Theatre Department presents Jos� Rivera's Marisol

An angelic revolt, urban chaos, social disorder, and personal struggle all figure prominently in Jos� Rivera�s 1991 drama Marisol, UAlbany Department of Theatre�s final offering of the season. The play will be staged in the Lab Theatre of the Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, April 25, at 3 p.m.; and Wednesday through Saturday, April 28 - May 1, at 8 p.m. Tickets, available through the PAC Box Office, are $12 each for the general public and $8 each for students, seniors, and UAlbany faculty and staff.

Mairym Llor�ns Monteser�n portrays the title character of the work, which earned Rivera a 1993 Obie Award for playwriting. The drama chronicles the story of Marisol Perez, a 26-year-old Puerto Rican woman living in The Bronx. A college graduate and editor for a textbook publisher, Marisol leads an undistinguished life, plodding from her home to her Manhattan office and back again each day. Her routine existence changes abruptly, however, when her guardian angel (portrayed by Jenae Shar�) � who recently saved her from attacks by a crazed man with a golf club and a woman mistakenly seeking her boyfriend at Marisol�s home � informs her that the angels are planning a rebellion against God. The angel also tries to enlist her aid in the revolt, but she refuses.

With the heavens in an uproar, social stability and natural order rapidly begin to deteriorate on Earth. Neo-Nazis target the homeless; the sun fails to rise; acid rain falls, burning those unfortunate enough to be caught in it; and men become pregnant and give birth. Like the other poor mortals suffering without assistance from on high, Marisol does her best to stumble along, trying to make sense of a world gone mad.

Simultaneously harrowing, touching, and uplifting, Marisol is filled with intense physical action and vibrant dialogue.

Justin Tracy plays four desperate men in mental distress; Teresa Setzer portrays Marisol�s best friend, June. Darlene Marshall plays the Woman with Fur, who becomes Marisol�s nemesis in Act II. Ian Sullivan, Helen Taylor and Ra�Shaun Kelley portray the ensemble of homeless people whose actions change the course of the play.

Assistant Professor of Theatre Mark J. Dalton directs. His recent directing work for the theatre department includes last season�s evening of Anton Chekhov one-act plays and Shakespeare�s Measure for Measure.

Joanne Lynne Staub, a Department of Theatre guest artist and a veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theater, and national tours, will create the sound design for Marisol. Her previous work at UAlbany included sound design for The Shadow of a Gunman, Measure for Measure, and Flyin� West.

For more information and tickets, contact the box office at (518) 442-3997 or visit the PAC website at www.albany.edu/pac.