Rivera's School of the Americas Opens at the Public, 7/6

The world premiere of José Rivera's play School of the Americas opens today, July 6th, at the Public Theater.  Previews began June 20th, and the final performance is July 23rd.  A co-production between LAByrinth Theater Company and The Public Theater, School of the Americas is a new play from the Academy Award-nominated author of The Motorcycle Diaries.

The cast includes Karina Arroyave, Raul Castillo, Nathan LeBron, John Ortiz, Felix Solis and Patricia Velasquez. Mark Wing-Davey directs.

"In the Bolivian jungle, Che Guevara is captured and held in a one-room schoolhouse. For two days, no one – not the Bolivian President nor the U.S. State Department—is able to decide his fate. The young schoolteacher of the village insists that she be given permission to speak to the famous revolutionary. Her conversations with Che—based on historical fact—are the heart of School of the Americas," state press notes.

OBIE Award winner and LAByrinth Co-Artistic Director John Ortiz (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) will portray Che Guevara. The young schoolteacher, Julia Cortes, will be played by Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy films), who is making her professional U.S. stage debut. Karina Arroyave plays Lucila Cortes and Felix Solis assumes the role of Felix Rodriguez. In the roles of the two guards are Raul Castillo and Nathan LeBron.

Rivera's other plays include References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Marisol, The Street of the Sun and Cloud Tectonics. The Ocar-nominated screenplay to The Motorcycle Diaries (also about Che Guevara) was his first to be produced.

An ensemble of more than ninety multicultural and multidisciplinary theatre artists led by co-Artistic Directors Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz, LAByrinth Theater Company has produced 42 new American plays over the last fourteen years. As LAByrinth continues residency at The Public for a third season, School of The Americas marks the third collaboration between the two theaters to develop new work—following Guinea Pig Solo (2004), and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005). For more information on LAByrinth Theater Company, visit www.labtheater.org.

Founded by Joseph Papp as the Shakespeare Workshop and now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, The Public is an American theater in which all the country's voices, rhythms, and cultures converge. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Mara Manus, The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Over 250,000 people annually attend Public Theater-related events at its six downtown stages including Joe's Pub, and at Shakespeare in the Park. Visit www.publictheater.org for more information.

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