Dynasty of Mexican puppeteers whose work dates back to the 1930s and whose members are Lola Cueto (1897-1978), her daughter Mireya (1922-2013) and the son of the latter, Pablo (b.1953). In 1933, a group of artists and writers met at the residence of Lola and Germán Cueto (painter and sculptor notably tied to the Cercle et Carré Circle and Square group) and founded a glove puppet theatre, Rin-Rin. With the support of the Ministry of Public Education, several groups were formed to perform their shows over a period of fifty years in  schools in the country.

Lola Cueto (Dolores Velásquez Rivas) was a painter, print-maker and a designer. Her tapestries are renowned, but she equally devoted many years to puppets that were also an important source of inspiration for her paintings. She fashioned dozens of them, which today belong to the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA, National Institute of Fine Arts) where she directed the puppet workshop and the El Chapulín group, where her daughter, Mireya, was initiated into puppetry while pursuing studies in history.

In 1981, Mireya and her son, Pablo, a sculptor like his grandfather Germán, created El Tinglado de los Títeres (The Puppet Platform) and presented first a show inspired by Don Quixote with puppets and actors. As the new director of the troupe, Pablo Cueto later staged, among other works, El retablo de Maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show) by Manuel de Falla, and La repugnante historia de Clotario Demoniax (The Disgusting Nasty Story of Clotaire Demoniax). In 1989, for her part, Mireya founded the shadow theatre, Espiral.

Since 2001, the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA) has carried out annually the national puppetry festival Festival nacional de Títeres “Mireya Cueto” in honour of her.

(See Mexico.)