April 4, 2025 • 45 mins
"I was constantly made to feel broken, and I almost believed it. Then I realized – no, it's actually called genius, it's called intuition, it's called all these beautiful things that come with being an indigenous person, with being a woman."
Josefina Lopez, the groundbreaking playwright behind "Real Women Have Curves," takes us on an exhilarating journey from her beginnings as an undocumented teenager in East Los Angeles to becoming one of America's most important Latina voices in theater and film. With disarming honesty and contagious passion, Lopez reveals how a high school screening of Luis Valdez's work awakened her to theater's revolutionary potential to tell authentic immigrant stories.
The creative spark that ignited "Real Women Have Curves" came from Lopez's time working in her sister's tiny garment factory near the housing projects of Boyle Heights. Rather than experiencing exploitation and despair, she discovered a vibrant sisterhood of women who shared stories, laughter, and wisdom that profoundly shaped her feminist consciousness. This joyful solidarity amid challenging circumstances became the heartbeat of her acclaimed play, which celebrates women's bodies and immigrant dignity against a backdrop of societal devaluation.
Lopez doesn't shy away from discussing the sexism and gatekeeping she encountered in the entertainment industry, including from fellow Latinos in positions of power. Her response was characteristic – instead of accepting rejection, she founded Casa 0101 Theater to create space for stories about women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ Latinos that mainstream theaters wouldn't touch. Through initiatives like the "Brown and Out" series and mentorship programs for emerging playwrights and directors, Casa 0101 has become a vital cultural force in Los Angeles.
Follow Josefina's current journey bringing "Real Women Have Curves" to Broadway at josefinalopezbiz or support Casa 0101's community-centered work at casa0101.org. As Lopez reminds us with her new mantra: "Don't go to hate – create, elevate, and celebrate."
Be sure to check out her work at JosefinaLopez.biz and support the incredible theater and storytelling happening at Casa 0101. If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us for more stories that celebrate LGBTQ+ and Latine voices. You can also explore more episodes and exclusive content at QGLLU.buzzsprout.com. Until next time, keep creating, keep telling your stories, and keep pushing for change!
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Welcome to the RADIO QGLLU podcast, the show that TAKES A DEEP DIVE INTO WHAT THE QUEER, GAY, AND LESBIAN LATINE COMMUNITY IS TALKING ABOUT.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rita Gonzales (00:04):
Welcome to the Out Agenda.
Coming to an archivekpfkorg,I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Well, we have another segmentof Radio Q Glue for this month,
and our guest is Josefina Lopez,the author of Real Women have
Curves.
So here's Radio Q Glue.
(00:25):
Welcome to Radio Q Glue podcast, the show that takes a deep
dive into what the queer, gayand lesbian Latin community is
talking about.
I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Eduardo Archuleta (00:46):
I'm Eduardo Archuleta.
Mario J. Novoa (00:49):
I'm Mario J Navoa.
Today, our guest is JosefinaLopez, founding artistic
director of Casa 0101 Theater.
Josefina Lopez is an acclaimedplaywright, screenwriter and
activist, best known for hergroundbreaking play Real Women
have Curves, which was lateradapted into a critically
(01:09):
acclaimed film.
A passionate advocate forLatino representation in the
arts, Lopez founded Casa 0101Theater in Boyle Heights, los
Angeles, to provide a platformfor underrepresented voices,
particularly women and Latinoartists.
With over 25 years ofdedication to the arts, she has
(01:31):
helped develop and mentorcountless emerging writers and
performers.
Her work explores themes ofidentity, immigration, gender
equality and social justice,making a lasting impact on the
theatrical and cinematiclandscape.
Through Casa 0101, lópezcontinues to champion cultural
(01:52):
storytelling and communityengagement, ensuring that
diverse perspectives have apowerful space to be heard.
Josefina again, thank you verymuch for coming on the interview
with us.
First question I have for youis what inspired you to become a
playwright and storyteller?
Josefina Lopez (02:12):
I was sitting in a French class and we had this
French teacher who was trying toteach us French.
But what he realized I mean, Igrew up in the barrio in Boyle
Heights what he realized wasthat we really needed Chicano
studies more than we neededFrench.
And so, secretly, he would playvideos to help us love
(02:35):
ourselves.
And he was French, maybeAmerican, but, like his wife,
was Mexican, and he realizedthat we really needed like to be
, he really needed to to remindus of our worth.
And it is funny and ironic,right, that I really wanted to
learn French because I alwayswanted to live in France and you
(02:55):
know, I did eventually get togo to France.
But I think he realized that,wow, like they have to take an
elective and these kids probablydon't want to learn Spanish,
because maybe they already knowSpanish or maybe they don't want
to be Latino.
And so he played this.
He would play these videos andaudios and like he would enrich
our lives and that's a Frenchthing to do too, right.
(03:18):
And then he would.
He played Luis Valdez's LaCarpa de los Rascuachi.
It was a CBS special.
Can you believe that A CBS dida special on La Carpa de los
Rascuachi in the 70s.
And when I saw that I went oh myGod, like, luis Valdez is
writing about being an immigrant, about an immigrant losing his
(03:42):
children because they've becomeassimilated and they don't want
to be Mexican.
And I just thought, oh, wow,this is so brilliant because
it's the first time I've everseen anything on TV that deals
with being an immigrant, thatdeals with my reality.
It was like I'm real and I waslike, wow, who is Luis Valdez?
And I was like 14, 15 when Isaw this.
(04:04):
Like wow, who is Luis Valdez?
And I was like 14, 15 when Isaw this.
And I remember thinking, gosh,I really want to tell stories
about being Mexican, mexican,american and about how hard it
is to be a woman when you haveso much machismo deal with as a
daughter that you know everyoneexpects you to be cleaning and
basically treating men as alltheir gods, you know.
And and I just was like, oh,wow, I want to be a playwright.
(04:26):
And remember that word likeplaywright, like, because I
thought theater was justShakespeare.
When people thought, you know,when we talked about theater to
me was always white people withwigs on in an Elizabethan accent
going, you know, so to me itfelt like that's so irrelevant,
that's like I can't identifywith that kind of theater,
(04:47):
because that's what I thought itwas.
But when I saw Luis Valdez Isaid, oh no, theater is about
telling the truth and it's aboutshowing people that there's a
better way and and that you havea choice.
And I mean, you know, now I canarticulate that very well.
But at 14, I just knew that itwas about telling the truth
unapologetically and I was likeI think I want to be a
(05:08):
playwright, I think I want to dothis.
And so at 15, I was declaringthat I was going to be a
playwright and I don't know howliberal and open minded but I
think you guys are very liberaland open minded I'm a curandera
in training, I'm a.
(05:34):
I'm a curandera in training,I'm a shaman in training, I'm.
You know, add is another formof psychic ability.
So I discovered that in my pastlife I was a whole lifetime my
last, one of my last lifetimeswhere I did a lot of theater.
So it just kind of reminded meof like wait, I'm going to be a
playwright in this one too, andand so anyway, obviously I don't
(05:54):
tell too many people that,because most people don't
believe that.
But but yes, cause I was likehow does a 10 year old cause?
At 10 years old I wanted to puton shows in my backyard.
I didn't know why, and maybe itwas because of the little
rascals, but at 15 I declaredthat I was going to be a
playwright and then, when I sawLuis Valdez, his play again
called I don't have to show youno stinking badges where he
(06:16):
talked about stereotypes andabout how Latinos are basically
here to be the bad guy in awhite man's story and we're here
to, to, to, to just be the dumb.
You know like we're.
We're here as the servants, asthe pendejos, as the whatever,
like, but we're never the heroes.
And and I just went like, oh myGod, like it really spoke to me
.
And so I was 17 and I said, ohmy God, I want to devote my life
(06:39):
to changing the representationof Latinos, because it's wrong
and it's an injustice, and Iwant to do something about it.
So at 17, I knew that I wasgoing to devote my life, like my
career, to doing this.
And so then, at 18, when Igraduated, I had already been
accepted to.
(06:59):
No, no, I actually I had.
I had been accepted to NYU butI couldn't go because I was
undocumented.
But I had already, like, had aplan of like I want to be a
professional writer.
And then you know, of course,because I was undocumented I
couldn't, but this is kind ofwhat inspired me to be.
Mario J. Novoa (07:17):
Well, just to tag on on that, I just want to
say Luis Valdez's work isincredible.
Did you ever get a chance tomeet him and talk?
Josefina Lopez (07:25):
to him Okay, so what really did it?
And Luis knows this and I'vetold him this that when I was 18
, we had to do a research paperon Luis Valdez.
So I read all of his plays andwe were supposed to present a
monologue, because I wasstudying theater at the Los
Angeles County High School forthe Arts.
And so in my senior year we hadto present a monologue from our
(07:48):
favorite playwright.
And after reading all of hisplays I realized that all of the
female characters were virgins,mothers and whores.
That was it, Like the women,where that was the only role
that they had in a man's story.
And I was like God, god, Ican't even do a woman's
monologue because they're liketwo lines, they.
(08:10):
There are no female monologuesin Luis Valdez's work at that
time and I was like what am Igonna do?
So I had to play, uh, sonny,who was a Chicano, uh student at
Harvard who was trying to studylaw, but then he wanted to be
an actor.
So I did that monologue as aman.
But it made me realize that Isaid, why?
(08:32):
Why doesn't he have like goodmonologues for women?
And at 18, I said, oh, it'sbecause Luis Valdez isn't
writing about Latino women.
He's writing about La Causa,about Chicano, about men
struggles, and to some degreehe's writing about me, but he's
not writing specifically aboutwomen and the women aren't any
better off in this story than inother men's story.
(08:54):
Because in theater it's like youknow I don't know if you know
that.
This is my trick question.
I ask all my students I go doyou know how modern theater
began?
And they're like what do youmean?
What do you mean?
I said you know how?
Who started modern theater?
And they're like no, no, no,who?
And then it turns out it'sIbsen, and Ibsen is the father
of modern theater.
(09:14):
Because he started writingabout women Because he started
hanging out in cafes and barsand talking to sex workers and
he had very interestingrelationships with sex workers
and he started to realize that,wow, only sex workers are the
only women who are allowed tothink and to challenge and to
say like to have a differentperspective.
But all the other women have toplay these roles in society for
(09:36):
men, and these are the onlywomen that are free not really
free, but free in their mind insome way.
