This is the second edition of DramaFest, and since they say sequels are never good, we decided to challenge that almost cosmic imperative by inviting a country whose theater is among the most solid from any possible perspective: Germany.

But what could emerge from the fusion of two such opposite countries? Goethe says the spirit tends to seek its opposite and join it in an endearing way. He calls it “elective affinity,” squeezing poetic juice from a term borrowed from chemistry. In any case, this DramaFest is a laboratory of absurdity, an ode to social decomposition, and a “labyrinth of solitudes.” Paz would agree with me that we are not the only culture that feels alone. Our first point of connection: heartbreak. We see ourselves in melancholy and drown our sorrows in beer. We both find ourselves in art and lose ourselves in frustration. We both have jungles (the Black Forest and the Lacandon), and perhaps that’s why we share a strange need to delve into the dark world of fiction.

I must confess that of all our points of convergence, the only one that does disturb me a bit is the eagles on our national emblems. I understand they are graphic reminders of our disparate imperial pasts, but still—they’re hostile animals. In truth, we only differ in form, in protocol, and of course, in infrastructure. Is that enough to speak of “the other”? I don’t know.

In any case, if we truly want to take a new step, if we want to know what’s happening with the other, if we genuinely care about the other, DramaFest must be a living (and risky) exercise rather than an emblematic “encounter between two cultures.” This is not a showcase of talent but a daring act of mixing, of combining ingredients even at the risk of the experiment ending in explosion. In fact, let it end in explosion—cathartic, creative, provocative.

Finally, thanks to the collaboration of institutions (which this time had to battle the six-year political cycle, summer vacations, and bureaucratic violence), DramaFest has grown. Thanks to the creativity—and especially the commitment—of the participants in this edition (Mexicans, Poblanos, and Germans), DramaFest has been strengthened. And thanks to you, who share this experience from your seat, there are still “young foolish hearts” that insist on making theater in Mexico.

AURORA CANO.