The Playwrights Database
JOSE RIVERA
(1955 - )
Nationality:
USA
email:
n/a
Website:
n/a
Literary Agent:
William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC
Jose Rivera is the Obie Award winning author of Marisol, Cloud Tectonics, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and Boleros for the Disenchanted,among many others. His screenplay for the Motorcycle Diaries received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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187
Synopsis:
John works with Alejandra at the factory every day, admiring her beauty in silence. But today, at the No. 18 bus stop, John works up the nerve to speak to his coworker. What begins as an attempt at courtship quickly turns to a hate-filled argument about race and immigration in this play about the insurmountable distance created between two people by cultural differences.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Naked Angels (New York, NY, United States)
1996
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Drama Ten Min
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: 1male 1 female
Further Reference:
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Adoration of the Old Woman
Puerto Rico. A young woman who speaks no Spanish moves in with her 105 year old grandmother who speaks no English. The grandmother is haunted by the ghost of the mistress of her late husband. The grand daughter has two suitors pursuing her
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "Boleros For The Disenchanted and Other Plays" published by Theatre Communications Group 2013 978-1559363907
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Boleros For the Disenchanted
the story opens in Puerto Rico, where Flora is engaged to Manuelo, a young man who tries to sway her from her vow of virginity with the argument that A man must sin. It's in our blood. But she will have none of it. Nor is she interested in her mother's idea that a witch's spell can make him faithful, or her father's proposal to have Manuelo killed. Instead, handsome Eusebio sweeps her off her feet and takes her from Puerto Rico to America on a journey of sacrifice and enduring love
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street In New Haven, Ct.
25 Apr 2008
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "Boleros For The Disenchanted and Other Plays" published by Theatre Communications Group 2013 978-1559363907
Music:
-
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Brainpeople
One of the guests at a dinner party has multiple personality disorder
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "Boleros For The Disenchanted and Other Plays" published by Theatre Communications Group 2013 978-1559363907
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
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-
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Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Cloud Tectonics
Cloud Tectonics takes place in a world where years can pass in a single night, and asks if there ever exists a 'right time' for love. On a stormy night in Los Angeles, a lonely man picks up Celestina, a pregnant hitchhiker, and welcomes her into his home. She claims she is 54 years old and has been pregnant for two years. Clocks stop, visitors materialize, and love ticks towards its inevitable climax
Press Release
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Humana Festival 1995: the Complete Plays, ed Marisa Smith, Smith & Kraus, 1995 -
Music:
-
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Genre:
One Act
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Each Day Dies With Sleep
The middle child of 0f 21 children leaves home and an abusive father for California
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Broadway Play Publisher 978-0881452464
Music:
-
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Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Flowers
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
part of the 30th Annual marathon of new short plays
1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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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
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Genre:
short play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Gas
Synopsis:
A man goes to a gas station to fill up his tank. the Gulf War has just started and the man's brother is fighting in it. the gas comes out red
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Monologue play
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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House Of Roman Iglesia, The
about a bright Americanised son's tortured efforts to break away from his immigrant parents
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
in "On New Ground", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1986 978-0930452681
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Impact
Synopsis:
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Lessons For An Unaccustomed Bride
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
part of DummerShorts 5
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
One Act
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Lovers Of Red Hair
Synopsis:
Audience members enter one of several phone booths, pick up the receiver and listen to a three-minute play unfold in conversation
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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Genre:
Phone Play
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Maricela de la Cruz Lights the World
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
-
Organisations:
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1st Published:
American Theatre Magazine, NY - December, 1996 -
Music:
-
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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
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
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Marisol
Armageddon in the heavens--the angels go to war! Apocalypse on earth--cities self-destruct! Seen through the eyes of Marisol Perez, an Everywoman on a journey through a surrealistic Bronx, this miraculous Drama pins the destiny of our planet on the outcome of revolution on renewal
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; by TCG in American Theatre Magazine; and by Penguin USA in Nuestro New York, -
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
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Genre:
Two Acts Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Massacre (Sing To Your Children)
In a small New Hampshire town, seven friends conspire to murder their mysterious neighbor Joe. On the night of the killing, as they confront the many meanings of their crime and finally relax and laugh and love again. . .there's a knock on their door.