And so he started writing aboutwomen's struggles and that's
why we have modern theater, buteven then, like, women's roles
were horrible and there stillare.
I mean, unless women arewriting the roles, most women's
roles are really bad.
That's a come.
I am not an actress.
(09:57):
I am an actress.
People say, oh my God, you'reincredible.
Why aren't you pursuing acting?
I said because there aren't anygood enough roles to really
like.
Devote my life to them, becauseeveryone wants me to play their
mother, their grandmother or amadam or whatever.
And I go.
But they're not interestingroles, they're not.
They're only here to servicemen's stories so that men can be
the heroes.
I go, I don't want to be a partof that, you know.
(10:18):
I'd rather go write storiesabout women and heroes.
So then I decided to take upwriting because I realized that
Luis Valdez isn't writing aboutwomen, so I should start writing
about women.
So then, when I was 19, I wasable to meet Luis Valdez at the
Los Angeles Theater Center wherethey did his play I don't have
to show you no stinky badges twoyears earlier, at a theater
(10:40):
festival, and I was so luckythat the artistic director of
LATC, bilbo Schnell, who's gonenow.
He was a big supporter andmentor of mine and he introduced
me to Luis Valdez and said, ohmy god, luis, you have to meet
this young lady.
She's only 19 years old andshe's already been to the to
Australia to represent the US ata theater festival and she's
(11:01):
written many plays and we'vementored her and she's a great.
So Luis was like, really, wow,you're 19 and you've already
written play.
So then he said send me yourwork.
And I was like, oh my god,anyway I did.
And I never expected to hearback from luis valdez.
And like a few months later Iget a call from a director that
says, uh, that who told me uh,luis valdez loves your work and
(11:22):
he wants to produce your play ata theater campesino.
And I'm like, oh, okay, really.
And I didn't believe her atfirst.
I was like, yeah, people aretalkers, right.
So and then it turns out shesaid, oh, do you have another
play?
And I said I do.
Actually I just wrote a playcalled food for the dead, which
is about a family who discoversthat their son is gay, because
(11:42):
he announces it, because he'sgoing to marry his, his white
boyfriend, partner, and on, uh,on a dia de los muertos
halloween, you know, kind of.
And he goes, oh, wow, send itto me.
So then I sent it to them andthen anyway, so yeah, I met luis
valdez and then I got to meethim again at teatro campesino,
maybe a few months later, and Iwas like I can't believe like l
(12:03):
Luis Valdez like reallyconnected to my work.
And so I do feel very connectedto to Luis, because I was very
fortunate that in the beginninghe was a supporter and and the
fact that I loved his play, thathis play changed my life, that
here he was like producing myplays at Teatro Capesino, was
just life-changing.
Eduardo Archuleta (12:20):
Huge fan of Real Women have Curves.
With that said, real Women haveCurves.
With that said, real Women haveCurves has been a significant
cultural impact on the community.
What was your creative process?
Josefina Lopez (12:35):
in writing it and I couldn't go to college the
first year, even though I gotinto NYU.
So during that year I worked ata dress manufacturer as a
receptionist.
I worked at McDonald's and Ididn't like it and my sister
(12:59):
needed workers and I said, oh,you know, I'll go work at the
factory because it's my sister.
You know I can, it doesn't haveto be so strict, it's whatever
hours, because we get paid by.
I would get paid by the hour,but I could decide my hours and
so I said, okay.
So when I was in the factory Ihad this incredible experience
where I saw the incrediblesisterhood of women and the
camaraderie and the bonding andand and.
The thing about it is that, eventhough it was really hard work
(13:22):
and we were in East LA in a tinylittle factory, it was, it was
just a, it was just a retailspace that she rented, that she
turned into a tiny littlefactory and we were right next
to the housing projects, estradaCourts, and, and it was not the
nicest place Cause there were alot of cholos, homeless, drug
addicts like it.
You know it was a mess, right,and.
(13:43):
But inside that little factorywe laugh so much, like we were
always laughing and tellingstories and joking, and so the
irony of like a very bleakbackground, but inside we were
these like really happy ladiesworking really hard but but just
(14:04):
having, I mean, laughs andlaughs, and we would tell
stories.
And so every day, even though Iknew it was going to be hard
work, I would just think, oh myGod, what stories are we going
to share today?
And then my sister, you know,so a lot of the stuff that's in
the play is in the factory.
It really did happen Like welive by the radio.
The radio was all the TV, allthe shows were like we would
(14:27):
have like our morning day, we'relike like, oh, now this show
comes on, now that show comes on, and we would hear, and there
was always these competitions.
So it was always like llama,llama, you know, for the free
rosca de reyes, for the freeconcert ticket, so so we would
always be sewing her.
And then, oh my god, and then mysister would run to the phone
to try to get in.
And uh, and then one day whenmy sister she was in love,
(14:49):
supposedly with the guy nextdoor who we call it Tormento,
who ended up being like a nogood guy, he anyway.
So she read this poem.
She got on top of a bucket andshe started reading this poem to
a cultural center where she wasdoing poetry and we were there
and it just I remember thinking,oh my God, this is crazy that
(15:11):
here we are, these seamstresses,but we're having this
incredible experience and I justwould laugh so much that I
thought, you know, I'm surepeople would feel sorry for me
knowing that I'm in this tinysewing factory in East LA
instead of at Yale, with myfriends who went off to college
who were all destined forgreatness because we were in AP
(15:32):
English.
And here I am and then I thought, no, but I'm having such an
amazing experience, such aneducation about who women really
are and women's worth, and itwas such a feminist cultural
experience that I was like, ohmy God, people need to know this
because nobody needs to feelsorry for me or for us.
And also I felt like, no, thisis an incredible moment because
(15:56):
I just got my green card.
Every woman here is getting hergreen card.
And what's so funny is I reallyhave to give my mother the
credit, because my mother's alsoa very good storyteller.
She's passed.
She said you know, my sisterwas the last one, she was the
boss.
And my sister was the last oneto get her green card because
she had a lawsuit and she waskind of in a financial mess even
(16:17):
though she was the boss.
And she, my mother said oh myGod, wouldn't it be funny if the
migra came and, instead oftaking like the employees, like
they usually do, they take thepatrona, like the employees,
like they usually do, they takethe patrona?
And we all broke out laughing,laughing, and I remember
thinking that's such a greatplot for a story.
My mother just gave me the plotto Real Women have Curves and I
(16:38):
said oh yeah, you know, becauseI wanted to write about being
undocumented, but I didn't wantto write a drama or a tragedy or
have people feel sorry for us.
I wanted to show the irony oflike the American dream too that
my sister is the boss, yetshe's undocumented or all her
employees have to hide her.
You know, like.
And I just thought, oh my God,that's such a great idea.
(17:01):
And so then, so that's where itstarted.
But after I left the sewingfactory, I got well.
I got into a writing workshopMaria Irene Fornes Playwriting
Workshop it started.
But after I left the sewingfactory.
I got well, I got into awriting workshop Maria Irene
Fornes playwriting workshop andI got to go work with this
amazing, uh feminist lesbianplaywright in New York City
through the Intar theatercompany, and so I went there for
(17:22):
six months and then I uh, Iwrote the play.
I wrote, uh, the first andsecond draft and I had a reading
, and that's kind of whatstarted it and and it was
wonderful, you know, andimmediately when I did a reading
, just a few scenes, people said, oh my gosh, it's so funny
Because this is how women reallytalk, and I had captured that,
that experience in my dialogueand anyway.
(17:44):
So so then I knew I had torewrite it and eventually, you
know, it is what it is now.
Mario J. Novoa (17:50):
I love that you shared that.
Josefina, this is Mario again.
I also.
Well, I grew up in the factorywith my mom and I still like to
hear the industrial sewingmachines go off, and I think
that experience of that culturewithin the factory of women
(18:11):
expressing themselves is stillvery key to the approach that I
bring to storytelling.
So I really appreciate that youshared that.
But I do want to ask you alittle.
You talked about the immigrantexperience.
Can you talk about how thatinfluenced your storytelling?
Josefina Lopez (18:26):
Well, you know, a writer has to tell the truth
and a writer has to write aboutwhat they know, because that's
the best kind of storytelling.
So I knew that my voice wasunique because, very, you know,
undocumented people are scaredto be found out, so they don't
write about their storiesbecause they, you know, like
it's, it's a survival mechanismto hide, to hide internally, to
(18:48):
hide in every which way.
So for me, when I got mytemporary residency card, I knew
that I was never going to hideagain, that I had to really
write about my experience and Ihad to celebrate the fact that I
was now legal or documented.
And I wanted to document myexperience because I felt like
(19:10):
it was historic that thousandsof Latinos were going to become
legal residents and eventuallywe were going to be able to
elect a mayor and one day,hopefully, latino governor or
Latina governor.
And so for me, I felt like thatwas, this was a historic moment
that I needed to document, tomake things real for me.
So I felt like nobody's writtenabout being undocumented as far
as I knew, especially in 1987.
(19:32):
So I need to write about myexperience.
But it was also a way of givingmy humanity back to myself.
Because when you're undocumented, you get dehumanized, you're
treated as a non-person and youinternalize that.
You may not be aware of it,especially when you come here as
a child and you're told not totalk to people, not to tell
(19:52):
people, you don't have paper,you don't really understand
what's going on, but to somedegree you experience this
incredible violence against yourhumanity and against your
innocence.
And I, you know I canarticulate that now, but it took
a lot of therapy andunderstanding.
Like, oh, you were made to feellike there's something wrong
(20:13):
with you, like to be ashamed ofyourself when you did nothing,
especially when you come here asa child.
But there's this thing aboutfeeling like there's something
wrong with you, there's acertain type of shame that we're
made to carry that.
I was like I'm not going tocarry that.
I'm not, but it's still there.
Carry that I was like I'm notgoing to carry that I'm not, but
, but it's still there.
So I kind of had to write aboutmy life to reclaim my humanity.
Because you know, when you'recalled an alien, you are being
(20:36):
dehumanized, you're being toldyou're not quite human, you're
not like us, and you internalizethat.
So for me it was of saying no,look at how real I am.
Look at how, what a human beingI am.
I am so real.
Look, and I think even that indressing scene is a declaration
of saying look, do I not looklike you, do I not?
You know, are we not the sameperson?
(20:56):
So I felt like that wasimportant for me to write about,
to really declare my humanity.
