For theatergoers looking to kick off the spooky season, Glass Half Full Theatre’s “Yamel Cucuy” serves up a cocktail of ghost stories, slasher film tropes and a mythological journey through hell. Although these varied flavors don’t always mix perfectly, this thriller offers plenty of old-fashioned chills amid sobering social commentary.
First premiered in 2022 in Glass Half Full’s hometown of Austin, Texas, the play runs for one weekend only in its Midwest premiere, which marks the opening of the ninth annual Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.
Underlying its fantastical elements, “Yamel Cucuy” is rooted in fears that are all too realistic. Yamel, the 13-year-old protagonist played by Diana Patricia Guizado, has fled unsafe conditions in her native Mexico with her older brother, Javier (Gustavo Martinez), but her new life in the United States proves to be terrifying in its own way when Immigration and Customs Enforcement targets her community.
The nature and purpose of fear is a primary theme in this trilingual script (mostly in English, with some Spanish and Nahuatl), which is written by Indigo Rael, Caroline Reck and Gricelda Silva, with additional text by Jesus Valles and Connor Hopkins. In Mexico, Yamel’s mother tells scary folktales to caution her against real-life dangers. In the U.S., her aunt (Minerva Villa) leads the family in prayer-like recitations of procedures that are meant to keep them safe during ICE encounters.
When Yamel later embarks on a journey through Mictlán, the nine-level underworld of Aztec mythology, she begins to wonder: Does fear actually protect us? Who benefits from keeping us afraid?
Glass Half Full began developing this play during the first Trump administration, then postponed its premiere due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s fitting that it finally lands in Chicago a year after the launch of Operation Midway Blitz. In the play, there’s an overwhelming sense that nowhere is safe — school, work or home — a feeling that will be relatable for many Chicagoans.
Under Reck’s direction, the creative team employs a number of analog stage-horror techniques. Disembodied hands lurk in the shadows, furniture seems to move on its own, and creepy figures pop out from unexpected hiding spots in the set (designed by Reck, Connor Hopkins, Zac Crofford and Rael). Reck and Annie Ulrich craft larger-than-life puppets to portray figures from Mexican folklore such as La Lechuza, a witch who takes the form of an owl. The actor Martinez also joins in on the creaturely fun by doubling as Chupacabrón, a wise-cracking cryptid who guides Yamel through the underworld.
Composer Paul Piñon contributes an original score, featuring Indigenous percussion instruments, to complement the haunting sound design by K. Eliot Haynes and Martin Rodriguez. Video projections by Rael and Haynes evoke black-and-white shadow puppetry that’s especially effective during the scenes set in Mictlán. Lighting designer Rachel Atkinson adds some well-timed blackouts and utilizes the simple fireside trick of uplighting an actor’s face with a flashlight.
The spirits who accompany Yamel through the underworld transcend the border between life and death, and they similarly disregard borders drawn on a map. Their dialogue echoes several arguments often heard from immigrant advocates. First, it’s natural for humans to migrate in search of better resources, just as many animals do, but humans are the only species who imprison each other for this action. Also, looking not so far back into Mexican and American history, many people never chose to cross the border at all; rather, the border crossed them.
While “Yamel Cucuy” is an ambitious, exciting new play, its genre-blending scope sometimes feels too broad. Yamel’s love of horror films and her enthusiasm for the “final girl” trope tee up some suspenseful moments when she hides from ICE agents, but otherwise this thread gets lost among the mythological elements. I generally admire artists who push the bounds of genre, but here, choosing a single lane might lead to more consistency in tone.
A final note: The 2026 Destinos lineup mostly comprises local companies, a common theme recently among Chicago-based festivals amid immigration fears, high travel costs and visa difficulties. This means that seeing Glass Half Full, a young company from out of state, is a rarer opportunity than in previous years — one that shouldn’t be missed.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.
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Review: “Yamel Cucuy” (3 stars)
When: Through Sept. 20
Where: Wirtz Center Chicago, 710 N. Lake Shore Drive
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: $33.85 at clata.org