The Cook

Kicking off the 2007/2008 season in the Goodman's Owen Theatre is Eduardo Machado's The Cook, a sweeping look at four decades of Cuban history refracted through one woman's perspective. Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez directs a cast of noted Chicago actors including Karen Aldridge (Proof), Edward F. Torres (Massacre) and Phillip James Brannon (Oedipus Complex). In addition, on October 18, Machado will release a memoir in the form of a cookbook, Tastes Like Cuba, An Exile's Hunger for Home, co-written by playwright Michael Domitrovitch (Gotham Books). In the memoir, Machado relates his childhood in Cuba, his journey to the United States in 1961 as one of the children airlifted out of Cuba in "Operation Peter Pan," and his career as a playwright. The book is punctuated with recipes for dishes from his native Cuba.

"Similar to Eduardo's other plays which document the unique complexities of the Cuban-American experience, The Cook is a revealing and heartbreaking examination of faith and fidelity set within the margins of Fidel Castro's regime-and the price paid by Cubans on both sides of the revolution-in 1958 and forty years later," said Godinez. "As someone who, like Eduardo, was born in Cuba and shares some of this history, I am particularly excited and proud to direct this Chicago premiere." Equal parts bittersweet drama and searing portrait of the reality of a political movement, The Cook is particularly timely as Cuba now braces for another potential change in leadership.

On New Year's Eve, 1958-the eve of Fidel Castro's march into Havana-a young Afro-Cuban cook, Gladys, is entrusted to care for the house of her fleeing aristocratic employer. As four decades pass, and her marriage is rocked by her husband's infidelity and his rise and fall through the ranks of Castro's government, Gladys resolves to remain faithful to her long ago promise-no matter how agonizing this difficult choice becomes.

Playwright Eduardo Machado was born and raised in Cuba until 1961, when he and his younger brother were sent to the United States during "Operation Peter Pan." His plays include Havana is Waiting, The Floating Island Plays, Cuba and the Night, Stevie Wants to Play the Blues, Rosario and the Gypsies, Across a Crowded Room and Don Juan in New York City. His plays have been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Mark Taper Forum, the Long Wharf Theatre, Hampstead Theatre in London, American Place Theatre and Repertorio Español, among many others. He is the artistic director of INTAR Theatre and is currently part of the faculty of New York University.

The Cook runs October 20 - November 18 and tickets may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or charged by phoning 312.443.3800.