Notes:
Ensemble Studio theatre presents Project 35, A festival celebrating their 35th Anniversary season. It consists of concert readings of 35 new plays in 35 days by 35 E.S.T. members And guest Artists
1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, 2007 978-0881453461
Music:
-
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Pablo and Andre at the Alter of Words
Synopsis:
Two men use their wedding vows to say things that people do not usually say
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
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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
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Genre:
Gay one act
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Promise, The
Synopsis:
Love, death and love after death
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot
A hot summer night in the Californian desert shortly after the first Gulf war. A cat talks to a coyote, the moon looks down, and Gabriela goes a little crazy waiting for Benito, her soldier husband, to return from the field. It is a case of magic realism meets Sam Shepard in this moonstruck Drama written by Jose Rivera, best known in the UK for his screenplay for the Motorcycle Diaries. - Gardner, Guardian
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Arcola, London
2005
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "References To Salvador Dali and Other Plays" published by Nick Hern Books 2004 978-1559362122
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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School of the Americas
In the Bolivian jungle, Che Guevara is captured and held in a one-room schoolhouse. For two days, no one-not the Bolivian President nor the U.S. State Department-is able to decide his fate. the young schoolteacher of the village insists that she be given permission to speak to the famous revolutionary. Her conversations with Che-based on historical fact-are the heart of School of the Americas.
nytheatre.com
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, 2007 978-0881453362
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Slaughter in the Lake
Synopsis:
Two estranged friends meet in Central Park
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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2002
Organisations:
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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
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Sonnets for an Old Century
Synopsis:
Can you tell your life story in the space of a moment, the length of a sonnet? A diverse group of people caught in limbo must reflect on the choices and challenges they confronted in life. Through contemporary dance and theatre, director Erica Cardwell and choreographer Miriam Wasmund lead an energetic 21-person ensemble through Jose Rivera's surreal search for answers
- press release
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe and the ImPulse Initiative
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: large cast
Further Reference:
-
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Square, The
meditating on 120 years of relationships between non-Asian Americans and the Asian American community, set in a public square of an American city's Chinatown
Notes:
a choral piece by sixteen leading playwrights (including Maria Irene Fornes, Jessica Hagedorn, David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, Jose Rivera, And Mac Wellman)
1st Produced:
-
Organisations:
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1st Published:
in Version 3.0: Contemporary Asian American Plays, Theatre Communications Group (2 Aug 2011) 978-1559363631
Music:
-
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Genre:
choral piece
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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Sueno
Synopsis:
A sharp and raw deconstruction of the Calderon classic.
- nytheatre.com
Notes:
part of the Dream Project, which is described As "an exploration of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's La Vida es Sueno through A series of staged readings of Adaptations of Calderon's masterpiece
1st Produced:
Arthur Seelen Theatre, NY
2007
Organisations:
FLUX Theatre Ensemble
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Tape
If we suspected everything we said was being recorded, would we act differently? Like Nixon's Drama of deceit with the White House tapes, Rivera's surreal and haunting play examines the links between technology and conscience when a lifetime of betrayal is uncovered
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Humana Festival 1993: the Complete Plays, ed Marisa Smith, Smith & Kraus, 1993
in Ten Minute Plays From Actors Theatre Of Louisville, Vol 3, Samuel French NY 978-1880399378
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
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Genre:
Ten Min
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 2 characters
Further Reference:
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Winged Man
Daisy a High School girl is pregnant. She says it was by a winged man. Her mother says it is a boy from school
Notes:
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1st Produced:
-
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays For Actresses" published by Vintage Books 1997 978-0679772811
Music:
-
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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
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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