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 AguirreCo-choreography
Justine A. ChambersCo-choreography
Amanda TestiniScenography Design
Shizuka KaiCostume Design
Carmen AlatorreLighting Design & Assistant/Associate Set Design
John WebberSound Design
Joelysa PankaneaMedia Design
Candelario AndradeMedia Integration
Jack ChipmanCaptions
Shervin ZarkalamDramaturgy
Emma TibaldoTechnical Direction & Production Management
Jack GoodisonStage & Production Management
Jan HodgsonAssistant Stage Management
Peter JotkusPhotography Consultant
Columpa BobbCast
Susan BertoiaCast
Ximena GarduñoCast
Paulo RibeiroCast
Chirag NaikCast
Melissa OeiCast
Marianna ZouzoulasPast 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