"Waiting for Julieta" at the New Orleans Fringe Festival

"Waiting for Julieta" by Casa Teatro Reynosa & Cía. Gorguz Teatro is an adaptation of a classic with a live carne asada and drinking game. "Waiting for Julieta" is a one-hour adaptation of this well-known “love” story, set in northeastern Mexico, right on the border, where the performers share—through autobiographical material—their own missteps and failures in romantic prelaticios The play takes place during a carne asada, a social gathering in which meat is cooked live onstage and shared with the audience in the form of tacos and beers. Immersed in northern Mexican culture—cowboy hats, boots, and banda music— the production also incorporates elements of cabaret, pop culture, and object theatre. An installation of toys, letters, and gifts is displayed like a museum, presenting real remnants of failed love stories that have marked the performers onstage. It is an intimate experience that includes a drinking game, making closeness and direct interaction with the audience essential. The piece is for those of us with broken hearts—and for those who still have theirs intact, it serves as a guide to everything one should not do in a relationship. Casa Teatro Reynosa Founded in 2018, Casa Teatro Reynosa was created to support the theatre scene in Reynosa, Tamaulipas—a city deeply affected by the violence along Mexico's northeastern border—envisioning theatre as a form of refuge, encounter, and critical reflection, and establishing its own independent venue. The company has presented work at the Colchester Fringe Festival (UK) and the Voilà! Europe Festival in London. Its repertoire includes "Waiting for Julieta," winner of First Place at the Concurso Estatal de Teatro Mtro. Rafael Solana, and "#FATKARY: The Corrido of a Tragic Ex-Fat Woman," winner of Best Actress at the same contest and recipient of the Fringe of the Fringe Award at the 2025 Colchester Fringe Festival. The company also maintains a close collaboration with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), where its productions have featured in the Rio Grande Valley International Latino Theatre Festival (2020–2024), and founded the Festival PinSpot, an annual gathering for regional artistic exchange. Cía. Gorguz Teatro Founded in 2005 under the direction of Alberto Ontiveros, the company brings together artists from different disciplines in an ongoing research practice focused on Mexico's northern border—a region marked by migration, aridity, industry, and violence. From this research emerged the concept of "Aridoestética" (Aridoesthetics), hybridizing theatrical languages with those of contemporary art. With more than 30 projects over 20 years of uninterrupted creation, the company is one of the most active theatre groups in the country. It has participated in international festivals such as Fira Tàrrega (Spain), Ibero-American Theatre Festival (Colombia), CASA Festival (UK), and UTRGV's International Latino Theatre Festival (USA), as well as the International Cervantino Festival and the National Theatre Showcase in Mexico. Since 2021, it has been a beneficiary of the México en Escena – Artistic Groups program.