James Lujan

Kino and Teresa James Lujan

"Kino and Teresa," a full-length play based on Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," transports the tale of star-crossed lovers to late 17th century Santa Fe. This is the era following the aftermath of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, during the Spanish Reconquest of New Mexico in 1692, where tension and resentment is high and still rising among the Pueblo Indians and Spanish colonists. In the midst of this escalating conflict, Kino, a young man from Pecos Pueblo, falls in love with Teresa, a beautiful young Spaniard. But how can their love survive when there is so much hatred and distrust around them? The play was first performed by Native Voices at the Autry in May 2005. The subsequent review in the Los Angeles Times by Daryl H. Miller described the play as "beautifully conceived, quietly devastating."