Rivera's Cloud Techtonics Drifts Off-Bway for 7/18 Opening

Out of Line Productions will present Cloud Tectonics -- a play by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and two-time Obie-winning playwright José Rivera -- with previews to begin July 13, prior to an official press opening July 18 at The Culture Project (45 Bleecker Street). The play is directed by James Phillip Gates, who directed the recent acclaimed revival of Roust Theatre Company's The Private Life of the Master Race at Walkerspace.

"Invoking themes that frequently resonate in Mr. Rivera's work -- family, sexuality, spirituality and the occult -- Cloud Tectonics takes place in a world where years can pass in a single night, and asks if there ever exists a "right time" for love. On a stormy night in Los Angeles, a lonely man picks up Celestina, a pregnant hitchhiker, and welcomes her into his home. She claims she is 54 year-old and has been pregnant for two years. Clocks stop, visitors materialize, and love ticks toward its inevitable climax," state press notes.

Rivera is presently working on Celestina, a film adaptation of Cloud Tectonics, which he will also direct, starring Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Sona Tatoyan. His newest play, School of the Americas, about Che Guevara's imprisonment in a one-room Bolivian schoolhouse, is receiving its world premiere at The Public Theatre, in a co-production with The Labyrinth Theatre Company. School of the Americas opens Tuesday, June 10th.

The show co-stars Frederique Nahmani, Luis Vega and Julio Rivera. The production has scenic design by Casey Smith; lighting design by Paul Hackenmueller; and costume design by Heather Klar.

Playwright José Rivera is the first Puerto Rican screenwriter to receive an Oscar nomination, for his adaptation of The Motorcycle Diaries. Rivera's family migrated to NYC from Puerto Rico when he was 4. Rivera's plays also include References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Lovers of Red Hair, The House of Roman Iglesia and Each Day Dies with Sleep. He has won two Obie Awards for playwriting, a Kennedy Center Fund for New American plays grant, a Fulbright arts Fellowship in playwriting, the Whiting foundation Writing Award, and a McKnight Fellowship. A feature film based on Rivera's adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, is scheduled of a 2007 release.

"Out of Line Productions is a company committed to projects that further the recognition of deserving new writing; address currently underserved audience groups; and develop youth and community theatre attendance and interest."

Cloud Tectonics runs through August 5 at The Culture Project (45 Bleecker Street); Mondays-Saturdays at 8pm. Tickets are $25. For reservations, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or online at www.SmartTix.com. For additional information, visit www.cloudtectonics.com.

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