doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee



Eduardo Machado

EDUARDO MACHADO

  (1953 - )

Nationality:    Cuban-USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Writers and Artists Agency  

I was the first Hispanic playwright in America to write about upper-class people,'' says Machado. as a result, he believes, ''I don't get performed much by Hispanic Theaters. I find that odd -- they still believe in the stereotype.''. eduardo Machado is the author of over forty plays including the Cook, Havana is Waiting, the Floating Island Plays, and Once Removed. His plays have been produced at Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Hartford Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Mark Taper Forum, Long Wharf Theatre, Hampstead Theatre in London, American Place Theatre, the Cherry Lane Theatre, and Repertorio espanol, among many others. Mr. Machado has served as an artistic associate at the Public, the Flea Theatre/Bat Theatre Company and the Cherry Lane alternative, and he was playwright in residence at the Mark Taper Forum. He has received four National endowment for the Arts grants, two Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting grants, grants from the TCG Pew Charitable Trust and the Berrilla Kerr Foundation, among many others. His plays have been published by the Theatre Communications Group and Samuel French. Mr. Machado is currently INTaR Theatre's artistic Director, and is Head of Playwriting in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. "Tastes Like Cuba: an exile's Hunger for Home," a food memoir by eduardo Machado and Michael Domitrovich, was recently released by Gotham Press.

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Eduardo Machado's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

        Afternoon Tea         Back Story         Broken Eggs         Burning Beach, A         Cabaret Bambu         Closet Games         Cook, The         Crocodile Eyes         Crossing the Border         Day You'll Love Me, The         Don Juan In New York City         Fabiola         Floating Islands         Garded         Havana Is Waiting         Havana Journal         In Paradise         In the Eye Of the Hurricane         Kissing Fidel         Mariquitas         Modern Ladies Of Guanabacoa, The         Once Removed         Paula         Pericones         Rosario And the Gypsies         Stevie Wants To Play the Blues         When It's Over         When the Sea Drowns In Sand         Why To Refuse         Wishing You Well



Afternoon Tea

Synopsis:
a two-character musical about the power of reconciliation. the play tells a story of the later years of the author J.M. Barrie's life. after twenty years of being apart, Barrie's wife comes back to reconcile their marriage. . .but he is still lost in the world of fantasy, youth, and Peter Pan.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
book And lyrics by eduardo Machado, music by Skip Kennon, part of Summer Shorts, A festival of nine new American short plays

1st Produced:

Organisations:
the Open Book

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Musical One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Back Story

Synopsis:
When Ethan is born in the worst blizzard of the century, two-year-old sister ainsley nearly sacrifices a toe trying to clear a path for the baby's arrival. That initial gesture of devotion blossoms into a tale of sibling loyalty, rivalry and love that spans two decades. Inspired by Joan ackermann's narrative "Back Story," each of the eighteen playwrights in this collective creation puts a distinctive spin on ainsley's and Ethan?s amusing and poignant struggles with life, with each other, and with the phantom dad who abandoned them for the wilds of alaska

Notes:
by Joan Ackermann Courtney Baron Neena Beber Constance Congdon Jon Klein Shirley Lauro Craig Lucas eduardo Machado Donald Margulies Jane Martin Susan Miller John Olive Tanya Palmer David Rambo edwin Sanchez Adele edling Shank Mayo Simon Val Smith. Based

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Dramatic anthology

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Broken Eggs

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1984

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "On New Ground", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1986   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Burning Beach, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Cabaret Bambu

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1989

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Closet Games

Synopsis:
a gay couple - one likes watching baseball - the other does not

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act. - - Gay, one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Cook, The

Synopsis:
For forty years Gladys has looked after the house of her rich upper class employers after they fled Cuba for the USA after Castro came to power

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Crocodile Eyes

Crocodile Eyes
Inspired by FedErico Garcia Lorca's the House of Bernarda alba, eduardo Machado's Drama Crocodile eyes portrays the world talked about but never seen in Lorca's play. as Lorca's famous widow traps her daughters in their house to mourn their father, Machado shows us what's happening just outside those doors. the local men, led by the charismatic Pepe, linger waiting for a glimpse of the enigmatic daughters or some viable work. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the men get caught up in the empty promises of Franco's fascism, while Pepe's involvement with two of Bernarda's daughters escalates to its tragic conclusion.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Crossing the Border

Crossing the Border
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in 2009: the Best 10-Minute Plays for Two or More actors, Smith & Kraus (December 1, 2009)   978-1575257594

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Day You'll Love Me, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Original Playwright - Jose Ignacio Cabrujas

1st Produced:
Los Angeles    1989

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
American Theatre Magazine, NY - September, 1989    -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Don Juan In New York City

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Fabiola

Fabiola
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1985

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Floating Island Plays", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1991   978-1559360340

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Floating Islands

Floating Islands
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Floating Island Plays", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1991   978-1559360340

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Garded

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Philadelphia    1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Opera Libretto Opera

