Electricidad

PROLOGUE The play opens in the yard of a house near a freeway in a city that resembles Los Angeles. The house and yard are dilapidated, and in the middle of the scene is an altar on which the decomposing body of Electricidad’s father, Agamenon, is laid. Electricidad is sitting vigil over her father’s corpse, and has been there for days. Inside the house, Clemencia is pacing nervously and smoking a cigarette.

SCENE ONE Electricidad is asleep on the altar when a trio of neighborhood gossips pass by. The vecinas pity Electricidad and wonder how long she will go on grieving. In the style of a Greek chorus, the vecinas tell the audience a mythologized story of the neighborhood and the events leading up to Agamenon’s death. Agamenon, they explain, was murdered by his wife, Clemencia, so that she could take over his property and his status among the neighborhood gangs. They go on to gossip about the other members of the family: Electricidad’s younger sister, Ifigenia, has disappeared from