Lizbette Ocasio-Russe is a Puerto Rican author and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She was the co-editor of the Switchgrass Review and has been published in Tonguas, Moko: Caribbean Arts and Letters, Poui: The Cave Hill Literary Annual, eTropic: Electronic journal of studies in the tropics, Flash Fiction Magazine, Writing Texas, Corpus Christi Writers 2023, Mays Publishing, the Windward Review, and South Hall Literary Magazine. Lizbette’s debut book, Loverbar, was published by Flashpoint Publications in July 2023.

Lola’s Insta Live Extravaganza

Characters:.

Lola Love: Trans woman, 20-25. A bold drag performer and family gal, Lola supports her mother and abuela through the art of drag. She’s frustrated with her mother who accepts her identity, but not her raunchy, albeit politically charged, performances. Lola finds some solace in her abuela’s unconditional acceptance and her best friend Xavi. Lola can’t be ignored; you notice her when she walks in a room. She’s all energy, sex, drugs, and rock and roll with an intelligence and a heart to match.
Mother: Cis woman- 45-55, Lola’s mother. Catholic woman who struggles to accept how her daughter performs and expresses herself. She worries about her daughter and their family’s reputation in the eyes of the church and normative society.
Abuela: Cis woman, 75-85. Lola’s grandmother. A kind-hearted, accepting, and comical older woman, she loves her daughter and trans granddaughter unconditionally. She doesn’t agree with her daughter about Lola’s performances and does her best to support Lola.

Setting:

LOLA’s bedroom. It should have a bed, vanity, and flamboyant banner that reads #ILOVELOLALOVE. San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Time:

2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is still under quarantine. The Puerto Rican community on the island, still suffering from Hurricane María, struggles to survive amid closures and a lack of work.

LOLA’s bedroom. A flamboyant banner that reads #ILoveLolaLove hangs behind LOLA. LOLA is dressed in something flashy and promiscuous: drag make-up, big hair, and a corset with shorts or mini skirt.

LOLA
(addressing audience) Welcome, darlings, to the first-ever Lola Insta Live Extravaganza. I’ve missed you, and I know you’ve missed me too; this pandemic is a real bitch, am I right? The shutdown took us from performing at the clubs in San Juan to performing in our bedrooms. Si señor, COVID hit Puerto Rico real bad.

But fear not! I have my usual numbers ready for your drag delectation. However, before I begin, I’d like to tell a little story to update our non-Puerto Rican viewers. So, grab a drinkie-poo, sit back, and enjoy. And if you like what you see, help a sistah out and show me some love in the virtual tip jar. Times are tough everywhere thanks to COVID, so anything you donate will be much appreciated. It all goes directly to the Lola Love foundation for feeding and taking care of Abuela and mother. (pause) Let's get this party started.

A spotlight on LOLA..

How did we get here, Lola? How, how, how, indeed. To those not aware, of what we’ve had to bear, in this beautiful place of guts and grace, let me tell you the story. Of course it / does!

A knock at the door. MOM enters with a laundry basket. The spotlight is gone, the stage is illuminated.

MOM
Lola, I need to put away your laundry.

LOLA
Mom! Not now, I’m live on Instagram, por Dios!

MOM
Insta what? Lola, please, it will just take a moment.

MOM looks LOLA up and down.

And what are you wearing?

LOLA
It’s for work, Mom! You got to let go, and I can’t perform like before thanks to COVID. I have to work from home. We need cash for ABUELA’s meds, don’t we? Now, please, vete!

MOM
I just don't understand why you have to be so crude when you perform. People could get the wrong idea, assume things about you, about our family.

LOLA
Mom!

MOM
Fine, but we’re not done talking about this.

MOM exits.

LOLA
Sorry about that, darlings. Now, back to the story.

Spotlight on LOLA.

It all started with that ho, María, Hurricane María in 2017, not to be confused with my neighbor María who caused a storm of her own that year by cheating on her husband with the barber down the block. María the hurricane took it all, you see, and it took a lot to start recovery. With no help from the fat cats, we picked ourselves up by our bootstraps, the second bootstrap operation on the island, this one uplifting not constricting.

ABUELA enters without LOLA noticing. An additional spotlight on ABUELA.

