Ava Sofia Mattox stars in Bristol Riverside Theatre’s “Real Women Have Curves,” onstage through Sunday. — Submitted
Ava Sofia Mattox stars in Bristol Riverside Theatre’s “Real Women Have Curves,” onstage through Sunday. — Submitted
“Real Women Have Curves,” a vibrant comedy celebrating resilience, culture and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood, continues through Sunday at Bristol Riverside Theatre.
“The production is a celebration of voice, identity, and community,” Co-Producing Director Ken Kaissar says. “It’s funny, honest and deeply human, and it reminds us of the power of storytelling to reflect who we are and who we hope to be, especially as it shines a light on the lived realities of immigration and identity.”
The play stitches together the lives of five curvy Latina seamstresses striving to make ends meet while fighting for a bright future. With a deadline looming to finish 200 dresses in just three weeks, tensions rise, laughter flows and sewing machines hum (and occasionally break down). Through gossip, grit and determination, these women navigate family expectations and self-worth, while confronting the realities of immigration and the uncertainty it brings, in a story that celebrates self-love and breaking free from society’s tight seams, one stitch at a time.
“Years after Josefina Lopez presented her play to waiting audiences, the topic of the script remains as relevant as ever. A semi-autobiographical work, it mirrors Lopez’s life in several key ways,” says Ava Sofia Mattox, who returns to the stage in this production as Pancha.
According to Mattox, like the play’s protagonist Anna, Lopez worked in a garment factory alongside her mother and sister but was undocumented for 13 years before finally obtaining amnesty and becoming a legal resident. But the underlying fear of immigration enforcement (La Migra or Chicano for ICE) portrayed in the story that was always there was drawn directly from her own life.
While “Real Women Have Curves” is in many was a period piece, and thought to be entirely different than it was in 1989, unfortunately, it is not. While some things may have changed over the years, Migra has not, and so the hardships faced by Latinos and others — both citizens as well as the undocumented —continue to face a difficult and uncertain futures in the U.S.
“This play, written so many decades ago, continues to be relevant today,” Mattox notes. “Many of us still face some of the same problems outlined in this production, and I’m sure the creators of the show never imagined the subjects would hit as hard today as they did then.”
Mattox, a California native, began her career at the age 8 when she played Munchkin #1 in her elementary school production of “The Wizard of Oz.” After that fateful performance, she spent much of her time chasing every artistic opportunity she could find, including summer programs with SFArtsEd, Bay Area Shakespeare Company and the African American Shakespeare Company.
She also studied at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts before making her way to the East Coast where she graduated from the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and immediately began working on both stage and screen. She returns to the stage with this production after building a diverse career across theater and screen.
She starred as 3 in the premiere of the absurdist play, “I Have This Many ***” by Mariana Catalina at the 2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and was an original cast member in the premiere of “Quicksand” at Everyday Inferno Theater Company. Her television credits include “Helpsters!” and “The Other Two,” showcasing her versatility across genres.
When this show ends, she says it’s back to New York to begin the audition grind once again.
“But I don’t mind,” she confesses. “I love what I do and just so happy I have been able to make a career out of something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child.”
For Mattox, her career has turned out to be more of a joy than a job. For her, “acting is more like playing. It’s more like using your imagination to tell stories and make people happy.
“I’ve always loved doing that,” she continues, “and now, I don’t even have the words to express how fulfilling all this is for me. I have the best job in the world.”
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