Surviving from the Margins: Tepito Arte Acá and the Counter-Narrative of Mexican History

Abstract

This text examines the survival strategies of the Mexican theatre collective Tepito Arte Acá, founded in 1980 in México City’s iconic Tepito neighborhood. Using Juan Villegas’s framework of theatrical subsystems in Latin America, the group is analyzed as a liminal case: its historical-political discourse and popular aesthetic align with the third subsystem (the “new revolution”), while its production mode—a pragmatic “economy of adaptation” based on diversified funding—operates within the conditions of the fourth (postmodernity and globalization). The analysis contrasts Villegas’s macro-theory with Patricia Chavero’s study of cultural policies in Mexico City (1997-2012), which documents the state’s withdrawal as a funder. The article argues that the group’s longevity can be attributed to navigating Villegas’s “double process of appropriation,” tactically negotiating with institutional power while maintaining autonomy through box office sales, particularly from a stable school audience. Combining theoretical analysis with qualitative research—including testimonies from founder Virgilio Carrillo and co-author Susana Meza—the study shows how a marginal theatrical discourse managed to sustain a prolific, historically revisionist repertoire for over four decades.