Josefina López
header image from https://www.garrymarshalltheatre.org/josefina-lopez
Playwright Bio
from López's website
Josefina López (Writer/Director/ Producer/Performer) is best known for authoring the play and co-authoring the 2002 SUNDANCE AWARD WINNING film Real Women Have Curves. Josefina started her writing career at 17 and has had over 100 productions of her many plays throughout the country. Josefina has been working as a professional screenwriter in Hollywood for almost 30 years with countless development deals and screenplay assignments. She has worked with many established Producers like Norman Lear (All In the Family) and Michael McDonald (American Crime) to bring Latinos to television. Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 1969, Josefina Lopez was five years old when she and her family migrated to the United States and settled in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Josefina was undocumented for thirteen years before she received Amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. Citizen in 1995. Josefina is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, has an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA’s School of Film & Television, and has a "Diplome de Cuisine" from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.
Josefina is the Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights which is celebrating its 18th anniversary. At CASA 0101 her commitment is to present plays that celebrate and shatter the myths and stereotypes of Women and Latinos. She teaches playwriting and screenwriting to a new generation of Latino and women artists at CASA 0101.
Josefina is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including a formal recognition from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s 7th Annual “Women Making History in Hollywood” in1998; and a Screenwriting Fellowship from the California Arts Council in 2001. She and Real Women Have Curves co-author George LaVoo won the HUMANITIES PRIZE for Screenwriting in 2002, The Gabriel Garcia Marquez Award from the L.A. Mayor in 2003, and the Artist-in-Residency grant from the NEA/TCG for 2007.
Josefina is presently developing the musical version of Real Women Have Curves for Broadway. Her first novel titled Hungry Woman in Paris came out in 2009. Her two play collections Real Women Have Curves & Other Plays and Detained in the Desert and Other Plays as well as her countless books can be found on Amazon. She wrote a play to protest SB1070 titled Detained in the Desert, which she produced as a film and which won best Feature at the Los Angeles International Women’s Film Festival. In 2013 she won BEST DIRECTOR for her short film 51/50 at the Ventura Museum Latina Film Festival. She is working on numerous writing projects for the stage, screen and for print including the TV version of Real Women Have Curves & Hungry Woman and a supernatural animation TV Series for Sony Studio.
Highlighted Play: Detained in the Desert
Alix Mendoza and Dave Rivas in the Teatro Máscara Magica production of Josefina Lopez's "Detained in the Desert." Image from courant.com.
Synopsis
Detained in the Desert is a theatrical response to Arizona’s SB 1070, which allowed police to question anyone’s citizenship, leading to an increase in (lawful) racial profiling. The play follows two primary stories; Sandi, a second-generation Latina who is estranged from her culture, and Lou, a vitriolic, white, right-wing talk radio host. After being racially profiled near the U.S.-Mexico border, Sandi refuses to “provide papers” and is thus detained. Lou is kidnapped by Latinos who lost their brother to a hate crime, and he is tortured and left to die in the desert. Through extraordinary circumstances, Sandi and Lou are brought together in the desert, are forced to reconcile with their immigrant stories, and must find a way to survive.
Applications
Detained in the Desert could be useful in a playwriting or theatre studies setting, as it is a clear example of a fiction work in response to a nonfiction source. This play could be read or performed to help students learn about artistic voices in political discussions as well as the actual policy of Arizona SB 1070. I could also see this play produced in concert with other art and intentional discussion to create dialogue about immigration and larger Latino/a/x feelings about contemporary issues. This could happen at a conference or community art festival.
Sample Activity: Playwrighting Unit
Part 1: Reading and Analysis
Students learn about Arizona SB 1070. This can be via news reports, editorials, videos, etc.
Student read Detained in the Desert.
Students collectively analyze the historical fiction and dramatic strategies López used.
Part 2: Writing
Students select a current or historical event that they think would be interesting to explore dramatically.
Students brainstorm the points of view of various characters experiencing the event.
Students identify how characters could be in conflict and what other complications could be added.
Students compose a piece, length determined by the instructor (one scene, 10-minute, 1-act, full play, etc.)
