The Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy and Teatro de la Tierra present: Beto, Beto el Abeto

What does Christmas look like if we look at it from another point of view? Say, the experience of a Christmas tree? Or from a young person whose family recently arrived in Austin from Central America? This December, the Zilker Botanical Garden and Teatro de la Tierra are proud to present Beto, Beto el Abeto, a play that blends languages, cultures, genres, and biological kingdoms in an inventive, unorthodox approach to Christmas amidst a world that is changing rapidly.

The play is very a playful adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Fir Tree, tinted with memories of Nochebuena – Christmas Eve in Spanish-speaking, Latin American countries– and just the right amount of science. It runs for around 70 minutes with no intermission, and it is performed in English and in Spanish, alternating languages between performances. Beto is well suited for audiences 11 and up (or younger audiences who are okay sitting down for that uninterrupted amount of time.)

Teatro de la Tierra is a newly-founded company, making teatro “de la tierra”, in all of its translations from Spanish: of the planet, of the dirt, and of the soil, of the land, of the homeland. The project is supported by funding from the City of Austin Economic Development Department through the Elevate Grant.

Tickets for Beto are offered free of charge. The tickets are valued at $35 each, so any donation you and your family are able to offer will allow us to continue offering programming like Beto in the future!

• Thursday, December 7th, 7:30pm (ESP) – CANCELLED*
• Friday, December 8th, 7:30pm (ENG) 
• Saturday, December 9th, 7:30pm (ESP) 
• Sunday, December 10th, 2:30pm (ENG) 
• Thursday, December 14th, 7:30pm (ENG) 
• Friday, December 15th, 7:30pm (ESP) 
• Saturday, December 16th, 7:30pm (ENG) 
• Sunday, December 17th, 2:30pm (ESP) -SOLD OUT
• Sunday, December 17th, 10:30am (ENG) -ADDED

*Because of circumstances that are beyond our control, we unfortunately need to postpone our opening night from Thursday December 7th to Friday December 8th. We have many additional performances in Spanish and English through December 17th. If you reserved a ticket for the December 7th show, please reschedule via the button below.

The play will occur indoors, at the Zilker Botanical Garden Auditorium.

If you have questions about trigger warnings or the content of the play, please get in touch with Teatro de la Tierra via Instagram: @delatierrateatro or via email at: hola@teatrodelatierra.com

Teatro de la Tierra is a theater company fiscally sponsored by the Austin Creative Alliance. This project has been financed in whole or in part by the City of Austin’s Elevate Grant Program. 

Beto marks the second collaboration between the Conservancy and local award-winning director Khristián Méndez Aguirre. Earlier this year, they presented Estado Vegetal/Vegetative State, a play by Chilean Playwright Manuela Infante (in collaboration with Teatro Espacio), a botanical drama about a community rocked by a calamity triggered by overgrown trees.

Know Before You Go

We are excited to have you in the audience tonight! We have some information to share about getting to the Garden.

All the performances will take place inside the auditorium at the Zilker Botanical Garden (2220 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX, 78746).

Free parking is available onsite. If this is your first time at the garden, the auditorium is located inside the stone building, the only building on site, which you will see right as you enter/drive through admissions.

Due to the Trail of Lights taking place at the same time, we have some very specific instructions that we ask all attendees to follow in order to ensure the smoothest navigation to the performance.

Navigating to the Garden:
All vehicles must arrive via the northbound MOPAC access road. All other routes will be turned away. Please do not use GPS directions. Stay out of shuttle lane. GET IN pre-paid parking only lane in order to be directed to the Garden.

Once your parking pass and ticket are reviewed you will be directed towards parking. All Beto attendees will be able to park in the Zilker Botanical Garden Parking Lot.

Come Early and plan for 40-45 minute wait in line to get through Trail of Lights traffic. You can arrive early if needed, the gate will open at 6pm but please note that the Garden grounds will not be open due to lack of nighttime lighting.

The show starts at 7:30pm, but we may hold the house a few minutes to allow for late arrivals due to traffic.
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Parking Pass Required:
Parking passes have been sent out to ticket holders and they MUST BE PRINTED AND DISPLAYED on your dashboard. NO VEHICLES WILL BE PERMITTED WITHOUT A PASS. Please have your mobile registration confirmation readily available.

If you do not have access to a printer, parking passes can be picked up from Zilker Botanical Garden before 4:15pm on any day leading up to showtime.

Please note, this pass does not permit access to the Trail of Lights.