Play portrays generations of Latinas' struggles with identity

In the opening scene of the play, Ana and her mother Carmen arrive at the sewing factory where they work. Carmen begins giving Ana orders.

It is early and Ana is tired. 

“I just want to go back to sleep,” Ana complains.

“If we don’t help your sister, who else is going to?” replies Carmen.

Actor Bethmari Marquez Barreto plays Ana – a recent high school graduate with dreams of leaving East LA to pursue a college education. But Ana’s plans go against her mother who wants her daughter to stay, help the family and get married.

Marquez Barreto said gender expectations is one of several issues addressed by the play.

“Even though there’s comedy and drama, there are underlying and exposed issues that affect us all,” Marquez Barreto said.

The women in the play range in age from 18 to 55 but share an undeniable bond. Set over the course of a week, the play takes a look at the women’s lives and issues each one deals with.

When Josefina Lopez wrote the play, she set it in 1987, not long after then President Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants. The play was also made into a movie in 2002 starring America Ferrera.

Given the year it was set and the issues addressed, co-director Lelis Brito was at first a bit uncertain if the play would still resonate. And it was something she brought up to co-director Adlyn Carreras.

But the issues, as well as the play, still resonate, Carreras said.

“The story is still relevant, which says a lot about where we are in this country,” Carreras said.

The play was updated in 2010 to reflect present day things such as cell phones and social media. But the issues from the original did not change.

Although the play focuses on Latinas, it tackles issues all women face – including gender expectations, Brito said.

“It really is relevant for all women. How you negotiate those gender expectations, they’re real. You can’t pretend they don’t exist. Each character in this play has their own voyage about how they are addressing those gender expectations,” Brito said.

The play also addresses the issue of immigration. At one time, the women lived with the fear of being deported. But now, all but one, have their green cards. Yet the sight of a white van passing on the street and the mention of ICE, still sends them into a panic.

Xochi de la Luna plays Rosali. De la Luna said growing up, she had family members who were undocumented and worked in factories and construction. There was always someone watching for la migra, she said.

“It was real. They could show up at the job site at any time. And even when people got their green cards there was still this residual fear. And that was so real with the play, too. I was like, ‘Yeah, I know how this goes,” De la Luna said.

Mariadela Alvarez, who portrays Carmen, said the way the family loves each other but also puts pressure on each other is very familiar.

“So with my character Carmen, it's really interesting, because I think she's visibly frustrated with her daughters, or she insists that they should be a certain kind of way. And then at the same time, she has moments where she's very cariñosa, and caring with them,” Alvarez said.

Maliya Gorman-Carter plays Pancha. She relates to her character’s desire to be a mother and how that also relates to the feminist movement and all the different contradictions associated with being a woman.

“You can want to be a mother. You can want to be sexy. You can want to be liberated. You can want to be intelligent, and own your own business. And how do all of these different qualities live together,” Gorman-Carter said.

Ultimately, the play is about the relationship the women have with each other, said Abigail Chagolla, who plays Estela. She said the show also has a message of hope.

“It's about dreams, and it's about the fact that, hey, you can do it, you can make it. It's gonna be hard. It's not easy. But if this team of women can do it, then you can too,” Chagolla said.

Teatro del Pueblo’s production of Real Women Have Curves opens June 10 at the Conn Theater.

Vicki Adame covers Minnesota’s Latino communities for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.

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