Detailed garb captivates attention

Beautiful costumes and stage presence made "The Miracle: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" a small, nice piece for the community just in time for the holiday season.

The play was written and directed by drama department Chairperson Clay David and it was performed at the Knox Center from Nov. 30 through Saturday and lasted for about half an hour. This is the second year it was produced.

There were changes from the original play, including small tweaks to the plot and having the dialogue bilingual for those unable to speak Spanish to understand.

The play begins with the end of a wedding, but instead of going to the reception, two little girls stay behind in the church to admire it.

One of the statues is reanimated and introduces himself as St. Juan Diego, played by Rex Martin. Soon afterward, each of the other statues come to life and are introduced as St. Ines, St. Teresa, St. Francisco de Asis and St. Miguel Archangel.

Afterward he offers to take the children on a journey to learn about the history of Mexico, the origin of Virgin de Guadalupe and why she is so important.

The costumes brought out the characters well. The saints and angels looked amazing and their lack of movements made them look like real art.

Actually, all of the cast members looked great as the diverse group of people portrayed members of the Aztec civilization, mariachis, nuns and wedding attendees.

Making the play bilingual helped all audience members grasp what the play is about. However, having some lines in strictly English and translated from Spanish made a few parts of the dialogue a little hard to comprehend what they were talking about.

Yet, the actors' movements and gestures caught the attention of the audience, and their motions helped strengthen the story told to the children. The stage lighting captured the past event being depicted as the little girls hold Juan Diego's hands for the majority of the production.

Katherine Garcia did a great job representing Virgin de Guadalupe. She did not have many lines, but her stature and presence made her look as if she was the real Catholic symbol.

When Garcia did speak, her voice was slightly morphed to make her sound like the divine powers many people believe she is, and it was a nice touch.

"This play is a gift to the community," David said.

The icons are celebrated in other places, and he said it surprised him that the Richmond and San Pablo communities provided no celebration for Virgin de Guadalupe even though she is a prominent figure in the Latin culture.

While the play was informative, the brief length of the play made it seem like the scenes were just muddled together to make everything fit into 30 minutes.

It may have done better if there were better transition into different scenes during Juan Diego's storytelling, but it was still every effective and the audience enjoyed the play.