Review: An Almanac for Farmers and Lovers in Mexico

Flora is in love with Pele. It is just two days before their wedding, in Kate Tarker’s An Almanac for Farmers and Lovers in Mexico. But there is a problem: For reasons Flora does not understand, Pele has been turned into a hummingbird. As she carries him everywhere in a cage, she confronts government bureaucracy, a mysterious god-figure called San Cristobel, and her three friends who love Flora—and each other.

Rachel Pinto is a wonderful Flora, distraught at the thought of losing her Pele forever, and frustrated at the bureaucracy she finds everywhere.

Kane Chai is San Cristobal, the godlike figure in Buddhist garb who acts as narrator (and occasional participant) of the piece. He seems to find humor in the whole situation and has a mysterious smirk as he watches his subjects try to get out of situations he manipulates.

Matt Fyhrie, Sarah Green, and Renn Andrews are Flora’s friends, who each make their own personal voyages of discovery as they work toward freeing Pele (Antonio de Loera-Brust) from the spell under which he finds himself.

The script is sometimes confusing, but it all ends well. The barn setting is beautiful with minimal but effective sets, and a nice breeze blows through the building during the one-act play.