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Marisol and Other Plays
The first collection of plays by one of the most moving and astonishing writers of the last 15 years. Though critics reflexively class his work as “magical realism,” Rivera’s extravagant, original imagery always serves to illuminate the gritty realities and touching longings of our daily lives. Also includes: Each Day Dies with Sleep and Cloud Tectonics.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
José Rivera
125 books17 followersJosé Rivera is a recipient of two Obie Awards for playwriting for Marisol and References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, which were both produced by The Public Theater in New York. His plays, Cloud Tectonics (Playwrights Horizons and Goodman Theatre), Boleros for the Disenchanted (Yale Repertory Theatre and Goodman Theatre), Sueño (Manhattan Class Company), Sonnets for an Old Century (The Barrow Group), School of the Americas (The Public Theater), Massacre (Sing to Your Children) (Rattlestick and Goodman Theatre), Brainpeople (ACT, San Francisco), Adoration of the Old Woman (INTAR) and The House of Ramon Iglesia (Ensemble Studio Theatre), have been produced across the country and around the world. He is currently working on The Last Book of Homer, Scream for the Lost Romantics, and The Gamma Forest. Mr. Rivera’s screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2005. His screenplay based on Jack Kerouac’s On the Road premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was distributed nationally in the winter of 2013. His film Trade was the first film to premiere at the United Nations. Television projects in the works include an untitled HBO pilot, co-written and produced by Tom Hanks, as well as a 10-hour series for HBO tentatively known as Latino Roots. Celestina, based on his play Cloud Tectonics, will mark his debut as a feature film director. He is the writer/director of the short film Lizzy and has recently completed his first novel, Love Makes the City Crumble. His next film project will be a biography of famed baseball player Roberto Clemente for Legendary Films.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 15, 2022
this contains two of my all time favorite plays from one of my all time favorite playwrights so I’m kinda biased
August 31, 2010
Stunning play. I'm in the middle of doing research for a lecture on magical realism and how one negotiates "magical terms" with an audience. This is the cream of the crop.
February 6, 2022
ANÍBAL: I’m afraid.
CELESTINA: Don’t be.
ANÍBAL: Not about bodies. I’m afraid we’re going to be mixing my sad dreams with your wild ones.
I'm so floored!! Absolutely loved Marisol and enjoyed Each Day Dies with Sleep but Cloud Tectonics stole my heart. I would give anything to see any one of these plays staged live.
June 20, 2020
stunningly beautiful
October 29, 2020
Marisol by far is one of my favorite over the top plots. A fun take on the World.
March 27, 2022
These plays are beautiful + magical, as the intro says, "true but MORE."
April 7, 2022
lenny and the baby ahaha
the ending had me confused… what??!
the ending had me confused… what??!
May 8, 2025
Marisol is such a weird, freaky but lovely play. A world I could never imagine.
September 17, 2025
Cloud tectonics is truly a perfect play
September 8, 2008
Each Day Dies With Sleep - a young woman is keep in a virtual animal state by her abusive father, neglectful mother and enormous, anonymous family. She falls in love with a lothario who has seduced more than one of her sisters and fathered several nieces and nephews. They change each other for the better, but the pull of her father and his desire to keep her in a servile, sub-human state is almost overwhelming.
This was my least favourite of the three plays but it was still an enjoyable read. I connected with the way the play explored one's relationship to one's family and how it pulls you into being the person you were instead of the person you are.
Marisol - A young woman in New York discovers that her guardian angel can no longer watch over her - the angels have declared war on a senile God and must leave Mankind to it's own devices.
I saw a production of this in grad school and I guess I just wasn't ready for it - I didn't particularly care for it. Re-reading it, I just loved it. I really responded to the notion that Mankind is at the mercy of an uncaring and/or incapable Creator and the only way to restore any order is to go to battle with the diety. Now I really want to either direct a production of this or act in it.
Cloud Tectonics - A pregnant hitchhiker is picked up by a reluctant driver. He takes her back to his place. His intentions are purely innocent, but the two connect as the themes of love, time and timelessness are explored.
This play almost had the feel of a poem and contained a more traditional type of magical realism than the other two plays. The pregnant woman has no notion of time - she lives outside of time. This gives her the opportunity to know her loved one(s) throughout their lifetime(s), in all their stages. Intriguing idea. It ends sadly and sweetly, like a light summer rain. I'd like to see a good production of this - probably very tricky to stage successfully.
This was my least favourite of the three plays but it was still an enjoyable read. I connected with the way the play explored one's relationship to one's family and how it pulls you into being the person you were instead of the person you are.
Marisol - A young woman in New York discovers that her guardian angel can no longer watch over her - the angels have declared war on a senile God and must leave Mankind to it's own devices.
