Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project

A new play by Carmen Aguirre

Produced by Electric Company Theatre
Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre

World Premiere Fall 2025
Stay tuned… Details coming in Fall 2024


“What exactly is the purpose of art in the face of fascism? Can art serve the poor, and if so, how?” — Carmen Aguirre 

In Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project, best-selling author and Electric Company Core Artist, Carmen Aguirre tackles the dialectic between art and revolution by excavating Tina Modotti’s life and art, and, in so doing, reflecting on our own lives through hers.

This Italian photographer and her revolutionary art thrived in Mexico City in the 1920s.  She was Frida Kahlo’s lover and posed for Diego Rivera’s murals. After seven years of photography, she abandoned her art to join the anti-fascist cause in Europe, running the Red Aid Hospital in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War.

Raised in a working-class family, Tina’s legacy is one of dedication to justice and equality and the four hundred photographs she left behind. She died of a heart attack at the age of forty-five in the back of a taxi cab in Mexico City. Carmen is compelled by Tina’s struggle to reconcile her artistic practice and intimate life with her political commitment.

The play takes place during Tina’s heart attack and consists of twenty-five episodes performed by a seven-actor ensemble. Each episode differs stylistically: film noir when Tina is in 1930s Berlin spying on the Nazis for the Soviets, naturalism when she is at a 1920s party in Mexico City, cat-walking when characters are introduced on a runway, etc. The thematic thread is: what is the personal cost of militancy?


We gratefully acknowledge the support of the BC Arts Council Arts Impact Program, Metro Vancouver’s Regional Cultural Project Grants Program as well as the Deux Mille, Hawthorne, Lohn, Schein and Y.P. Yeung Foundations.

Credits

Writing and Direction

Carmen Aguirre

Co-choreography

Justine A. Chambers

Co-choreography

Amanda Testini

Scenography Design

Shizuka Kai

Costume Design

Carmen Alatorre

Lighting Design & Assistant/Associate Set Design

John Webber

Sound Design

Joelysa Pankanea

Media Design

Candelario Andrade

Media Integration

Jack Chipman

Captions

Shervin Zarkalam

Dramaturgy

Emma Tibaldo

Technical Direction & Production Management

Jack Goodison

Stage & Production Management

Jan Hodgson

Assistant Stage Management

Peter Jotkus

Photography Consultant

Columpa Bobb

Cast

Susan Bertoia

Cast

Ximena Garduño

Cast

Paulo Ribeiro

Cast

Chirag Naik

Cast

Melissa Oei

Cast

Marianna Zouzoulas

Past Contributors

Past contributors – James Long (dramaturgy), Amanda Testini (choreography), Chimerik Collective (video design), Kim Collier (direction), Valeria Ascolese, Gina Chiarelli, Gustavo Febres, Lucia Frangione, Stefano Giulianetti, Sofia Rodriguez, Montserrat Videla, Jonathon Young (actors)

Featuring

Carmen Aguirre – Writer & Director

Carmen Alatorre – Costume Designer

Susan Bertoia – Actor

Columpa Bobb – Photography Consultant

Justine A. Chambers – Co-choreographer

Jack Chipman – Media Integration

Jack Goodison – Technical Direction & Production Management

Ximena Garduño – Actor

Jan Hodgson – Stage Manager

Peter Jotkus – Assistant Stage Manager

Shizuka Kai – Scenography Designer

Melissa Oei – Actor

Joelysa Pankanea – Sound Designer

Paulo Ribeiro – Actor

Amanda Testini – Co-choreographer

Emma Tibaldo – Dramaturg

John Webber – Lighting Designer & Assistant/Associate Set Designer

Shervin Zarkalam – Captions

Marianna Zouzoulas – Actor

Carmen Aguirre – Writer & Director

Carmen Alatorre – Costume Designer

Susan Bertoia – Actor

Columpa Bobb – Photography Consultant

Justine A. Chambers – Co-choreographer

Jack Chipman – Media Integration

Jack Goodison – Technical Direction & Production Management

Ximena Garduño – Actor

Jan Hodgson – Stage Manager

Peter Jotkus – Assistant Stage Manager

Shizuka Kai – Scenography Designer

Melissa Oei – Actor

Joelysa Pankanea – Sound Designer

Paulo Ribeiro – Actor

Amanda Testini – Co-choreographer

Emma Tibaldo – Dramaturg

John Webber – Lighting Designer & Assistant/Associate Set Designer

Shervin Zarkalam – Captions

Marianna Zouzoulas – Actor