The further back into the past we turn our attention, the more tenuous the details become. Honest research can reveal plenty about how cultures from the past lived and related, and first-hand accounts can give us details into daily life, but that which is left undocumented can only be guessed at. One tool that has been valuable for many in understanding the past is historical fiction, which—though it doesn’t claim to depict the past perfectly—strives to tell of a time and place both accurately and with shades of artistic intent.
The Lompoc Civic Theatre is currently showing a new production titled Ghosts of El Camino Real, an original play by Civic Theatre members. Albert Thompson, one of the founding members of the Lompoc Civic Theatre, conceptualized the idea for the play while working as a docent at the La Purisima Mission. While there, Thompson became familiar with a variety of stories, history, and mythology of the peoples who live there and contemplated the turbulent time at the end of the mission era.
“It was really my premise to choose the date in between when Mexico got its independence in 1826 and then secularization in 1834, which is when the Spanish were pretty well kicked out and no more were the padres there at the missions,” Thompson said. “I thought that might pretty well represent what was going on with the Chumash that had been here and the interaction between the Spanish padres and the Mexican soldier Mestizos, and we are going to see how their cultures clashed.”
While acting as docent at La Purisima, Thompson had access to a vast array of historical documents, as well as plenty of time to pick the brains of other docents and experts on the mission era. The inspiration for his story came from a combination of the overarching historical context of the mission era, as well as some historical accounts of events that happened at La Purisima Mission.
Thompson began collaborating with Lompoc Civic Theatre director and published playwright Mike Callahan, who helped him adapt the story idea into a two-act play with the story development and dialogue necessary. For more than a year the pair met every week to hammer out a bit more of the story. Once finished, they proposed the story to the Lompoc Civic Theatre, and it was accepted. The duo purposefully left out any mention of the mission’s name in the story, in order to appeal to a wider historical scope.
“Specifically doing this play, we didn’t want the name of the mission or the name Chumash in the play,” Thompson said. “My feeling was that this is really a California story, and I thought, well, it could be in San Diego or Monterey perhaps.”
The set for Ghosts of El Camino Real fills the Lompoc Civic Auditorium’s stage and depicts the inner garden of a mission, surrounded by the familiar walls and tile roof of the historical structures. The main character is the young Chumash girl Margarita (Amy Benesh), who finds herself at the center of two men’s attention. The Mexican/Mestizo soldier Mateo (Keith Kie) has had his eye on Margarita and plans to ask for her hand in marriage.
The scenes between the young native girls and the swaggering soldiers reveal some of the cultural rules that were enforced by the mission life. The men can’t even kiss the hand of a young maiden until they’re engaged, and the young women are locked up every night so they can’t journey out and possibly fall into sin. The girls have differing opinions on these rules, from devout to doubtful. Callahan and Thompson depict the debate between the Native outlook and the Christian one, though couched in modern language, through the development of each unique character.
Margarita also gains the affections of a young Spanish don named Federico (Matthew Willis), who’s traveling through the mission with his widowed mother. A fantastic scene between the two shows not just the blossoming of young love, but a depiction of Native American herb healing. Margarita, who is tending her herb garden when Federico interrupts to talk to her, relates the various native plants and what they can be used for, including seasoning food and curing the sniffles. The young Margarita is clearly more interested in Federico than she is in the soldier Mateo.
“We made it a love story between a Spanish don and an Indian maiden who was there,” Callahan said. “What I was excited for, personally, was showing a bright young woman who lived back then.”
When it becomes clear that don Federico is not only interested in Margarita, but she is in him as well, Mateo is far from pleased. In a fit of jealous anger, he challenges the don to a horse race. The style of the race is strange, but historically based, Thompson explained. An old story from La Purisima relates two men who competed for the hand of a woman by seeing who could ride a horse while plucking a partially buried chicken from the ground without dismounting. After don Federico beats Mateo, the fires of conflict really get stoked.
With an array of fascinating historical insights—from the herb garden, to a scene involving a real Native chant performed with actual Chumash instruments—and a dramatic storyline, Ghosts of El Camino Real is a wonderful portrayal of the mission era. The play is absolutely appealing not just in story, but visually as well. The beautiful mission-inspired set design is complemented well by the fabulous period costumes on loan from La Purisima’s docents and volunteer re-enactors. The bright, vibrant costumes make it easy for the actors and audience alike to put their minds in a time nearly two centuries ago.
Arts Editor Joe Payne enjoys the place where fiction and nonfiction collide. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 23-30, 2014.