Rita Gonzales (21:03):
What challenges, as a woman and a Latina, getting
into the entertainment field,that's a block right there a
wall.
Josefina Lopez (21:13):
There are so many, and I'll be honest with
you that it's sad to say, butI'll tell you, because this is
juicy chisme hour, right Is thatI've had famous Latino men not
help in any way and where I'vehad, unfortunately or
unfortunately depending on howyou want to look at it where
I've had, like Norman Lear, whofights for Latinos and fought
(21:37):
for people of color, helped me alot more than a Latino man who
was in power.
I've had a lot of Jewishproducers who, you know, listen
to me and were trying to help meor have been helped me, or more
than Latino men.
And that's what sucks too, whenyou realize, like I mean I so
want to tell you the names ofthese two people who everyone I
(22:00):
mean a lot of people revere.
Like there's somebody who, if Iwere to tell you his name,
you'd be like no, no way.
His name.
You'd be like no, no way.
And I would say no, you know,now this man is on the bandwagon
of like supporting latinospublicly and doing all these
incredible things.
That that you'd be like nofreaking way.
And I've had these men basicallytell producers oh, I don't want
(22:20):
to work with her, she's afeminist, uh, and if they and
the producers have told me thisis shocking because we thought
this famous latino comedian,this, you know, like putting you
together would be like a hit.
And they're like no, and I go,yeah, because I will call, I
will call out their shit.
It's very hard to censor mebecause I, I'll tell you, like I
see you and I'll tell you.
(22:41):
And the other thing, too islike I have what my abuela had,
which I have the Malojo thingwhere I can see through your
soul.
But yeah, so I've had men who,like, could easily have helped
me because they were inpositions of power and they
don't want to help.
Uh, we don't want you takingour job, like these people could
have hired me.
But they're like, oh no, thiswoman is more, knows a lot more
(23:04):
about being Latina, knows a lotmore about being an immigrant,
knows a lot more about living inEast LA, knows a lot more about
being an immigrant, knows a lotmore about living in East LA,
knows a lot more about what I'mpretending to know and these
gringos are going to see that,and I can't be the expert on
being Latino, and that's thereality is that there are a lot
of frauds in Hollywood.
And so when you bring someonelike me, who was undocumented,
who did grow up in East LA, whois working class, who is the
(23:26):
subject matter of most of theshows that they're writing about
, and then you see this Latinowho's like fifth generation,
who's like a quarter Latino, whowasn't Latino until last year
when it was convenient to beLatino, then they're like oh no,
I'm not going to hire thiswoman.
And I've had that happen so many, so many times that I go oh,
that's right, that's like howI'm not.
(23:46):
You know, basically telling thewhite man oh, it's okay, it's
okay If you portray us this way,it's okay If you, if we're the
bad guys, it's okay If it's allabout cholos.
You know I'm going to be likeno, why do we have to exploit
the suffering of our people?
Like, if you're going to showus this, then you've got to show
the joy.
If you're going to exploit oursexuality and the violence and
(24:08):
the suffering, no, like, tellthe whole story and they won't
hire me, so, anyway.
So, yeah, it's been verydifficult, but I'm still here,
and part of it is because I knowwhat I'm about.
I know why I have to tell thesestories.
I'm not in it for the fame, I'mdefinitely not in it for the
money, because I could have soldout years ago and been living
(24:29):
in Malibu and I said no, no, no.
And so for me, like I reallylove telling stories, I really
love telling the truth, I reallylove bringing light to things
and I really love being a womanand that's the thing that I
think makes me unbreakable isthat, as a woman, I realize that
being a woman is a huge asset,because I have incredible
(24:50):
intuition, I have incredible wayof building community and doing
things that allow me access tostories that men don't have
access to.
I even have access to men'sstories that they don't have
access to.
I've written stories about menthat men could never write
because men can't ask for helpor whatever like things that
they can't talk about I can talkabout as well.
(25:11):
So I have access to so manymore stories, and so for me, I
see it more like as an asset.
Even though there's been allthese challenges and
difficulties, some of them arejust don't want to help us, some
really just don't want you toget ahead of them.
Help me.
Take Real Women women havecurves and make it successful
(25:31):
even earlier, and so oftentimesmen will just like try to step
in because they're like no,because if you get ahead of me,
I feel like a, like a such aloser, and I go look, I'm not
here to make anybody feel like aloser.
I'm here to be true to myself,to honor all the gifts that God
has given me and to inspireother people to pursue their
dreams.
(25:51):
So if you feel like a loser,like re-examine, like why?
Because it has nothing to dowith me and me trying to tell
the truth, me trying to tellstories that uplift our
community.
That you know, because to me,ultimately, what I'm just trying
to do is I'm trying to to showpeople how to get rid of shame,
how shame we don't need to carryit.
(26:11):
Every story I tell is about ussaying look, we are enough, we
are not broken.
Because when I was a little kid, I was constantly made to feel
like I was broken because Icould feel way too much, I knew
too much, I experienced theworld differently than most
people and I was made to feellike I was broken and I almost
believed it.
And then I realized, no, it'sactually called genius, it's
(26:32):
actually called creation, it'scalled intuition, it's called
all these beautiful things thatcome with being an indigenous
person.
They come with being a womanthat come from being a new, new,
divergent person.
So I'm not going to let anybodybreak me, because these aren't
gifts, these are not disorders,these are not things that are
bad.
I'm not cursed, I'm I'm, youknow it's anyway.
(26:52):
So for me, I feel like, yeah, asa woman, there's been way.
I just feel like God, reallyyou must've thought I, you know,
sometimes I pray to God and Igo, god, you must think I'm a
real chingona, because could youhave, you know, like all the
freaking conflicts, all thechallenges, and I go, okay, god
must think I'm a chingonabecause somehow I'm going to
overcome all these, I'm going tofind a way, I'm going to find a
path and I'm going to be humbleenough to know that I can
(27:16):
always be learning, I can alwaysbe listening, I can always be
open to inspiration and I do geta lot of divine guidance.
I'll be honest that, despiteall my challenges, I also have
all this divine guidance thathas made me see a light in a
really dark path where peoplejust are too scared to go, and
I'm like okay, I see a littlelight, I'm going to go pursue it
(27:37):
.
I may get killed, I may getheartbroken, but I'm going to do
it anyway, and yeah, anyway.
Eduardo Archuleta (27:44):
Thank you.
This is Eduardo again, and Iwanted your sharing has brought
up some of my memories of sayingthat you're sharing stories,
listening to my grandmothergrowing up and telling her
stories, which leads me to myquestion what kind of motivated
(28:11):
you to open up?
And I'm Casa 0101.
Josefina Lopez (28:16):
Casa 0101.
Eduardo Archuleta (28:17):
Thank you.
Josefina Lopez (28:18):
And it's funny because people call it 101,
which I think is also fairbecause it is the beginning of
theater for a lot of peoplewho've never been exposed to
theater.
But it's 0101, which means theoriginal language of computers,
and it's a very spiritualmeaning behind it.
It's drama happens when there'sa binary, when there's
opposition right, but when youhave zero and one becoming one,
(28:40):
there's no more drama.
We transcend drama.
And it's also about theoriginal language of computers
and it's also about the digitalrevolution.
So it's a very strange name andpeople go what does it mean?
And I go oh, thank you, let meexplain it to you, cause.
So I knew that I needed tostart my own theater, because no
(29:00):
one would produce real womenhave curves in Los Angeles, even
though it had already been ahit.
It had already been producedlike 18 times outside of LA and
it was usually a success, likeit would sell out.
Nobody would produce Real Womenhave Curves in Los Angeles.
There were no theatersinterested and I couldn't
(29:20):
believe it because it was a hit.
And so I approached manytheaters, including one where my
friend was the literary managerof this theater, and he told me
that he loved my play and hewas going to try to get it there
.
And after a few weeks we spokeand he said I can't believe this
.
You would think that theseLatina women who run this
(29:45):
theater would be interested,because it's about Latina women,
but these women are and again,no disrespect here.
There were these.
They were closeted lesbians,lesbians.
So I don't think they were outabout being lesbians, which I
think maybe at that time, whenthey started this theater, they
(30:05):
could not have been public aboutit, because people were really
harsh, I mean, and we're goingto talk about that.
And I said but they also don'tlike their bodies, because they
basically told me that theydon't want fat women on their
stage and that was the reasonwhy they didn't want to do real
women.
And I said it's because, also,they don't like their body, they
don't.
And I said you know, Iunderstand, because I think it
(30:27):
does trigger some people whohave a lot of shame around their
body and maybe even shame aboutbeing gay and and I'm not going
to out them, I'm not gonna, Icould easily make a stink, but
I'm not, I'm not.
And I said you know, that'sfine, because they're not
conscious enough to get likethey're working.
These are third world feminists.
Like how are they like doing?
(31:03):
You know, even sex work now haslike respect, right.
But back then it was likesomehow they thought that it was
undignified to be a seamstress.
I was.
I remember hearing that wordand I just got so pissed off
because I was like, wait, youknow, if you so, your job gives
you dignity, I said what if youlose your job, do you lose your
dignity?
I said no, dignity is the onething no one can take away from
(31:25):
you.
Dignity is what you bestow onyourself.
This is one thing that theycannot break you when you have
dignity, when you hold onto that.
And then I submitted it to thisother literary manager at this
very famous theater who willprobably one day present the
musical version of real women 20, 30 years later.
So this is the part where I getto laugh, right.
But I got a letter saying thatthey, that he did not, he did
(31:49):
not care for my chicana diatribe, that he was very like.
I mean, he just went on and Ihave the letter because I want
people to see this letter and Iwant to frame this letter once
real women have Curves hitsBroadway to show writers that
you could be writing somethingthat's so edgy and so ahead of
its time.
But when people don't get it,and they don't have the
(32:10):
consciousness to get it, theywill say that this is dirt, that
this is bad, that this is badart, right.
They're just not in the mind.
They, just their mind is notopen enough to get it.
And then sometimes that's a comeI, I.
I often don't take thingspersonal, because I've been
called crazy so many times bypeople whose minds are so small
(32:31):
and I've had to say okay, wait20 years.
And I've had to tell peopleit's okay, 10 years, you'll come
and apologize to me, whichpeople do all the time.
People come and apologize to meall the freaking time.
Men especially.
They're like oh, I'm sorry, Ijust thought you were crazy
because you know, I justcouldn't believe that and I'd be
like I know, because you know I, you just can't believe that
I'm smarter than you or that Ican see the future.