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Havana Is Waiting

Synopsis:
This comedy-Drama takes a strong political stand on the divisive issue of the United States embargo with Cuba. the play begins with flamboyant writer, FedErico making his first trip back to Cuba 30-some years after immigrating to the States as a child. FedErico is joined on his journey by his friend, Fred and together in Cuba they meet ernesto, a car driver and lifelong resident of Havana. the three men get to know each other better and learn where the real boundaries of the world lie. the play examines of the complex relationships that exist not only between men, but between the countries in which they live. Originally produced at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
dark comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  percussion player

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Havana Journal

Havana Journal
In Havana Journal, 2004, Ruth, a disillusioned writer and radical, leaves the halls of American academia to travel to Cuba. She hopes to find people there who share her beliefs and validate her struggle. It's not until her return to Columbia University that she is confronted by the realities of sacrifice and idealism.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
INTaR

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

In Paradise

Synopsis:
after seven years apart, an estranged husband and wife try to find a way to come back together.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
part of Summer Shorts 2

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

In the Eye Of the Hurricane

In the Eye Of the Hurricane
In the eye of the Hurricane is Machado's fourth play based on the tribulations of his family in Cuba. It is 1960 in a small Cuban town. a family gathers for a sumptuous, leisurely lunch of shrimp and avocado only to find Fidel Castro is nationalizing the family bus Organisations: the business in which the entire family has invested all of its energies and all of its resources. the business is the symbol of the family and everything they want: money and a lot of it. Machado describes In the eye of the Hurricane as a play about 'the moment&It's about when their lives were really in crisis. It's not about recalling. It's not about getting there. It's about the moment when you lose everything.'

Notes:

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Floating Island Plays", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1991   978-1559360340

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two acts Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Kissing Fidel

Synopsis:
KISSING FIDeL is set in an upscale Miami funeral home, where a Cuban-American family has gathered for its matriarch's final rights. the black sheep of the family, a successful novelist who has used his relatives as the source material for his books, much to their horror and pride, unexpectedly returns, announcing that he plans to return to Cuba to kiss and forgive Fidel Castro.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Mariquitas

Synopsis:
Jose Maria has returned to Cuba to die in the arms of his lover Tito a hustler. Cristobal longs to get to America but is too afraid to take the risk of going on a raft. He begrudgingly gives sexual favours to Jacinto for money.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theatre For A New City, New York    2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Gay full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Modern Ladies Of Guanabacoa, The

Modern Ladies Of Guanabacoa, The
the Modern Ladies of Guanabacoa shows one family's climb to wealth in the Cuba of 1928-31. the play is at once a political Drama and social comedy, ranging from meloDrama to farce. Questions of power, control and revolution within the family mirror society's wider conflicts. the Father is a butcher who rules his wife and four grown children with an iron hand, even as he spends most of his time philandering outside the house. the only daughter, aged 27, is accused of having lost her virginity simply because she may once have kissed the now-deceased man who courted her for seven years. While her three brothers live less-cloistered sex lives, they benefit from a double standard that allows young Cuban men to go whoring to satisfy their ''special needs.'

Notes:

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "the Floating Island Plays", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1991   978-1559360340

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Once Removed

Synopsis:
Tossed into the United States after a revolution that backfired and an invasion (at the Bay of Pigs) that failed, with no possessions other than what jewelry they could sneak out, Mr. Machado's Cubans cope with exotic institutions like Halloween and the Presbyterian Church and suffer through menial jobs where they work beside Mexicans they look down upon as wetbacks. the play captures the bafflement and determination of a family uprooted by the Castro revolution and exiled in the U.S. the story Machado tells speaks directly to every citizen of the modern world who can't go home again.

Notes:

1st Produced:
New Haven, Connecticut    1992

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays in Process, 9, 3", New York, 1988   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Paula

Synopsis:
Just as the art world is beginning to forget her, painter Paula Forbes is beginning to forget herself. Paula's alzheimer's is rapidly getting worse, and a group of her former proteges has gathered again to give her one last show. as old loves, hates, and wounds come to the surface, Paula drifts between the present and the past and what could have been.
- nytheatre.com

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Pericones

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Rosario And the Gypsies

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
music by Rick Vartorella

1st Produced:
New York    1982

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Stevie Wants To Play the Blues

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Music by Fredric Myrow, lyrics by Machado And Myrow

1st Produced:
Los Angeles    1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

When It's Over

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Geraldine Sher

1st Produced:
New Haven, Connecticut    1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

When the Sea Drowns In Sand

Synopsis:
exiled from his homeland for forty years, a Cuban-American returns home to mend his broken heart. With the help of a devoted friend and an entrepreneurial cab driver, FedErico discovers that there's no embargo on feelings in this era of family reconciliation. Funny, angry, and deeply passionate, this post-cold-war comedy points to the personal hardships caused by political stand-offs. as Cuban activists cry out for the return of a young boy named elian, a grown-up Lost Boy ponders how one powerful nation could steal another's children, and what happens four decades later if it does

Notes:
aka Havana Is Waiting

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Humana Festival 2001: the Complete Plays, ed Tanya Palmer & amy Wegener, Smith & Kraus, 2001   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two acts Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Why To Refuse

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1987

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Wishing You Well

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York    1987

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page