Believed to have been created about 1470 from an anonymous source and first transcribed to the written word by Father Antonio Valdez in 1780, Ollantay is considered by many scholars to be the first play of the Americas. The text in Spanish recreates an Inca legend that was originally passed down through an oral tradition in Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire that is still in use today.
Set in the Inca capital city of Cuzco during the reigns of the Inca Pachacutec and his heir Inca Tupac Yupanqui, Ollantay takes its name from an acclaimed warrior of common birth who by falling in love with a princess of the royal house raises the ire of the Inca and in doing so confronts the military power of an empire.
In October of 2004 The Americas Theatre Arts Foundation presented the North American English language premiere of Ollantay: Warrior of the Sun at the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles. The production was directed by Luis Avalos and based on his translation and adaptation of the play. The photographs were taken by Damian Dovarganes. Avalos’ research was carried on at the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
From the guide to the Luis Avalos' Americas Theatre Arts Foundation Photographs 2008-28. N/A., 2007, (Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin)
