The importance of “Simply Maria, Or the American Dream” in its depiction of women in Chicano theatre
Abstract
Simply Maria, Or the American Dream is the first play that was written by then seventeen-year-old Josefina Lopez. Simply Maria is “an autobiographical play about a young girl trying to reconcile traditional Mexican values with those of the United States. Two years later it appeared as a Public Broadcasting System television production” (Saenz 9). The theme of this play is what ultimately drew me to choose it for my production thesis. Directing the March 8th through March 13 th, 2005 production in the UTEP Studio Theatre was the first component of a two-part production thesis. This document is the second component of my production thesis. This second component documents the production and directorial process. The following chapters include a brief overview of the depiction of female characters in Chicano theatre from its beginnings, a brief view of how this depiction has evolved over the years in part due to the contributions of Josefina Lopez and her play Simply Maria, Or the American Dream, a description of the directorial process, conclusions resulting form the production experience, and the production prompt book with relevant appendices.
Subject Area
Theater|American literature|Minority & ethnic groups|Sociology|Womens studies
Recommended Citation
De Anda, Leticia S, "The importance of “Simply Maria, Or the American Dream” in its depiction of women in Chicano theatre" (2005). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1425908.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1425908