‘Luchadora’ packs a punch with tale of family love
Don’t think a woman could handle herself in a wrestling ring — or anywhere a man could? Them’s fightin’ words — quite literally when it comes to “Luchadora,” an in-your-face examination of gender equality as it pertains to a family full of secrets.
Onstage at Orlando Repertory Theatre, “Luchadora” dives into the world of lucha libre — the professional-wrestling style popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries, in which the wrestlers’ masks are a key aspect of the sport’s showmanship and mystique.
The Rep’s production is completely engaging as it brims with family love and loyalty, and don’t worry: You don’t have to know anything about wrestling or Mexican culture to appreciate playwright Alvaro Saar Rios’s overriding idea: People should be free to follow their dreams, and young people, in particular, deserve to have their dreams supported by those who ostensibly love them most.
The girls-can-do-whatboys-do message is delivered obviously — this is a show designed for schoolchildren, after all — but the playwright’s words are backed up by the production’s action. And director Michelle LoRicco keeps the show full of life.
If the youngsters at the center of the story aren’t learning to wrestle, they’re riding bikes or toting around the large cart from which teenage Lupita sells flowers.
But we first meet Lupita as a grandmother, played with just the right mix of toughness and warmth by Alina Alcántara. She has a long-buried secret that her granddaughter Vanessa stumbles upon — and Vanessa has a secret of her own. How did she injure her wrist?
But before that mystery gets unraveled, Lupita tells Vanessa the story of her youth — as a teen selling flowers as part of the family business and how she became part of the epic battle between Máscara Rosa (Pink Mask) and El Hijo (The Son), two famed wrestlers.
Interwoven in this flashback to the 1960s is the story of Lupita’s neighbor, another young woman, who joins the Army to fight during the Vietnam War.
The focus on young Lupita and her friends kept the children seated around me involved in the play’s many dramatic moments as the surprises unfolded. It helps that the young actors are so appealing: Rhyse Silverstro and Hannah Bender do fine work as Lupita’s chums. Solmarie Cruz Martinez makes an impact as present-day Lupita’s textinghappy granddaughter.
As young Lupita, Esther Olivo not only carries off Bill Warriner’s fun fight choreography with panache, she also successfully captures that spirit of youthful determination even in the face of well-meaning parental opposition.
That comes in the form of Radamés Medina Meléndez, who makes a sympathetic dad and always lets the audience see his love for his only daughter. Karen Marulanda provides a dash of zip as a fiery wrestler trainer, and Stephen Pugh has fun giving bombastic news conferences as wrestler El Hijo — “the baddest” and “the meanest.”
Along with the play, Orlando Repertory Theatre will offer an opening weekend “fiesta” Feb. 4-5, with a variety of activities prior to showtime. Children can pose for photos like a lucha libre wrestler, create themed crafts and decorate cookies. Treats from local Mexican vendors, including Cholo Dogs and Frosty Shaved Ice, will be available.
“Luchadora” is a show that could foster conversations between parents and their children about where their interests lie — and what they might do to achieve their goals. Adults, keep an open mind — and be ready to come up with a pink mask.