The National Theatre Company to Stage HOURS OF GRACE

The last hours of Agustín de Iturbide, his dreams of becoming emperor, his imaginary encounter with Antonio López de Santa Anna, his memories, his legacy, his exile, and his fatal outcome are recreated in the National Theater Company's production of Hours of Grace. The National Theater Company (NTC) in co-production with the Roberto Plasencia Saldaña Bicentennial Theater will premiere the show as a posthumous tribute to the Mexican playwright Juan Tovar.

The play will run from March 4 to 20 at the Julio Castillo Forest Theater of the Forest Cultural Center, with performances on Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The production occurs within the framework of the #VolverAVerte campaign of the federal Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal).

Directed by Daniela Parra and with the participation of the stable cast of the company, the production recreates the "hours of grace" of Agustín de Iturbide, who was visited (presumably in his dreams) by Antonio López de Santa Anna, who urged him to recapitulate his career and revive it. The royalist soldier Félix María Calleja takes him to a meeting of the Querétaro conspirators where the question of Independence is discussed, and he chooses to distance himself, choosing to awaiting his opportunity, instead.

Juan Tovar, who died on December 22, 2019, was a playwright, narrator, translator and screenwriter. He wrote dramatic texts about the most important events in Mexico, such as La madrugada, El destierro, Las adoraciones, Manga de nail, Fort Bliss, El treatment and Hours of Grace.

The playwright commented on these characters who live together in dreams, stating, "One of the two Napoleons, who emerged from the Revolution of Independence, has a certain air of a tragic figure; the other is a rogue, through and through. One is not made of the two, but perhaps the dialogue between the two will allow us to clarify something of the national destiny. Suppose, then, that in his last dream the first emperor of independent Mexico, in addition to reviewing his own trajectory, was able to anticipate what the Napoleonic archetype still had in store for the country: the prolonged, if intermittent, rule of the authentic emperor, whose successors are legion."


Fernando Bueno, Miguel Cooper, Érika de la Llave, Ana Ligia García, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, Fernando Huerta Zamacona, Jorge León, Óscar Narváez, Carlos Ordóñez, Laura Padilla, José Carlos Rodríguez, Amanda Schmelz, Roberto Soto, Edwin Tovar and Andrés act in the production.

The set and lighting design is by Félix Arroyo. Costumes are designed by Jerildy Bosch, the original music and sound design are by Alberto Rosas, the ensemble and live music is by Edwin Tovar, the video design is by Kay Pérez, the characterization is by Amanda Schmelz, and the choreography is by Antonio Salas.

For tickets, click here.