Lola Hourihane

Lola Hourihane is a Yale College senior majoring in Theater Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS).

Hourihane’s Seed Grant Project, “The Hungry Woman,” is an experiment in Anti-Racist Theater (A.R.T.), which focuses on mitigating and addressing white supremacy and paternalist culture in theatrical spaces by incorporating practices from A.R.T ancestors, namely Teatro Chicana, Nicole Brewer, and Augusto Boal. The play itself —  The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea by legendary lesbian Chicana feminist writer Cherríe Moraga — deals with themes of homophobia; motherhood and coming-of-age; race, blood quantum, nation-building and indigeneity; migration and war, and more. Hourihane’s project aims to create an environment where we can critically and sensitively engage these themes as a community through movement, art, design elements, acting and performance while interrogating intellectualizing norms that uphold white supremacy culture.

Hourihane’s cast was predominately Latinx women and non-binary students, highlighting the 50th anniversary of Latinx students at Yale College. Most of the actors had never acted before, and their production team was open to all regardless of experience. Their team also led extensive readings on Chicana feminism of the late 20th century, diving into Moraga’s queer feminist vision while interrogating the transphobia present in her writings. 

To hear more about Hourihane’s directorial role and research, please listen to their podcast.  More information about Hourihane’s play can be found on the Yale College Arts website.