A cabaret play set in 1940s Mexico City that reimagines the prostitute melodrama genre through a lens of social justice for Indigenous, femme and queer communities.
Ground Floor Theatre is presenting Emiliana: A Revolution Cabaret from August 13 to 29, 2026, at 979 Springdale Rd. It's a world premiere, and the run includes several performances in Spanish, as well as accessible showings with audio description and ASL interpretation.
The story takes place in Mexico City in the 1940s and follows Silvia Ibarra, a well-bred doctor's daughter. By night, she becomes Emiliana, a cabaretera who worships Emiliano Zapata and dreams of returning her grandfather's land to the campesinos. When her double life is exposed, her future is thrown into turmoil. The show draws on the prostitute melodramas of Mexico's Golden Age of film and reimagines the genre through a lens of social justice for Indigenous, femme, and queer communities.
There's a personal history behind the play. It was developed through Ground Floor Theatre's GFT Writes program, born out of a joke between playwright Jessica L. Peña Torres and her late collaborator Tenzing Ortega about writing a show featuring a sex worker who dressed as Emiliano Zapata. After Ortega passed in 2023, Torres kept developing the idea on her own.
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It's a world premiere right here in Austin, running August 13 through 29 at Ground Floor Theatre, 979 Springdale Rd, with Spanish-language performances and accessible showings mixed in.
