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REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES by Josefina López

Directed by Manuel José Pickett

ABOUT THE PLAY:

Set in a tiny sewing factory in East L.A., this is the outrageously funny story of five full-figured Mexican-American women who are racing to meet nearly impossible production deadlines in order to keep their tiny factory from going under. And while they work, hiding from Immigration enforcement, they talk... about their husbands and lovers, their children, their dreams for the future. The story is told from the point of view of Ana, the youngest among them, who dreams of going off to college and becoming a famous writer. Although she needs the money, Ana doesn't like working at the factory and has little respect for the coworkers, who question her ambitions and what they consider her idealistic feminist philosophies. However, Ana keeps coming to her job and chronicling her experiences of learning from, and teaching, the women around her. REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES is a microcosm of the Latina immigrant experience, celebrates real women's bodies, the power of women, and the incredible bond that happens when women work together!

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Josefina López is best known for authoring the 1988 play and co-authoring the 2002 Sundance Film Festival Audience and Jury Award-winning film Real Women Have Curves that were the source materials for the 2025 Broadway production of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, which garnered critical acclaim and 12 award nominations, including two from the Tony Awards and others from The Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics’ Circle. López started her writing career at 17 years old and has had productions of her many plays throughout the country. López’s first short play, Simply Maria, or the American Dream, was filmed as a PBS special and won a Gold Award from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and an Emmy Award. Other works include: Confessions of Women From East L.A.; Boyle Heights; Remembering Boyle Heights, parts 1 and 2; Hungry Woman in Paris; Detained in the Desert, also made into a feature film; Trío Los Machos, currently in development as a musical; A Cat Named Mercy; Piñata Dreams; Drunk Girl; Lola Goes to Roma; Hysteria; A Woman Named Gloria; An Enemy of the Pueblo; Queen of the Rumba; Electrico; and the 2025 award-winning film 20 Pounds to Happiness (Eat. Love. Joy.), which López executive produced and wrote. López has been working as a professional screenwriter for more than 30 years with many established producers like Norman Lear and Jaime Paglia to bring Latinos to television.  She has been the recipient of dozens of awards and accolades and has penned seven books as an author. López is the founding artistic director of CASA 0101 Theater in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. 

PAST PRODUCTIONS