Part 3: Peer Critique and Discussion
Students read each other's work and discuss.
Sample discussion questions:
What did it feel like to be the interpretive lens for a real event?
What narrative strategies did they find successful in their own and others' writing? What did not work?
How did they go about selecting important nonfiction elements for their writing? How did they choose what to omit?
Discussion Prompts for reading Detained in the Desert
Initial reactions to the play
What images stick in your mind?
Responses to the “cineatro” (cinematic) style
Did the “cineatro” style make the play disjointed, or did it flow?
Were characters too exaggerated/essentialized?
Can takeaways about the characters be transferred to the real world?
Is Sandi’s story more credible than Lou’s?
Thoughts about the kidnappers
Is this condoning violence for violence?
Would you take such an action against someone like Lou?
What does this play accomplish socially/politically?
Is consciousness raising the most that art can accomplish?
Would you consider this activist art? Socially engaged art? Something else?
University of California Riverside 2011 production of Detained in the Desert. Image from inlandempire.us.
Annotated Plays
Applications
With the core themes of aging, gender, and music, this play is relevant to a variety of applications. It could be presented to a feminist conference, as López says herself that, “I wanted to reconcile with my father’s machismo through this play” (López, 2011, p. 67). It also could be effective in a context of a multi-generational event, encouraging discussion about what it means to grow old and gain wisdom with both older and younger people.
Trío los Machos
Synopsis
Trío los Machos is the story of three longtime friends, Lalo, Paco, and Nacho. From first meeting through the Bracero program in World War II to performing music together 50 years later, the story follows the camaraderie and care the three have for each other. As they work to cope with getting older, the men embrace their love for each other and their love for music, which makes life worth living.
Image from latinheat.com
Lola Goes to Roma
Synopsis
Lola Goes to Roma focuses on recently widowed Lola and her youngest daughter, Roma. Roma has just successfully defended an anthropology dissertation and has planned a trip to Europe to celebrate. At the same time, none of her siblings want to take in their just widowed mother, so Roma agrees to take her mother to Europe. As they travel from locale to locale, we learn that Lola is not a typical all-suffering Mexican mother, but a sexually liberated woman. Since Roma has spent her whole life academic and free of romance, Lola has a great deal to teach Roma about life and love.
Applications
Lola Goes to Roma would be interesting to show at a gender and sexuality studies conference, as it challenges age-, gender-, racial-, and cultural-based assumptions about how one should experience gender and sexuality. It would spark useful conversations that could potentially lead into activist work. I also could see this play being used in a play festival, as its ideas about gender, sexuality, and cross-cultural interaction could speak to a variety of other works.
Image from tedmills.com
Comprehensive List of Works
Plays
Remembering Boyle Heights (2018)
An Enemy of the Pueblo (2017)
Drunk Girl (2015)
Piñata Dreams (2014)
A Cat Named Mercy (2013)
Trío Los Machos (2012)
Hungry Woman (2012)
Lola Goes to Roma (2011)
Detained in the Desert (2010)
The Cleaning Lady (2009)
Boyle Heights (2008)
When Nature Calls (2007)
Baby Boom (2005)
Queen of the Rumba (2000)
No Place Like Home (1999)
Confessions of Women from East L.A. (1997)
Confessions… (1997)
Food for the Dead (1996)
La Pinta (1996)
Simply Maria, or the American Dream (1996)
Unconquered Spirits (1995)
Real Women Have Curves (1990)
Co-written Plays
Hipsteria (2016) with Oscar Arguello
Clean Start (2014) with Kathy Fischer
Plays Adapted into Film:
Detained in the Desert (2013)
Real Women Have Curves (2002)
Novel
Hungry Woman in Paris (2009)
Published Anthologies:
Real Women Have Curves and Other Plays (2011), WPR Books: Latino Insights.
Volume 2 of The Essential Latino Play Series: Detained in the Desert and Other Plays (2011), WPR Books: Latino Insights.
