Rediscovering Cortes in Surreal ‘Night’

As far as 16th century conquistadors go, Hernan Cortes stands out as one of the most effective and brutal of the breed. Hailed as a god by the dazzled Aztec leader Montezuma, Cortes did not prove a beneficent deity, as the Aztecs learned to their great dismay and sorrow.

Rapacious ambition was Cortes’ downfall. Bedeviled by political enemies, Cortes was summoned back to Spain, where he ultimately died in ignominious retirement.

Vicente Len~ero’s expressionistic farce “The Night of Hernan Cortes” at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts is set on the last night of Cortes’ life. A senile recluse, Cortes (Daniel Novoa) reflects in a revisionist (and surrealistic) way on his checkered past.

Pointedly anachronistic, the Grotowski-like posturings of the cast are used to stylish effect by director Alejandra Flores. The actors, particularly Edward Padilla, Jeffrey Asch and Margarita Stocker, mug like old-time vaudevillians, ironically emphasizing the piece’s underlying tragedy.

Estela Scarlata’s set, Robert Fromer’s lighting and Carlos Brown’s handsome costumes are welcome anchors in this shifting chronology. As Cortes at his youthful peak, the handsome Novoa grandstands like a seasoned swashbuckler, yet he seems equally as powerful in senile old age--a failing that further confuses this vital yet occasionally muddled work.

* “The Night of Hernan Cortes,” Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, 421 N. Ave. 19, Los Angeles. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday matinees, 3 p.m. Alternates weekly in English and Spanish (this week in Spanish). Ends June 16. (213) 225-4044. Running time: 2 hours.