A Stitching in Time: “Real Women Have Curves,” at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through October 4

Part social commentary, part “I am woman, hear me roar!”, the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's current production of author Josefina Lopez's Real Women Have Curves follows Ana (Cristina Gomez), a young Latina woman in Los Angeles who works in a tiny garment factory owned by her sister Estela (Adriana Blanco). As the women in the factory scramble to complete an important order, they are also dealing with their own struggles involving men, money, family, immigration, and self-esteem.

It was interesting to see how this script written in 1987 (and, given the cell phones and references to ICE, obviously updated to the present) was still thematically relevant nearly 40 years later. You’d think we’d be further along as a society, but from its concerns about the deportation of undocumented workers to the characters' strain in simply make ends meet, Lopez’s play speaks to issues that feel very current. There were moments that really worked in this production. Unfortunately, there were also enough issues – both with the script and its staging – that I struggled to fully connect with the show in the way I hoped.

Cindy Ramos both directed Real Women Have Curves and portrayed Ana's co-worker Pancha. It’s insanely difficult to both direct and act in the same production. Even checking sight lines becomes nearly impossible when you’re also one of the people on stage, and due to where I sat, I found myself staring at someone’s back several times and missed what was happening behind them. Ramos did, however, provide enthusiasm and some great facial expressions. I especially enjoyed Pancha's reaction when forced to eat dubious mole sauce. Little moments of physical comedy such as this helped keep things moving, infusing a lighthearted spirit I felt the show really needed.

As Carmen, another seamstress, Lidia Gomez Castillo exuded excellent maternal energy. The mother of Ana and Estela, Carmen had her own journey navigating what womanhood means to her. In her own way, she was also responsible for some of the body issues her daughters carried with them, projecting her own questions of self-worth and dependence on her weight onto her children. At times on Friday, though, Castillo seemed to be searching for her next line, seemingly wandering the stage without quite knowing where she needed to be, and consequently stagnating her performance.

Completing Real Women Have Curves' ensemble, Rosali (Celeaciya Olvera) was a character whom I found difficult to connect with. I could too-quickly spot where Lopez was going with Rosali's story. Yet script predictability is not Olvera’s fault, and she brought heaps of talent to Ramos' production, I just wish she had been given more to do!

Ana, at least, felt especially impassioned throughout the production. As the character who both opens and closes the show, Gomez bookends the entire story, and during her final monologue, she seemed genuinely overtaken by the importance of the moment. It was nice to finally see the emotional punch I’d been waiting for.

However, I remained unsure about whose story this truly was. Were we primarily rooting for Estela to succeed in business, avoiding court and deportation, or were we meant to hope Ana could break free from her family and make it to New York to live her dreams? Maybe it was both, but Blanco exuded a leadership quality that made her stand out among the women with main-character vitality.

Overall, I felt that the five women were connected and there was true camaraderie among them, but Friday's pacing seemed off. While it felt like the script was building toward something, the action itself limped along in spurts. By the time we got to a scene in the second act that I believe is meant to be particularly meaningful – you'll know it when you see it – I was mostly confused about precisely how we had arrived at that moment. It seemed to come out of nowhere, rather than feeling like the payoff that previous scenes had naturally built toward.

Scenic designer and set builder Craig Cohoon convincingly captured a lived-in garment factory with just the right amount of clutter. The set was brightly painted by Jaquce Cohoon in purples and yellows, and the bright, fun colors made the stage pop. I also really enjoyed Juniper Eberhardt's sound design. I found myself bopping along to both the pre-show and intermission music, the tunes adding much-needed drive to the evening.

Some of Ramos’ props, however, didn’t quite work for me. There’s a particularly funny scene involving a copy of a very specific book, yet what appeared was very clearly someone’s hand-drawn cover added to a blank notebook. When a particular object becomes such a prominent part of the story, I expect a bit more, especially in the Playcrafters’ intimate space between audience and actors. I also found it curious that as the women finished dresses for their big, business-saving order, it never really appeared that way. I would've loved to have seen the number of garment bags grow throughout to give us a visual reminder that the enormous order was actually progressing. It certainly would have helped sell the urgency and demonstrate the high stakes.

Because I don't speak Spanish, I was initially a little nervous about missing key moments. Thankfully, though, this wasn't a barrier. A few one-liners and comments were made in Spanish, and one in particular had several audience members chuckling, but I never felt as though I missed something I couldn’t infer from the context. A good thing, too, because Real Women Have Curves has a lot to say, and much of it remains relevant nearly four decades after it was written. Playcrafters’ production gives everyone an opportunity to look at some specific societal issues and face them head on.

Real Women Have Curves runs at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre (4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL) through October 4, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-0330 and visiting Playcrafters.com.