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The Sun Serpent

"An engaging and thrilling ride."

City Pages, Minneapolis

  • Full Length Play
  • Drama
  • 70 minutes

  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings

  • Performance Group:
  • College Theatre / Student, High School/Secondary
When young Anahuac's family meets the newly arrived Cortes, they believe he is the Sun Serpent come to usher in a new, better world. Anahuac's beloved elder brother eagerly joins Cortes' grand march to the capital, Tenochtitlan. But while Cortes promised a world of peace and plenty, the soldiers he left behind soon engage in a ruthless search for gold.

Orphaned during one of their raids, Anahuac sets off through the jungle to find and warn his brother that the Spanish are not all they seem. Along the way, Anahuac discovers that the omnipotent Aztec ruler, Moctecuhzoma, is unable to protect his people against the Spanish. As the certainties in his world begin to crumble, Anahuac must physically and mentally navigate through the land of the familiar (Aztec prophecies, sky dancers, jungles) and the frightening but intriguing possibilities of the new (Spanish horses, guitars, ships).

Faced with the realization that neither leader is divine, that neither culture is without merit, Anahuac watches as Moctezuma and Cortes come face to face for the first time. 

REVIEWS:

"An engaging and thrilling ride."

 City Pages, Minneapolis

"Unfolds as a highly theatrical historical pageant... Told with flair."

 StarTribune.com

"Depicts a surprisingly complex period of history rather than the expected story of conquerors and the conquered... The confrontation between Europe and the Americans was not a quick fight with a winner and a loser, but vastly nuanced years that ultimately gave rise to what became Mexico and its new, composite culture. It's a refreshing and realistic statement about the conflict that makes a world of difference from the simplified version usually glossed over in high school... It's truly absorbing, and an excellent lesson in Latino culture and history."

 Twin Cities Daily Planet

  • Casting: 4M, 4F

Name Price
The Sun Serpent Script Order Now

When young Anahuac's family meets the newly arrived Cortes, they believe he is the Sun Serpent come to usher in a new, better world. Anahuac's beloved elder brother eagerly joins Cortes' grand march to the capital, Tenochtitlan. But while Cortes promised a world of peace and plenty, the soldiers he left behind soon engage in a ruthless search for gold. Orphaned during one of their raids, Anahuac sets off through the jungle to find and warn his brother that the Spanish are not all they seem. Along the way, Anahuac discovers that the omnipotent Aztec ruler, Moctecuhzoma, is unable to protect his people against the Spanish. As the certainties in his world begin to crumble, Anahuac must physically and mentally navigate through the land of the familiar (Aztec prophecies, sky dancers, jungles) and the frightening but intriguing possibilities of the new (Spanish horses, guitars, ships). Faced with the realization that neither leader is divine, that neither culture is without merit, Anahuac watches as Moctezuma and Cortes come face to face for the first time. Production multimedia elements, masks and costumes created for the original production are available for rent from Childsplay. Please contact the Childsplay production department directly at (480) 921-5700 or email: info@childsplayaz.org. Unit set. Approximate running time: 70 minutes.

$19.95