doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee



Jose Rivera

JOSE RIVERA

  (1955 - )

Nationality:    USA
facebook     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.

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 Jose Rivera's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

        187         Adoration of the Old Woman         Boleros For the Disenchanted         Brainpeople         Cloud Tectonics         Each Day Dies With Sleep         Flowers         Gas         House Of Roman Iglesia, The         Impact         Lessons For An Unaccustomed Bride         Lovers Of Red Hair         Maricela de la Cruz Lights the World         Marisol         Massacre (Sing To Your Children)         Pablo and Andre at the Alter of Words         Promise, The         References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot         School of the Americas         Slaughter in the Lake         Sonnets for an Old Century         Square, The         Sueno         Tape         Winged Man



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:
-

1st Produced:
Naked Angels (New York, NY, United States)     1996

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - 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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  1male 1 female

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Adoration of the Old Woman

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:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Boleros For the Disenchanted

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:
-

1st Produced:
Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street In New Haven, Ct.     25 Apr 2008

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Brainpeople

Brainpeople
One of the guests at a dinner party has multiple personality disorder

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Cloud Tectonics

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:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Humana Festival 1995: the Complete Plays, ed Marisa Smith, Smith & Kraus, 1995   -

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

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Each Day Dies With Sleep

Each Day Dies With Sleep
The middle child of 0f 21 children leaves home and an abusive father for California

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publisher   978-0881452464

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Flowers

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of the 30th Annual marathon of new short plays

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

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:
-

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:
Monologue play

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

House Of Roman Iglesia, The

House Of Roman Iglesia, The
about a bright Americanised son's tortured efforts to break away from his immigrant parents

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "On New Ground", Theatre Communications Group, New York, 1986   978-0930452681

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:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Impact

Synopsis:
-

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

Lessons For An Unaccustomed Bride

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
part of DummerShorts 5

1st Produced:
59E59 theaters
59 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022     04 Aug 2011

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

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

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:
-

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:
Phone Play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Maricela de la Cruz Lights the World

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
American Theatre Magazine, NY - December, 1996    -

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

Marisol

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

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Two Acts Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Massacre (Sing To Your Children)

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:
-

1st Published:
Broadway Play Publishing, 2007   978-0881453461

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:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

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:
-

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:
Gay one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Promise, The

Synopsis:
Love, death and love after death

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot

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:
-

1st Produced:
Arcola, London     2005

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "References To Salvador Dali and Other Plays" published by Nick Hern Books 2004   978-1559362122

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:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

School of the Americas

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:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Slaughter in the Lake

Synopsis:
Two estranged friends meet in Central Park

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-     2002

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:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

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:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  large cast

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Square, The

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:
-

1st Published:
in Version 3.0: Contemporary Asian American Plays, Theatre Communications Group (2 Aug 2011)   978-1559363631

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:
choral piece

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Tape

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:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Ten Min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  2 characters

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Winged Man

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:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Contained in: "Plays For Actresses" published by Vintage Books 1997   978-0679772811

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