(32:52):
Or I know things.
Because I know things Cause Ihave this, this, this intuition.
I say you just can't believethat I have that because it
doesn't usually come in apackage like this.
So I got so annoyed at being atreading this racist letter and
sexist letter that I wascomplaining to my friend and my
(33:15):
friend we were in thisleadership class and she goes
well, maybe you're supposed todo it, maybe you're supposed to
produce the play.
That's a come.
No one is going to produce theplay in LA.
And I was like, and I was likeyou're right, I can continue
complaining about how racist andsexist and unfair it is that
Latinos are the majority in LosAngeles and yet there are no
plays about Latinos at any ofthe theaters.
(33:36):
Or I can produce this play.
So I started producing this playusing my loans from UCLA.
I was going to UCLA getting mymaster's degree and and I said
you know what?
I'm going to go produce it.
And, long story short, Idecided to produce my play.
It was so successful.
A producer saw it and that'show come?
There's a movie, and.
(33:57):
But it was me deciding that youknow what?
I don't want to have peopletell me no, because I know these
stories are good, because Iknow my community responds to
these stories.
Why can't we have these?
So why can't we see ourselveson stage?
If we can't see ourselves ontelevision and film, we can at
least see ourselves on stage.
And so I started producing and Iwas so successful and I said,
(34:17):
oh my god, what else can I write?
What else can I produce?
And then I started doing sketchcomedy.
And I did a sketch comedy showcalled PMS the Pinche Mentirosa
Sisters and it was a satirical,you know, show where we talked
about how unfair life is, but ina very funny way.
We're so successful that I waslike, oh my God, what else can I
(34:37):
produce?
And and I just realized, shoot,I need my own theater so I can
produce plays year round, notjust like every three months.
And then I saw this littleretail space that used to be a
bridal boutique and then I said,okay, let me just start.
And I didn't know how to run atheater, but I said, okay, let
me try.
And luckily I met the man whowould become my future husband,
(34:59):
who just happened to be atheater administrator, and but I
was divinely guided to go meethim.
That's another story, I know,because I wasn't gonna did I
didn't want to meet him.
I was told divinely that I hadto go meet a man and I was gonna
be involved romantically withhim.
And I was like, oh, I'm notgonna go meet this man, I'm done
with men.
But I thought I was done backthen, right, and I was told, was
told to finally had to go meetthis man.
And I said no, no, no, I'm notgoing to, that's it, I'm not
(35:21):
getting married again.
And then I was told, no, youhave to go meet this man at this
dinner party because he isgoing to help you with your
theater.
And I was like, ok, if he helpsyou with my theater, then I'll
go meet this man.
And, sure enough, this man wasexactly the man I needed because
his talents, his ability and myabilities and our talents, all
our resources, we were able todo this theater.
(35:43):
And it was basically like I wantto do a theater where you don't
have to be a hot, sexy girl tobe on stage, because the reality
is that men want hot, sexygirls.
The reality is that, you know,men want to be the heroes and
they need skinny little girls torescue and they need all these,
like even Anora, like right now.
Anora in some ways is that likehot, skinny, like sex worker
(36:03):
girl who gets sort of rest, notrescued, she's fighting,
whatever, but it's still verymuch like a guy gets to be the
hero at the end, you know?
And, and so men just want thisdamsel in distress story.
And I was like, no, I want tosee like women of every shape,
(36:23):
size and color on stage talkingabout her humanity, and we want
to tell the stories of men andvulnerability.
And I also, like I had writtenone of the very first plays ever
written about the LGBTQcommunity, about being gay and
coming out, and back when I was18 years old I wrote this food
for the dead, and I rememberthinking I also want to do plays
(36:45):
about being gay or coming out,or or plays that deal with
sexual shame, because nobodywants to talk about sexual shame
.
So I want to be able to talkabout what I want to say without
a theater artistic directorsaying, oh, you can't write
about that, oh, we're not goingto present that in our theater.
Oh no, we can't do that.
Oh, you know, our subscriber,whatever.
And so I just said, okay, let'sjust create this box and then
(37:07):
present shows, and then, but Ido want to when you're talking
about the show and presenting,doing the plays that you want.
Rita Gonzales (37:14):
But you've.
I've talked to some.
Well, we've talked to someartists part of Casa 0101, that
you helped mentor, so you'vehelped a lot of emerging artists
.
Josefina Lopez (37:36):
Yes, because I realized that, you know, I was
lucky that I was mentored by twoof the greatest Latino icons,
irene Fornes and Luis Valdez,and I was I'm probably the only
person who had both of them asmentors, and Luis Valdez and I
was I'm probably the only personwho had both of them as mentors
.
So I realized that I was solucky that I was.
There were so few of us when Istarted I think I was one of the
(37:57):
very few women too that I felta responsibility to mentor other
people because nobody had shownme the path.
I had to create my path.
I mean Luis Valdez, to somedegree, and Irene Fornez.
But so that I was like, oh, Iwant to make it.
I always want to make thingseasier for everyone.
Like, even right now, as I'mtraining as a shaman and I I've
spent so much money, so muchtime, I said how do I teach
everybody this for very little,so that it's not exclusively
(38:19):
because every time I go to allthese trainings it's only white,
rich people who get to do thesetrainings.
And I go, oh my God, like thepeople who really need it
because they've experienced somuch trauma, don't have access
to this knowledge, techniques,information, because they can't
afford it.
So for me, it's always abouthow do I give it to the people,
how do I take all this knowledge, wisdom, know how, and give it
for free to as many people aspossible, because then we'll
(38:40):
have a better world.
So, yeah, I've mentored a lot ofpeople and for me, like I
started Brown and Out, because Iwas in a playwriting class and
one particular class I saw thatthe same story kept coming up
which is the perfect immigrantson, by day and and then at
night they would have this gay,homosexual, like authentic life
(39:03):
that they just could not bringtogether.
And the pain of being gay andnot being accepted by your
parents, but yet having to bethe voice for your parents and
having to be the model child foryour parents and at night
trying to live your authenticself, but then getting in a lot
of trouble because of that.
And I just said, oh, my God,like we got to do a show or
(39:26):
something where people get towrite about what it is to be a
full person, not just half aperson, not just a person who's
hiding in the shadows.
And then for me it was like,yeah, how do we mentor more
writers, and so I startedBrowning Out and it was so, yeah
, how do we mentor more writers?
And so I started Browning Out,and it was so nice because, as a
result of that show, morewriters were inspired to say, oh
my God, I want to be aplaywright too, and it's been
(39:47):
wonderful to have a lot ofwriters be inspired by our work
to become clean, to tell theirstories and to share their story
with their family and be like.
This is kind of their comingout as artists and as gay people
, you know.
Mario J. Novoa (40:00):
Josefina, this is Mario again.
Can you talk about any upcomingprojects or initiatives that
you're excited about, and how dopeople learn more about you and
Casa 0101?
Josefina Lopez (40:11):
So I have JosefinaLopezbiz, and that's my
website, and I have a freescreenwriting course there and
just about every, any and everyquestion that you could ask
about being a writer I'veanswered there.
They have.
I have tons of free videosabout being a TV writer, how to
(40:32):
create a show, how to get anagent I mean like anything you
can think of.
I think I've answered it thereand I also have resources, so
it's like a free course.
I'd rather save you the moneyand give you all the information
and all like the magic,everything that I've learned to
help you save that money.
So you can find me there,obviously, Casa0101.org for the
(40:56):
theater, and you can follow meon Instagram, and right now I'm
sharing my journey of theBroadway show and I'm going to
be going to New York and I'mgoing to be sharing that journey
of what's it like to have ashow on Broadway and what's it
like to go from Boyle Heights toBroadway, from the barrio to
Broadway, so anyway, so that'sone of the ways you can find me.
But as far as initiatives, youknow, right now we have this
thing called Fernando.
(41:16):
We're doing a tribute toFernando Valenzuela, who just
passed.
I worked with a muralist to tryto get this mural in our
neighborhood and it became sucha sacred space.
I'm going to write a littleplay about that experience, but
we're going to have aplaywriting workshop.
I think it's open to anybodywho'd like to participate.
You just have to go info atcasa0101.org, obviously, if
(41:38):
you're in LA, but you canparticipate in this workshop to
write a play about how FernandoValenzuela inspired you or your
family, and it's going to be atribute and his daughter's going
to, I think, participate or atleast be.
You know his family's going tocome and see it.
So it's kind of a way ofhonoring him and having the
family celebrate with us.
So that's something that we'redoing in September for Latino
(42:00):
Heritage Month.
We're actually celebrating ahero for a community hero for
Latino Heritage Month.
So right now we're trying touplift women and we have a
wonderful show right now calledWomen on the Verge, which I
would recommend everybody seebecause it's hilarious.
I mean there's four littleshort plays but they're really
funny and very touching and veryimportant.
(42:22):
And I would say catch thatbefore it ends March 23rd.
It ends March 23rd, so check itout, because these four women
I've mentored as playwrights,some of these women we've
mentored as directors, and weneed more women directors in the
theater, in every theatercompany.
Being a director is verychallenging because men don't
want to listen to you.
I mean, that's the reality is,men don't want to take orders
(42:45):
from you.
So we really have to work atempowering women to take their
rightful place as communityleaders and leaders in the
theater, and this is one of theways you can support us is by
coming to see the show that'sdirected by four women, written
by four women and produced bymostly women.
You know, when I started thetheater, there were hardly any
Latina directors, much lessthere's very few female
(43:07):
directors, and the ones that areworking charge a lot of money
because they had to work so hard, and I don't blame them.
So I decided to mentor women, tocreate a bigger pool of Latina
directors, and so some of theseare the women from these courses
and also who've been doing it.
And so for me at Casa, we'rejust trying to tell stories that
(43:29):
no one's willing to tell.
We're trying to do the kind ofstories that show where our
wounding is.
You know, like one of thethings that I've got that's been
made clear to me is that beingleft out of American history is
very painful, because we'vecontributed so much to this
country and and we need toacknowledge our contribution and
(43:49):
also the wounding and the hurtthat our community has because
we have been made to beinvisible, like, despite being
the majority in Los Angeles, weare constantly made to be in it.
Right now, especially, we'remade to feel like we're
replaceable, we're not evenhuman, like it's just such a
horrible time.
