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The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea is a play by Cherríe Moraga. The play, published by West End Press,^[1] was first written in 1995. It includes aspects of Coatlicue, an Aztec goddess; the play Medea by Euripides; and La Llorona.^[2]

Plot[edit]

A revolution in what was the United States had created separate territories for different racial groups. One territory is now African-American, one territory is now Native American, and another is now Latino and Hispanic. Patriarchies were established and homosexuals were forced to leave many of the areas because of politically conservative counter-revolutions.^[1] The setting is a post-apocalyptic future on the border of the current United States and Aztlán, the separate nation carved out for Latinos and Hispanics as well as Native Americans. Aztlán combined elements of both cultures. Medea was exiled because of the patriarchical, anti-homosexual revolution in Aztlán.^[2]

In “The Hungry Woman”, author Cherrie Moraga daringly explores the classical story of Medea through the devastating experiences of a Chicana activist. Although set in different scenarios, the chicana version borrows greatly from Euripides’ play and manages to truthfully depict the feelings of otherness, isolation and almost justifiable.

1. Ebook download as PDF File. CHERRIE MORAGA GLORIA ANZALDUA. Cherrie moraga gloria anzaldua. The Hungry Woman Start Download Portable Document Format. Tomson Highway, Cherrie Moraga, Djanet Sears, Guillermo.
2. It's telling that playwright Cherrie Moraga's inventively Chicano- and lesbian-themed—but longwinded and unfocused—adaptation of the. 'The Hungry Woman.

Medea, her son Chac-Mool, and her girlfriend live in the border area,^[2] around Phoenix, Arizona.^[1] Medea's husband Jasón wants to divorce Medea and take her Chac-Mool with him back to Aztlán, where Jasón holds an important place in society.^[2]

Characters[edit]

• Medea - The main character, a former revolutionary who was forced into exile. She is bisexual and feminine.^[1] She is Luna's lover, Jasón's wife, and mother to teenage son, Chac-Mool. Her character is based on Euripides' Medea.^[3]
• Jasón - Medea's husband, a biracial man who now lives in Aztlán,^[1] where he holds an important position.^[2] He wants to marry an Apache virgin girl and thus is divorcing Medea.^[1]
• Chac-Mool - Medea's son, a teenager.^[1] Chac-Mool is named after a Toltec messenger, Chacmool.^[4] Melissa Pareles of the Lambda Book Report describes him as 'rebellious but trusting'.^[1] At one point Medea kills Chac-Mool to prevent him from going into Aztlán. Nicole Eschen of the Theatre Journal wrote that at the end, 'Chac-Mool reappears, possibly as a ghost or hallucination, to absolve and cradle Medea as she kills herself.'^[5]
• Luna - Medea's girlfriend, a sculptor.^[1] She had taught Chac-Mool about history and heritage, including how to plant corn. Eschen states that Luna is not apologetic about her sexuality, and while Media is in despair, Luna gives 'the voice of reason'.^[5] She is not willing to leave Medea.^[1] Eschen and Pareles both describe her as 'butch'.^[1][5] Pareles states that in the play Luna is 'perhaps the most sympathetic character'.^[1]
• Mama Sal - A grandmother who is a lesbian. Pareles describes Mama Sal as 'the kind cynic who, despite her love for Chac-Mool and Medea, helps Luna leave Medea and Medea carry out her insane plan'.^[1]
• Chihuateo - Four women who had died in childbirth. They provide a chorus.^[5]

Production[edit]

By 2006 the play had received several full productions.^[2]

The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea has had few productions between the first 1995 production directed by Tony Kelly and the 2006 production at the Leeds Theater at Brown University.^[6]

The Brown University Production of The Hungry Woman took place at the Leeds Theater in April 2006. According to the Brown Daily Herald Review, 'Though a recreation of a Greek tragedy, the play includes both humorous scenes such as a girls’ night on the town in a lesbian dance club where the ladies line-dance to a disco remix of “The Hustle” and intense scenes like Medea mourning her son in the confines of a psychiatric hospital, only to be mocked by her doctors' (Barnes).^[7]

Cherrie Moraga Poems

Angelica del Valle plays Medea, highlighting the emotions behind the battle to keep her son. Luna, Medea's lover, played by Erin Adams gives a sense of romance and evokes the feeling of emotional strain that family conflict can have on a relationship.^[7]

The Hungry Woman Cherrie Moraga

Stanford University's production of The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea took place in May 2005 at the Pigott Theater. Adelina Anthony directed this production. The production included equity actors VIVIS as Medea, Tessa Koning-Martínez as Mama Sal, as well as actors Ronak Kapadia as Jasón, Misha Chowhury as Chac-Mool, and Adelina Anthony as Luna.^[8] According to Eschen's performance review, 'The play, from Medea herself to the set design, carried several simultaneous meanings, resonating with various culture' (Eschen).^[8]

According to a production review by Nicole Eschen in a Theatre Journal, 'The Hungry Woman furthers Moraga’s explorations of the intersection between aspects of identity, particularly as a Chicana lesbian, but also in relationship to indigenous cultures and motherhood' (Eschen).^[8] Adelina Anthony tackles Cherríe Moraga's work and attempts to display the intersection of cultures. Cultures were intertwined in this production. This was heavily seen in the set design. The set had Greek elements, with white marble and traditional architecture. Its shape 'suggested a cave or natural rock setting' according to Eschen. She further mentions that 'Lighting and repositioning of a small rectangular platform transformed this abstract background into various locations such as a lesbian bar and a mental hospital'(Eschen).^[8]

