Most bilingual Latinos in the U.S. actually know three languages: English, Spanish, and Spanglish. This month, Hartford Stage is embracing that universal experience while showcasing the authentic voices of different Latino cultures in the comedy “Laughs in Spanish.”
The play by Alexis Scheer tells the story of Mariana, a young gallerist in Miami. Mariana is getting her gallery ready on the eve of Art Basel, an international art fair, when all the paintings in her space are stolen. On top of that, her mother, a Colombian movie star, comes to town.
“What we learn about the two of them is that in order to pursue what she was passionate about, Estella, the Colombian movie star, left her daughter a lot, and her daughter still bears the scars of that,” director Lisa Portes said. “So the play kind of asks the question, ‘what does it mean to be a mother and an artist?’”
The play explores the theme of mother-daughter relationships which, according to Portes, is a particularly complex dynamic within the community because of the expectations put on mothers in Latino cultures.
“The expectations on mothers to be the Madonna, to be the mami who is always there, to be the matriarch, and those are beautiful things to be,” she said. “But at the same time, that expectation can work against the woman who is an individual carving her own path in the world … I hope, in some ways, the play releases that kind of archetypical pressure on Latinas to be this kind of mother, into being their own kind of mother.”
Latinos that are not mothers will still find themselves represented on stage through the way the characters interact.
Hearing the ‘musicalities of all our languages’
According to Artistic Director Melia Bensussen, the play reflects the way many Latinos in the U.S. talk and act every day when they switch between English and Spanish.
“I'm most comfortable if I can carry on in Spanglish,” Bensussen said, because she’s lost some of her Spanish. “I can go from I think, ‘qué es esa palabra,’ and then I shift back, and I go back and forth.”
That kind of code switching can bring about some awkward moments. However, Bensussen said she thinks the laughs that come from those moments are special.
“It’s such a gift to see both our struggle and our sense of humor and our kind of panic and embarrassment at these moments all reflected on stage,” she said, “I think when we laugh together, it's a way of embracing each other. It's a way of recognition and acceptance.”
Even with the representation of the Latino-living-in-the-U.S. experience, Bensussen said Portes spent a lot of time making sure that each culture is portrayed authentically.
“What this play does is bring the Cuban voice, the Miami voice, the Latina Miami voice, the Colombian voice, all of it,” Bensussen said. “I think when you listen and you lean into this play, you hear the world that we all live in, the different musicalities of all our languages.”
The performance brings about a playful humor that director Portes hopes will have audiences laughing a lot and feeling great.
“I hope they come away with a sense of women, both daughters and mothers, as individuals, as artists, and nonetheless connected,” Portes said.
Along with feeling so much joy, Bensussen said she hopes audiences understand that the Latino culture is open to everyone and that they can laugh in every language.
“My hope is that at this moment of such divisiveness in our community, in our country, this is this warm-hearted play that says ‘yeah, we're all carrying a couple different people within us, and we're struggling to figure out which person speaks when,’” she said, “but we're all in this together.”
Opening night for “Laughs in Spanish” is Friday, March 14. The play runs through March 30.