So when we are in times likethese, we have to create, we
(44:12):
have to elevate and we have tocelebrate.
That's my new model is likedon't don't go, don't go to hate
, create, elevate and celebrate.
And that's the way we're tryingto do.
It at Casa is saying no, no, no, you know, we're going to
celebrate the fact that we'reimmigrants, we're going to
celebrate the fact that we'rewomen, we're going to celebrate
the fact that we're LGBTQ,because that is a source of
(44:33):
strength, not a burden, and sothat's what we're doing.
We're just telling thesestories that need to be told so
the truth gets out.
Mario J. Novoa (44:42):
We want to thank Josefina Lopez for today's
interview.
You can find out more aboutJosefina Lopez at
josefinalopezbiz, or casa01 atcasa0101.org at casa0101.org,
and you can find out more aboutour Radio QGLU podcast at
(45:03):
qglubuzzsproutcom.
Rita Gonzales (45:15):
I'm Mario J Novoa .
I'm Eduardo Archuleta and youcan like us on our Facebook page
or email us at theoutagenda atgmailcom.
I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Thanks for listening, and havea wonderful week, and remember
that being out is the first stepto being equal.
Now stay tuned for this Way Out.
Welcome to the Out Agenda.
Coming to an archivekpfkorg,I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Well, we have another segmentof Radio Q Glue for this month,
and our guest is Josefina Lopez,the author of Real Women have
Curves.
So here's Radio Q Glue.
(00:25):
Welcome to Radio Q Glue podcast, the show that takes a deep
dive into what the queer, gayand lesbian Latin community is
talking about.
I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Eduardo Archuleta (00:46):
I'm Eduardo Archuleta.
Mario J. Novoa (00:49):
I'm Mario J Navoa.
Today, our guest is JosefinaLopez, founding artistic
director of Casa 0101 Theater.
Josefina Lopez is an acclaimedplaywright, screenwriter and
activist, best known for hergroundbreaking play Real Women
have Curves, which was lateradapted into a critically
(01:09):
acclaimed film.
A passionate advocate forLatino representation in the
arts, Lopez founded Casa 0101Theater in Boyle Heights, los
Angeles, to provide a platformfor underrepresented voices,
particularly women and Latinoartists.
With over 25 years ofdedication to the arts, she has
(01:31):
helped develop and mentorcountless emerging writers and
performers.
Her work explores themes ofidentity, immigration, gender
equality and social justice,making a lasting impact on the
theatrical and cinematiclandscape.
Through Casa 0101, lópezcontinues to champion cultural
(01:52):
storytelling and communityengagement, ensuring that
diverse perspectives have apowerful space to be heard.
Josefina again, thank you verymuch for coming on the interview
with us.
First question I have for youis what inspired you to become a
playwright and storyteller?
Josefina Lopez (02:12):
I was sitting in a French class and we had this
French teacher who was trying toteach us French.
But what he realized I mean, Igrew up in the barrio in Boyle
Heights what he realized wasthat we really needed Chicano
studies more than we neededFrench.
And so, secretly, he would playvideos to help us love
(02:35):
ourselves.
And he was French, maybeAmerican, but, like his wife,
was Mexican, and he realizedthat we really needed like to be
, he really needed to to remindus of our worth.
And it is funny and ironic,right, that I really wanted to
learn French because I alwayswanted to live in France and you
(02:55):
know, I did eventually get togo to France.
But I think he realized that,wow, like they have to take an
elective and these kids probablydon't want to learn Spanish,
because maybe they already knowSpanish or maybe they don't want
to be Latino.
And so he played this.
He would play these videos andaudios and like he would enrich
our lives and that's a Frenchthing to do too, right.
(03:18):
And then he would.
He played Luis Valdez's LaCarpa de los Rascuachi.
It was a CBS special.
Can you believe that A CBS dida special on La Carpa de los
Rascuachi in the 70s.
And when I saw that I went oh myGod, like, luis Valdez is
writing about being an immigrant, about an immigrant losing his
(03:42):
children because they've becomeassimilated and they don't want
to be Mexican.
And I just thought, oh, wow,this is so brilliant because
it's the first time I've everseen anything on TV that deals
with being an immigrant, thatdeals with my reality.
It was like I'm real and I waslike, wow, who is Luis Valdez?
And I was like 14, 15 when Isaw this.
(04:04):
Like wow, who is Luis Valdez?
And I was like 14, 15 when Isaw this.
And I remember thinking, gosh,I really want to tell stories
about being Mexican, mexican,american and about how hard it
is to be a woman when you haveso much machismo deal with as a
daughter that you know everyoneexpects you to be cleaning and
basically treating men as alltheir gods, you know.
And and I just was like, oh,wow, I want to be a playwright.
(04:26):
And remember that word likeplaywright, like, because I
thought theater was justShakespeare.
When people thought, you know,when we talked about theater to
me was always white people withwigs on in an Elizabethan accent
going, you know, so to me itfelt like that's so irrelevant,
that's like I can't identifywith that kind of theater,
(04:47):
because that's what I thought itwas.
But when I saw Luis Valdez Isaid, oh no, theater is about
telling the truth and it's aboutshowing people that there's a
better way and and that you havea choice.
And I mean, you know, now I canarticulate that very well.
But at 14, I just knew that itwas about telling the truth
unapologetically and I was likeI think I want to be a
(05:08):
playwright, I think I want to dothis.
And so at 15, I was declaringthat I was going to be a
playwright and I don't know howliberal and open minded but I
think you guys are very liberaland open minded I'm a curandera
in training, I'm a.
(05:34):
I'm a curandera in training,I'm a shaman in training, I'm.
You know, add is another formof psychic ability.
So I discovered that in my pastlife I was a whole lifetime my
last, one of my last lifetimeswhere I did a lot of theater.
So it just kind of reminded meof like wait, I'm going to be a
playwright in this one too, andand so anyway, obviously I don't
(05:54):
tell too many people that,because most people don't
believe that.
But but yes, cause I was likehow does a 10 year old cause?
At 10 years old I wanted to puton shows in my backyard.
I didn't know why, and maybe itwas because of the little
rascals, but at 15 I declaredthat I was going to be a
playwright and then, when I sawLuis Valdez, his play again
called I don't have to show youno stinking badges where he
(06:16):
talked about stereotypes andabout how Latinos are basically
here to be the bad guy in awhite man's story and we're here
to, to, to, to just be the dumb.
You know like we're.
We're here as the servants, asthe pendejos, as the whatever,
like, but we're never the heroes.
And and I just went like, oh myGod, like it really spoke to me
.
And so I was 17 and I said, ohmy God, I want to devote my life
(06:39):
to changing the representationof Latinos, because it's wrong
and it's an injustice, and Iwant to do something about it.
So at 17, I knew that I wasgoing to devote my life, like my
career, to doing this.
And so then, at 18, when Igraduated, I had already been
accepted to.
(06:59):
No, no, I actually I had.
I had been accepted to NYU butI couldn't go because I was
undocumented.
But I had already, like, had aplan of like I want to be a
professional writer.
And then you know, of course,because I was undocumented I
couldn't, but this is kind ofwhat inspired me to be.
Mario J. Novoa (07:17):
Well, just to tag on on that, I just want to
say Luis Valdez's work isincredible.
Did you ever get a chance tomeet him and talk?
Josefina Lopez (07:25):
to him Okay, so what really did it?
And Luis knows this and I'vetold him this that when I was 18
, we had to do a research paperon Luis Valdez.
So I read all of his plays andwe were supposed to present a
monologue, because I wasstudying theater at the Los
Angeles County High School forthe Arts.
And so in my senior year we hadto present a monologue from our
(07:48):
favorite playwright.
And after reading all of hisplays I realized that all of the
female characters were virgins,mothers and whores.
That was it, Like the women,where that was the only role
that they had in a man's story.
And I was like God, god, Ican't even do a woman's
monologue because they're liketwo lines, they.
(08:10):
There are no female monologuesin Luis Valdez's work at that
time and I was like what am Igonna do?
So I had to play, uh, sonny,who was a Chicano, uh student at
Harvard who was trying to studylaw, but then he wanted to be
an actor.
So I did that monologue as aman.
But it made me realize that Isaid, why?
(08:32):
Why doesn't he have like goodmonologues for women?
And at 18, I said, oh, it'sbecause Luis Valdez isn't
writing about Latino women.
He's writing about La Causa,about Chicano, about men
struggles, and to some degreehe's writing about me, but he's
not writing specifically aboutwomen and the women aren't any
better off in this story than inother men's story.
(08:54):
Because in theater it's like youknow I don't know if you know
that.
This is my trick question.
I ask all my students I go doyou know how modern theater
began?
And they're like what do youmean?
What do you mean?
I said you know how?
Who started modern theater?
And they're like no, no, no,who?
And then it turns out it'sIbsen, and Ibsen is the father
of modern theater.
(09:14):
Because he started writingabout women Because he started
hanging out in cafes and barsand talking to sex workers and
he had very interestingrelationships with sex workers
and he started to realize that,wow, only sex workers are the
only women who are allowed tothink and to challenge and to
say like to have a differentperspective.
But all the other women have toplay these roles in society for
(09:36):
men, and these are the onlywomen that are free not really
free, but free in their mind insome way.
And so he started writing aboutwomen's struggles and that's
why we have modern theater, buteven then, like, women's roles
were horrible and there stillare.
I mean, unless women arewriting the roles, most women's
roles are really bad.
That's a come.
I am not an actress.
(09:57):
I am an actress.
People say, oh my God, you'reincredible.
Why aren't you pursuing acting?
I said because there aren't anygood enough roles to really
like.
Devote my life to them, becauseeveryone wants me to play their
mother, their grandmother or amadam or whatever.
And I go.
But they're not interestingroles, they're not.
They're only here to servicemen's stories so that men can be
the heroes.
I go, I don't want to be a partof that, you know.
(10:18):
I'd rather go write storiesabout women and heroes.
So then I decided to take upwriting because I realized that
Luis Valdez isn't writing aboutwomen, so I should start writing
about women.
So then, when I was 19, I wasable to meet Luis Valdez at the
Los Angeles Theater Center wherethey did his play I don't have
to show you no stinky badges twoyears earlier, at a theater
(10:40):
festival, and I was so luckythat the artistic director of
LATC, bilbo Schnell, who's gonenow.
He was a big supporter andmentor of mine and he introduced
me to Luis Valdez and said, ohmy god, luis, you have to meet
this young lady.
