Welcome to a world that has been all but forgotten. The year is 1909 – the
eve of the Mexican Revolution; and the place is the City of Mérida, situated
in the beautiful Yucatán region of Mexico – a city styled on the lavish
excesses of ancient European capitals.

It is a place of contradiction: the lively, joyful sound of ‘mariachi’ heard in the
town square is in stark contrast to the abject misery experienced by the
slaves who, from dawn to nightfall, must labor without respite in the
surrounding henequen fields. And it is henequen – the cactus plant that
provides the raw material for the manufacture of rope – which has enabled
the local plantation owners to become rich beyond imagination.

This is the world of our protagonists: Diego Clemente, newly arrived from
Seville – a young man with an ability to draw and paint birds as if they
‘could take flight from the page’; Edward Nelson, the esteemed American
Naturalist; Nelson’s personal assistant, aptly named ‘Very Useful’; and
Sofia Duarte, the young woman who will capture the hearts of all.

There are, of course, other principal players in our cast; but to gain a
complete understanding of the adventure that is The Mapmaker’s Opera,
you must first read the enchanting novel by Spanish/Canadian author –
Béa Gonzalez

Music by Kevin Purcell

Book & Lyrics by Victor Kazan
(Based on the novel by Béa Gonzalez)

© 2008 Adastra Music Publishing Pty. Ltd.