Quiara Alegríiacute;a Hudes' stage adaptation of her much-lauded memoir is a joyous celebration of Puerto Rican womanhood in 1990s West Philadelphia.
In this memoir-turned-play, Hudes showcases a handful of key life moments that mark subtle changes in her sense of self and her place in the world. Interlaid between these vignettes are moments of song, dance, and ritual that evoke her boisterous girlhood in a house run by the Perez women. Through this piece, we come to understand the collaborative art that was Hudes's coming of age, and the communal nature of autobiography.
"What makes this an original play and not a regurgitated version of her memoir is the implication, realized in these bodies, that an autobiography is common property, not a house behind a fence. Others' real lives, their true personalities--call them spirits--shiver through us, leaving their mark." --New Yorker
"The show, which honors the many women in Hudes's maternal line, is a tender collision of scene and image, an impressionistic collage rather than a straightforward biography." --New York Times
"The show feels more like a party than a play: a family photo album come to vivid, joyous life." --Time Out New York