Massacre

by José Rivera

A play in two acts.

Genres: Plays

70 pages, paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

José 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.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A group of Hispanic men and women commit a bloody crime. As they come down from their adreneline high, minor skirmishes break out between the collaborators. When it is discovered that their nefarious deed hasn't actually been accomplished, their coterie splinters apart.

I really hated the first act of this play. The dialogue was predictably - alternately pat-yourself-on-the-back comraderie and you-aren't-committed-as-much-me banter. They seemed to talk in circles, going over the same ground time and again. Shut up already!

The second act was more interesting. It explored the way in which people deal with life under a repressive regime. Is it better to fight the good fight, flee, or keep your head down and live? All those concerned give good reason for their choices and it left me thinking about which way I would go if I had to choose. Too bad it took so long to get to this discussion. Not sure it was worth it.

[Robert Rauschenberg]

Recommended by Jim Smith (Convergence-Continuum Theater).