1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: It's hard for me to remember that I never wept 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: for one of my cousins. I didn't know how to grieve. 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: I think the process of writing them down and memorializing them, 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: breathing new life into their stories, that has been my 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: process of grief thirty years later, and it is a 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:22,279 Speaker 1: joyous one. 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 2: From Fudro Media and PRX, It's Latino, Usa. I'm Marie 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 2: Rosa today, My Broken Language. A conversation with Bulletzer Prize 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 2: winning playwright Kierra Allegria Hudies about adapting her memoir for 10 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 2: the stage. Kierra Allegriia Hudis has been writing for this 11 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 2: stage for over twenty years. 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: I got my first paycheck for being a playwright in 13 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and two, so I'm really reflecting on what 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: I'll call my professional life as a writer. 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 3: Kiada's work is personal. 16 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 2: Many of her plays draw from her family's experience growing 17 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 2: up in West Philadelphia in the late nineteen eighties and nineties. 18 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 2: Her play Water by the Spoonful, which looks at themes 19 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 2: of war, trauma, and addiction, won the twenty twelve Pulitzer Prize. 20 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 2: But Kiada's work is also about centering joy. 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 3: Like sup for Washington Heights. 22 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: Up at the break a day, I wake up and 23 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: I got the slow Punkah Gotta. 24 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:40,040 Speaker 3: Chase the Wake. 25 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 2: Kieta worked alongside lean Manuel Miranda to write the book 26 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 2: for the musical in the Heights, and later wrote the 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 2: script for the film adaptation. In the fall of twenty eighteen, 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 2: Kiera announced that she would take. 29 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 3: A break from theater. 30 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 2: Tired of a white, male dominated landscape, Kiada felt the 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: structures and dynamics of the theater world limited her explorations 32 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 2: of female wisdom, self determination, and pleasure. As Kiada turned inward, 33 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 2: she leaned on her memories of the women in her family. 34 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 2: The result was Kida's first memoir, My Broken Language. 35 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: It was a book about my childhood, long before I 36 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: was a professional writer, and in particular about the women, 37 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: their spirits and their bodies, their grief, their senses of humor, 38 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,559 Speaker 1: the different languages that they spoke, the different body languages 39 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: that they kind of enveloped me in. It was about 40 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: all of that growing up in a Phila Rican family. 41 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 2: Then in fall of twenty twenty two, Kiada returned to 42 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 2: the theater, making her off Broadway directorial debut with the 43 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 2: play adaptation of her intimate memoir, which ran off Broadway 44 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 2: until last November. Today, we talked to Kiada about her memoir, 45 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:09,679 Speaker 2: her play, and how grief and joy intertwining the stories 46 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 2: she's bringing to the stage. 47 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 3: Hi YadA, Hi, welcome back to Latino, USA. 48 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for welcoming me back. 49 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 3: I want to know how you're doing, Like, how are 50 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 3: you feeling? 51 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: I feel great. I feel so so filled with gratitude. 52 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: You know. I feel very reflective because I think the 53 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: play adaptation of My Broken Language. I do think in 54 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: many ways it is the culmination, the apex of twenty 55 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: years of my work. And then I woke up this 56 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: morning and felt like my life was a blank page 57 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: in the best of ways. I know blank pages can 58 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: be intimidating to authors, but to me, it's just a 59 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: sense of freedom and possibility. 60 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 2: When you started out writing My Broken Language, did you 61 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 2: know what it was going to become? I remember speaking 62 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: to you kind of at the beginning, and you were 63 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 2: still processing it. Then it ends up actually being a 64 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 2: phenomenal memoir and now a phenomenal off Broadway show. But 65 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 2: when you were first starting talk about the cloudiness, the 66 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 2: part where you were like, I'm not necessarily sure because 67 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 2: it was your first book. 68 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: I think things that have been very clear to me, 69 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: and things I've been sure on I'm no longer curious about, 70 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: so I wouldn't really want to follow that as a 71 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: writing thread. It's things I don't understand, things where there's 72 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: a lot of mystery that draws me into a process. 