STAGE REVIEW : ‘Women’: Coping on the Home Front

The Betty Blouse garment factory, a sweatshop in New York’s Spanish Harlem, is the gritty setting, complete with bulky 1940s-era sewing machines, of Edward Gallardo’s “Women Without Men,” in a production that alternates performances of the original English version and a Spanish translation at the Bilingual Foundation’s Theatre Teatro in Lincoln Heights.

The six-woman ensemble is composed of Latina-Americans whose men are off fighting World War II while they cut and sew clothes on the home front. They also fight, lust and party.

The production, directed with verve by Charles Bazaldua, is drenched in ‘40s imagery, from Estela Scarlata’s flavorful set to Maria Gutierrez’s wigs and snoods. The cast is led by Elise Hernandez and Myriam Tubert as an embattled daughter and mother whose mutual hostility propels the action to a fierce catharsis.

Hernandez’s brightness and pluck and Tubert’s desperation as her intimidating mother and factory supervisor are vivid earmarks. But in the English version, Tubert’s Spanish accent muffles her diction. During her big explosive scene, her rantings are inaudible to patrons on the opposite side of the house.

The other cast members are distinct: spitfire Denise Blasor, sane, attractive Maggie Palomo, mannish Alina Cenal and pinheaded Rosa (“Does this mean the party’s over?”) Fernandez.

“Women Without Men,” Theatre Teatro, 421 N. Ave. 19, Lincoln Heights, in English and Spanish on alternating weeks. Ends June 16. $6-$15; (213) 225-4044. Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.