'Marisol'

Open Fist Theatre Company presents a rare revival Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera's Obie Award-winning play, Marisol. Performances take place from September 12 through October 24 at Atwater Village Theatre, with low-priced preview performances September 10 and 11.

A dreamlike blend of magical realism, Theatre of the Absurd and Rivera's powerfully poetic language, Marisol is a darkly funny, apocalyptic fable about survival, faith and hope. After her guardian angel abandons her to join the celestial battle against a senile God, Bronx resident Marisol Pérez must navigate a terrifying, unraveling world on her own while struggling to preserve her humanity.

"Marisol feels astonishingly relevant," says director Amanda Weier. "Though Rivera wrote the play in the pre-millennium '90s, during that period of profound uncertainty, it asks questions that resonate just as powerfully today: As temperatures rise both literally and figuratively, are we as a species doomed? Can a broken society find its way back after everything falls apart? Rivera never loses his sense of humor, even in the darkest moments, and that balance of absurdity and compassion is what makes the play so compelling. Ultimately, Marisol is about discovering hope on the other side of rock-bottom devastation. The imagery in Rivera's writing is breathtaking; it reminds me of a Chagall painting, or a Banksy."

Born in Puerto Rico in 1955, Rivera moved with his family to New York City at the age of four. Among his best-known plays are Cloud Tectonics and References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, which earned him a second Obie Award. He became the first Puerto Rican writer to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries. Rivera has cited Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, whom he met while both were at the Sundance Institute, as one of his most significant artistic influences and mentors.

Performances run September 12 through October 24, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. (no performance Saturday, October 3). An additional performance will be held Monday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. Preview performances are Thursday, Sept. 10 and Friday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $26 to $40.

Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Free parking is available in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) parking lot one block south of the theater. For tickets and more information, visit openfist.org

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