73 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: I remember when I got inspired to write a book 74 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: about my matriarchs in Philly. It was because we were 75 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: watching an old home movie. It was the year that 76 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: Batata Rosa came out. I remember that album just took us. 77 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: It took North Philly by storm. To me, it's like 78 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: bad Bunny right now. I mean it was just all 79 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: you would hear on the commercials, out of the bodega, 80 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: out of the car windows passing by, out of the 81 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 1: kitchen windows that were open, you know, and it was 82 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: dancing music. And so that was the sound of that 83 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: summer to me. All my big cousins who were like 84 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: my goddesses, I mean, they were so cool, you know. 85 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: They taught me how to be a girl, They taught 86 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 1: me how to be a young woman, and they were 87 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: great dancers, and they had so much personality and individuality 88 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,479 Speaker 1: in their moves and it just brought back hanging out 89 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: at ourila's house. The joy was overwhelming. They're always Volume eleven, 90 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: Volume twelve, and it was nineteen ninety one, and I 91 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: was like, what was going on in our family that year? 92 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: And I remembered the amount of grief was overwhelming, that 93 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: you we lost loved ones decades before their time, and 94 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: it was hard in cities for people who came up 95 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties. There was just a lot 96 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: of loss and there was a lot of struggle. I'm 97 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: talking about things like infant mortality rate. I'm talking about 98 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: things like dire poverty, inequal access to healthcare, HIV AIDS, epidemic, 99 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: misinformation surrounding that, stigmatization surrounding that. I'm talking about addiction 100 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: and the war on drugs. So that that all affected 101 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: my family. And when I remembered, oh, shoot, nineteen ninety one, 102 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: we spent a lot of money at the florist getting 103 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: funeral wreaths. How could that be the year that we 104 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: danced with that much joy? And that question, that mystery 105 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: was unclear to me, and that's what I wanted to 106 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: lean into a process to get some clarity there. And 107 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: it excited me. The juxtaposition of those two extreme feelings. 108 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 2: I remember when we first started talking about your work, 109 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 2: and you centered it so much on the experience of 110 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 2: loss right and what was happening in Philly, with losing 111 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 2: friends and family to drugs and losing friends and family 112 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 2: to an epidemic aids, And it's kind of like, here, 113 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 2: we are in a pandemic and there is so much 114 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 2: loss of life happening all around us. How are you 115 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 2: processing this moment of kind of joy and possibility with 116 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 2: the fact that there's also so much loss happening. 117 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: I think it took me this many decades. Let's say 118 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: it's been three decades now, and even a little bit 119 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: more since I was a girl in West Philly and 120 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: North Philly and the loss started rolling in and I 121 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: didn't know how to grieve. I had people in the 122 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: family that grieved by crying very loud. I had people 123 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: in the family that grieve by getting drunk. I had 124 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: people in the family that grieve by getting kind of catatonic. 125 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: It's hard for me to remember that I never wept 126 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: for one of my cousins. I didn't know how to grieve, 127 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: and I think the process of writing them down and 128 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: memorializing them, breathing new life into their stories. That has 129 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: been my process of grief thirty years later, and it 130 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 1: is a joyous one, I think, especially when I look 131 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: at something like HIV AIDS. In the eighties and nineties 132 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 1: in North Philly, there was very little information and there 133 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: was a lot of misinformation. So when I sat down 134 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 1: to write this book and I was like, let me 135 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: do some research. Let me find some statistics. How did 136 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: HIV AIDS actually affect the Puerto Rican community in Philadelphia 137 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: during these decades. I couldn't find anything. There was no research. 138 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: So I said, let me hire some university students who 139 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: are more adept at research than I am. Let me 140 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: send them to some libraries and do some deep dives. 141 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 1: They couldn't find anything. I mean, I'm talking breadcrumbs hardly 142 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: any I started to realize that, you know, how can 143 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: you agree when there's no information to when the archival 144 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: materials are lacking. And I'm not alone now I see 145 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: other people of my generation have started to create those archives. 146 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: How do we process grief? I think very slowly and 147 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: very carefully, and with a lot of compassion, and with 148 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: a plethora of contributing voices. So it's not like, oh, 149 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: we need a book about what HIV AIDS was to 150 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: Philly Reekins in those decades and then we're done. 151 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 2: No. 152 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: I often think there's as many bodyquas stories as there 153 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: are body quas period. You know, I want my story 154 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: to be one little grain of sand in a vast 155 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: ocean that has a multiplicity, and that is the grief 156 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: us doing the work together. 