I saw a production of this in grad school and I guess I just wasn't ready for it - I didn't particularly care for it. Re-reading it, I just loved it. I really responded to the notion that Mankind is at the mercy of an uncaring and/or incapable Creator and the only way to restore any order is to go to battle with the diety. Now I really want to either direct a production of this or act in it.
Cloud Tectonics - A pregnant hitchhiker is picked up by a reluctant driver. He takes her back to his place. His intentions are purely innocent, but the two connect as the themes of love, time and timelessness are explored.
This play almost had the feel of a poem and contained a more traditional type of magical realism than the other two plays. The pregnant woman has no notion of time - she lives outside of time. This gives her the opportunity to know her loved one(s) throughout their lifetime(s), in all their stages. Intriguing idea. It ends sadly and sweetly, like a light summer rain. I'd like to see a good production of this - probably very tricky to stage successfully.
Read
March 14, 2011The play opens on a set made to look like a street in New York City. A brick wall runs the widlth of the stage, going up as high as it is allowed in the theatre, security gates over the windows, everything boarded up.
The announcer's voice over the PA tells us where we are: 180th Street in the Bronx. The announcer tells the passengers to walk quickly and guard their valuables and trust no one, which is an unusual pronouncement from a disembodied and typically very detached voice.
Marisol is on the subway when The Man With the Golf Club starts talking about how his angel is always there for him. He makes a move toward Marisol, possibly threatening. She looks at him, quickly sizing him up. She is now on her guard and the audience knows something is going to happen between these two characters, and it won't be pleasant. It also sets the tone for the rest of the play.
Marisol, the main character whose journey we follow, and has many discoveries at the beginning of the play: she discovers her death on the front page of a newspaper; a somewhat psychotic male character named Lenny is "in lust" with her; her friend June may be dead or else seriously hurt.
Her most important discovery is a pair melting silver wings, which belong to her own guardian angel; an angel with issues of her own.
Marisol suffers through her survival in an insane world, and tries to find safety, peace, and answers to her questions about God. Hers is a search for hope, also represented by her missing friend June.
The announcer's voice over the PA tells us where we are: 180th Street in the Bronx. The announcer tells the passengers to walk quickly and guard their valuables and trust no one, which is an unusual pronouncement from a disembodied and typically very detached voice.
Marisol is on the subway when The Man With the Golf Club starts talking about how his angel is always there for him. He makes a move toward Marisol, possibly threatening. She looks at him, quickly sizing him up. She is now on her guard and the audience knows something is going to happen between these two characters, and it won't be pleasant. It also sets the tone for the rest of the play.
Marisol, the main character whose journey we follow, and has many discoveries at the beginning of the play: she discovers her death on the front page of a newspaper; a somewhat psychotic male character named Lenny is "in lust" with her; her friend June may be dead or else seriously hurt.
Her most important discovery is a pair melting silver wings, which belong to her own guardian angel; an angel with issues of her own.
Marisol suffers through her survival in an insane world, and tries to find safety, peace, and answers to her questions about God. Hers is a search for hope, also represented by her missing friend June.
April 8, 2007
Jose Rivera is the best playwright currently living. And Marisol is the best I've seen of him. This story is about New York City after God has slowly started to go senile in his old age and the world is deteriorating, the angels of heaven stage a revolt against him and all the world is a battle ground. Marisol has already lost most of her friends to the plague and the moon has left the earth's orbit by the time the play starts.
It is magic realism at its best. Also, Cloud Tectonics, the third play in this collection, is lovely and tender and is worth it just for the epilogue.
Also check out his plays "References to Salvador Dali Makes Me Hot", and "Each Day Dies with Sleep".
It is magic realism at its best. Also, Cloud Tectonics, the third play in this collection, is lovely and tender and is worth it just for the epilogue.
Also check out his plays "References to Salvador Dali Makes Me Hot", and "Each Day Dies with Sleep".
June 27, 2017
Marisol is a superb play. Find it acted somewhere to witness it in the way it was meant to be. (Shout out to Ben W. for directing this for his SMP. Splendid!) Apocalypse has never looked so good.
The other plays in this particular binding are worth a read, too.
The other plays in this particular binding are worth a read, too.
September 9, 2008
Hands down Jose Rivera is my favorite playwright.
His work is so beautiful, so imaginative, and mythic.
Cloud Tectonics is one of the most amazing plays about love. What's the line from the play? To love you as a baby, as an old man...absolutely incredible.
His work is so beautiful, so imaginative, and mythic.
Cloud Tectonics is one of the most amazing plays about love. What's the line from the play? To love you as a baby, as an old man...absolutely incredible.
September 13, 2007
Cloud Tectonics is beyond beautiful, and the other plays are fantastic also.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews