This week’s ”Stage” piece profiles Kathleen Anderson Culebro, co-founder and artistic director of Amphibian Productions and author of the ‘Phibs’ current show “La Llorona.” The drama tackles a variety of subjects – modernism vs. superstition, the lure of motherhood, cultural arrogance, and the follies of mindless capitalism – and is haunted by the mournful Latin American spirit of the title character, whose name translates into English as “the crying woman” or “the wailer.” Here’s a trailer for a 2006 low-budget horror flick called ”The River: La Llorona”, which is clearly intended for an exploitation market. (Note that it’s packaged with a video collection that includes “Bloodsucking Babes from Burbank” and “Suburban Sasquatch”). This is a somewhat more sober investigation from a web series called ”Hometown Tales” about the Santa Fe, NM version of La Llorona. And here’s the Mexican version complete with lyrics to a famous folk song. My deeply academic, historical and anthropological question is: Who would win in an ultimate cage match, La Llorona or The Lady of the Lake?
