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The House of Ramon Iglesia

The House of Ramon Iglesia
Your Price: $18.95 CDN
Author: José Rivera
Publisher: Samuel French (cover may change)
Format: Softcover
# of Pages: 94
Pub. Date: 1983
Edition: Acting
ISBN-10: 0573619042
ISBN-13: 9780573619045
Cast Size: 2 female, 5 male

About the Play:

The House of Ramon Iglesia has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Male Monologues, Female/Female Scenes, Female/Male Scenes,  Male/Male Scenes, and Three-Person Scenes (particularly suitable for those over 40 years old).

The House of Ramon Iglesia is a full-length drama by José Rivera. The bond between sons and fathers is tested in this moving drama about two generations of immigrants. Relationships among immigrant family members turn icy cold as they confront living in a country that will never be their own, while recalling and recovering the roots that hold them fast to their native land.

The House of Ramon Iglesia follows Javier, a bright, Americanized son's tortured efforts to break away from his tradition-bound parents – a break that can't be made until he learns to accept the ethnic heritage he has spent his life trying to suppress. It's 1983, and the Iglesia family is caught between two worlds. Aging and ailing, parents Ramon and Dolores are eager to leave their rickety house in New Jersey and return to their native Puerto Rico – but their three sons, all raised in America, are deeply divided on whether or not to go. Tough, genuine, and insightful, The House of Ramon Iglesia asks just as much as it answers. What do we owe our parents, and our children? What do we mean when we say "country", or "family", or "home"? As they struggle through gaps of language, age, and culture, will the Iglesia family find common ground? Or are their rifts too wide to heal?

The House of Ramon Iglesia is the first play written by José Rivera. It premiered in 1983 at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City and was broadcast as part of the American Playhouse public television series in 1986. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 5 male

What people say:

"It's a play about a bright, Americanized son's tortured efforts to break away from his immigrant parents, a break that can't be made until the assimilated hero learns to accept the ethnic heritage that he has spent his life trying to suppress. The play's vigor derives from the firm delineation of the daily life of the Iglesias, who live in a dilapidated house bereft of a phone, water and a working furnace. In the hands of a less assured writer these squabbles could easily look like ridiculous Latin caricature. Here they become entirely credible articulations of the conflicts within a family that no longer shares a common tongue." — New York Times

"A fine ... sensitively written ethnic drama." — Other Stages

About the Playwright:

José Rivera is an award-winning American playwright who is also the first Puerto Rican screenwriter to be nominated for an Oscar. His plays have premiered off-Broadway and have been seen at major theatres across the US as well as in France, England, Romania, Peru, Mexico, Greece, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Scotland and Canada.