Mercury III project

Beheading Columbus

June 4 - June 4, 2022
The Welcome Dome @ Pioneer Courthouse Square

Staged Reading June 4, 2022 @ 5pm

written by Diana Burbano

Beheading Columbus follows two sisters down a trail of DNA deception and makes them face race and colorism in the Latinx community and in their own family. Lana looks white, Susi doesn’t and that’s been a point of conflict their whole life. Through DNA testing they discover that Lana has a white father. The DNA test also reveals that Susi, who is mixed race, has genes for the Alzheimers that are destroying their mother. Add to that, they discover that the previously unknown other father is a fertility doctor who has sired at least 40 mixed race children. Through love and a massive sense of humor, the sisters work at decolonializing themselves from the inside out.

Beheading Columbus was a project in Mercury III (June 2021)

The Welcome Dome @ Pioneer Courthouse Square

701 SW Sixth Avenue in Portland, Oregon

Cast

Creative

Roy Arauz
Director

Production Team

Carol Ann Wohlmut
Stage Manager

Season Sponsors

National Endowment for the Arts