LETTING IT ALL HANG OUT

REVIEW: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO

The Pasadena Playhouse revival of the Josefina Lopez play Real Women Have Curves is a production that touches the soul and encourages self-reflection. There are many important themes wrapped up in this play about a group of five Latina, curvy women working in a tiny sewing factory in East Los Angeles. From the onset, the audience in slowly transported in to the microcosm of their sewing factory as Lopez openly introduces all her characters. We meet the young Ana, the dreamer and feminist; Carmen, the traditional Latina mother full of opinions; Estela, the hard working and struggling owner of the factory; Pancha, the large strong-willed woman; and finally Rosali, the skinny one, the sweetheart, the mediator. As conventional as these characters might seem, director Seema Sueko has discovered ways to make each woman standout beyond their archetypal role.

Cristina Frias, left, Diana DeLaCruz, Ingrid Oliu, Santana Dempsey and Blanca Araceli. Photo Credit: Philicia Endelman.

Once all the women are all introduced and the gossip begins, the audience is immediately under the spell of these curvy women, taking their seats as flies on the wall of this fascinating factory. It soon becomes clear that the characters in this play have many obstacles and troubles going against them. Collectively they present issues of poverty, love, sexuality, gender politics, the immigrant experience, and infertility. With so much individual strife, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to resolve everything—and there isn’t—that’s not what this story is about—there is no Deus ex machine for these women, only hope and hard work.

Real Women Have Curves is about women verses the world and how if they stick together anything can happen. The detailed and utilitarian set design by David F. Weiner reinforces this dynamic in the relationship between the set’s two main areas, the factory in foreground and streets of East Los Angeles hidden behind the back wall, just beyond the factory door. Throughout the play, many things that come from behind the wall (i.e. El Tormento, La Migra, men, and the world) are a constant source of fear and danger for these women. The factory is their secret clubhouse, their haven, and no one but them are allowed inside. No boys allowed—only women in this play—the men are the outsiders and the women are the ones looking in.

Santana Dempsey, left, Cristina Frias and Blanca Araceli. Photo Credit: Philicia Endelman.

This play is full of fantastic performances; all of the women pull their own weight in this superb production. Santana Dempsey is an effervescent Ana as her youthful energy fuels the factory with bustle and rumpus—she is the match that starts the fire. Her most powerful moment is when she proudly takes off her clothes in act two in response to the heat, which ignites the rest of the women to do the same. Blanca Araceli (Carmen) is sharp, quick and hilarious, never missing a beat. Araceli is full of quips and motherly wisdom throughout—she’s the perfect Latina mother for the group. Cristina Frias (Estela) makes one of the greatest transformations of all, taking the audience on her journey with the sincerity of her character and her clearly defined dramatic momentum. Ingrid Oliu (Pancha) owns her character as the strong silent type also blossoming in act two; she is the rock of the group, solid and unyielding. Finally, the most understated of all of Lopez’s characters is Rosali (Diana Delacruz), she plays her notes and stays out of the way, the perfect ensemble member. Even with her limited role, Delacruz delivers a performance that is the perfect balance of delight and conservativeness.

It’s a woman’s world at the Pasadena Playhouse and you don’t want to miss it. Real Women Have Curves is a must-see production—the embodiment of plight that real women face everyday in this country, Latina or otherwise. Gossiping may be prohibited in this tiny factory, but as the audience is taught, the truth will set you free. Real Women Have Curves runs through October 4^th 2015 at the Pasadena Playhouse visit http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org for more information and tickets.