• Overview
• Staging information
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• Sample translations
• Production history

Titles

English title: The Perfect Machine
Notable variations on Spanish title: Here are the Tarahumaras
Date written: 1993
First publication date: 1997
Keywords: identity, violence, ideology, love > relationships, madness
Genre and type: magic realism, absurdist, melodrama

Title information

The Tarahumara are a tribe in Mexico.

Pitch

Two people surrounded by debris, conflicted and pursued by their own resentments, nightmares and beautiful dreams.

Synopsis

Him and Her live surrounded a cemetery of broken furniture, lifeless dolls, and pointless items. Her dedicates her time to creating; to making something of the shattered items around her. She was once inspired by Him to do this, but now Him spends much of his time haunted by painful thoughts and dreams which she does not understand. He talks fearfully of the Tarahumara tribe, insisting that they have invaded his cluttered house. In fact, Him blames Her for inviting them in. Her, in turn, is exasperated because of Him’s inability to live in the real world. Him dreams that one day they will create the perfect doll, the perfect machine. It will be a thing of beauty, surpassing all other attempts of creation. Him eventually manages to re-enthuse Her with his idea, but soon the couple are bickering again. It is no use – shadows and darkness haunt Him, as he relates his  terrifying dream of being pursued and tortured by the Tarahumara tribe. Her still struggles to understand Him’s fears, but she nevertheless comforts him in his fear. They couple share a tender moment, as Her sings to Him. But the moment does not last. They hear rushing water, the sound of ominous laughter and bangs, as their surroundings become increasingly oppressive. Her and Him realise they are inside a terrifying fishbowl, and despite how much they bang on the sides, they cannot find a way out. (less)

Him and Her live surrounded a cemetery of broken furniture, lifeless dolls, and pointless items. Her dedicates her time to creating; to making something of the shattered items around he... (Read more...)

Sources

The Tarahumara are a Mexican tribe renowned for their long-distance running abilities.

The play is preceded by two quotations. The first is taken from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: 'We are unfashioned creatures'.

The second quotation is from the Isaiah 44:18 and reads in the King James Version: 'They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.' (less)

The Tarahumara are a Mexican tribe renowned for their long-distance running abilities.

The play is preceded by two quotations. The first is taken from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: 'We a... (Read more...)

Editions

• Triana, José. 1997. Ahí están los Tarahumaras, Revista encuentro 4-5: 21-32, http://www.cubaencuentro.com/var/cubaencuentro.com/storage/original/application/2a99fd0150bea312c31530bea6fa8530.pdf [accessed September 2012]. (Online Publication)

• Triana, José. 2011. Ahí están los Tarahumaras. Alicante, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/ahi-estan-los-tarahumaras-obra-en-un-acto/ [accessed August 2012] (Online Publication)

(less)

• Triana, José. 1997. Ahí están los Tarahumaras, Revista encuentro 4-5: 21-32, http://www.cubaencuentro.com/var/cubaencuentro.com/storage/original/application/2a99fd0150bea312c31530bea6f... (Read more...)

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 5 September 2012.

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