She's only 19 years old andshe's already been to the to
Australia to represent the US ata theater festival and she's
(11:01):
written many plays and we'vementored her and she's a great.
So Luis was like, really, wow,you're 19 and you've already
written play.
So then he said send me yourwork.
And I was like, oh my god,anyway I did.
And I never expected to hearback from luis valdez.
And like a few months later Iget a call from a director that
says, uh, that who told me uh,luis valdez loves your work and
(11:22):
he wants to produce your play ata theater campesino.
And I'm like, oh, okay, really.
And I didn't believe her atfirst.
I was like, yeah, people aretalkers, right.
So and then it turns out shesaid, oh, do you have another
play?
And I said I do.
Actually I just wrote a playcalled food for the dead, which
is about a family who discoversthat their son is gay, because
(11:42):
he announces it, because he'sgoing to marry his, his white
boyfriend, partner, and on, uh,on a dia de los muertos
halloween, you know, kind of.
And he goes, oh, wow, send itto me.
So then I sent it to them andthen anyway, so yeah, I met luis
valdez and then I got to meethim again at teatro campesino,
maybe a few months later, and Iwas like I can't believe like l
(12:03):
Luis Valdez like reallyconnected to my work.
And so I do feel very connectedto to Luis, because I was very
fortunate that in the beginninghe was a supporter and and the
fact that I loved his play, thathis play changed my life, that
here he was like producing myplays at Teatro Capesino, was
just life-changing.
Eduardo Archuleta (12:20):
Huge fan of Real Women have Curves.
With that said, real Women haveCurves.
With that said, real Women haveCurves has been a significant
cultural impact on the community.
What was your creative process?
Josefina Lopez (12:35):
in writing it and I couldn't go to college the
first year, even though I gotinto NYU.
So during that year I worked ata dress manufacturer as a
receptionist.
I worked at McDonald's and Ididn't like it and my sister
(12:59):
needed workers and I said, oh,you know, I'll go work at the
factory because it's my sister.
You know I can, it doesn't haveto be so strict, it's whatever
hours, because we get paid by.
I would get paid by the hour,but I could decide my hours and
so I said, okay.
So when I was in the factory Ihad this incredible experience
where I saw the incrediblesisterhood of women and the
camaraderie and the bonding andand and.
The thing about it is that, eventhough it was really hard work
(13:22):
and we were in East LA in a tinylittle factory, it was, it was
just a, it was just a retailspace that she rented, that she
turned into a tiny littlefactory and we were right next
to the housing projects, estradaCourts, and, and it was not the
nicest place Cause there were alot of cholos, homeless, drug
addicts like it.
You know it was a mess, right,and.
(13:43):
But inside that little factorywe laugh so much, like we were
always laughing and tellingstories and joking, and so the
irony of like a very bleakbackground, but inside we were
these like really happy ladiesworking really hard but but just
(14:04):
having, I mean, laughs andlaughs, and we would tell
stories.
And so every day, even though Iknew it was going to be hard
work, I would just think, oh myGod, what stories are we going
to share today?
And then my sister, you know,so a lot of the stuff that's in
the play is in the factory.
It really did happen Like welive by the radio.
The radio was all the TV, allthe shows were like we would
(14:27):
have like our morning day, we'relike like, oh, now this show
comes on, now that show comes on, and we would hear, and there
was always these competitions.
So it was always like llama,llama, you know, for the free
rosca de reyes, for the freeconcert ticket, so so we would
always be sewing her.
And then, oh my god, and then mysister would run to the phone
to try to get in.
And uh, and then one day whenmy sister she was in love,
(14:49):
supposedly with the guy nextdoor who we call it Tormento,
who ended up being like a nogood guy, he anyway.
So she read this poem.
She got on top of a bucket andshe started reading this poem to
a cultural center where she wasdoing poetry and we were there
and it just I remember thinking,oh my God, this is crazy that
(15:11):
here we are, these seamstresses,but we're having this
incredible experience and I justwould laugh so much that I
thought, you know, I'm surepeople would feel sorry for me
knowing that I'm in this tinysewing factory in East LA
instead of at Yale, with myfriends who went off to college
who were all destined forgreatness because we were in AP
(15:32):
English.
And here I am and then I thought, no, but I'm having such an
amazing experience, such aneducation about who women really
are and women's worth, and itwas such a feminist cultural
experience that I was like, ohmy God, people need to know this
because nobody needs to feelsorry for me or for us.
And also I felt like, no, thisis an incredible moment because
(15:56):
I just got my green card.
Every woman here is getting hergreen card.
And what's so funny is I reallyhave to give my mother the
credit, because my mother's alsoa very good storyteller.
She's passed.
She said you know, my sisterwas the last one, she was the
boss.
And my sister was the last oneto get her green card because
she had a lawsuit and she waskind of in a financial mess even
(16:17):
though she was the boss.
And she, my mother said oh myGod, wouldn't it be funny if the
migra came and, instead oftaking like the employees, like
they usually do, they take thepatrona, like the employees,
like they usually do, they takethe patrona?
And we all broke out laughing,laughing, and I remember
thinking that's such a greatplot for a story.
My mother just gave me the plotto Real Women have Curves and I
(16:38):
said oh yeah, you know, becauseI wanted to write about being
undocumented, but I didn't wantto write a drama or a tragedy or
have people feel sorry for us.
I wanted to show the irony oflike the American dream too that
my sister is the boss, yetshe's undocumented or all her
employees have to hide her.
You know, like.
And I just thought, oh my God,that's such a great idea.
(17:01):
And so then, so that's where itstarted.
But after I left the sewingfactory, I got well.
I got into a writing workshopMaria Irene Fornes Playwriting
Workshop it started.
But after I left the sewingfactory.
I got well, I got into awriting workshop Maria Irene
Fornes playwriting workshop andI got to go work with this
amazing, uh feminist lesbianplaywright in New York City
through the Intar theatercompany, and so I went there for
(17:22):
six months and then I uh, Iwrote the play.
I wrote, uh, the first andsecond draft and I had a reading
, and that's kind of whatstarted it and and it was
wonderful, you know, andimmediately when I did a reading
, just a few scenes, people said, oh my gosh, it's so funny
Because this is how women reallytalk, and I had captured that,
that experience in my dialogueand anyway.
(17:44):
So so then I knew I had torewrite it and eventually, you
know, it is what it is now.
Mario J. Novoa (17:50):
I love that you shared that.
Josefina, this is Mario again.
I also.
Well, I grew up in the factorywith my mom and I still like to
hear the industrial sewingmachines go off, and I think
that experience of that culturewithin the factory of women
(18:11):
expressing themselves is stillvery key to the approach that I
bring to storytelling.
So I really appreciate that youshared that.
But I do want to ask you alittle.
You talked about the immigrantexperience.
Can you talk about how thatinfluenced your storytelling?
Josefina Lopez (18:26):
Well, you know, a writer has to tell the truth
and a writer has to write aboutwhat they know, because that's
the best kind of storytelling.
So I knew that my voice wasunique because, very, you know,
undocumented people are scaredto be found out, so they don't
write about their storiesbecause they, you know, like
it's, it's a survival mechanismto hide, to hide internally, to
(18:48):
hide in every which way.
So for me, when I got mytemporary residency card, I knew
that I was never going to hideagain, that I had to really
write about my experience and Ihad to celebrate the fact that I
was now legal or documented.
And I wanted to document myexperience because I felt like
(19:10):
it was historic that thousandsof Latinos were going to become
legal residents and eventuallywe were going to be able to
elect a mayor and one day,hopefully, latino governor or
Latina governor.
And so for me, I felt like thatwas, this was a historic moment
that I needed to document, tomake things real for me.
So I felt like nobody's writtenabout being undocumented as far
as I knew, especially in 1987.
(19:32):
So I need to write about myexperience.
But it was also a way of givingmy humanity back to myself.
Because when you're undocumented, you get dehumanized, you're
treated as a non-person and youinternalize that.
You may not be aware of it,especially when you come here as
a child and you're told not totalk to people, not to tell
(19:52):
people, you don't have paper,you don't really understand
what's going on, but to somedegree you experience this
incredible violence against yourhumanity and against your
innocence.
And I, you know I canarticulate that now, but it took
a lot of therapy andunderstanding.
Like, oh, you were made to feellike there's something wrong
(20:13):
with you, like to be ashamed ofyourself when you did nothing,
especially when you come here asa child.
But there's this thing aboutfeeling like there's something
wrong with you, there's acertain type of shame that we're
made to carry that.
I was like I'm not going tocarry that.
I'm not, but it's still there.
Carry that I was like I'm notgoing to carry that I'm not, but
, but it's still there.
So I kind of had to write aboutmy life to reclaim my humanity.
Because you know, when you'recalled an alien, you are being
(20:36):
dehumanized, you're being toldyou're not quite human, you're
not like us, and you internalizethat.
So for me it was of saying no,look at how real I am.
Look at how, what a human beingI am.
I am so real.
Look, and I think even that indressing scene is a declaration
of saying look, do I not looklike you, do I not?
You know, are we not the sameperson?
(20:56):
So I felt like that wasimportant for me to write about,
to really declare my humanity.
Rita Gonzales (21:03):
What challenges, as a woman and a Latina, getting
into the entertainment field,that's a block right there a
wall.
Josefina Lopez (21:13):
There are so many, and I'll be honest with
you that it's sad to say, butI'll tell you, because this is
juicy chisme hour, right Is thatI've had famous Latino men not
help in any way and where I'vehad, unfortunately or
unfortunately depending on howyou want to look at it where
I've had, like Norman Lear, whofights for Latinos and fought
(21:37):
for people of color, helped me alot more than a Latino man who
was in power.
I've had a lot of Jewishproducers who, you know, listen
to me and were trying to help meor have been helped me, or more
than Latino men.
And that's what sucks too, whenyou realize, like I mean I so
want to tell you the names ofthese two people who everyone I
(22:00):
mean a lot of people revere.
Like there's somebody who, if Iwere to tell you his name,
you'd be like no, no way.
His name.
You'd be like no, no way.
And I would say no, you know,now this man is on the bandwagon
of like supporting latinospublicly and doing all these
incredible things.
That that you'd be like nofreaking way.
And I've had these men basicallytell producers oh, I don't want
(22:20):
to work with her, she's afeminist, uh, and if they and
the producers have told me thisis shocking because we thought
this famous latino comedian,this, you know, like putting you
together would be like a hit.
