Teatro Chicana: A Collective Memoir and Selected Plays

3. Laura E. Garcia

Who Was the Teatro de las Chicanas? “Son unas putas y lesbianas, lo que necesitan es una buena cogida” (You’re a bunch of whores and lesbians. What you need is a good screw). This is what some of our critics would say about the Teatro de las Chicanas. And even my closest friends would ask, “What’s a nice girl like you doing with them?” We were “Chicanas,” members of the new breed of Valentinas and Adelitas of the 1970s. We were young women with revolution brewing in our blood.¡Simón que sí, ese! That’s right, man, ready to fight any injustice, a la brava (at the drop of a hat). We were the first generation of Chicanas who had gotten the opportunity to go to college. Away from home and the watchful eyes of our parents, we shed our cortex of shy and meek chavalas and found our identity: Chicanas! We were rucas del Valle—Felicitas, la Chiva, and I were from the Imperial Valley, where tomatoes, lettuce, sugar beets, and cabbage grew in abundance. Sandra, Virginia, Hilda, and Margie were from the sweltering Coachella Valley, with its 100-degree weather that was perfect for the harvesting of table grapes. Kim, Micaela, Angie, Lupe, and Lupita were from the San Joaquin Valley. Then  Laura E. Garcia 27 28 Recuerdos / Memoirs there was la Cubanita, the mulatta girl who spiced up our ensemble, and our sister Delia, the beautiful and gentle Chicanita from Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Teatro de las Chicanas was the first all-female Chicano theater group of our times. We came from traditional Mexican families, and most of us were raised in one of the agricultural towns in California. We grew up at a time when girls were expected to do “girl things” like make tortillas, cook, wash clothes, and clean house. This was after a day’s work picking tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, or whatever was being harvested that season. Our upbringing typified almost every Chicana’s upbringing in our generation—whether you lived in Calexico, Brawley, Coachella, Fresno, Gilroy, or Merced. That is, until we began to break the mold. The Teatro de las Chicanas embodied las Chicanas’ rebellion against the one-sided version of the Virgen de Guadalupe—meek, submissive, eyes respectfully glued to the ground. With our clamor we hoped to get the other Guadalupe, get her out of the house and into the streets fighting for La Causa! That’s right, the cause. We wanted to get out the Guadalupe who not only felt our pain, but also stood up, unafraid, ready to speak her mind and stand her ground. This other Guadalupe felt strong because she was fighting for justice and the liberation of los de abajo. In our skits we promoted her spirit, the one that galloped on horseback or jumped onto running vagones during the 1910 Mexican Revolution. People say knowledge is power. So we educated ourselves. We not only read about Emiliano Zapata and the Adelitas but we also read Friedrich Engels’ book The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, which, by the way, became a bible to some of us. We learned about the women of color’s triple oppression, as women, as workers, and as national minorities. We all participated in discussing the ideas for the actos, writing them, rehearsing them, and performing them. Doing so helped us become stronger Chicanas. This acquired knowledge unleashed us like wild horses. Once unleashed, we were bad! We had style! We had the walk, we had the talk, and we felt invincible. We made a statement of our liberation wherever we went. We were always in full force and full gear: tight bell-bottom Levis or straight-leg button-fly Levis; halter tops (and yeah, bra-less), or long embroidered Mexican dresses; rebozos and huaraches bought in Tijuana, Baja California, or T.J., as we called it. Our looks reflected our personalities and our moods. Some, like Feliz, Chiva, and Delia, opted for the “natural” look. Mind you, “natural” is in quotations because in one of our teatro tours, one of the rucas—and I won’t mention who—hauled along a bag full of lotions and creams, lip gloss, nail polish remover, and nail polish she used to acquire her “natural” look. Others like laura e. garcia 29 Margie and Micaela preferred the chola urban look. Margie was the master blaster. She...