Alina Collins Maldonado
My original work asks questions about the stories we carry, the patterns we repeat, and what it might mean to understand where we come from while deciding what we want to carry forward. I’m drawn to family, home, grief, intergenerational relationships, culture, and the things we inherit, both intentionally and unintentionally.
A lot of my work begins with a question I don’t know how to answer.
I often use interviews as a way of getting closer to that question. I’m interested in people’s actual words, the pauses, the ums and ands, the contradictions, the things they meant to say and the things they didn't. I don’t want to clean people up to make them easier to understand. I want to listen closely enough that their complexity can remain intact.
My original works include What to Expect When You’re La Virgen and No Salgas Con El Pelo Mojado, two one-woman shows that blend performance with documentary storytelling and real, unedited interviews. The development of these pieces has been supported by the NextLOOK Artist Grant, Clarice Smith Artist Residency, and Wherewithal Research Grant.
I’m interested in what happens when real stories are brought into a theatrical space without being cleaned up or reshaped to fit a traditional narrative.
Rather than speaking for people, I’m interested in creating spaces where people can hear themselves. I want the work to invite audiences to listen closely, recognize something familiar, and consider the stories and relationships that shape who we become.
No Salgas Con El Pelo Mojado
Through a series of actual interviews centering the relationship between Latinx mothers and their daughters, Alina Collins Maldonado offers us a bilingual, intimate portrayal of the Latinx experience as seen through its matriarchs. As she transforms into several interviewees, this theater piece explores the unanswered questions of identity and cultural expectations passed down through generations.
Musical Performances:
Sharalys Silva and Elena Lacayo
Storytelling Consultant: Jasmine Eileen Coles
Cinematography and Editing: Terry Hunt
This event is part of NextLOOK.In partnership with Joe's Movement Emporium, NextLOOK supports the development of new music, plays, dance and other experiences by regionally-based performing artists.
What To Expect When You're La Virgen
Maria wakes on her birthday, December 12th, to unexpectedly discover she is the new Virgen de Guadalupe. She immediately questions whether she is cut out for the job after receiving overwhelming prayers from Latina mothers and daughters. How can she help them understand their worth when she begins questioning her own? This one-woman show continues the previous work of No Salgas Con El Pelo Mojado, inspired by actual interviews and workshops with Latina women over the last two years. Transforming into each interviewee, the piece will examine identity, cultural expectations, and traditions passed down through generations of women.
This play was developed during the 2022 Artist Residency at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Staged reading at The Kogod Theater, October 9th, 2022.
Written and performed by Alina Collins Maldonado
Directed by Yesenia Iglesias
Projection design by Nitsan Scharf
Storytelling Consultant, Jasmine Coles
Stage Directions read by Nat Corvoisier
Board operator, Evan Thanicatt
