Boleros for the Disenchanted

Goodman Theatre concludes its 2008/2009 season with José Rivera's newest play, Boleros for the Disenchanted. A true love story inspired by Rivera's parents' courtship and eventual migration from Puerto Rico to Alabama, Boleros for the Disenchanted makes its Chicago premiere directed by Henry Godinez- the Goodman's Resident Artistic Associate who was named 2008 Latino of the Year by the Chicago Latino Network. Chicago actors Elizabeth Ledo and Sandra Marquez command the stage in the role of Flora, based on Rivera's mother, at various points in her life

"I am thrilled to welcome back José to the Goodman with this gorgeous new play," said Artistic Director Robert Falls. "In a season that has included a number of vivid romances (from the doomed triangle at the center of Desire Under the Elms to the politically fraught coupling of Jan and Esme in Rock 'n' Roll), Boleros for the Disenchanted provides an especially wise insight into the vagaries of human relationships- and the bonds that hold them together."

Boleros for the Disenchanted received its world-premiere production last season, directed by Henry Godinez at Yale Repertory Theatre. After her fiancée breaks her heart, Flora vows never to fall for an unfaithful man again. Then she meets Eusebio, who sweeps her off her feet, and off to America- away from her family and her familiar life in Puerto Rico. Thirty-nine years later, an angel visits Eusebio with a mysterious message that stirs up old secrets. Boleros for the Disenchanted is a bittersweet and ultimately uplifting story about what it takes for two people to make a life together far from home, and the struggle to hold on to love in the face of life's unexpected challenges.

"I wanted to blend the fairytale optimism of Flora and Eusebio's early courtship days in Puerto Rico with a hardcore, gritty reality later in their life together," said José Rivera, who earned an Oscar nomination for his screen adaptation of The Motorcycle Diaries. "While this play is really a love story, it has another layer- a political consciousness that explores what happens when a society is so destitute and depressed that it has to emigrate. Literature and films often explore the immigrant experience once people have arrived; I thought it would be interesting to address what compels people to leave. In Puerto Rico they have family, they have love, they have connection to land, they have all these things- and yet there's still something that moves them to take this journey."

Boleros for the Disenchanted will be performed in English in the Albert Theatre June 20 - July 26, 2009. Tickets are $25 – $70.