Open Fist

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 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.

Open Fist Theatre Gala 2026 "A Night at the Zoo"