This weekend is your last chance to catch Teatro Audaz’ production of ‘The Panza Monologues.’ Upcoming showtimes are Friday and Saturday at 7:30p.m. and Sunday at 2p.m. at the Cellar Theatre and livestream online. Written by Virginia Grise and Irma Mayorga, ‘The Panza Monologues’ is based on women’s stories about their panzas—tú sabes—that roll of belly we all try to hide. ‘The Panza Monologues’ features the words of Chicanas speaking with humor and candor. Their stories boldly place the panza front and center as a symbol that reveals the lurking truths about women’s thoughts, lives, loves, abuses, and living conditions. Directed by Paula Rodriguez and featuring the ensemble cast of Brizzo Torres, Jojanie Moreno, Isabel DeLaCerda, and Laura T. Garza, it runs an hour and ten minutes with no intermission.

‘The Panza Monologues’ has played across the nation and now it has come home to where it all began. Right from the start, it gives off an unmistakable ‘San Anto’ vibe and is a bilingual narrative of everything having to do with curves. It begins with an introduction by the four ladies onstage stating that women have no problem talking about vaginas, and then give various synonyms for it, yet are hesitant, even shy, to talk about their ‘panzas.’ Their battle cry is “Panza Power!” The production includes the sections ‘Historia’ (an ode to shoes – ‘tacones’ and female empowerment), ‘Hunger for Justice,’ ‘Noticias’ (sobering facts about how people have gotten fatter and San Antonio is seen as one of the fattest cities), ‘Praying,’ ‘Panza Power,’ and ‘Political Panza.’ It ends with a party-like atmosphere and all four ladies return onstage to urge women to be proud of their curves, or ‘panza proud.’ As they proclaim: “When all else fails, power to the panza.”

Overall, ‘The Panza Monologues’ celebrates women and urges them to love their curves. One of the funniest and most relatable moments is when one of the ladies uses a pair of pliers to try to adjust her jeans – definite grade A performance. The show does an excellent job of balancing humor, history, and more serious topics such as ‘the diabetic mom’ – how she developed diabetes and how it affected the family. The real conversation starter must be the debate between Cubans and Mexicans where the question that hangs is “If obesity is synonymous with capitalism, then why is San Antonio one of the poorest and fattest cities around?” It also uses poetry to convey the frustrating and challenging ways that women feel about their bodies. While the main topic is how women should accept and love themselves, it also touches on obesity, diabetes, and income inequality and hopefully it will spark a conversation to bring about much needed changes in our society. There is moderate cursing, but it does not distract from the message. ‘The Panza Monologues’ is a must-see production filled with humor and relevant social issues with excellent performances by everyone involved.

Notes on the livestream: sometimes it is hard to hear the dialogue when there is music in the background.