157 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 2: Your mom said to you, She looked at you in 158 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 2: the kitchen at one point and said, Nihita, just go 159 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 2: and write the stories. I love the fact that I 160 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 2: was quoting your mom to my daughter not too long ago. 161 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 2: I was like, well, you know, you have to write 162 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 2: those stories. You have to write them. Yes, And I'm like, 163 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 2: what did Kiada's mothers say to her, And what was 164 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 2: the tone that Kiyada said, Okay, Mom, I'll go and write, 165 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 2: because I think a lot of mothers would like to 166 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 2: know what that is to unlock their daughter's creative, to 167 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 2: unlock their daughter's belief in themselves. 168 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: It's like, you know, sometimes when you're driving in the 169 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: front seat with someone, it's easier to talk because you're 170 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: not making eye contact. You're both looking at the road ahead. 171 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: So we were in the kitchen and we were rinsing 172 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: the rice, so we were looking at the rice. We 173 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: weren't looking at each other, and so she just kind 174 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: of very softly, was like, why did you never pursue 175 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: the writing? I was like, what do you mean pursue? 176 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: I always wrote, I love writing writings. Writing's my jam. 177 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,719 Speaker 1: Writing's fun. Writing's fun. She was like, no, I mean 178 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: for real, for real. I was in my twenties and 179 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,559 Speaker 1: was working as a musician at the time. The question 180 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: kind of shocked me because I didn't know any other 181 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: Latina writers. Like it wasn't something that even struck me 182 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 1: as a path to pursue. For me, it was just 183 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: a way to enjoy life, and that was it. It 184 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: was super gentle. She said, you have a platform, you 185 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: had a good education, You could write some of these 186 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: worries and that was it. I mean, it was super simple. 187 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: She said, you were always a writer. She made us 188 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: a little bit of a please. She said, you know, 189 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: our elders aren't getting any younger. When their stories go, 190 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: they're gone. I now can see with hindsight that my 191 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: mom she arrived in Philly when she was about eleven 192 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: or twelve. They had to work so hard to just 193 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: build a community that was functional. There weren't community centers, 194 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 1: there weren't after school services, there weren't equal health care services. 195 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 1: They had a lot of work to do. When they 196 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: arrived in Philly. They built a community. I was born 197 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,960 Speaker 1: into that community. I inherited the fruits of their labor. 198 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: When I say they, I'm talking about the founding mothers 199 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: of Philadelphia. They had to be warriors. They had to 200 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: be joy warrior. And me, my sister, my cousins, we 201 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: inherited all the benefits of the work that they did. 202 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: I had more free time. I didn't have to do 203 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: that work. I had time to tell the story. It 204 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: just struck a chord because I thought, not only does 205 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,079 Speaker 1: this feel right and authentic to me, but it actually 206 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: gives me a sense of responsibility. I am accountable to 207 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: how I'm spending my adult life. And these people, my elders, 208 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: they did a damn lot of work, and I'm not 209 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: going to coast on that. I'm gonna shine a light 210 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: on that. 211 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 2: You end up writing a trilogy of plays, also about 212 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:48,319 Speaker 2: your life, about war, about aids, about drugs. You end 213 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 2: up winning the Pulitzer Prize. But I always found it 214 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 2: interesting that for you, the writing was playwriting. It didn't 215 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 2: start with writing a memoir or a novel. You knew 216 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 2: that you wanted to do something on stage. How did 217 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 2: you know that? 218 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: One part of it is that my aunt Linda Hughdes 219 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: composed the score for the Big Apple Circus every year 220 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: for seventeen years. 221 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 3: Okay, I did not know that. 222 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, so she composed a new original score every year. 223 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: That's why I became a musician, because she taught me 224 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: how to play. She taught me how to read music. 225 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: She taught me musical calligraphy, so I learned how to 226 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: copy her scores. She sponsored my piano lessons, and then 227 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: I would come and hang out with her in New York. 228 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: It was very exciting because I was leaving Philadelphia for 229 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: weekends and I would turn pages on the bandstand or 230 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: just watch her rehearse with the band as the clowns 231 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: and acrobats and different circus artists were rehearsing. And so 232 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: it was the rough magic of circus, which was a 233 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: form of theater. So I think theater just felt like 234 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: home to me. And at the same time I was 235 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: growing up, my mom was a Santerea. She was crown jungle. 