Grape Juice explores the possibilities of toy theater

▲ In addition to telling stories for children, the group will offer a paper theater workshop for children ages 9 to 12 in public schools. Photo courtesy of the company.

Anaís Ruiz López

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, August 25, 2025, p. 5

Exploring and experimenting with diverse performing techniques, playing with paper as a creative tool, and reinventing oneself in each production—this is the mission of Juguito de Uva, a young theater company founded at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (FFL) of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). For the past four years, the company has been dedicated to telling stories for diverse audiences, with a special focus on children.

Formed by graduates of the Bachelor's degree in Dramatic Literature and Theater, the group has focused on collective work, exploring techniques such as paper theater and object manipulation, and creating stage worlds where play and craftsmanship come to life. Carlos Rangel, one of its members, recalled that the company was born in the final subject of the program.

In an interview with La Jornada , Rangel explained that they were previously called Viajeros Teatro, but changed their name after discovering another group with that name already existed. After a four-hour conversation, they decided to call themselves Juguito de Uva. "We thought about what represented us as a collective, we questioned who our target audience was, and at that moment, we considered dedicating ourselves to children. We looked for something that reflected the joy and the way we worked as a collective laboratory."

“We liked the idea of ​​grapes, like a branch with different fruits that ultimately form a bunch. That's who we are: people with diverse ideas and ways of expressing art, but united, we become a little grape juice,” he said.

The first play they staged was Viajeros de papel (Paper Travelers) , written by María Ramos, Maricarmen, and Ximena Rivera. “From there, we began staging our own plays, as an experiment to see what themes appealed to us.”

“Afterwards, we staged The Little Dragon by Lise Vaillancourt, a Canadian author, which we presented at the El Hormiguero Cultural Center and in the State of Mexico. The cast includes Aile Rivera, Bella Ángeles, and Jessica Rangel, who is also in charge of the sets and costumes. During the holiday season, we presented Coal: Confessions of a Christmas Crime , which I wrote and had a great run on El Hormiguero,” he recalled.

In its latest works, the company has focused on paper theater and the manipulation of objects characteristic of this technique. "It's a branch of European theater that has had different variations around the world. It's another form of puppetry, because the object is literally created from paper and can take any shape, color, or size for the stage. It's mounted on a cardboard base. It's very interesting because it takes us back to when we were children."

“It's also called toy theater, because you literally create the pieces and move them: even a table can be a stage. We give them life, movement, voice, character, and personality. Before, only the puppets appeared; now they appear alongside the cast as active characters on stage. In The Little Dragon, almost everything is made of paper or cardboard, which gives us mobility, although it requires careful manufacturing. We also do shadow theater, which allows us to create worlds and fantasies with drawings, cutouts, and our own or collaborative designs,” he described.

"We're a young company; we've been working for four years. We're a collective where everyone can express art in their own way. Sometimes you act, then you do the scenery, or for another show you do the lighting or costumes. Now we're creating a new cabaret-style staging," he said.

However, she acknowledged that managing spaces for emerging companies is difficult. "We have to put together folders where we talk about who we are and what our outreach plans are, in order to present them at events that support new companies, but we also have to consider whether the layout fits the theme and interests of the space."

“On the other hand, there are also scholarships and support for young groups, but there are many applications. What helps us is the company's profile: we've already produced three productions, which makes us a young group, but with some experience. However, there are calls for applications that require a minimum level of seniority as a theater group,” he stated.

Rangel highlighted the company's work for children in various contexts and mentioned that they will be offering a paper theater workshop for public school children ages 9 to 12 in collaboration with the Peraj México Association and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. They will also hold another workshop in hospitals in November as part of the Self-Managed Youth for Transformation 2025 social program, led by the Youth Institute.

Merry Macmasters

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, August 25, 2025, p. 5

Casa Villa Antequera is the new headquarters of Fomento Cultural Banamex in Oaxaca City, where three exhibitions representing its programs and interests have opened: Mexico of the Mexicans III, Great Masters of Popular Art of Oaxaca, and Oaxacan Vanguard of the 20th Century . The latter is located in a small space called the Vault and, as its name suggests, presents pictorial gems safeguarded by the financial institution.

The colonial building, whose history dates back to 1529, was opened as a branch of the bank in 1896, four years after Banamex was founded. It was the eighth branch to provide banking services in the country.

The 20th-century Oaxacan avant-garde includes works by Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, Rodolfo Nieto, Rodolfo Morales, and Sergio Hernández, all owned by the bank. The oil painting " Pátzcuaro " (1921) by Tamayo (1899–1991) is on display. This early work was made during a trip to the Michoacan town and described as "a neo-impressionist or pointillist work in which the image is shaped with small chromatic strokes."

Toledo (1940-2019) is present with Bicicleta de los arquitectos (Oaxacan Bicycle) , from 1998, made with oil and marble dust. Its figures "give rhythm and movement to the compositions," while inviting us to "observe the objects mythically," since for the artist with "strong Juchiteca roots, the table, the tree, the shoe, the grasshopper, the bicycle, and the man all have the same spiritual category. Not just a pictorial meaning."

A “rebellious spirit,” Nieto (1936-1985), instead of pursuing a formal career, “chose Carlos Orozco Romero and Santos Balmori as his mentors and forged a strong friendship with Juan Soriano.” In 1959, he traveled to Paris, where he stayed for a decade, and discovered that fantasy literature would have a profound influence on his artistic language.

By Rodolfo Morales (1925-2001), born in Ocotlán, Morelos, two pieces from the Market Column series (2000) are shown, painted in oil on canvas. Made toward the end of his life, their forms are "more schematic and playful than his earlier work, although they retain the same creative universe in which femininity is the reason for life, a creative force, and the backbone of society."

The youngest of the group of exhibitors is Sergio Hernández (1957), a native of Huajuapan de León. In his triptych Insectario (2006), made with oil and sand on linen, he captures "the color and movement of the amorphous, limitless insects that change according to the light reflected in the room."

Insectarium is the favorite work of Soledad María Martínez Venegas, a heritage security guard in charge of safeguarding Bóveda, who loves art. “I loved this work because each of the insects has its own expression, movement, and costume.”

Soledad María Martínez has already analyzed each figure in the set. The pairs of eyes used by Hernández remind her of the children's program Burbujas , in which "there was a toad with the same expression." She points to a cockroach wearing slippers, tears streaming from its eyes. Could it be because the weight of the figure on top of it can no longer hold it up?

The three exhibitions will remain until March 2026 at Casa Villa Antequera (Armenta y López 106, Oaxaca).