What would you do if you were told that you need to stop being what you are, looking how you like to look, loving how you love? That your style of clothes, and how you walk and talk are not acceptable. You’ll be told what to do, how to dress and how to love. Would you agree to do that?
Yet we turn the TV on or read magazines and they all seem to proclaim: “Look like this!” “You must do that!”
The smart satire Learn to be Latina is written by Enrique Urueta; a story exploring questions of identity in our star-obsessed culture at Milagro Theatre, 525 SE Stark St. through the month of May.
In the play, Hanan is beautiful, talented and determined to get to the top of the music charts. She learns that those who want to be part of the music industry these days compete with reality shows that churn out new “talent” nightly. Record execs thinks she’s unmarketable and demand she “consider revising” her identity for Latin pop stardom. Hanan surrenders her ethnic identity and accepts the challenge, and then the ride goes even faster with the other sacrifices she must make to “get there”.
Milagro hosts a talkback series for the play called Learn To Be Latina: Identity Bootcamp to draw the community into conversations about ethnic, gender and sexual identity. Sunday, May 4, 11 and 18. All begin at 4 pm.
Tickets for Learn to Be a Latina are $15 – $26 and can be purchased from www.milagro.org or 503.236.7253