Screenplays
Fifty One Fifty (2012)
The Tamale Lesson (2011 – Short film for USC Film School)
Foursome (2010 – On Spec with film director Gabriela Tagliavini)
Tulip (2010 – On Spec)
Once Upon A Quinceañera (2009 – Feature for SONY Studios)
Ali Q. (2007 – Feature for Cinemalab)
Lola Goes To Roma (2006 – Feature for Medusa)
Baby Boom (2004 – Short Film for Chispas Prods.; admitted into Outfest)
Lotería for Juarez (2003 – Feature for HBO)
ADD Me to the Party (2003 – Feature for Four Color Prods.)
Real Women Have Curves (1990 – Feature for Warner Bros; 2002 – co-written with George LaVoo as a Feature for HBO)
No Place Like Home (2000 – Feature for New Line Cinema)
Immigrant Anthology (1993 – Feature for HBO)
Television Credits
The Fabulous Fernandez Sisters (2015 – Pilot for ABC)
Las Quatro (2007 – Pilot for ABC Family)
The Cleaning Lady (2004 – On Spec)
El Nino (2004 – Segment for CBS)
McArthur Park (2003 – Pilot for Showtime)
L.A. Arts High (1995 – Pilot for NBC)
The Chavez Family (1995 – Pilot for ABC)
La Fiesta de Ha Ha (1994 – Variety & Sketch Comedy for UPN)
In Living Color (1993 – Sit-Com for Warner Bros.)
Culture Class Show (1993 – Variety and Sketch Comedy for Fox)
Additional Resources
Your Story Matters
Josefina López at TEDxBoyleHeights 2014
Stand Up Routine
5 minute performance from Flappers Comedy Club (2014)
Bibliography
Dramatic Publishing. (2021). Josefina López. https://www.dramaticpublishing.com/authors/profile/view/url/josefina-lopez.
Esparza, E. (2016, June 14). Josefina López’ “trío los machos” explores machismo, music & exploitation of bracero program. Latin Heat. https://www.latinheat.com/events/josefina-lopez-trio-los-machos-explores-machismo-music-exploitation-of-braceroprogram/.
Garry Marshall Theatre. (2021). Josefina López. https://www.garrymarshalltheatre.org/josefina-lopez.
Hebert, J. (2013, August 30). ‘Detained’ a thorny desert odyssey. Hartford Courant. https://www.courant.com/sdut-detained-desert-teatro-mascara-magica-lopez-review-2013aug30-htmlstory.html.
Huerta, J. A. (2012). Josefina López: Under the radar no more. Gestos, 54, 138-142. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/scholarly-journals/josefina-lópez-under-radar-no-more/docview/1323376255/se-2?accountid=12768.
Huerta, J., López, T. A., & Morton, C. (2011). A conversational review of Josefina López’s "detained in the desert." Gestos, 26, 173-179. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/scholarly-journals/conversational-review-josefina-lopezs-detained/docview/918019232/se-2?accountid=12768.
Josefina López. (2021, January 7). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefina_L%C3%B3pez.
López, J. (2011). Detained in the desert & other plays. WPR BOOKS: Latino Insights.
López, J. (2020). Josefina López. https://www.josefinalopez.biz/.
McCulloh, T. H. (1995, May 05). The tears of oppression: Josefina López bases her play, 'unconquered spirits,' on the 'crying woman' legend. but in the end, her characters' fighting spirit prevails. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/historical-newspapers/tears-oppression/docview/2021885999/se-2?accountid=12768.
Mills, T. (2006, May 3). Theatre review: Lola goes to Roma. https://www.tedmills.com/2006/05/theater_review_lola_goes_to_ro/.
Press Release. (2011, November 4). "Detained in the Desert" – A play at UCR. InlandEmpire.US. https://inlandempire.us/desert-play-ucr/.
TEDx Talks. (2014, June 13). Your story matters: Josefina Lopez at TEDxBoyleHeights 2014 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGgoICmtCic.
Urtiaga, R. (2016). Border women: An interview with Josefina López. Latino Studies, 14(2), 265-271. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/scholarly-journals/border-women-interview-with-josefina-lópez/docview/1805772128/se-2?accountid=12768.
Web Page Compiled by Stelle Salsbery (2021)