Alcira Breakthroughs



Alcira is the third play in my grimm Latino fairy tale cycle. I've been thinking about it for some time, trying to figure out the narrative--not an outline, but rather major plot points that drive the narrative.

Good news! In the past two days I've had some major breakthroughs for the play. They are:

• I realized that Fidelia, the protagonist, has powers. That instead of the story being about her rescuing Sotero from Alcira, that Sotero in danger is only part of it. Alcira wants Fidelia's powers because they would prolong her life an entire millennium.
• Alcira was a servant of Malinalxochitl, sister of the the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the South). That she has to pay tribute to Huitzilopochtli by turning her victims into hummingbirds (the final animal stage before she turns them to stone).
• That Carmelita, Fidelia's aunt, is the one who gave Fidelia her powers. That the powers pass along the female line in their family, but not always mother to daughter as in this case. Carmelita visited her family in Texas for Fidelia's baptism and in a moment of tenderness kissed her sobrina (and goddaughter). That's when a charm (that's what you call a group of them, that's perfect!) of hummingbirds flooded into the room signifying the passing of powers. The hummingbird is their family totem, you see.
  
• There needs to be an origin story for Fidelia's family, how they were originally given powers by Huitzilopochtli.

I realize these notes might not make a lot of sense out of context. But I'm very excited and I'm writing.

Which is very good news indeed.

-M