236 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 1: So I was surrounded by these living room ceremonies that 237 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 1: blew my mind. They were gorgeous, they were so culturally rich. 238 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: I wouldn't say that was like theater two. I don't 239 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: want to denigrate it. Yet it was a live in 240 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: person experience that was transformative. It transported me to different 241 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: places spiritually and emotionally. So I think between the circus 242 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: and living in an Arisha household, that is kind of 243 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: where the genesis of my of my playwriting. 244 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 2: The adaptation of your book My Broken Language. The play 245 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 2: is so making your life, our lives so visible on stage. 246 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 2: Everything about the stage design, everything about the set is 247 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 2: like you're living in how do. 248 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 3: You call it? Philly? Rico, Phill know, you take us. 249 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 2: There, and yet what you're saying is like, well, but 250 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 2: basically we were kind of invisible. 251 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: As I've grew grew up in Philly because I'm mixed, 252 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: so I come from a mixed background. I was always 253 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: between neighborhoods half white Jewish, half brown Puerto Rican, so 254 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: I could really see the segregation depending on what neighborhood 255 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 1: I was in. It's the fourth most segregated city in 256 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: the nation, and so the invisibility that I witnessed in 257 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: North Philly would get me so so mad as a teenager. 258 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: And yet there was also something a little bit magical 259 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: about being out of the spotlight. There was so much 260 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: cultural innovation. We did not get watered down, we did 261 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: not get diluted. And so even as I was mad 262 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: about that invisibility, there was something about it that I 263 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: thought had value, kind of being off the grid a 264 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: little bit in terms of the play, there was a vibe. 265 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: I was going for, a really strong vibe. And I 266 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: say this because it makes me think about my abuela 267 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: and her approach to being her approach to being humble, 268 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: to being a caretaker of the community. And her vibe 269 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: was like, leave the door unlocked, come in, have a seat. 270 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: There will always be a plate for you, she told me. 271 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,360 Speaker 1: When you cook, she taught me how to cook. When 272 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: you cook, you always put a plate aside, because you 273 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: never know who's going to come through the door, and 274 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: you have to have a plate ready for them. So 275 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: that's the vibe I wanted to have in the theater. 276 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: A stranger walks into the theater, sees the set, even 277 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 1: before the play has begun and goes, oh, I'm welcome here. 278 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: I wanted the vibe to be pull up a chair 279 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: at our kitchen table. We have some stories to share 280 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: with you. We're so glad you're home. 281 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 3: I mean, seeing the play is very emotional. 282 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 2: I think everybody who I've spoken to who has seen 283 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 2: the play has just come away with what an emotional 284 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 2: experience it is. But there is also this weight, right 285 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 2: because it is so proundly emotional. How did you handle 286 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 2: that on a nightly basis? Also being the director. 287 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,720 Speaker 1: It was so fun. I didn't feel like I was 288 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,439 Speaker 1: wearing a separate playwriting hat and directing hat. I just 289 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: felt I'm creating a piece. I mean. One of the 290 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: nice things about being directors you choose the cast. So 291 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,880 Speaker 1: I got to choose the cast, which got us off 292 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 1: to a great start. Because the cast was spectacular. 293 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 2: My cousin blessed La and Yap Spanish heres. 294 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: So we had a blast. And because they were all 295 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,439 Speaker 1: playing the same character. It's not that one person played 296 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: me quote unquote as a character, but they all played 297 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: the same character. It was a diverse cast of Latina 298 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: actors and that really forced our hand, which is like 299 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: don't talk like me, don't talk like her, talk like you. 300 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: And the proposition we're making to the audience is that 301 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: we are all each other. Right. It was a little 302 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 1: bit of a philosophical thing, but it felt embodied and natural. 303 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: And they just passed a little name plate geeky necklace 304 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: around amongst them, so you could tell, oh, she's geeky now, 305 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: Oh she's geeky now. So honestly, it did not feel 306 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: like a risk. Sometimes it felt like playing. It felt 307 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: like being playful, and that was the right place to be. 308 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,640 Speaker 1: The reason I wanted to take the book and turn 309 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 1: it into a play was in particular the themes of 310 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: spirit and the themes of body, because these were things 311 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,399 Speaker 1: I hadn't seen a lot of in theater, and I 312 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,479 Speaker 1: think they're beautiful themes. And I think there's a lot 313 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: of humor, there's a lot of life. There's a lot 314 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 1: of drama in them. If people don't talk about God 315 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: in the theater, you know, it's like that's only for 316 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: self help podcasts or something. It's like, no, these are 317 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: epic stories, man. The play ended with a very long monologue, 318 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: like a seventeen minute monologue, just describing the bodies so the. 319 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 4: Women were closed by and Natre's Mary. 320 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 5: They will Dagan have Nagan and someonet exposed. 