A Tale of Two Cultures: Grace at La Gringa
Pictured Spanish IV at La Gringa. Media Provided by Keith Meatto
More than 50 Spanish IV students ditched their pencils for theater tickets last month to watch La Gringa, a Spanish play that relates directly to the class’s identity-driven curriculum. The play aims to answer an important question in the course: What does it mean to belong?
Pictured Spanish class in 2013. Media Provided by Iris Cortes.
The title itself foreshadows what the play is about. “Gringo” or “Gringa” is a term often used in Latin America to imply that someone is Americanized or from an English-speaking country, even if they have Latin heritage. The play follows Marina Elena Garcia, born and raised in New York City, as she travels for the first time to her family’s homeland: Puerto Rico. She is eager to connect with her roots, but to her dismay, her own relatives call her “la gringa.” In New York, Maria feels too Puerto Rican for people, and boys won’t date her because of her culture. In Puerto Rico, she is treated as an American. To Maria, “gringa” is not just a nickname but also a reminder that she is trapped between two cultures, without truly belonging to either.
For Spanish IV teacher Profe. Iris Cortes, who has brought her classes to La Gringa for more than a decade, chose to attend the play intentionally. “In Spanish 4, we study identity, we study the American dream,” she said. “And La Gringa’s story fits perfectly into the themes that we explore in class.” She added that the experience of going to a play in person, and appreciating the live aspect of theater, brings to life “the struggle that some… Latinos feel when they’re born in one place, but their family is from another.”
For some attendees, Maria’s struggle is more than a storyline. Grace’s Diversity Programs Coordinator, Antonella Dominguez, attended the play not only as a chaperone but also as a sympathetic viewer. She said that the play resonated with her on a deeply personal level.
Ms. Dominguez grew up in an Ecuadorian-American immigrant family, and watching La Gringa recalled childhood memories of being called “gringa” throughout her early life because she was born in the United States and did not speak Spanish fluently.
She explained that Maria’s struggle of feeling “too Latina to be a New Yorker and too New Yorker to be a Latina” reflects a reality that many people, including her, have faced. As she watched Maria navigate similar challenges, she said, “It felt like I was looking into a mirror when [Maria] described the experience of being part of two worlds.”
Students in the audience were also engaged and pondered questions about identity and belonging throughout the show, which was precisely Profe Cortes’s goal. Maggie S. ‘26, a Spanish IV student, said one of the most memorable moments was the heated argument between Maria and her cousin about what it means to be Puerto Rican. The scene stood out to her because of the exemplary dialogue. The argument was set up so that the audience was not sure who to agree with. Maggie said the conflict “was very interesting… because there were some decent points from both sides.. It really made you think.”
For Lola S. ‘26, another Spanish IV student, the themes La Gringa tackled felt especially personal. She said certain parts of Maria’s struggle resonated with her own experience of traversing multiple cultural communities. As Lola put it, being “somebody that has grown up in a predominantly white community with a very Hispanic family in Florida, it was kind of relatable.”
Beyond grappling with themes related to identity, many students appreciated the challenge of watching a performance in Spanish. While there were English subtitles to help guide those in the audience who are not fluent, hearing the language spoken naturally added another dimension to the experience. Ethan F. ‘26 said that hearing Spanish spoken colloquially helped him better understand what the language sounds like in everyday conversations. Every Spanish student knows that teachers love recommending Spanish soap operas, podcasts, music, and other forms of entertainment as a way to improve their language skills and deepen their cultural awareness, and La Gringa made them understand why. Maybe the profes know what they are talking about!
Caleb L. ‘26, the author, is the Senior Deputy Editor of The Grace Gazette.