Outside Event Review PDF

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For this class, it is mandatory to attend an outside event and review it....

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Role #18 Kimberly Rosas 11/09/19 Outside Event Review I attended Luchadora, a Latin American inspired event, on October 19, 2019, at 2 pm. Luchadora is a play led by the students at DePaul University and performed at the DePaul University Merle Reskin Theatre. The play is about a girl named Vanessa discovering a pink Lucha libre mask, so her grandma Nana Lupita tells her about the family’s history in the wrestling ring in Texas in the 1960s. The life of a secret female warrior emerges as Vanessa learns about family, honor, and friendship. For  me, Luchadora was not the best portrayal of Lucha Libre Mexicana and the storyline left me asking myself so many questions. However, they had great background sceneries and the choreography was well put together. The inaccurate representation of Lucha Libre weakened its purpose. The main roles were given to students that did not know how to pronounce certain words in Spanish and did not fit the role. I love the idea of incorporating different backgrounds, but it would have been nice for them to at least try to learn how to pronounce the words in Spanish correctly. There was only one Latin American in the play overall. While the choreography was well put together, the portrayal was not all there. I believe that they made it seem like Lucha Libre is just fun because of the violence. There was a seen were the crowd only cheered when the Luchadores fighting against each other were getting seriously hurt and they wanted them to get even more hurt. I understand that it could be seen as that but for some, this is a tradition. Lachadora’s story was confusing and very short. The play jumped from one character’s story to another and from a different time period, without a good transition. I understand that the grandma, in the present time, was explaining the history of Lucha Libre, in the 1960s, to her granddaughter. But, it did not make sense at times, for instance, the granddaughter would answer her phone calls during the play and automatically transition to the other part of the story without the grandma narrating or somehow announcing the transition. Many characters that were there were unnecessary for the storyline of the play. One of the characters whose name is Hannah appeared in the middle of the play and her whole story was shared in less than 10 min. I was very confused because I was not sure about her role in the play and I wasn’t able to fully understand her as a character. I would understand if they wanted to share her as a symbol of women’s power but that was not the right way. As you walk into the Merle Reskin Theatre, your eyes were pleased to see the great background scenery. Throughout the play, there were awkward transitions to bring out props and backdrop effects. One backdrop that remained throughout the play were really tall flowers that would light up when the stage became dark. This served as a symbol. The family of grandma Lupita sold flowers for a living, so it was only right for them to add it. There was also a wagon kiosk full of flowers, which was made out of wood. The flowers looked very fresh. It played a huge role because most of the play’s story was referring to grandma’s Lupita’s teenage years and all she did was help her dad with the flower shop. The Luchador arena or El Ring looked exactly like the ones they use in the professional matches. That gave the play a bit of realism. It made

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you forget you were watching a play and not a Lucha Libre match. Adding to that, the choreography was well put together. During the match, as I stated before, I forgot I was watching a play and not a Lucha Libre match. The students learned the basic steps and fighting techniques the real wrestlers use without making it seem unreal, the steps were not super slow nor too fast, there were a lot of flips, turns, jumps and kicks. I think that learning all those moves did not only take them a very long time but it might have been hard to learn and for that, I give them props. Although Luchadora is a local play done by students at DePaul, I would not recommend it. I would not recommend it because its portrayal of Lucha Libre Mexicana was inaccurate, and the storyline left me thinking and confused. I think that there are many improvements to come. One of the improvements is training the actors better to have a better portrayal of Lucha Libre Mexicana. Another is to minimize the storyline and characters. It would work best if they focused on the characters that are important for the story. I also believe that making the storyline less confusing and just to the point the audience will be able to follow it and have a clear understanding of the theme or the purpose of the play. While I would agree, the play had a great stage set up and the choreography was great. I would still not recommend this play....