Marisol

The curtain will rise on Northwestern University’s 2007-08 Mainstage theatre season Oct. 26 with Obie Award-winning playwright José Rivera’s drama Marisol. It is the first of nine stage productions this season and marks Northwestern’s commitment to reaching out to the Latino community.

David Kersnar, founding ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, will direct the production. Kersnar is a master of fine arts candidate in theatre directing at Northwestern University this year.

“Marisol depicts a young Puerto Rican woman trying to survive in a terrifying absurd world where angels rebel, the heavens are in turmoil, and mortals must take responsibility for their own neglected, dilapidated world or perish,” said Kersnar. “Rivera’s play is as relevant and even more chillingly prophetic then when it was first written almost 20 years ago. It was Rivera’s breakout work.”

Time is fluid in Marisol slipping from the early 1990s to the present. To convey a sense of the drama’s “magic realism,” the stage setting will have a look of an apocalyptic world with “lots of surprises that are perfect for the Halloween season,” added Kersnar, who has performed, designed and directed for the Lookingglass Theatre Company since it was founded in 1988.

Kersnar also has more than 20 years of experience teaching residencies, camps and classes, including professional development courses and theatre instruction at Northwestern University, University of Chicago and Roosevelt University.

Rivera’s play is written in English, as are most of his plays. Marisol was inspired by the situation of Rivera’s homeless uncle. In 2005, Rivera was the first Puerto Rican screenplay writer to be nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a “Best Adapted Screenplay” Oscar for the film “The Motorcycle Diaries,” (“Diarios de Motocicleta”) directed by Walter Salles.

A season subscription to all nine 2007-08 Mainstage productions is $135 for the general public; $120 for seniors 65 and older and Northwestern faculty and staff; and $70 for full-time students and children. For more information or to order a season subscription or single or group tickets by phone, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282.