Review of Teatro Vista's The Madres

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Madres. It was written by Stephanie A. Walker and directed by Ricardo Gutiérrez. It was about Josefina (Ivonne Coll) and her daughter Carolina (Lorena Diaz), whose daughter Belén (Ilse Zacharias) had been disappeared during the Dirty War in Argentina. Carolina has started protesting with The Madres, who are the mothers of the disappeared. They decide to have a baby shower for Belén, who is pregnant, in hopes that she will be released to them. It is about mother-daughter relationships, injustice, and hope. I think this is a really powerful and beautiful show.

The main conflict in this show seems to be about how to react to the actions of the government. Carolina was an activist and would go out on marches with The Madres because she hopes if she works to resist hard enough maybe the government will pay attention. But Josefina is hesitant about that life. She thinks good behavior is the way to avoid being hurt, which can be true, but I believe that when times are this desperate you should go out and help the people who need it. The government keeps saying that they are stronger as one unified country, which is why they fight against the resisters in their own country. The Madres are really trying to unify the country too, but against the disappearing of their children. Padre Juan (Ramón Camín) is sort of in the middle. He wants the people in his life to get justice, but he also knows from the inside what the government is capable of and wants the people in his life to be safe from that. Josefina and Carolina keep telling themselves that Belén is actually just in Paris and she'll be back. They don't think it is really true, but they are trying to trick themselves into believing it. Josefina needs to believe this because she wants the world not to be like it is and for her faith and her devotion to be rewarded. She also doesn't have to protest anything if she doesn't believe it is true. But even if you are, like Carolina, protesting and trying to make things better, it is still hard to accept what your life is like in the moment. So, just because Carolina is protesting doesn't mean that she can completely accept what is happening to her daughter.

I really loved Josefina and Carolina. This play drops you into this family's life and you feel like you get to know these people right away. I liked how you got to see Josefina cleaning and singing along to her music at the beginning. She was so loving to the people she was close to and you see that through her food and the way she comforts people and the way she protects people. She wants everyone to feel comfortable in her house, even Diego (Felipe Carrasco) who she hasn't seen since he was a kid. It is really adorable how at the beginning of the play Padre Juan is so excited about the medialuna that Josefina made. And when she gets mad at him, she decides to hold back the food until she gets what she wants. You see that she is not just a sweet and caring person, but will stand up for the things she loves and believes in. You get to see two sides of Carolina. One that is fearless and angry and one that is scared and depressed. She is usually on her guard, and when she lets down her guard, you can tell that something is really wrong. She is worried that the woman who is knitting outside their house is a spy. She comes into the room from a protest and she is pumped and angry and excited, but then she realizes she might be being watched and we see her fear.

The last scene was so powerful and beautiful that I didn't want to spoil it. But if you have already seen the show you can read what I thought about it at Ada Grey Spoils It for You.

People who would like this show are people who like heartbreaking family stories, political plays, and medialuna bribery. I think that people should definitely definitely definitely see this show. It is beautifully acted and an amazing story. I cried a lot and I loved it.


Photos: Joel Maisonet