Woman on Fire Review

Woman on Fire was an amazing production. The writing and acting were phenomenal, conveying powerful emotions and sincere feelings. The story follows Juanita, a fair-skinned Mexican-American who has moved to her husband Jared’s hometown in Arizona so he can work for the Border Patrol, all during the time of a high political tensions one year after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Juanita is haunted by Paola, the ghost of a Mexican who died of dehydration trying to cross the border with her brother, and she is unable to pass on until Juanita takes Paola’s corpse and gives her a proper burial, something that Juanita cannot do without risking jeopardizing Jared’s job at the Border Patrol. Running alongside this plot line is the visits from Juanita’s sister Araceli, whose left-wing liberal activism constantly put her at odds with her conservative Republican brother-in-law. The drama is intense and the emotions flare high. The play does a great job of presenting multiple sides of the debate on immigration with the amount of gravitas and nuance they deserve. Notably, while the theme ultimately leans towards empathy for migrating peoples, there is a serious sympathetic depiction of the anti-immigration side and their reasons for their very real feelings, acknowledging the loss of loved ones they’ve suffered at the hands of terrorism while maintaining that illegal immigrants are not inherently terrorists and not deserving of the misplaced anger that conservatives have for the injustices they’ve suffered. Jared’s soliloquy near the end to his late twin brother Jacob, a casualty of 9/11, stands out as a striking moment. Just as striking are the performances by Juanita and Paola when they experience each other’s memories and break down crying, sharing each other’s pain. The performance by Araceli is a standout display of both comedic timing and deep feeling, conveying the struggles of a woman who has been targeted by prejudice because of her skin color and dedicates herself passionately to humanitarian causes.