La Voz Latina: Contemporary Plays and Performance Pieces by Latinas ed. by Elizabeth C. Ramírez and Catherine Casiano (review)

La Voz Latina is a collection of contemporary drama and performance pieces representative of diverse Latina experiences and identities. In this anthology, editors Elizabeth C. Ramírez and Catherine Casiano bring together twelve works of great significance to Latina theatre in the United States: Yareli Arizmendi’s Who Buys Your Shoes?; Josefina Báez’s Dominicanish; Migdalia Cruz’s Another Part of the House; Evelina Fernández’s Luminarias; Celia Herrera Rodríguez’s Cositas Quebradas: Performance Codex; Cherríe Moraga’s Waiting for Da God; Carmen Peláez’s El Postre de Estrada Palma and My Cuba; Carmen Rivera’s La Gringa; Diane Rodriguez’s The Path to Divadom; Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters; and The Colorado Sisters’ Chicomoztoc: Mimixcoa – Cloud Serpent. In addition to this rich collection of plays, many of which have never been published, the book includes a biographical sketch and artistic commentary from each dramatist, production history on the plays, and two brief chapters by Kathy Perkins and Caridad Svich on ethnic minority women in theatre.

One of the notable contributions of La Voz Latina to the dramatic arts is the rich variety of playwrights and innovative works. As commented in their introduction, Ramírez and Casiano exclusively selected plays that also had a production history so as to highlight not just the text but what is often overlooked by critics and academics: the struggle for many Latinas to find venues for their work. Likewise, in order to shed light on multifarious dramatic expressions and bring attention to these deserving voices, this collection includes a mixture of English-only and bilingual plays and performance pieces by dramatists of Chicana, Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and blended backgrounds. The variety of theatrical pieces, content, and form as well as the diverse origins of the prominent writers and their personal comments about the creative process makes this anthology a significant contribution to Latina theatre, performance studies, and, on a broader spectrum, American theatre.

The plays are organized into five sections based on common themes. In Part I, the importance of family, religion, and community is explored in two exemplary plays: Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters and Moraga’s Waiting for Da God. Part II centers on Chicana theatre and offers insight into staging Chicana identity both “behind the footlights” and on stage through such productions as Rodriguez’s The Path to Divadom and Arizmendi’s Who Buys Your Shoes? By using an innovative monologue style reminiscent of Luis Valdez’s early actos, each performance piece notably highlights the value of Chicana and Latina culture and the importance of maintaining tradition while simultaneously embracing change. In Part III, Herrera Rodríguez’s Cositas Quebradas and The Colorado Sisters’ Chicomoztoc introduce a revalorization of female indigenous roots through a celebration of Aztec and Mayan heritages. By means of an exploration of their indigenous past, the playwrights enact a ritual where they are able to reconnect with their origins and engage audience members to do the same. Part IV is titled “Race Matters” (in reference to Cornel West’s book) and includes two important plays that problematize concepts of race as fixed identity markers: Báez’s experimental performance piece Dominicanish and Fernández’s Luminarias (which was later adapted into a widely acclaimed film). Both dramatists boldly address the subject of racism experienced within society and within the Latina/o community itself and, in so doing, underscore the importance of challenging racist (and sexist) attitudes in today’s society. The fifth section features Peláez’s El Postre de Estrada Palma and My Cuba, Rivera’s La Gringa and Cruz’s Another Part of the House. For Peláez and Rivera, a concept of home implies not just a geographical location but also a symbolic connection with their patria. Cruz revisits García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba and offers an insightful look...