Marisol by Jose Rivera
Play Analysis
Marisol was originally commissioned and developed by INTAR Hispanic Arts Center through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
The play received its world premiere at the 1992 Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre in Louisville Kentucky, on March 13th, 1992.
Modern American Plays
In this play we first discover a world that is wrong and surreal. The color blue has disappeared along with the moon, homeless people are burned like trash, it snows in hot weather, the moon has disappeared. Apples are extinct.
The 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.
Contemporary Issues in Modern Plays
Marisol is blasted with bullets from an Uzi, and is killed, while being called a traitor and a "credit risk". Marisol dies, and it is implied she may become a soldier in the war against God. The missing June goes from typical New York Village girl to Nazi skinhead, and Lenny beomes pregnant.
A small moon reappars at the end of the play, which makes one think that perhaps there is a little hope, and Marisol speaks about hope at the end of the play.
Latino Dramatist
After her death, the stage is black except for a special spotlight on Marisol. She tells us about the battle of millions of angels. Lenny, June and a homeless person throw rocks at the sky. An Angel appears next to Marisol, holding a gold crown. Marisol speaks of light, hope and possibilities. Bright light shines as they disappear in the "wild light of the new millennium."
This play can have several interpretations as to its meaning. One can be seen as a reflection of contemporary society and events. Each day is a battle for many people. Each day is a battle for Marisol. Even as her struggles are symbolic and amplified onstage, they are not emotionally distant.. Rivera writes with a surprising insight into women's heads and hearts, with compassion and realism.
Jose Rivera remains one of the contemporary stage's most accomplished Puerto-Rican dramatists. Many of his plays center on strong women characters and life in arduous urban settings. Although his characters are realistic with real human problems, the circumstances they find themselves in are often bizarre and surreal. This style is what sets him apart from other dramatists.
Rivera, Jose. Marisol and Other Plays, 1997, Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 184 pages (IBSN: 1-55936-136-0)
Marisol and her Angel
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