When Ana Velazquez was growing up during the 1980s in McKinley Park, her family was one of only a few Mexican American families in the Chicago working class neighborhood. As her interest in theatre grew throughout high school and college, she sought to embrace her identity as a Latina from Chicago. But Velazquez said there.
It’s a shame that the playwright had the characters fit in with a political narrative. “Alma” could have been a heartfelt play that families would appreciate.