Comedy background helps local actor find honesty in 'El Grito'

Many gifted comic actors dream of doing serious acting. Why? Because if you are good enough to make people laugh, you are probably good enough to make them cry. Or think. Or just generally take you seriously.

Which is why it is not that surprising that a talented and funny local actor and comic writer like Diane Herrera is currently appearing in a serious role in noted Latina playwright Migdalia Cruz's latest, "El Grito del Bronx," a coproduction between Teatro Vista and Collaboraction opening Friday, July 17.

"I am playing the role of Maria," Diane Herrera says. "She is the mother of (the main character) Lulu and her brother Papo."

She is also a woman who must come to terms with a very harsh reality. "She is someone who has been abused by her husband," Herrera says. In addition, her son is a convicted serial killer, in jail for his crimes and dying of AIDS. And Maria's daughter, on her wedding day no less, is trying to confront her family's past and settle a few issues before she goes through the ceremony.

"My character might be looked on as a victim," Herrera says. "But she is strong and she has a strong love for her family. She stands up for them."

Herrera and her character come from different backgrounds. Maria is a Puerto Rican living in the Bronx. Herrera, the daughter of a Mexican-immigrant father and Tejano mother (with deep roots in Texas), is very much the product of Chicago's Western suburbs. She grew up in Villa Park and went to Willowbrook High School; her family now lives in Lombard.

Still Herrera sees parallels between the character she plays and the women in her life. "The women are strong in my family," Herrera says. "I can really identify with Maria's strength. I also see my grandmother and my mom in Maria. Families are important. And if you have to be you will be a lioness fighting for your kids, no matter what. That is something I really discovered when I became a mom."

So how is Herrera - who cut her teeth at Second City and in the Latino comedy troupe, Salsation! - coping with a completely serious role? "It's kind of funny," Herrera says. "But I think it is hard and not hard at the same time. You know a lot of improv, good improv I mean, is based on honesty and creating a strong emotional base for your character. That also applies to a dramatic role. But you know, there is a much deeper emotional intensity in this play. It has been a little difficult to navigate sometimes."

To be fair, this is not Herrera's first foray into serious work. As a member of the all-Latina theater company, Teatro Luna, she and her fellow artists have been exploring both the serious and comic sides of being a modern Latina in America.

"Spanish is not my first language. I was just your typical suburban girl," Herrera says, "but still I did catch flak growing up for being a Latina. You know how in high school they zero in on what is different? I was one of maybe 10 Latinos in my year. There were lots of jokes (about my heritage). I remember in junior high, some girl asked me if I had ever eaten a hamburger."

But whatever doesn't kill you makes you funnier. And a better actor.

"I feel that comedy and serious drama are both rooted in the humanity of the person you are playing," Herrera says. "As long as you are grounded you are fine. It is also great to be able to find the humor in things, as a way to point to the essential humanness of it all. Besides, those moments of comedy make the dramatic parts more effective."

• "El Grito del Bronx" opens in previews Wednesday, July 15; opening night is Friday, July 17. The play runs through Aug. 2 at The Goodman Theatre's Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Tickets may be purchased at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 N. Dearborn St., by phone at (312) 443-3800 or online at goodmantheatre.org.