We took all the dirt and debris, and hauled it off until we were weak in the knees. For weeks we had no water or power, while politicians and administrators sat back in their porcelain tower. With useless leaders, we had a long road ahead, but we could do it without them, Boricuas fight until they’re dead.

ABUELA
Arriba Puerto Rico!

LOLA jumps. The spotlights are gone. The stage is illuminated.

LOLA
Ay, Abuela! You scared me, and in front of my live audience!

ABUELA fusses with her hair.

ABUELA
Live? Ay, Dios mío. How do I look?

LOLA
Fly as ever ABUELA. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.

ABUELA
Fine, fine, I just wanted to peak in. I love watching you work.

LOLA
Too bad MOM doesn’t.

ABUELA
Ay, your mother will come around. She’s been a stubborn ass since she was una niña.

LOLA
Thanks, ABUELA. Now, please let me finish. I promise I’ll show you the video when I’m done.

ABUELA
Deal! Make good money, m’hija.

ABUELA goes to leave and pauses, breathing heavily.

LOLA
ABUELA, are you okay?

ABUELA waves off the concern.

ABUELA
Si, m’hija. I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Tough as nails.

LOLA helps ABUELA make a slow exit, then returns center stage looking solemn.

LOLA
(addressing audience) Moving slower every day without her medication, but tough as nails, like the rest of her people, my people, los Boricuas, los hijos del cañaveral. Even without what we need, we still succeed.

Now, where was I? Ah, si, recovering from Hurricane María.

A spotlight on LOLA.

Not even two years had passed, before another crisis kicked Puerto Rico in the ass. Our governor Rosellό was journalistically unmasked, and there was a collective island-wide gasp, as his hate and his corruption, made their nasty introduction. That couldn’t stand, everyone agreed, so we marched and protested the government’s greed.

Rising in intensity and volume.

Rosellό’s reckoning finally came, and to the sound of Puerto Rico’s bump and grind, that unethical mentiroso resigned. We did it! We won! But trouble is never far from this Enchanted Island in the sun.

MOM enters.

MOM
Please keep it down, LOLA. The neighbor came by to ask what all the noise is. What if María sees you dressed like that!

The spotlight on LOLA is gone, everyone is illuminated.

LOLA
What do I care what María thinks? She’s not exactly the picture of moral perfection.

MOM
Lola, por favor.

LOLA
What? It’s true. She sucks the barber’s dick, and I’m the heathen? Puh-lease.

MOM
Language! Just keep it down before all this excitement makes your grandmother’s condition worse.

MOM leaves in a huff. LOLA is hurt by the comment. Trying to stop the tears, LOLA faces the audience, her sadness apparent.

LOLA
I hope that’s the last interruption, my loves, but you never know in COVID times. Working from home can sometimes be a bitch, life can sometimes be a bitch.

Which brings me back to our story. The story of our island, la hija del mar y el sol.

A spotlight on LOLA. There’s a seriousness and pain to her performance now. Her tears could fall at any moment.

Just one year after we kicked our loser ex-governor in the ass, 2020 and COVID caused a world-wide gasp. Work stopped, and so life stopped. No business, no money, honey.

(speeding up) But food, but bills, but meds. It’s too much. We’re in over our heads. Maybe it’s divine punishment, maybe it’s karma, a much-needed breather for our Earth Mamma. Homo sapiens hibernate, the natural world celebrates. Humanity condemned, people we love meeting their end. As thousands take their final bow, the rest of us are left asking—

Pause.

What are we going to do now?

LOLA breaks down. Then, a gentle knock.

ABUELA
(offstage) Lola, are you okay, m’ija?

LOLA
Si, Abuela. It’s all part of the show.

ABUELA
Okay, m’hija. (coughing) Don’t worry, todo va estar bien.

We hear ABUELA shuffle away, breathing heavily. LOLA gathers herself, taking a deep breath.

So, what do we do? Honestly, I don’t know. But until we figure it out, this lil’ queen is going to keep draggin’ it out.

Screw COVID, my friends. This isn’t the end. We’re still here, we still showed up. Like Abuela, tough as nails. We’ll keep walking down the trails. Toward recovery, toward healing, this isn’t the time to stop believing.

Now, send ya girl some tips, and get ready for some fun! Lola’s Insta Live Extravaganza has just begun!

Blackout.

End of play..