Josefina Lopez

Josefina López (born 1969, San Luis Potosí, Mexico) is a Chicana playwright, perhaps best known as the author of the play (and co-author of the screenplay) Real Women Have Curves. López is also the Founding Artistic Director of the CASA 0101 theater located in Boyle Heights, California, which began in 2000.

Early life López was born in 1969 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and at age five, she emigrated with her family to the United States, where they settled in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts before obtaining a BA in film and screenwriting from Columbia College Chicago, and an MFA in screenwriting from the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA. She also graduated with a Supreme Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu.

López was undocumented for 13 years before she received amnesty in 1987 and eventually became a U.S. Citizen in 1995. López is the recipient of a number of other awards and accolades, including a formal recognition from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's 7th Annual "Women Making History" banquet in 1998 and a screenwriting fellowship from the California Arts Council in 2001. She and Real Women Have Curves co-author George LaVoo won the Humanitas Prize for Screenwriting in 2002, The Gabriel Garcia Marquez Award from Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn in 2003, and the Artist-in-Residency grant from the National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group for 2007.

Career After having over 100 productions of her plays run throughout the United States, Josefina López is one of today's preeminent Chicana writers. She has written several plays such as Simply Maria, Or the American Dream; Confessions of Women From East L.A.; Boyle Heights; Lola Goes To Roma; Food For The Dead; Unconquered Spirits; Queen of the Rumba and Real Women Have Curves.

She is the co-screenwriter of the film version of her play Real Women Have Curves (2002), starring America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Lupe Ontiveros, and Ingrid Oliu (Stand and Deliver). The movie garnered much acclaim, including at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival where the film won the "Audience Award" and a "Special Jury Award for Acting." López has written several other screenplays including Loteria for Juarez about the mysterious murders of women in the Mexico/US border town of Ciudad Juárez; ADD Me to the Party, an original comedic screenplay about three Latinas addicted to adrenaline who drive around in an Impala looking for the next distraction; Lola Goes To Roma, a mother-daughter comedy that takes place in Europe; a biopic titled Queen of the Rumba; and a family comedy titled No Place Like Home. In 2013, she wrote and produced the film version of her play Detained in the Desert.

López has won several awards including a Gabriel García Márquez award from Mayor of Los Angeles in 2003.

Boyle Heights Boyle Heights received its world premiere production at CASA 0101 Theater in 2004.

Boyle Heights follows the history of the Rosales family, from a small Mexican town to the burgeoning neighborhood of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles. The story is seen through the eyes of Dahlia, an aspiring writer who is reluctant to get involved in the real world, much less in her family’s drama. Her passionate and impulsive family perpetually re-creates conflict spanning generations and borders. First chastised for making education a priority, and then for not being married, Dahlia navigates the colorful and troubled personalities of her family and neighborhood as she attempts to stay true to her most important asset, her integrity. Boyle Heights is the stormy neighborhood where a family ultimately attempts to create a place called home.

In 2013, the stage adaptation of Hungry Woman received its world premiere at CASA 0101 Theater. Under the direction of Corky Dominguez, actress Rachel González led a cast of 12 actors portraying 35 plus roles to tell the story of Canela Guerrero, a Chicano journalist passionate about life and her causes, who breaks off her marriage engagement to use tickets intended for her honeymoon to go to Paris to find herself and meaning in life. Regarding the abridged adaptation of her novel, Josefina López has this to say: "It has been a challenge to write the play adaptation of 'Hungry Woman' because my novel 'Hungry Woman in Paris' is written in first person. The character of Canela Guerrero has so many painful and funny experiences as she journeys through her depression, in search for meaning to fulfill her physical and spiritual hunger. What to take and what to leave out was heart wrenching for me as a writer. For me, 'Hungry Woman in Paris' the novel is a seven course meal, while 'Hungry Woman' the play is a delicious appetizing meal with an extravagant desert."

Trio Los Machos was played at CASA 0101. The setting of the play took place in East LA during WWII. The play alternates between the past and the present which follows culture changes, local history, and even politics. The play was directed by Edward Padilla and the cast included Miguel Santana, Roberto Garza, and Henry Aceves Madrid. Joesfina Lopez wrote this play in honor of her father.

A Cat Named Mercy A Cat Named Mercy received its world premiere production at the CASA 0101 Theater from January 31 – February 23, 2014. The play is a dark comedy about Catalina Rodriguez, a Latina Licensed Vocational Nurse working at Elysian Estates Nursing Home who gets her hours cut, becomes uninsured and is in desperate need of an emergency operation. With the help of a cat she names Mercy, she is divinely guided to do the unthinkable to save her life.

Lopez wrote A Cat Named Mercy to show the problems in society that people face daily. Catalina Rodriguez, a nurse, lives with her blind mother who is unapologetically negative about life. She finds out she has cancer and needs immediate surgery to save her life. To her surprise, the nursing home she works at cuts back her hours causing her to lose her health insurance. In need of money fast Catalina decides to help the citizens at the nursing home check out forever. Through this process Catalina encounters a cat named Mercy who seems to appear out of nowhere.

Piñata Dreams Piñata Dreams received its world premiere production at CASA 0101 Theater from December 5–28, 2014. Piñata Dreams is a fantastical, magical journey for the whole family that celebrates piñatas, alebrijes (brightly colored Mexican art sculptures of fantastical creatures), and the courage to be oneself. According to Josefina López, "I ve always wanted to write a holiday show for children and their families celebrating my Latino heritage and I finally wrote it. This story is inspired by the story of the Alebrijes and the story of the Piñatas. I wanted kids to know this story and for parents to understand that some children are special and are meant to be artists."

Drunk Girl Drunk Girl received its world premiere production at CASA 0101 Theater from September 25 – October 18, 2015. Drunk Girl is a series of plays exploring the struggles of women to have power over their bodies, their lives and their destinies. Drunk Girl is a collection of 16 short plays, monologues and sketch pieces. The subject matter, which explores physical abuse and recovery, and objectification and societal attitudes, is for mature audiences only. Individuals under 18-years-of-age must be accompanied by an adult.

According to Josefina López, "As a writer I feel it's important to bring to light difficult and sometimes controversial subject matters which oftentimes aren't discussed openly in public. I want to give voice to those who are afraid to speak out and express their inner truths. In my latest work, Drunk Girl, I candidly explore the very serious topic of physical abuse. The current scandal surrounding actor Bill Cosby, who is in headlines around the world, has brought the topic of rape to the forefront and was the inspiration for one of the pieces I wrote in this collection."

Other work She taught writing courses at California State University Northridge in the mid-1990s.