Latin American Women On/In Stages (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Latin American Women On/In Stages Catherine Larson Milleret, Margo . Latin American Women On/In Stages. Albany: SUNY P, 2004. x + 263 pages. The evolving role of female dramatists in the theater of Latin America is a topic that has sparked a great deal of critical interest in recent years, as increasing numbers of women-authored plays are staged and published. Margo Milleret's Latin American Women On/In Stages offers a thoughtful examination of the wide range of plays written by eighteen women born between 1940–1960, representing seven Latin American countries. The twenty-four dramas–from Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Chile, and Puerto Rico–are written by women working in Latin America's cities, the principal sites of each nation's publishing houses and [End Page 103] theaters. Many of these playwrights have participated in various aspects of the theater, including acting and directing, as well as writing scripts for telenovelas and working with children's theater. In its treatment of twenty-four different dramas by eighteen playwrights, Latin American Women On/In Stages gives a representative sampling of the rich tapestry of women-authored dramatic texts created since the late 1960s. Milleret has organized her study into chapters examining three central themes, each of which reflects distinct stages of women's lives: male-female relations (youth), mother-daughter relations (the child-bearing years), and aging (middle age and post-menopause). Her analyses are informed by a variety of theoretical approaches to the theater, gender, and aging. Chapter 1, "Reclaiming the Home," focuses on romance and marriage and on the ways in which traditional, patriarchal approaches to conjugal power relationships have been undercut by seven dramaturgas who explore gender construction and identity formation within the domestic space. Milleret divides the eight playtexts discussed in this chapter (Ana Istarú's El vuelo de la grulla, Inés Margarita Stranger's Cariño malo, Consuelo de Castro's À prova de fogo, Leilah Assunção's Boca molhada de paixão calada and Roda cor de roda, Estela Leñero's Casa llena, Sabina Berman's Uno/El bigote, and Thais Erminy's Whiskey & Cocaína) into three sections: romantic love, sexual politics, and gender bending. Her analyses are guided by social science research on women and the family in Latin America, as well as on gendered approaches to theatrical space. Chapter 2, "Questioning Motherhood," studies the connections between mothers and daughters in plays by Ana Istarú (Madre nuestra que estás en la tierra), Pilar Campesino (La partida), Rebecca Bowman (De compras), Maria Adelaide Amaral (Querida mamãe), Isis Baião (Marcadas pela culpa), Susana Torres Molina (Amantíssima), Diana Raznovich (Casa matriz), and Thais Erminy (En un desván olvidado). In these dramatic texts, the authors tend to deconstruct traditional paradigms of loving and supportive mothers and daughters, focusing instead on conflict and on the mother's role in perpetuating the societal subordination of their daughters. The eight plays are divided into two groups, based on the ages of the mothers and daughters in the texts and on the types of relationships examined: four treat younger mothers and daughters, underscoring controlling mothers who manipulate their daughters to "prepare" them for the life of a grown woman; the other four dramas explore older mothers and daughters, who are engaged in redefining their relationships. Milleret uses as her theoretical grounding two U.S. models from female developmental psychology, specifically, the work of Susan Suleiman and Carol Gilligan. The third chapter, "Staging Age and Sexuality," looks at the ways in which seven playwrights (Mariela Romero, Carlota Martínez, Lidia Rebrij, Leilah Assunção, Isis [End Page 104] Baião, Teresa Marichal, and Gabriela Fiore) have grappled with the relationship between aging and desirability–specifically, the negative stereotypes associated with the loss of beauty–and with the possibility of creating new paradigms for the future. Utilizing sociological theories on aging, Milleret focuses attention on the playwrights' strategies of employing metatheatrical techniques and placing their female characters at the center of the dramatic action. Ultimately, these dramas are filled with affirming portraits of older women: the characters are energetic, creative, and funny. The plays are divided into three thematic sections...