And they're like no, and I go,yeah, because I will call, I
will call out their shit.
It's very hard to censor mebecause I, I'll tell you, like I
see you and I'll tell you.
(22:41):
And the other thing, too islike I have what my abuela had,
which I have the Malojo thingwhere I can see through your
soul.
But yeah, so I've had men who,like, could easily have helped
me because they were inpositions of power and they
don't want to help.
Uh, we don't want you takingour job, like these people could
have hired me.
But they're like, oh no, thiswoman is more, knows a lot more
(23:04):
about being Latina, knows a lotmore about being an immigrant,
knows a lot more about living inEast LA, knows a lot more about
being an immigrant, knows a lotmore about living in East LA,
knows a lot more about what I'mpretending to know and these
gringos are going to see that,and I can't be the expert on
being Latino, and that's thereality is that there are a lot
of frauds in Hollywood.
And so when you bring someonelike me, who was undocumented,
who did grow up in East LA, whois working class, who is the
(23:26):
subject matter of most of theshows that they're writing about
, and then you see this Latinowho's like fifth generation,
who's like a quarter Latino, whowasn't Latino until last year
when it was convenient to beLatino, then they're like oh no,
I'm not going to hire thiswoman.
And I've had that happen so many, so many times that I go oh,
that's right, that's like howI'm not.
(23:46):
You know, basically telling thewhite man oh, it's okay, it's
okay If you portray us this way,it's okay If you, if we're the
bad guys, it's okay If it's allabout cholos.
You know I'm going to be likeno, why do we have to exploit
the suffering of our people?
Like, if you're going to showus this, then you've got to show
the joy.
If you're going to exploit oursexuality and the violence and
(24:08):
the suffering, no, like, tellthe whole story and they won't
hire me, so, anyway.
So, yeah, it's been verydifficult, but I'm still here,
and part of it is because I knowwhat I'm about.
I know why I have to tell thesestories.
I'm not in it for the fame, I'mdefinitely not in it for the
money, because I could have soldout years ago and been living
(24:29):
in Malibu and I said no, no, no.
And so for me, like I reallylove telling stories, I really
love telling the truth, I reallylove bringing light to things
and I really love being a womanand that's the thing that I
think makes me unbreakable isthat, as a woman, I realize that
being a woman is a huge asset,because I have incredible
(24:50):
intuition, I have incredible wayof building community and doing
things that allow me access tostories that men don't have
access to.
I even have access to men'sstories that they don't have
access to.
I've written stories about menthat men could never write
because men can't ask for helpor whatever like things that
they can't talk about I can talkabout as well.
(25:11):
So I have access to so manymore stories, and so for me, I
see it more like as an asset.
Even though there's been allthese challenges and
difficulties, some of them arejust don't want to help us, some
really just don't want you toget ahead of them.
Help me.
Take Real Women women havecurves and make it successful
(25:31):
even earlier, and so oftentimesmen will just like try to step
in because they're like no,because if you get ahead of me,
I feel like a, like a such aloser, and I go look, I'm not
here to make anybody feel like aloser.
I'm here to be true to myself,to honor all the gifts that God
has given me and to inspireother people to pursue their
dreams.
(25:51):
So if you feel like a loser,like re-examine, like why?
Because it has nothing to dowith me and me trying to tell
the truth, me trying to tellstories that uplift our
community.
That you know, because to me,ultimately, what I'm just trying
to do is I'm trying to to showpeople how to get rid of shame,
how shame we don't need to carryit.
(26:11):
Every story I tell is about ussaying look, we are enough, we
are not broken.
Because when I was a little kid, I was constantly made to feel
like I was broken because Icould feel way too much, I knew
too much, I experienced theworld differently than most
people and I was made to feellike I was broken and I almost
believed it.
And then I realized, no, it'sactually called genius, it's
(26:32):
actually called creation, it'scalled intuition, it's called
all these beautiful things thatcome with being an indigenous
person.
They come with being a womanthat come from being a new, new,
divergent person.
So I'm not going to let anybodybreak me, because these aren't
gifts, these are not disorders,these are not things that are
bad.
I'm not cursed, I'm I'm, youknow it's anyway.
(26:52):
So for me, I feel like, yeah, asa woman, there's been way.
I just feel like God, reallyyou must've thought I, you know,
sometimes I pray to God and Igo, god, you must think I'm a
real chingona, because could youhave, you know, like all the
freaking conflicts, all thechallenges, and I go, okay, god
must think I'm a chingonabecause somehow I'm going to
overcome all these, I'm going tofind a way, I'm going to find a
path and I'm going to be humbleenough to know that I can
(27:16):
always be learning, I can alwaysbe listening, I can always be
open to inspiration and I do geta lot of divine guidance.
I'll be honest that, despiteall my challenges, I also have
all this divine guidance thathas made me see a light in a
really dark path where peoplejust are too scared to go, and
I'm like okay, I see a littlelight, I'm going to go pursue it
(27:37):
.
I may get killed, I may getheartbroken, but I'm going to do
it anyway, and yeah, anyway.
Eduardo Archuleta (27:44):
Thank you.
This is Eduardo again, and Iwanted your sharing has brought
up some of my memories of sayingthat you're sharing stories,
listening to my grandmothergrowing up and telling her
stories, which leads me to myquestion what kind of motivated
(28:11):
you to open up?
And I'm Casa 0101.
Josefina Lopez (28:16):
Casa 0101.
Eduardo Archuleta (28:17):
Thank you.
Josefina Lopez (28:18):
And it's funny because people call it 101,
which I think is also fairbecause it is the beginning of
theater for a lot of peoplewho've never been exposed to
theater.
But it's 0101, which means theoriginal language of computers,
and it's a very spiritualmeaning behind it.
It's drama happens when there'sa binary, when there's
opposition right, but when youhave zero and one becoming one,
(28:40):
there's no more drama.
We transcend drama.
And it's also about theoriginal language of computers
and it's also about the digitalrevolution.
So it's a very strange name andpeople go what does it mean?
And I go oh, thank you, let meexplain it to you, cause.
So I knew that I needed tostart my own theater, because no
(29:00):
one would produce real womenhave curves in Los Angeles, even
though it had already been ahit.
It had already been producedlike 18 times outside of LA and
it was usually a success, likeit would sell out.
Nobody would produce Real Womenhave Curves in Los Angeles.
There were no theatersinterested and I couldn't
(29:20):
believe it because it was a hit.
And so I approached manytheaters, including one where my
friend was the literary managerof this theater, and he told me
that he loved my play and hewas going to try to get it there
.
And after a few weeks we spokeand he said I can't believe this
.
You would think that theseLatina women who run this
(29:45):
theater would be interested,because it's about Latina women,
but these women are and again,no disrespect here.
There were these.
They were closeted lesbians,lesbians.
So I don't think they were outabout being lesbians, which I
think maybe at that time, whenthey started this theater, they
(30:05):
could not have been public aboutit, because people were really
harsh, I mean, and we're goingto talk about that.
And I said but they also don'tlike their bodies, because they
basically told me that theydon't want fat women on their
stage and that was the reasonwhy they didn't want to do real
women.
And I said it's because, also,they don't like their body, they
don't.
And I said you know, Iunderstand, because I think it
(30:27):
does trigger some people whohave a lot of shame around their
body and maybe even shame aboutbeing gay and and I'm not going
to out them, I'm not gonna, Icould easily make a stink, but
I'm not, I'm not.
And I said you know, that'sfine, because they're not
conscious enough to get likethey're working.
These are third world feminists.
Like how are they like doing?
(31:03):
You know, even sex work now haslike respect, right.
But back then it was likesomehow they thought that it was
undignified to be a seamstress.
I was.
I remember hearing that wordand I just got so pissed off
because I was like, wait, youknow, if you so, your job gives
you dignity, I said what if youlose your job, do you lose your
dignity?
I said no, dignity is the onething no one can take away from
(31:25):
you.
Dignity is what you bestow onyourself.
This is one thing that theycannot break you when you have
dignity, when you hold onto that.
And then I submitted it to thisother literary manager at this
very famous theater who willprobably one day present the
musical version of real women 20, 30 years later.
So this is the part where I getto laugh, right.
But I got a letter saying thatthey, that he did not, he did
(31:49):
not care for my chicana diatribe, that he was very like.
I mean, he just went on and Ihave the letter because I want
people to see this letter and Iwant to frame this letter once
real women have Curves hitsBroadway to show writers that
you could be writing somethingthat's so edgy and so ahead of
its time.
But when people don't get it,and they don't have the
(32:10):
consciousness to get it, theywill say that this is dirt, that
this is bad, that this is badart, right.
They're just not in the mind.
They, just their mind is notopen enough to get it.
And then sometimes that's a comeI, I.
I often don't take thingspersonal, because I've been
called crazy so many times bypeople whose minds are so small
(32:31):
and I've had to say okay, wait20 years.
And I've had to tell peopleit's okay, 10 years, you'll come
and apologize to me, whichpeople do all the time.
People come and apologize to meall the freaking time.
Men especially.
They're like oh, I'm sorry, Ijust thought you were crazy
because you know, I justcouldn't believe that and I'd be
like I know, because you know I, you just can't believe that
I'm smarter than you or that Ican see the future.
(32:52):
Or I know things.
Because I know things Cause Ihave this, this, this intuition.
I say you just can't believethat I have that because it
doesn't usually come in apackage like this.
So I got so annoyed at being atreading this racist letter and
sexist letter that I wascomplaining to my friend and my
(33:15):
friend we were in thisleadership class and she goes
well, maybe you're supposed todo it, maybe you're supposed to
produce the play.
That's a come.
No one is going to produce theplay in LA.
And I was like, and I was likeyou're right, I can continue
complaining about how racist andsexist and unfair it is that
Latinos are the majority in LosAngeles and yet there are no
plays about Latinos at any ofthe theaters.
(33:36):
Or I can produce this play.
So I started producing this playusing my loans from UCLA.
I was going to UCLA getting mymaster's degree and and I said
you know what?
I'm going to go produce it.
And, long story short, Idecided to produce my play.
It was so successful.
A producer saw it and that'show come?
There's a movie, and.
(33:57):
But it was me deciding that youknow what?
I don't want to have peopletell me no, because I know these
stories are good, because Iknow my community responds to
these stories.
Why can't we have these?
