The playwright, actor and puppeteer Lucio Espíndola (1935-2022), founder of the Marionetas de la Esquina company, died this Saturday at 9:00 p.m., the family reported.
Amaranta Leyva, playwright and daughter of Espíndola, shared on social networks the death of the scenic creator, who since 1973 has been dedicated to the production, exhibition, teaching and dissemination of puppet art.
Lucio Espíndola was an honest, educated, upright and perfectionist man; a progressive thinker who paid attention to little-visited places. He trusted art as a driver of change without being subjected to any ideology
pointed out Amaranta Leyva.
“I knew that in childhood there was more than the future, the possibility of surviving as full humanity. Thus, he believed more in humanism than in political speeches, in beauty more than in administration. He was an enemy of meanness and cruelty.
Since his arrival from Argentina to Mexico in 1976, due to the military dictatorship of the South American nation, he has been enthralled with our country and developed a deep love for its geographies, its crafts and its people. She marveled at the manual ability of the Mexicans, at their ability to dream, but she never stopped listening to Carlos Gardel. Today we say goodbye to him, convinced that he made this world a better one.
the author commented.
Lucio Espíndola wrote 13 plays, built more than 400 puppets and performed more than 2,000 performances. He designed and made puppets and mechanisms for works such as The circus (1976), The garden (1980), Rita (2016), draw me a cow (2002) e stories in colors (1991), among others. He was the teacher of many puppeteers, a generous person who believed more in sharing what he learned than in keeping secrets. In Mexico he raised the cultural and aesthetic level of that art
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The writer and essayist José Mariano Leyva, another of his sons, reported that “his departure was quick and kind. I met him when I was two years old, and since then he forged my ethical and sentimental universe. I remember that at some point in my childhood, the sea terrified me. With patience, Lucio took me inside and taught me to dive into the waves. He turned my fear into a game. He had those kinds of powers. He always listened to me, he always gave the necessary importance to the game, to affection. He knew how to give ‘rib-breaking’ hugs. He was a puppeteer and a great cook. He always put beauty before political discourse, understanding before submission, culture before political ideology. We share something more than blood, something much deeper and more beautiful.”
Espíndola decided to consolidate his dream of being a puppeteer in Mexico: that the dolls would reach everyone’s hands. Since then, and without rest, together with the stage creator Lourdes Pérez Gay, his life partner, he has taught this art to children, adults, teachers and artists through the Marionetas de la esquina company.
His relatives Lourdes Pérez Gay, his children Amaranta, Emiliano and José Mariano Leyva, together with colleagues and friends, said goodbye and remembered the puppeteer and stage creator Lucio Espíndola yesterday at the García López funeral home, located in Miguel Ángel de Quevedo.