It’s an unfortunate truth that many advances in modern medicine, including those related to women’s health, have come at the expense of marginalized people. Nazi doctors may be the most infamous for their cruel experiments on prisoners, but a peek into American medical history reveals plenty of skeletons closer to home. In the 19th century, Dr. J. Marion Sims, the so-called father of gynecology, developed new surgical techniques by experimenting on enslaved women. A century later, the scientists who invented the first hormonal oral contraceptive, also known as the birth control pill, conducted covert trials on Puerto Rican women, who were not informed of the new medication’s potential risks.
“Las Borinqueñas,” a 2024 play by Nelson Diaz-Marcano, centers on a small circle of friends affected by the Puerto Rican birth control trials in the 1950s. A new production by Visión Latino Theatre Company, directed by Xavier M. Custodio as part of the 2025 Destinos Festival, features a vibrant ensemble that gets to the heart of these women’s stories — a touching blend of deep love, vulnerability and the pursuit of personal autonomy.
While each of the women has her moment in the spotlight, a primary storyline revolves around Fernanda (Alondra Rios) and Maria (Kidany Camilo), who grew up as best friends and fell in love with each other as young women. Facing severe disapproval from their families, Maria left to attend college in New York while Fernanda stayed behind to marry and start a family. Fernanda’s older sister, Yolanda (Alyssa Corrigan-Cuadrado), who also used to be a sisterly figure to Maria, remains bitter at Maria when she returns to Puerto Rico to care for her sick mother. Another pair of sisters, Chavela (Audrey S. Romero) and Rosa (Daniela Martinez), rounds out the central cast.
Diaz-Marcano presents varied perspectives on these women’s relationships to motherhood. Chavela is constantly exhausted from tending to her increasingly large family while also working to support them. After quitting her nursing job to be a homemaker, Yolanda faces the downsides of financial dependence on a man. Fernanda, in addition to losing the hope of a future with Maria, gives up her dream of a career in fashion design upon becoming a wife and mother.
With abortion still illegal and quite dangerous, these women have few options for making their own reproductive choices. When Dr. Edris Rice-Wray (Katherine Schwartz), a white woman from the mainland United States, opens a new family planning clinic in their town, it’s easy to see the appeal. Despite their mistrust in the medical establishment due to historical exploitation, several of the women decide to try the new pills, which are officially prescribed to regulate menstrual cycles but also understood to prevent pregnancy.
Rice-Wray is a compelling character, and Schwartz gives a nuanced performance that captures the doctor’s ethical dilemma. A true believer in the possibilities of birth control — which is now understood as a game-changer for women’s personal and financial freedoms — she also feels conflicted about the clinic’s underhanded methods, especially as patients begin to experience painful side effects. Gender dynamics are at play, too, as Rice-Wray ultimately reports to the drug’s male inventors. Her scenes with Maria, an early skeptic of the pill, and Yolanda, who later returns to work at the clinic, are sharply written and performed with conviction.
The final cast member, Nelson A. Rodriguez, plays two characters, most often appearing as a broadcaster whose interludes provide informative historical context and entertaining period flair. In exaggerated tones, he extols the benefits of the American “nuclear family” and paternalistically assures Puerto Ricans that adhering to this model will solve the island’s poverty and overpopulation problems. Sound designer Kyle Anthony Cortés amplifies Rodriguez’s showmanship with a soundscape that evokes mid-century radio and TV programs.
But it’s the women who are meant to shine here, and they certainly do. Speaking mostly in English with some Spanish sprinkled in, their dialogue ranges from snappy quips to poetic reflections, with timing that never falters. The cast has a strong sense of cohesion that reminds me of the also excellent ensemble of “Wish You Were Here” at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. If you enjoyed that production, or stories that celebrate female relationships in general, “Las Borinqueñas” is certainly worth a look.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance critic.
Review: “Las Borinqueñas” (3.5 stars)
When: Through November 9
Where: Visión Latino Theatre Company at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Tickets: $33.85-$60.54 at clata.org