So why can't we see ourselveson stage?
If we can't see ourselves ontelevision and film, we can at
least see ourselves on stage.
And so I started producing and Iwas so successful and I said,
(34:17):
oh my god, what else can I write?
What else can I produce?
And then I started doing sketchcomedy.
And I did a sketch comedy showcalled PMS the Pinche Mentirosa
Sisters and it was a satirical,you know, show where we talked
about how unfair life is, but ina very funny way.
We're so successful that I waslike, oh my God, what else can I
(34:37):
produce?
And and I just realized, shoot,I need my own theater so I can
produce plays year round, notjust like every three months.
And then I saw this littleretail space that used to be a
bridal boutique and then I said,okay, let me just start.
And I didn't know how to run atheater, but I said, okay, let
me try.
And luckily I met the man whowould become my future husband,
(34:59):
who just happened to be atheater administrator, and but I
was divinely guided to go meethim.
That's another story, I know,because I wasn't gonna did I
didn't want to meet him.
I was told divinely that I hadto go meet a man and I was gonna
be involved romantically withhim.
And I was like, oh, I'm notgonna go meet this man, I'm done
with men.
But I thought I was done backthen, right, and I was told, was
told to finally had to go meetthis man.
And I said no, no, no, I'm notgoing to, that's it, I'm not
(35:21):
getting married again.
And then I was told, no, youhave to go meet this man at this
dinner party because he isgoing to help you with your
theater.
And I was like, ok, if he helpsyou with my theater, then I'll
go meet this man.
And, sure enough, this man wasexactly the man I needed because
his talents, his ability and myabilities and our talents, all
our resources, we were able todo this theater.
(35:43):
And it was basically like I wantto do a theater where you don't
have to be a hot, sexy girl tobe on stage, because the reality
is that men want hot, sexygirls.
The reality is that, you know,men want to be the heroes and
they need skinny little girls torescue and they need all these,
like even Anora, like right now.
Anora in some ways is that likehot, skinny, like sex worker
(36:03):
girl who gets sort of rest, notrescued, she's fighting,
whatever, but it's still verymuch like a guy gets to be the
hero at the end, you know?
And, and so men just want thisdamsel in distress story.
And I was like, no, I want tosee like women of every shape,
(36:23):
size and color on stage talkingabout her humanity, and we want
to tell the stories of men andvulnerability.
And I also, like I had writtenone of the very first plays ever
written about the LGBTQcommunity, about being gay and
coming out, and back when I was18 years old I wrote this food
for the dead, and I rememberthinking I also want to do plays
(36:45):
about being gay or coming out,or or plays that deal with
sexual shame, because nobodywants to talk about sexual shame
.
So I want to be able to talkabout what I want to say without
a theater artistic directorsaying, oh, you can't write
about that, oh, we're not goingto present that in our theater.
Oh no, we can't do that.
Oh, you know, our subscriber,whatever.
And so I just said, okay, let'sjust create this box and then
(37:07):
present shows, and then, but Ido want to when you're talking
about the show and presenting,doing the plays that you want.
Rita Gonzales (37:14):
But you've.
I've talked to some.
Well, we've talked to someartists part of Casa 0101, that
you helped mentor, so you'vehelped a lot of emerging artists
.
Josefina Lopez (37:36):
Yes, because I realized that, you know, I was
lucky that I was mentored by twoof the greatest Latino icons,
irene Fornes and Luis Valdez,and I was I'm probably the only
person who had both of them asmentors, and Luis Valdez and I
was I'm probably the only personwho had both of them as mentors
.
So I realized that I was solucky that I was.
There were so few of us when Istarted I think I was one of the
(37:57):
very few women too that I felta responsibility to mentor other
people because nobody had shownme the path.
I had to create my path.
I mean Luis Valdez, to somedegree, and Irene Fornez.
But so that I was like, oh, Iwant to make it.
I always want to make thingseasier for everyone.
Like, even right now, as I'mtraining as a shaman and I I've
spent so much money, so muchtime, I said how do I teach
everybody this for very little,so that it's not exclusively
(38:19):
because every time I go to allthese trainings it's only white,
rich people who get to do thesetrainings.
And I go, oh my God, like thepeople who really need it
because they've experienced somuch trauma, don't have access
to this knowledge, techniques,information, because they can't
afford it.
So for me, it's always abouthow do I give it to the people,
how do I take all this knowledge, wisdom, know how, and give it
for free to as many people aspossible, because then we'll
(38:40):
have a better world.
So, yeah, I've mentored a lot ofpeople and for me, like I
started Brown and Out, because Iwas in a playwriting class and
one particular class I saw thatthe same story kept coming up
which is the perfect immigrantson, by day and and then at
night they would have this gay,homosexual, like authentic life
(39:03):
that they just could not bringtogether.
And the pain of being gay andnot being accepted by your
parents, but yet having to bethe voice for your parents and
having to be the model child foryour parents and at night
trying to live your authenticself, but then getting in a lot
of trouble because of that.
And I just said, oh, my God,like we got to do a show or
(39:26):
something where people get towrite about what it is to be a
full person, not just half aperson, not just a person who's
hiding in the shadows.
And then for me it was like,yeah, how do we mentor more
writers, and so I startedBrowning Out and it was so, yeah
, how do we mentor more writers?
And so I started Browning Out,and it was so nice because, as a
result of that show, morewriters were inspired to say, oh
my God, I want to be aplaywright too, and it's been
(39:47):
wonderful to have a lot ofwriters be inspired by our work
to become clean, to tell theirstories and to share their story
with their family and be like.
This is kind of their comingout as artists and as gay people
, you know.
Mario J. Novoa (40:00):
Josefina, this is Mario again.
Can you talk about any upcomingprojects or initiatives that
you're excited about, and how dopeople learn more about you and
Casa 0101?
Josefina Lopez (40:11):
So I have JosefinaLopezbiz, and that's my
website, and I have a freescreenwriting course there and
just about every, any and everyquestion that you could ask
about being a writer I'veanswered there.
They have.
I have tons of free videosabout being a TV writer, how to
(40:32):
create a show, how to get anagent I mean like anything you
can think of.
I think I've answered it thereand I also have resources, so
it's like a free course.
I'd rather save you the moneyand give you all the information
and all like the magic,everything that I've learned to
help you save that money.
So you can find me there,obviously, Casa0101.org for the
(40:56):
theater, and you can follow meon Instagram, and right now I'm
sharing my journey of theBroadway show and I'm going to
be going to New York and I'mgoing to be sharing that journey
of what's it like to have ashow on Broadway and what's it
like to go from Boyle Heights toBroadway, from the barrio to
Broadway, so anyway, so that'sone of the ways you can find me.
But as far as initiatives, youknow, right now we have this
thing called Fernando.
(41:16):
We're doing a tribute toFernando Valenzuela, who just
passed.
I worked with a muralist to tryto get this mural in our
neighborhood and it became sucha sacred space.
I'm going to write a littleplay about that experience, but
we're going to have aplaywriting workshop.
I think it's open to anybodywho'd like to participate.
You just have to go info atcasa0101.org, obviously, if
(41:38):
you're in LA, but you canparticipate in this workshop to
write a play about how FernandoValenzuela inspired you or your
family, and it's going to be atribute and his daughter's going
to, I think, participate or atleast be.
You know his family's going tocome and see it.
So it's kind of a way ofhonoring him and having the
family celebrate with us.
So that's something that we'redoing in September for Latino
(42:00):
Heritage Month.
We're actually celebrating ahero for a community hero for
Latino Heritage Month.
So right now we're trying touplift women and we have a
wonderful show right now calledWomen on the Verge, which I
would recommend everybody seebecause it's hilarious.
I mean there's four littleshort plays but they're really
funny and very touching and veryimportant.
(42:22):
And I would say catch thatbefore it ends March 23rd.
It ends March 23rd, so check itout, because these four women
I've mentored as playwrights,some of these women we've
mentored as directors, and weneed more women directors in the
theater, in every theatercompany.
Being a director is verychallenging because men don't
want to listen to you.
I mean, that's the reality is,men don't want to take orders
(42:45):
from you.
So we really have to work atempowering women to take their
rightful place as communityleaders and leaders in the
theater, and this is one of theways you can support us is by
coming to see the show that'sdirected by four women, written
by four women and produced bymostly women.
You know, when I started thetheater, there were hardly any
Latina directors, much lessthere's very few female
(43:07):
directors, and the ones that areworking charge a lot of money
because they had to work so hard, and I don't blame them.
So I decided to mentor women, tocreate a bigger pool of Latina
directors, and so some of theseare the women from these courses
and also who've been doing it.
And so for me at Casa, we'rejust trying to tell stories that
(43:29):
no one's willing to tell.
We're trying to do the kind ofstories that show where our
wounding is.
You know, like one of thethings that I've got that's been
made clear to me is that beingleft out of American history is
very painful, because we'vecontributed so much to this
country and and we need toacknowledge our contribution and
(43:49):
also the wounding and the hurtthat our community has because
we have been made to beinvisible, like, despite being
the majority in Los Angeles, weare constantly made to be in it.
Right now, especially, we'remade to feel like we're
replaceable, we're not evenhuman, like it's just such a
horrible time.
So when we are in times likethese, we have to create, we
(44:12):
have to elevate and we have tocelebrate.
That's my new model is likedon't don't go, don't go to hate
, create, elevate and celebrate.
And that's the way we're tryingto do.
It at Casa is saying no, no, no, you know, we're going to
celebrate the fact that we'reimmigrants, we're going to
celebrate the fact that we'rewomen, we're going to celebrate
the fact that we're LGBTQ,because that is a source of
(44:33):
strength, not a burden, and sothat's what we're doing.
We're just telling thesestories that need to be told so
the truth gets out.
Mario J. Novoa (44:42):
We want to thank Josefina Lopez for today's
interview.
You can find out more aboutJosefina Lopez at
josefinalopezbiz, or casa01 atcasa0101.org at casa0101.org,
and you can find out more aboutour Radio QGLU podcast at
(45:03):
qglubuzzsproutcom.
Rita Gonzales (45:15):
I'm Mario J Novoa .
I'm Eduardo Archuleta and youcan like us on our Facebook page
or email us at theoutagenda atgmailcom.
I'm Rita Gonzalez.
Thanks for listening, and havea wonderful week, and remember
that being out is the first stepto being equal.
Now stay tuned for this Way Out.
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