La Llorona Retelling
My retelling is inspired by the legend of La Llorona, or the Weeping Woman. In this modern retelling, I have placed it in the Bronx, NY. I wanted this retelling to speak towards the real life development of missing children’s cases popping up and going unsolved, especially in urban areas like this.
My other goal was to play around with the idea of folktale monikers being a title that can be earned so long as certain circumstances are met, almost like the Candyman: In this case, it is almost always a mother who experiences such volatile anger, grief, and despair at the loss of her children, transcending the span of an immortal life, as she wanders on for eternity in search for her children.
In the story, the main character Marisol has to find her brother who had just gone missing, trying to track him down and ward off the presence of La Llorona.
With this setting, I wanted to explore a familiar location that might be bustling with life during the day, but dead quiet at night. This place acts as the central place of abductions, most of them spare enough that they are swept under the rug; but their memory still remains by traces of elements in the piece. All while
a threat looms and has made her presence aware in the local community.
My second piece is La Llorona’s hideout where she brings the children, having them sleep for eternity as sleeping children can’t run away, can’t harm themselves. She leaves them presents of random things she finds on the streets, placing the gifts beside them. The location itself is an old pathway that has long since been abandoned due to a bridge breaking down in a secluded park, leaving it the perfect isolated location.