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"El censo" is a one act play that is set in near modern-day Mexico. El censo is about problems that a census taker has in gathering data. We are all familiar with what a census taker does: they go to every house or business in the country and finds out how many people live there, what the household income is, and even how many bathrooms there are. All this data goes into the government statistics for record keeping purposes and to determine how best to utilize resources and tax money. Census data cannot affect us personally, but the people of Mexico have had a long history of corrupt government officials and they are always distrustful of them. This play takes place in a small dressmaking shop. When the census taker comes to the door, they assume that it is an official from the local municipality to check on them to see if they have a business license, which they do not. Their first reaction is to not let him in. Once he is in, they try to bribe him into leaving them alone. When they finally realize that he is not there to fine them for not having a business license, they still do not have trust that the data will not hurt them. The frustration of the poor census taker (who only does this job part time and will not get paid unless he has collected a certain minimum of data) combined with the series of misunderstandings on the part of the people at the dressmakers make for a very funny play with an interesting ending. |