Download Esther Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This thesis consists of a one act play, portraying the fictional life of Comandanta Esther of the Zapatista Rebel army, in Chiapas, Mexico. The one act play examines the role of women, in an indigenous country, and the strides they take, in order to enact great change. Throughout my piece, Esther: Behind the Mask, there are elements of the Zapatista army, including the history, and actual excerpts of a speech, "The Storm is Coming," by Subcomandante Marcos and lines from Comandanta Esther's speech to the Congress of the Union. I was also inspired by their performativity regarding their dress, and ski masks. The ideology of the mask has followed the revolutionary group, since the day they came into existence. The mask is what distinguishes the Zapatistas from other revolutionary groups. It not only hides the identity of the individual, but also the gender. Not only is the mask worn by both genders, but it also advocates equality between the genders, which is what I wanted to establish in my piece. Additionally, I wanted to include the Spanish and Maya language, which I translated in the footnotes of the play. During the 20th century and as recent as the 21st century, some indigenous men still prohibit their wives and daughters from learning or speaking the Spanish language. I attempted to infer that within my piece, which further establishes the lack of rights and inequality women of that region suffer. My goal for the piece, was to create a fictional biography for comandante Esther. As currently there is no information on her, her life and back story remain a mystery, much like Subcomandante Marcos. In the future, I hope to continue this, and turn it into a longer piece, including more historical information as well as fictional.