321 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: It was so fun talking about different forms of fatness, 322 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: how different fatness played out on different kinds of bodies. 323 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 4: Ches eroded cheap, they were my grand Canyon mom side jiggles, 324 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 4: my night yet grow full. 325 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: You know, our bodies weren't are normal, and it was 326 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: just so fun to create a scene where I could 327 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: just assert that all the different ways our bodies looked 328 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: were normal and we could just laugh about it. And 329 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 1: this is why we created in one transition a dance 330 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: where they were just going to pinch each other's butts. 331 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: I was like, how did you Awula touch your butt? 332 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 1: Let's see it. We made a whole dance out of 333 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: it because I was like, we're allowed to do this 334 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: in a healthy way. We put the butt pinched dance 335 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,959 Speaker 1: right after a grief scene, so you could really we 336 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: really hugged the corner type where she's grieving Mighty Lou 337 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden they're pinching each other's 338 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: asses and making the cooing sounds. It's like, how did 339 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: your Auela speak to you when she would do that? 340 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: You know, so it was like Madi's Auela would grauch 341 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: like like she was gonna bite her, you know, and 342 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: somewhat I was like, oh, you know. So we made 343 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: the coups, we pinched the butts, we we processed through comedy, 344 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: through the comedy of our real particularity, weirdness. It was 345 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: fun to talk about how different all our bodies were. 346 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: It was so fun to do all that. 347 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 3: To wrap it up, what is the project of Kiara? 348 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 2: Like when you say that you are leaving a record 349 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 2: of your language, is of your stories, of your moments. 350 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 2: I mean, you've done so much Kiara. Do you feel 351 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 2: overwhelmed by that at all? By this sense of like 352 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:57,919 Speaker 2: kind of where we started out, like, well, there's a 353 00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 2: blank page. 354 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: One of the things As a director, because this was 355 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: my first time directing, I kept talking to the actors 356 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: about this triangle that I wanted them to continually stay 357 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: alive in as an artist between control, freedom and community. 358 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: If you have too much control as an actor and 359 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: really as an artist, there's no breath, there's no life, 360 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: there's no surprise. If you have too much freedom, you 361 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: lose the thread. You play the wrong notes, you say 362 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 1: the wrong words, If you don't have enough community, then 363 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: you're just a silo. So we had to stay alive 364 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: in the community. The control and the freedom, we had 365 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: to find the right balance. For me, directing the piece 366 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: was my act of community. It's that sense of freedom 367 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: for me. I have the freedom, I can write whatever 368 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,880 Speaker 1: I want. Will I take it? Will I really take 369 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: the freedom and be bold? 370 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 3: Kiera, thank you so much for joining me on Latino USA. 371 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: Thank you. 372 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 3: That was Kiara Alegria Hudis. 373 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 2: Her memoir is titled My Broken Language. This episode was 374 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 2: produced by Julia Rochan, edited by Marta Martinez. It was 375 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 2: mixed by Stephane Lebau and Gabriel le Biez. The Latino 376 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 2: USA team includes Andrea Ropes Cruzado, Daisy Contreras, Mike Sargent, 377 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 2: Victoria Estrada, Renaldo Leanos Junior, and Patricia Sulbrand, with help 378 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 2: from Raoul Perez. Our editorial director is Fernandes Santos. Our 379 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 2: director of engineering is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer is 380 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 2: Julia Caruso. Our associate engineer is jj Carubin. Our market 381 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 2: manager is Luis Luna. Our New York Women's Foundation Fellow 382 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 2: is Elizabeth Loenton Torres. Our theme music was composed by 383 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,440 Speaker 2: Zan Ruinhos. I'm your host and executive producer marieo Hosa. 384 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 2: Join us on our next episode. In the meantime, find 385 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 2: us on all of your social media and remember Monte 386 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 2: Vay Yes Jao. 387 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 5: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation, 388 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 5: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, 389 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 5: the Heising Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities More 390 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 5: at hsfoundation dot org and the John D. And Catherine T. 391 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 5: MacArthur Foundation