into the shorter version. And finally, because I’m a journalist at heart, I want my journalist character in the play to be on the verge of uncovering the murder of Claudio’s brother, Antonio, to ramp up the stakes. Yes, lots got left out, but it somehow still works remarkably well at the current length.

AZL: If you had to describe your play to people who haven’t seen Hamlet, how would you describe it?

JG: I guess I’d just ask them, “Would you ever consider killing your brother and marrying his wife if it meant you’d get to be rich and the first Hispanic governor of Texas?” That’s basically the premise. The rest, of course, is about a quest for revenge by the murdered candidate. One way or the other, you know it’s not going to end well. The play is also about other things: life and death, greed, betrayal, ghosts, religion, etc. But at its core it’s about human nature under the worst of circumstances.

AZL: Why should people go see the play?

JG: Aside from the fact that you can bring a sack lunch to the show and the cast is great, I guarantee you’ll have a lot of fun—despite the occasional bloodless murder or two that happen on stage from time to time.

WHAT: Mallecho, a Hamlet adaptation by James García

WHEN: June 16-18th

TIME: 12:10p.m. (doors open at 11:40 a.m.)

WHERE: Herberger Theater Center’s KAX Stage – SW corner of Van Buren and 3rd Street

To purchase tickets, click here