This production takes inspiration from Euripides' Medea, but does not mimic it, balancing 'elements of the Greek story with the Mexican La Llorona and the Aztec goddess Coatlicue' (Eschen). VIVIS highlighted Medea's characterization of agony and despair. Eschen writes that VIVIS, 'spent a great deal of the play wandering around the stage in a black slip with a bottle of tequila or confines in a mental institution' (Eschen).^[8] During the scene where Medea ultimately makes the decision to kill her son, there is a choreographed dance by Alleluia Panis which 'combined images of birth and death culminating in a Pietà image in which Medea cradled her dead son' (Eschen).^[8]

Anthony, playing Luna, Medea's lover, both acted and co-directed the production. Anthony represented the butch lesbian lover, teaching Medea's son Chac-Mool about his heritage and history. Both Anthony and VIVIS utilized 'fairly realistic, traditional Western acting styles'(Eschen).^[8] The chorus was costumed in brown body suits, 'which were painted outlines of their breasts' (Eschen)., mimicking the image of tattoos.^[8] The women both danced and took on minimal roles such as a nurse, switching their costumes by adding specific identifying pieces. Jasón, 'a cruel South American dictator' (Eschen), was seen as having dark skin, unshaven face, and vaguely military costume.^[8] Chac-Mool, Medea and Jasón's son, played by Misha Chowdhury represented a tall and lanky adolescent.

Notes[edit]

1. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}Pareles, p. 43.
2. ^ ^abcdefEschen, p. 103
3. ^Eschen, Nicole (2006-01-01). 'The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (review)'. Theatre Journal. 58: 103–106. doi:10.1353/tj.2006.0070.
4. ^Eschen, p. 106
5. ^ ^abcdEschen, p. 104
6. ^'Production History'. The hungry woman. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
7. ^ ^abBarnes, Taylor (2006-12-07). 'Review: Medea receives modern makeover in Moraga's 'The Hungry Woman''. Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
8. ^ ^abcdefghiEschen, Nicole (March 2006). 'Cherríe Moraga's The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea Performance Review'. Theatre Journal. 58.

References[edit]

• Eschen, Nicole (University of California, Los Angeles). 'The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (review).' Theatre Journal. Volume 58, Number 1, March 2006 pp. 103–106 | 10.1353/tj.2006.0070 - At: Project Muse. - DOI 10.1353/tj.2006.0070
• Pareles, Marissa. 'The Hungry Woman / Watsonville/Circle in the Dirt.' (Queer Theater) Lambda Book Report, ISSN1048-9487, 12/2003 (December 2003-January 2004), Volume 12, Issue 5/6, p. 43
• Eschen, N. 'The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea (review).' Theatre Journal, vol. 58 no. 1, 2006, pp. 103–106. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/tj.2006.0070
• Barnes, Taylor. (2017). Review: Medea receives modern makeover in Moraga's 'The Hungry Woman'. The Brown Daily Herald. December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2017.

Cherrie Moraga Quotes

External links[edit]

• 'The Hungry Woman' - Cherríe Moraga Official Website
• 'THE HUNGRY WOMAN.' Small Press Distribution.
• 'The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea Heart of the Earth: A Popul Vuh Story.' West End Press.

In 'The Hungry Woman, ' an apocalyptic play written at the end of the millennium, Moraga uses mythology and an intimate realism to describe the embattled position of Chicanos and Chicanas, not only in the United States but in relation to each other. Drawing from the Greek Medea and the myth of La Llorona, she portrays a woman gone mad between her longing for another woman and for the Indian nation which is denied her.In 'Heart of the Earth, ' a f...

Details The Hungry Woman

Reviews The Hungry Woman

Cherrie Moraga Giving Up The Ghost

• This was very interesting. Kind of hard to wrap your head around, and I don't think plays have ever really been my kind of thing. But I am glad I read it, it definitely invoked some emotion in me.
• It's a play. I don't have a problem reading plays, but this one felt like visuals would make the story make more sense. Great for talking about borders, discrimination, and Chinanx related themes -specifically related mythologies and how they are working in the text.
• Very strange this play. Very very odd. I have read Euripides Madea, so seeing the translation of characters and plot was interesting. But I mostly just found it very strange.
• This is such an incredibly moving and thought-provoking retelling of the original Medea myth, rife with Aztec culture/myth and steeped in the trials of motherhood and a queer identity politics. 8/10'There's nothing more personal than the love between a mother and child. You wouldn't know. You are childless, a dull mule who can't reproduce. I will always be more woman than you.'
• Moraga is quite masterful here, as she imagines what movements for social justice look like when they reify the marginalization of women. She constructs a bleak future dystopia where a woman must choose between her nation and her humanity. Utilizing mythology from Western and pre-Hispanic tradition, this is a cautionary tale, a warning to head feminist calls for intersectionality in our pursuits of justice.
• Very interesting read. I never would have read it if it were not for my Contemporary Latinas Literature class. We had the extreme honor of having Moraga come to speak in our class before she gave a presentation to Oregon State. With little to no back ground in Latina or Queer studies I believe this was a great introduction which united struggle with emotion.